The Comics Journal

Throughout the Tintin stories by Belgian cartoonist Hergé, a brief scene reappears: the hero and his canine companion, Snowy, are about to enter a black hole. Always in pursuit and often pursued, they pass through natural gaps and man-made holes that open into uncertainty — who or what lies on the other side? — but ultimately lead to a happy ending. The mystery is solved, the rupture figuratively closed-up. In X’ed Out, Charles Burns turns the fictional world of Tintin inside out as he explores the visual and visceral appeal of such seemingly routine scenes and images. Burns makes black holes central, linking them to mental and physical wounds that drive Doug, X’ed Out’s unwilling and alienated hero, to undertake his adventure — he needs answers that can only be found at the other end of the opening.