Black Hole by Charles Burns Summary and Reviews
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Book Reviews of Black Hole
Book Review: Spellbinding
Summary: 5 Stars
This is a real triumph of story telling and art. It held me spellbound in the two days it took for me to read it while on vacation.
Caution: This work does contain nudity.
Book Review: Strong artwork and mood fit into a conventional plot
Summary: 3 Stars
I had seen Black Hole around for a long time but never got around to reading it until recently. Overall I enjoyed it, the book has excellent artwork that fits perfectly with the stories dark Gothic mood. I especially thought the dream sequences and night scenes were very effective. I felt the book was at its strongest early on when the plot was unclear and ambiguous, later it becomes a more conventional murder mystery.
The main issue I had with Black Hole was the similarity of the drawing of the main characters. I'd like to say that this was intentional on Burns part but I think its more what happens when an artist is sometimes using themselves as a reference for different head positions and looks.
Rob, Jeff and Chris are very similar looking, early on I would start a chapter thinking it was from one character point of view and then have to look back to see who the character actually was. With other characters as well sometimes the difference is as subtle as the direction of hair parts and different shaped glasses. This made the difference between Jeff and Rob confusing since the difference between them only became clear later.
Overall the plot is made up of 12 issues and feels as if Burns did not work out where the story was headed, so the ending of the story is tied up a tad too neatly considering the very effective ambiguity of the early chapters. The story has an interesting premise, a contagious deformity that is unique for each person and spread sexually but runs out of gas later in the book. The strength of the artwork makes the graphic novel worthwhile, the plot by comparison is forgettable.
Book Review: Teenage Wasteland
Summary: 5 Stars
I don't usually read graphic novels -- especially not gruesome graphic novels about teenagers with bizarre sexually transmitted deformities. But I loved this! Well, "loved" might be the wrong term, but I thought it was incredibly compelling.
With some graphic novels, I've found that the text distracts from the art, or vice versa, but Black Hole is seamless. The art and words equally carry the story. And that art is stunning -- the book looks like one long, detailed woodcut.
For a sometimes graphically horrific story, it's surprisingly sweet -- the teenagers are vulnerable and oddly romantic. It's a very realistic portrait of many aspects of teenage life in America (set in a convincingly detailed late '70s milieu) -- the boredom, the worries about social acceptance, the moony crushes. The effect ends up being less horrifying (although some of the images are unforgettably gruesome) than wistful, sad, and sometimes funny.
I just finished "Never Let Me Go," and these books seem to have much in common to me -- oddly passive protagonists in a horrific situation, who mostly seem to lack the will to do anything to avoid it. Burns' teens get infected almost haphazardly -- they know the mysterious disease exists, but they'll still sleep with each other at the least pretext, as if trying to save themselves is futile. And yet they're capable of great courage and kindness. It's a haunting book on many levels and I'm really glad I read it.
Book Review: The story is lacking.
Summary: 3 Stars
Black Hole was brought to my attention on a GQ article 20 Best Graphic Novels to read. I purchased three GN books-Black Hole, Y:The Last Man (Mediocre, 2 stars), and The Nightly News (5 star+, groundbreaking. Definitely the GN to get).
The main pro of Black Hole is the artwork. The book is aesthetically beautiful inside and out. The black and white art of Charles Burns is highly stylized and a big step forward for comic and graphic novel art development. It is a large book at 368 pages, but a quick two to three day read.
My main reason for not liking the book is the weak, uninteresting story and the aimlessness of it. The four main characters relationships with each other are well developed with interesting interaction and emotional tension between them, and the story creates a interesting morbid tension (ala Donny Darko), but this wans't enough for me, and unfortunately it results in an anti-climactic ending where I felt cheated after putting the book down. There were a few times I had to push myself to read as it began to fell like simply a bunch of kids wandering aimlessly and why should I care.
The story and characters reminded me of a 1986 movie, The Rivers Edge, the similarities being the teenage characters coming of age sex and recreational drug use, discontent with life and suburban hangin at the 7-eleven angst. But as The Rivers Edge's storyline became more interesting as it developed and the REdge's supporting characters actually contributed to the interest and development of the story, Black Hole's did not. The Black Hole's big story "twist" is kids mutate and grow tails or third eyes when they hump, yet this was not enough to keep me interested.
I wont reveal the killer at the end, but it came out of left field, and not in a fall of my seat Keyser Soze way. More of in a thrown in way.
All in all, I am not disappointed for purchasing the book mainly for the art alone, yet I would not recommend the book to friends.
Book Review: Through a black hole into a world so like our own.
Summary: 5 Stars
This book was fantastic. I'd circled it for years in the book store, and I was so happy I finally picked it up. Burns' characters are consistent, believable, and thoroughly fleshed out. You feel their emotions with the way Burns tells his story, and it brought me back to being a teenager and how the world looks through such inexperienced eyes. At the same time, there's something strange happening to everyone, and instead of being overdramatized, the problem lies in the background. Like so many of the threats in real life, the characters hope by ignoring it and pretending it's not true that it'll go away, or at least not affect them. The art was excellent, staying consistent and clear, creating an atmosphere that was believable but unique. I love the ending too, and I won't ruin it here, but it was perfect for the type of story told and leaves the reader feeling that everything that needed to be said was said.