X'Ed Out - Charles Burns

From Charles Burns, one of the most important graphic novel artists working today, X’ED OUT (Pantheon, $19.95) is a masterpiece. The first in a projected series, it opens with a young man waking up in a dream and not knowing where he is. Details are familiar, but he can’t place them. His new world is strange and terrifying. He narrates flashbacks to his waking life, where he follows a young female photographer with an abusive boyfriend. Burns is excellent at creating an atmosphere of violence and ugliness which at the same time seems utterly familiar (like a dream). He tells the story of our time without pulling punches but with an artistry one might not recognize.