Charles Burns’ new graphic novel “Black Hole” is fantastic. And don’t let the fact that it’s a graphic novel turn you off – the book is as rich, and the characters as well-drawn as anything we’ve read recently. The book took Burn’s 10+ years to write, but you’d never know it — the drawing style is consistent throughout, and the book’s beautiful black and white drawings alone would elevate its appeal to the top of the graphic novel heap.

The story is set in 1970’s Seattle, where a group of high school students are experimenting with the usual vices: sex and drugs. The experimentation turns tragic however when a group of kids come down with “the bug,” a sexually-transmitted condition that causes infected teens to mutate. Some of the mutations are small and barely noticeable. Others are hideous and terribly disfiguring. What separates Burns’ book from being just another teen coming of age sex story is the way he captures the subtle complexities of being young — the confusion, excitement and terror, the isolation and alienation of being misunderstood, and the raw and unabashed romanticism that stems from sexual awakening. These kids are real, and they don’t treat the plague like it’s an epidemic, they accept it and get on with their lives. Burns’ also keeps the book interesting by jumping backwards and forwards in time like a Tarantino flick. But don’t just take our word for it, the book got a good review in the New York Times, as well as making Amazon’s Best of ‘05 list. And if Burns’ illustratrations look familiar, it’s probably because you’ve seen his work on album covers, advertisements and on each issue of “The Believer.”