Black Hole by Charles Burns
One could easily say that this book is very very different thank other comic books out there. It's a real life situation where STDs become a metaphor, where teenagers have to live with the evidence of their sexual relationships through visual representations and grotesque mutations. An interesting thought, but at times I have to admit this book made me cringe and it is most certainly not for the faint. The artwork is amazing, normally I'm one to love color, but this black and white artwork is so strong and perfect for the story. There has been lots of talk of this book being made into a movie, but to date there is no real definitive answer, there is however an abbreviated live-action version of it on Rupert Sander's website, I will say this though, it is not safe for work and is a tad disturbing. You can find the video here.
Here is what Goodreads has to say about the book:
Suburban Seattle, the mid-1970s. We learn from the out-set that a strange plague has descended upon the area’s teenagers, transmitted by sexual contact. The disease is manifested in any number of ways — from the hideously grotesque to the subtle (and concealable) — but once you’ve got it, that’s it. There’s no turning back.As we inhabit the heads of several key characters — some kids who have it, some who don’t, some who are about to get it — what unfolds isn’t the expected battle to fight the plague, or bring heightened awareness to it , or even to treat it. What we become witness to instead is a fascinating and eerie portrait of the nature of high school alienation itself — the savagery, the cruelty, the relentless anxiety and ennui, the longing for escape.And then the murders start.As hypnotically beautiful as it is horrifying, Black Hole transcends its genre by deftly exploring a specific American cultural moment in flux and the kids who are caught in it- back when it wasn’t exactly cool to be a hippie anymore, but Bowie was still just a little too weird. To say nothing of sprouting horns and molting your skin…
Definitely worth a look if you're into the weird.
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