The Hive

Charles Burns is back at it again! I read his Black Hole series from start to finish in individual comic book installments and it was, probably, one of the greatest comics I've ever read. Now, I'm not a fan of 'super hero' comics or really any of the Marvel/DC universe of comics-their just not my 'bag' baby. But I've always loved Underground/Alternative Comics and Charles Burns is, without question, not only an immaculate and skilled draftsman, he's developed into a superlative and sophisticated storyteller as well.In this, his newest series, He's creating a bizarre world of hard narcotic hallucinations bringing on, what one can only call, an ultra bizarre mix of Tin-Tin and William S. Burroughs! It's really fantastic. The only part that has me scratching my head, is that it's a proposed 'three-part' series and I can't for the life of me see how this story will be completed in three parts? The first book was terrific, but left the reader a bit perplexed as to exactly what was happening at the end. In this installment, the bizarre story starts us off in a confused and difficult state. This isn't a bad thing, but by the time we're able to get a 'foot hold' on what's happening in this one, we are thrown off again into another 'whirl' of confusion-again, this is fine- I love difficult and challenging work. But I can only expect that the last installment must be exceptionally longer than either of these two, or that it's a story that will leave us in a state of perpetual confusion. Perhaps that is the point? Either way, I'm waiting with baited breath for the next installment of Burns' new work-he just gets better and better.

Charles Burns is probably best known for his  Black Hole  series which remains the best starting point for exploring his works. Since then he has started a new trilogy which starts with  X'ed Out  and continues with this book (book 2 in the series). Supposedly, there will be only one more entry in the series. Burns has spent his career perfecting his artwork and this book presents the best example of his composition, linework, and inking abilities, combined with a coloring technique that is first being presented in this series (his previous work was in black and white). The story content is focused on an exaggerated version of teenage miseries, combined with a strange and creepy fantasy life that seems to be leaking out into the real world. In that sense it is very much of a piece with Black Hole. Many questions are asked, few are answered; and I wouldn't expect everything to be sewn up neatly in the conclusion, either. The binding, paper, and printing are extraordinary in this series, displaying Burns's superb attention to detail in every aspect of this series. Highly recommended.

The first two books in this series have much potential to be better than most graphic novels that I have read. Especially considering his stories aren't autobiographical memoir and they are not super hero driven. The store in this series has the potential of being on par with Blackhole, but the drawing is slightly lazier than his first effort. His uses a lot of black panels and panels that just have writing. All in all, like I said earlier its better than most the stuff out there. So check it out, but if you have read Blackhole check that out first. Hell, if you haven't read Blackhole, stop reading this review and go get yourself a copy. Hello? Are you still there? Hello?

I'm enjoying Xed Out and The Hive so much more than Burns' Black Hole. The colors and artwork are incredible, but the storytelling! Burns has the knack for subtly switching narratives/dimensions, whatever. He really sold me on this approach with the Big Baby story, 'Teen Plague'. I'm glad Burns is back to using this storytelling tool with this trilogy. I'm very excited for the third and final installment to arrive this year.

This book - the second of a trilogy - is not as intense as the first, and won't solve many of the questions you might have by the moment you finish X'Ed Out.By the way, considering the evolution of the story and the graphics, there is a lot of good stuff that will probably make a lot more sense with the third book - and shut my mouth forever!Let's wait for Sugar Skull!

Good read

this book combines Burns 80's El Borbah hard-boiled abject humor with his 90's Black Hole surreal sexual horror phase. Frankly, and I know I'm in the minority I don't think the Black Hole stuff is his best work and it drags down this book too. Xe'd the first installment of this series seemed quite promising, but with this volume we appear to have returned to the Black Hole world of teen relationships filled with unnameable dread, a story-line that's a getting a little tiresome. The main appeal of the book is seeing Burns art in beautiful full color.

I've given this book 5 stars because Charles Burns has a very interesting art style. The book is interesting and extremely high quality. I can't wait for the third book in the series, Sugar Skull.

A mind shaking tour of human experience. Terrifying. Unnerving.Its like pressing your ear to a conch shell, but instead of the oceans roar - you hear . . . .Real. It made me stop.Boys adventure on David Lynch meets Hieronymus Bosch traipsing through the nightmare landscape as William Faulkner waves from the shadowy boughs.

Je n'aime pas tellement ce recit, cette atmosphere.Cette BD laisse assez indiferent.

Wonderfully creepy.

For anyone who hasn't read Charles Burns, Black Hole is a good place to start. Thats not to take anything away from The Hive, the problem is that The Hive is a second installment and is so intreguing you just want to read the next one which will probably be a year or so away.The Hive itself is a great read, it takes comics to a whole new level for me, it treats me like an intellegent being and urges me to fill in the blanks. Although the review says it's more confusing than Xed Out I don't agree, both books make you wonder about what on earth (or elsewhere) is going on but The Hive helps you hone down your theories and wets your appetite for the reveal.What I love in these books is the way they skip from world to world, time to time but Burns makes the journey accessible in his art by joining those times and worlds together with similar imagery and at the same time changing his artistic style so you know exactly what world/time you are in. He even plays with the reader at one point where the story tells about a set of romantic magazines (yet another iconic artistic style)where one of the issues is missing and how irritating it is when there are holes in your knowledge of a story (you're then thinking tell me about it and tell me more!)Can't wait for the next book, shame it's bit away but appreciate that the amount of thought and artistic skill gone into this story demands that time frame. Would recommend to anyone who wants to see what a combination of genius and comic book looks like.

I'm a huge fan of Charles Burns work. This series of books is really out there on it's own. It's (so far) a total enigma as to what exactly is going on-think, if David Lynch wrote graphic novels then you're half way there. There will be three in total (this is 2nd). Artwork is stunning and a very trippy homage to Tintin and I cannot wait for more.