Regular marked price: $17.95Discount Price: $12.21
Cost Savings: $5.74 (32%)Price fluctuation possible.
How soon does it ship: Usually ships in 1 to 3 weeks
Shipping? Absolutely FREE if you qualify for Super Saver Shipping.
Type of bind: Paperback
Dewey Decimal Number: 741
EAN num: 9780375714726
ISBN number: 0375714723
Label: Pantheon
Manufacturer: Pantheon
Quantity: 1
Page Count: 368
Printing Date: January 08, 2008
Publishing house: Pantheon
Release Date: January 08, 2008
Sale Popularity Level: 11688
Studio: Pantheon
Other books you might be interested in perusing:
Editor's Notes and Comments:
Product Description:
Winner of the Eisner, Harvey, and Ignatz Awards
The setting: suburban Seattle, the mid-1970s. We learn from the outset 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…
Amazon.com Review:
The very first issues of Charles Burns's comics series Black Hole began appearing in 1995, and long before it was completed a decade later, readers and fellow artists were speaking of it in tones of awe and comparing it to recent classics of the form like Chris Ware's Jimmy Corrigan and Daniel Clowes's Ghost World. Burns is the sort of meticulous, uncompromising artist whom other artists speak of with envy and reverence, and we asked Ware and Clowes to comment on their admiration for Black Hole:
 |
'I think I probably learned the most about clarity, composition, and efficiency from looking at Charles's pages spread out on my drawing table than from anyone's; his was always at the level of lucidity of Nancy, but with this odd, metallic tinge to it that left you feeling very unsettled, especially if you were an aspiring cartoonist, because it was clear you'd never be half as good as he was. There's an almost metaphysical intensity to his pinprick-like inkline that catches you somewhere in the back of the throat, a paper-thin blade of a fine jeweler's saw tracing the outline of these thick, clay-like human figures that somehow seem to 'move,' but are also inevitably oddly frozen in eternal, awkward poses ... it's an unlikely combination of feelings, and it all adds up to something unmistakably his own.
'I must have been one of the very first customers to arrive at the comic shop when I heard the very first issue of Black Hole was out 10 years ago, and my excitement didn't change over the years as he completed it. I don't think I've ever read anything that better captures the details, feelings, anxieties, smells, and cringing horror of my own teenage years better than Black Hole, and I'm 15 years younger than Charles is. Black Hole is so redolently affecting one almost has to put the book down for air every once in a while. By the book's end, one ends up feeling so deeply for the main character it's all one can do not to turn the book over and start reading again.' --Chris Ware |
 |
| 'Charles Burns is one of the greats of modern comics. His comics are beautiful on so many levels. Somehow he has managed to capture the essential electricity of comic-book pop-art iconography, dragging it from the clutches of Fine Art back to the service of his perfect, precise-but-elusive narratives in a way that is both universal in its instant appeal and deeply personal.' --Dan Clowes |
 |
Questions for Charles Burns
Amazon.com: Cartoonists are about the only people yesterday who are working like Dickens did: writing serials that appear piece-by-piece in public before the whole work is done. What's it like to work in public like that, and for as long as a project like this takes?
Charles Burns: There were a number of reasons for serializing Black Hole. First of all, I wanted to put out a traditional comic book-- I'd never really worked in that comic pamphlet format before and liked the idea of developing a long story in installments. There's something very satisfying to me about a comic book as an object and I enjoyed using that format to slowly build my story. Serializing the story also allowed me to focus on shorter, more manageable portions; if I had to face creating a 368-page book all in one big lump, I don't know if I’d have the perseverance and energy to pull it off.
Amazon.com: One thing that stuns me about this book is how consistent it is from start to finish. From the very first frames to the last ones that you drew 10 years later, you held the same tone and style. It feels as though you had a complete vision for the book from the very beginning. Is that so? Or did things develop unexpectedly as you worked on it?
Burns: I guess there's a consistency in Black Hole because of the way I work. I write and draw very slowly, always carefully examining every little detail to make sure it all fits together the way I want it to. When I started the story, I had it all charted out as far as the basic structure goes, but what made working on it interesting was finding new ways of telling the story that hadn't occurred to me.
Amazon.com: Some of the very best of the recent graphic novels (I'm thinking of Ghost World and Blankets, along with Black Hole) have been about the lives of teenagers. Do you think there's something about the form that helps to tell those stories so well?
Burns: That's an interesting question, but I don't know the answer. Perhaps it has more to do with the authors--the kind of people who stay indoors for hours on end in total solitude working away on their heartfelt stories... maybe that kind of reflection lends itself to being able to capture the intensity of adolescence.
Amazon.com: In the time you've been working on Black Hole, graphic novels have leapt into the mainstream. (I think--I hope--we're finally seeing the last of those 'They're not just for kids anymore!' reviews.) What did you imagine for this project when you started it? What's it been like to see your corner of the world enter the glare of the spotlight?
Burns: When I started Black Hole I really just wanted to tell a long, well-written story. The themes and ideas that run throughout the book had been turning around in my head for years and I wanted to finally get them all out--put them down on paper once and for all. I've published a few other books and while they sold reasonably well, they didn't set the publishing world on fire. I was pretty sure I'd have some kind of an audience for Black Hole, but that was never a motivating factor in writing the book. And my corner of the world is still pretty dark. I guess I'll be stepping into the spotlight for a little while when the book comes out, but I imagine I'll slip back into my dark little studio when it all settles down again so I can settle back into work.
User popularity level:
Rated by buyers 
-
I suppose I'm grateful to have stumbled upon this book now, as it's available all in one piece, as opposed to as the serials which were released over a 10-year time period. It would've been hard to wait that long to read more!
This book was recommended to me by a community interested in "disturbing books." How right they were, but in the best possible way. I've scarcely read anything that was so surreal, and yet still seemed so in touch and to perfectly describe the unbearable awkwardness and insecurity of being a teenager, with your hormones developing faster than your brain could keep up.
Everything in this book feels disturbingly familiar, and yet surprisingly alien, all at once, which is part of it's genius. While you feel so in touch with the characters, having experienced that awkwardness, that young love, and that desperate longing for sex, coupled with the intense fear of the consequences, everything seems just a tiny bit...off. Just far enough from reality, just surreal enough to keep you on your toes.
I would highly recommend this book, and am already trying to pass it on to friends to share the read. The book is overall very strong, and I did not find it predictable, pandering or even boring at any point, which is saying a lot. I will agree with some of the other reviews - the two biggest complaints would be that I absolutely wanted more, more of everything, and the fact that one storyline ends...in a way that feels mildly like trying too hard for a happy ending for someone, when you might not believe it could be.
Again, overall...I really recommend this book. If you're into graphic novels, if you liked Ghost World, or if you're just looking for something a bit disturbing, make the time to read it. You won't be sorry.
Rated by buyers -
I read this when it was released, but I'll never forget the feeling of dread that I had to finish reading it since I had a review copy. While this reaction is not generally taken to be complimentary, it is a testament to how effective Charles Burns' nightmare teenage world is. It's rare that you can be afraid of a drawing, but Burns reminds us that he's the master of graphic horror. Black Hole is a searing smack in the face of the fantasy that adolescence is easy or fun.
basic, basic plot: Mystery disease that attacks only teens causes mutations and deformities to varying degrees. Some start to act as monstrously as they look.
The disease is never explored and there's no cure. The mutations range from almost adorable to really disturbing. I interpret this story as a take on adolescence as a time of unpredictable, inevitable mutation that adults cannot understand and are ill-equipped to deal with. You can't stop looking at this - the art is really incredible. I heard a movie was being made, but it better be animated, as I doubt any live-action type special effects can capture the psychological unease that permeates Burns' work. These monsters aren't scary merely because of how they appear - they're frightening because they were once like you.
I understand it's quite long and seems intimidating, but you'll get through it with no trouble...provided you can put your imagination aside and not make it any more terrifying than it already is.
Rated by buyers -
I read it from start to finish in one sitting. It's a great idea for a story with cool characters.
Rated by buyers -
I very much like reading graphic novels and I came by this one by accident. I had never heard of Charles Burns before. When I looked through it at first, I was immediately drawn to the great artwork and bought it straightaway. The story is just plain great, no other words to describe it. Dark, intense, scary and fascinating.
I would highly, highly recommend this novel to anyone who likes the genre. If you, for instance, enjoy the books by Daniel Clowes (like a velvet glove cast in iron), this will not disappoint you! In fact, it is even better! Great, great book!
Rated by buyers -
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.
Find other books like this one:
