Read: "Black Hole" by Charles Burns

Black Hole by Charles Burns - read in December

A comic book novel. Set in Washington state during the 70s. A sexually transmitted disease that causes bizarre bodily mutations is spreading around the high school population in suburban Seattle. Some of the mutations are benign and easily hidden; the kids with small tails or an extra mouth on their chest can stay at home and in school. Other mutations causing facial deformaties cannot bear it out in everyday society and group of kids live in the forest outside of town.

The storyline follows several characters as they catch and then cope with the disease. There is a small murder mystery aspect to the story but to me the whole thing is just about a bunch of kids who already were dealing with the usual, and demanding, aspects of growing up and then have horns growing out of their heads.

Author Burns spent ten years working on this. Really nice artwork. Good artwork that shows how comic book novels can be great ways to tell a story. A pretty quick read.