Teenage Years Gone Wrong

“Black Hole” is one of the most depressing and harrowing graphic novels we have read yet.  Charles Burns’ work wholly lives up to its title, as every element throughout this piece is dark,dismal, and strange.

The work is aptly named, as a black hole represents an object that man knows very little about.  Subsequently, this Seattle high school is a metaphoric “black hole” as this disease consumes the student’s lives, creating a situation that no one really knows how to handle.  The concept of a sexual transmitted disease that turns its carriers into creatures shunned by the public is a disconcerting idea indeed.  Burns utilizes this fact to further unnerve his readers as he takes the usual conceptions concerning an STD and takes them to an extreme.  The students who are infected with it become something more along the lines of lepers as opposed to infected teenage kids.

Burns explores themes that we have seen in many other novels that we have read, including sex, love, struggling with one’s identity, etc.  Yet what is striking is the fact that so many of these novels are about High School years.  Perhaps this period in one’s life offers the easiest segway into exploring these difficult topics; but Burns finds a way to twist these topics in such a manner that it is wholly discomforting for his reader.  When comparing this work to “Night Fisher”, which depicts teenager life in a realistic fashion, it just seems Burns went to the greatest lengths imaginable to ensure that his work was not something easily forgotten.  Yes, the common themes from teenage life are explored, such as Keith’s love for Chris, his inability to find himself as he is always desiring to be someplace different from where is his, and overall disillusionment with one’s place in the world.  But Burns is able to use this disease as a means to take all of these themes, and explore them in such a striking manner as it grants him unlimited maneuverability in his story.  Simultaneously, this disease allows for grotesque images to fill the pages, enhancing the author’s striking exploration of these common teenage year themes.

The author creates a dark work through not only the story and themes, but through the imagery as well.  Using the grotesque throughout, Burns is able to create a sickening feeling which permeates the pages.  When reading, I was thoroughly uncomfortable as Burns seems to take each strange and dark image, and find a way to manipulate it to an extent I didn’t think was possible.  That being said, I thought Burns was effective in his use of black and white color which only accentuated the dark and strange vibes which filled the novel.

There is no relief for the reader upon finishing the novel; rather, Burns has presented one of the bleakest outlooks on teenage life I have ever encountered.  However, the ending did remind me of “Night Fisher”, as Burns leaves us with the image of Chris floating in a dark sea which has consumed the page; this is similar to Johnson’s depiction of Loren being consumed by the weeds which he is lying in.  The final frame is indeed unnerving as Burns leaves us with an image of a starry sky, which usually holds a peaceful/tranquil connotation, yet he has completely warped it with this tale, accurately represent “Black Hole” in full.