Set in the suburbs of Seattle during the mid-1970s, this graphic novel depicts a group of teenagers who contract a sexually transmitted plague known as the Bug. This affliction causes grotesque physical mutations, such as shedding skin, growing tails, or developing additional mouths. Central characters Chris and Rob navigate social isolation and fear as the infected flee to the woods to escape scrutiny. The narrative tracks these physical deformities as permanent markers of social alienation, moving between high school hallways and makeshift forest camps.
Readers interested in body horror and the anxieties of adolescence find here a grim portrayal of the transition into adulthood. The stark, high-contrast black-and-white ink work appeals to those who value visual storytelling that mirrors psychological distress. A reader finishes the book with a visceral understanding of how physical differences create rigid social hierarchies and how shame manifests as a tangible, inescapable deformity. It provides a sobering look at peer cruelty and the permanence of bodily change.
Deep, inward-looking, open-ended and thought-provoking; a moderate read.
Best for readers like The Literary Connoisseur. Which reader are you?
- Published
- 2005
- Language
- EN
