Review: "Kommix" by Charles Burns

Kommix by Charles Burns
Published July 2024 via Fantragraphics
★★★

Burns is a comics artist with an extensive backlist, a distinct style (my partner, who is also a comics artist, catching a glimpse of this book my shoulder: "Is that by Charles Burns? Is Fantagraphics the publisher? That looks like something they would do")—and a love of comics from the 50s and 60s. Here, he's created a collection of comic book covers, inspired by that era, for comics that never existed.

For the most part the covers fall under two categories: otherworldly (think tentacles, think fleshy pink blobs, think apocalyptic landscapes) and contemporary—though a contemporary world of fifty years ago, and with an emphasis on the ways in which the Western world is not a safe place for women. Some of the inspiration is clear, such as one character who repeats across a number of covers and would fit into Tintin's world without a blink. Several images—though one in particular—could be pulled from a vintage Archie, and I imagine that those better versed in comics of the era would be able to easily identify other sources of inspiration.

The ARC I read was all but textless, and in my ideal world the final version would have at least an introduction or some analysis at the end or something—not sure whether that's a possibility. In particular, I'd love a discussion of how much these covers are, or aren't, subverting expectation. I'm not an expert in comics (of the 50s and 60s, or at all), and I wasn't enthusiastic about how many of these images show half-naked women and promises of sexual violence; I'd have loved to see something talking about how these differ from older comics (other than perhaps making some of it more overt) and how much can be expected.

I wouldn't necessarily want to read most of the comics imagined behind these covers, but if you're a fan of Burns' style, you'll likely want to hang some of these on your wall.

Thanks to the author and publisher for providing a review copy through NetGalley.