Black Hole is a graphic novel that I will only read once.
I'm in no way implying that I didn't enjoy it. The drawings, all black and white, are beautifully executed in a style that is the perfect vehicle for the story they tell. Best of all are the panels that take up the entire page. These are rendered with detail and charisma, imbued with so much multi-faceted symbolism, that they elevate both the visual element and the power of the narrative simultaneously.
That said, the imagery in the book was both upsetting and down right gross. I know it's just drawings and everything, but we're talking about an entire novel of shredded pseudo-vaginas and glowering, disfigured maws. The main characters are both vulnerable teens pursuing young love, and they are met with nothing but trauma inducing sexual encounters, mockery, and vicious STDs.
(Click me, I'm gross!)
I often wonder how an author of a graphic novel chooses his or her content, since it must be something complex enough to write a novel about and visually interesting enough to illustrate in it's entirety. Charles Burns, the author and illustrator, seems to have chosen well in one respect. Wild n' out teen STDs is certainly a topic graphic enough to provide fodder for thousands of illustrations, and Burns definitely lets his images do the talking. However, 200 plus pages (Burns does not include page numbers, visionary that he is) of visceral illustrations that feature overtly nasty sexual imagery, arranged to tell a tale of heartbreak and alienation is a literary journey one need take only once.
It is, quite literally, too gross for words.
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