BLACK HOLE

CHARLES BURNS

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.

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…

- SYNOPSIS COURTESY OF PANTHEON

Give the gift of MONTHBOOK

Sign up for Vault of Midnight’s Book of the Month Service! Give or receive a Vault of Midnight Book of the Month, every month! Every selection is handpicked by the comic book wizards of Team Midnight, and guaranteed to be enjoyed by all the humans of the Earth. Select a 3, 6 or 12 month subscription and have a new graphic novel sent to you or your loved ones. You can also pick it up at your local Vault! Perhaps the most perfect gift.