But this is where the story stumbles a bit for me. When not treated to horrors and glories pulped and sculpted from the sides of Burns’ skull, the reader pieces together the narrative with help from a generous cast of characters. Rather than a fever dream, some visuals are more like fever nightmares, ones that make you wonder what kind of trip Burns was on when he conceived of them. The lack of color also helps lull the reader into the characters’ heads as they descend into a mental labyrinth looping, spiraling, and curving across the brain’s hemispheres with images that are visually arresting one moment, and stomach-churning the next. It would be easy to call the plague just another sexually-transmitted disease, but this contagion acts more like a physical mutation, one that leaves deformities that are both minor enough to be easily concealed underneath a shirt, and extensive enough that some live hidden on the outskirts of town.īurns’ black and white images do a great job of setting the scene, visually taking readers back to the mood and aesthetic of the 70s. A strange plague is spreading through the town, one that affects sexually-active teenagers and no one else. In Black Hole, Charles Burns teaches readers another thing about sex: that it can physically transform you for what might be the rest of your life.īlack Hole is set in Seattle in the mid-70s.

An excellent glossary is appended.Growing up, most of us learned the consequences of sex, whether it was the consequences of unprotected sex, sex with someone of the same gender, or not waiting until we’re mentally and emotionally ready to have sex. The book wraps up by reiterating that unraveling the mystery of the universe is an ongoing science prone to reevaluations and adjustments. Herji adds wry humor to the slapstick interactions of Aster and Mayor with celestial bodies and theorems. Dark matter and dark energy are also introduced. Chapter 3 explains black holes, their birth, and their behavior. Matter is explained with quarks, protons, neutrons, and atoms. Chapter 2 tackles cosmology, the Big Bang theory, and CMB (cosmic microwave background).

Chapter 1 covers some basic history highlighting Galileo, Isaac Newton, and Albert Einstein. Gabrielle’s offhand questions and genuine reactions mirror the average person’s knowledge base. The creators use the graphic novel format and break the fourth wall to blend up-to-date science with an action-packed story. Michel Mayor, the 2019 Nobel Laureate in Physics, attempt to explain the study of the universe. Celeste Aster (pun intended) and her college age niece, Gabrielle, with the help of the real Dr. Gr 9 Up–Young astrophysicists, cosmologists, and theoretical physicists will find plenty to think about in this dense but humorous exploration of the universe.

The black hole graphic novel