Black Hole: A Graphic Novel

Books

"The best graphic novel of the year" (Time) tells the story of a strange plague devastating the lives of teenagers in mid-1970s suburban Seattle, revealing the horrifying nature of high school alienation-the savagery, the cruelty, the relentless anxiety, and the ennui. 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 ...