Charles Burns’ Black Hole was one of those comics I wasn’t sure I was going to like (mainly because I am not into the horror genre), even though it got recommended a lot and by people who have similar taste as myself. That said, I decided to give it a go a couple of weeks ago, and boy did I enjoy it.
The story is about a bunch of teenagers in the 70s who have sex, take drugs, all amidst the appearance of a mysterious STD known as “the bug”. The bug manifests as gruesome mutations that range from a reptilian tail to a second mouth to warping the face unrecognizable. Despite this, and teenagers being teenagers, they continue to have unprotected sex, and thus the disease spreads.
Surprisingly, my favorite part of the comic were the characters, who felt very real and relatable, even though (or maybe because) they made some pretty stupid decisions. This doesn’t same to be the case for everyone though, as a lot of the negative reviews on sites such as Goodreads or even The Guardian mention they didn’t connect with the characters, the main reason being not every teen is about sex and drugs and acid trips, which I agree as I was nothing like the kids in the story, yet I can still understand where they’re coming from and empathize with them.
Another criticism was the lack of a more complex prose, which I honestly can’t say much about as I didn’t focus too much on the words. Still, because all the characters are teens who spend most of their time stoned out of their minds, you wouldn’t expect them to use Shakespearean vocabulary now would you.
Burns’ art was probably my second favorite thing, and I can see why Clowes, Ware and him made such a big impact on the industry in the 90s. His style is very clean, using just black and white without any gray gradient. He also does great psychedelic pages when the characters are dreaming or tripping, which are some of his best. If you want a more detailed commentary of his art, I recommend the video Cartoonist Kayfabe did on the comic, as they are industry professionals, https://youtu.be/LYsf3ehXHtM.
The plot was good enough that it didn’t lose me or bore me but it also wasn’t what kept me coming back. I did like the ending, though I would have preferred something a bit darker and less optimistic (which seems to be a problem I have with a lot of what I read), but maybe that’s just me.
Overall, I really liked Black Hole for the characters and the art and I would recommend reading it to anyone that’s interested by the premise. Keep in mind that it’s not meant for kids (a complaint I read a lot when browsing through comic reviews on Amazon) and that it has some pretty explicit content (though not over-the-top). I would also recommend trying to get the original single issues as they have beautiful covers and glossy paper that really makes the art pop (you can see a comparison here, https://youtu.be/XJ3yeR9WCl0).
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