The Hive by Charles Burns

The Hive is a dark and disturbing continuation of X'ed Out, recently published part 2 of Charles Burns' new trilogy definitely inspired by Hergé's Tintin – but with a Naked Lunch twist.

Given it's a very complex multilayer story (part 1 made no sense on its own, part 2 now start to form patterns of sense), I was left with no option but to re-read X'ed Out again – just to remember what it was about. Timelines cross – reality, imagination, hallucinations, present and past, all intersect and collide – and oh boy, now both X'ed Out and The Hive have become a thrilling read.

My problem – by the time part 3, called Sugar Skull, hits the shelves, I will have forgotten X'ed Out and The Hive entirely, and will have to re-read both again. It looks like a marketing scam, I would say, splitting a 300 page graphic novel into 3 thin installments to sell 3 books $20 a piece and not just one for $25. Oh well, I like it so much now that I couldn't care less. Finally, a great follow up to Burns's renowned Black Hole, well overdue.