Charles Burns is one of the most
distinctive comic book artists working today. 
His bold black and white highly stylized work clearly owes a great deal
to the pulp comic books of the 1950s, although they are more surreal and darkly
humorous. This book contains three
stories: “Dog Days,” “Burn Again,” and “A Marriage Made in Hell,” as well as
some unused panels. They appeared previously
in a weekly comic strip Big Baby and came out between 1988 and 1992.  

The first
story features Dog Boy, who has strong tendencies to behave like a dog,
including he sniffing of other people’s behinds and barking when he gets
excited, and this gets him into trouble. 
The second, longest story, is about a religious cult that worships an
alien, led by a very strange man by the name of Bliss Blister. The final short story is of a very
unconventional marriage in which a woman discovered the bizarre truth about her
husband.

Most of the
characters in these stories are fantastically ugly. Their motives are self-serving but they are terribly alone,
hiding secrets from each other, or trying to discover the secrets of other
people. The stories are both funny and
a little disturbing, but really the weirdness has more kitsch value than
ability to reveal anything about human nature. 
It’s hard to identify with the main characters, and so one gets little
sense of understanding what motivated them. 
The stories and artwork go well together, and the plot is strong enough
to make the reader keep on turning the pages from start to finish.

But it’s
Burns’ art that really commands respect. 
The not-quite-human faces of most of his characters are alien and
unsympathetic, the eyes especially devoid of warmth. The strength of the lines and the featuring of contrasts give the
images an iconic power comparable to Keith Haring’s work. The characters may be creepy and weird, but
it is Burn’s ability to convey those qualities so effectively that makes his
work so memorable.

Link:

Charles
Burns web page at Fantagraphics Books

© 2002 Christian Perring. First Serial Rights.

Christian Perring,
Ph.D., is Chair of the Philosophy Department at Dowling College,
Long Island. He is editor of Metapsychology Online Review.
His main research is on philosophical issues in psychiatry.
He is especially interested in exploring how philosophers can
play a greater role in public life, and he is keen to help foster
communication between philosophers, mental health professionals,
and the general public.

Categories: ArtAndPhotography, Fiction