X'ed Out

Charles Burns’s X'ed Out, published by Pantheon from 2010 onward, is a surreal, visually arresting graphic novel that opens with a young man named Doug awakening in a strange, dreamlike world. Burns, the sole writer and artist, crafts a narrative that blurs the line between reality and hallucination, drawing on his signature meticulous, black-and-white linework and unsettling imagery. This series marks a significant and deeply personal turn in Burns’s career, expanding his exploration of adolescent anxiety and identity into a more fragmented, Lynchian landscape. Its single published issue stands as a haunting, self-contained prologue to an ongoing, enigmatic story.