Black Hole (Pantheon Graphic Library)

An absolute classic.Had goosebumps nearing the end, the artwork is spot on and its a must read.

Hey, dear Amazon, I ordered this graphic novel in paperback edition, but instead of this I got it in hardcover edition, so if it's a mistake, then look at it or else thank you so much.

Superb Book. A must Read

Marvellos illustration and art, story was good but not great though didn't understand the story .

Being an collector this was an disappointment, that I got damaged cover as you can see in the pictures above and those ugly stains makes it worse. I expected better from this seller... Contents inside are good, book is well known I shouldn't be talking about that. Be cautious if you want this book, you might as well face similiar issue.

For art- 9/10 For story- 8.5/10 It is kind of love triangle Story with full of drugs and little bit of a action. Overall it is nice book.

Charles Bruns’s Black Hole is a strange and very disturbing graphic novel Set in the Seattle suburbs of the 1970s depicting some teens engaging in drinking, booze, drugs, sex and a plague that inflicts mutations on anyone who catches it. Four central characters Keith, Rob, and Chris are caught in its pull and may never escape. But hell yeah!! It is also one of the best graphic novels of all time. If a black hole’s effect of gravity pulling so hard on a site in space that light cannot get out, the black hole of this particular summer of sex and drugs looks at times like it is a vortex you could not recover from. Initially I was creeped out about it, but in close readings I began to see some warmth and compassion running through it. Charles Burns' throwback art is simultaneously sensitive and grotesque, depicting monstrous deformity, teenage angst, and gentler emotions with ease. The use of blacks is moody as hell and the book has a claustrophobic feel at times. The disruptive and discontinuous representation of chronology, of time, is innovative and consistent with the disruption of adolescence Burns represents The story is set in one summer from a Seattle high school in the late seventies. Those four characters once bullied a boy named Dave also plays a central role. In the story young people begin to develop physical abnormalities as a result of developing sexual desire for someone, or actually having sex with someone. This transition to adulthood as Burns depicts it is infused with lots of drug use/hallucinations, and nightmares; while friendship is important in the story, it is mainly a tale of desire, fears, confusion and what happens if you are in any sense different as you pass from childhood to adulthood. The social distortion is matched by visual images of distorted bodies, though images of the natural world the sky, trees, ocean--and physical beauty (including bodies) are also present and at some points not all restorative. Black Hole is a coming age novel with great complexity It features the supernatural and surreal, these strange physical protuberances and there is psychedelia that obscures our sense of things at times, but it is basically rooted in a familiar world we know, and of adolescence. It ends somewhat hopefully for some of the main characters as horror often can do. Evil exists, but it is human-made evil, preventable, avoidable. Black Hole is as difficult and challenging as any great post-modern novel, with visual representations that evoke the complexity of growing up instead of just words. As a story it’s not “fun” but is also not so disturbing that you can’t learn from it about what it means to make the often difficult transition to adulthood. The story is told using shifting viewpoints in small morsels. There's no happy ending, nobody magically comes up with a cure for the sex plague. People just deal with it as best they can.

Great graphic novel, a must read

eine geschichte um teenager, die ihre sexualität entdecken. in szene gesetzt in der amerikanischen provinz. drogenkonsum, langeweile und existenzangst, garniert mit bodyhorror und einer mysterythrillerstimmung. die deprimierende athmosphäre ist greifbar. die durch die aidsepidemie geprägte zeit lugt um die ecke. eine grosse erzählung, in schwarz weissen bildern umgesetzt, die aus der tradition von maserel und der frühen deutschen expressionistischen druckgrafik kommen und doch ganz eigen sind. gehört in den kanon der grossen bilderzählungen.

Esse livro é do começo ao fim sobre sexo. Permeia outros tópicos, claro, especialmente os mais pertinentes à adolescência...na verdade, deixa eu reformular. Esse livro é do começo ao fim sobre sexo entre adolescentes. Se essa ideia te incomoda, não recomendo a leitura, mas se você busca um quadrinho honesto e estranho, essa é uma pedida fenomenal. É dificil falar sem dar spoilers ou arruinar a experiência - uma leitura mais cega acho que é a melhor opção -, mas o melhor pitch para o quadrinho é que existe um vírus sexualmente transmissível que causa mutações nos contaminados. A história segue essencialmente um garoto e uma garota e seu circulo de amizades lidando, não só com seus desejos e frustrações, como com a realidade do vírus e as deformações por ele causadas. A arte é esquisita, densa e pesada; combina com a narrativa, mas torna por vezes bem difícil distinguir os personagens uns dos outros. Acredito que tenha sido intencional, porque a personalidade e voz dos personagens é muito clara e distinta. Eles compensam o departamento visual com carisma, sem sombra de dúvida. Não citei e acho importante comentar: o livro também apresenta uso de drogas, violência, morte, nudez gráfica e exploração de temas sexuais. Não é das leituras mais tranquilas, como "Pílulas Azuis". Na verdade, é quase o oposto completo. Enquanto a obra de Frederik Peeters trata do amor e superação de adversidades, o trabalho de Charles Burns evidencia o lado mais grotesco e pessimista de nossas relações. As atitudes inconsequentes adolescentes tem os resultados esperados, e o final é longe de otimista. Black Hole é uma daquelas famosas graphic novels essenciais, e pode sentar confortavelmente ao lado de "O Escultor", "Retalhos" e "Maus" em sua prateleira. Se estes outros são experimentos em como quadrinhos podem evocar sentimentos cândidos ou tristeza, Black Hole foi feita para evocar o questionamento e a intriga. É esquisito, sim, mas brutalmente cativante.

Plongez dans le trou noir, on en revient pas indemne et ce pour notre plus grand déplaisir.

I purchased this after reading my positive reviews and as I first started through it, I didn't quite understand all of the hype. Sure, it interesting and it was quirky and weird but I thought that was it. Rest assured, by the time I was finished the book, the only words I could say we're "wow!". The way the story wraps up is so incredibly satisfying. I highly recommend this book for anyone who is a fan of comic books and a fan of dark, black humor.