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Blacklung
Chris Wright 's Blacklung is unquestionably one of the most impressive graphic novel debuts in recent years, a sweeping, magisterially conceived, visually startling tale of violence, amorality, fortitude, and redemption, one part Melville, one part Peckinpah. Blacklung is a story that lives up to the term graphic novel, that could only exist in sequential pictures densely textured, highly stylized, delicately and boldly rendered drawings that is, taken together, wholly original. In a night of piratical treachery when an arrogant school teacher is accidentally shanghaied aboard the frigate Hand, his fate becomes inextricably fettered to that of a sardonic gangster. Dependent on one another for survival in their strange and dangerous new home, the two form an unlikely alliance as they alternately elude or confront the thieves and cutthroats that bad luck has made their companions and captors. After an act of terrible violence, the teacher is brought before the ship 's captain and instructed to use his literary skills to aid him in writing his memoirs. He is to serve as scribe for a man who, in his remaining years, has made it his mission to commit as many acts of evil as possible in order to ensure that he meet his dead wife in hell. As the captain 's protected confidant, finding his only comfort in the few books afforded him, the teacher bears witness to monstrous brutality, relentless cruelty, strange wisdom, and a journey of redemption through loss of faith.
128 pages, Hardcover
First published October 17, 2012
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 41 reviews
September 26, 2024
Four stars is not a signal that I think that everyone else will necessarily love this book, of course, because most won't. It is really, really violent, and the art sort of fits the roughness somehow. Unique characterizations, bizarre characters, some really authentic-feeling dialogue, some rich language throughout. Sometimes both the art and the narration are confusing, sketchy.
But here is what I have to say in defense of this book: It is a pirate story! And it is not a children's pirate story, it is an adult pirate story, so the people are very violent, crude, sadistic, not Johnny Depp, not Pirate Day in School where we all say "argh,", so Wright's version seems pretty convincing to me. The pirates kidnap an English teacher, and the captain of the ship both gives him classic texts to read (and he reads aloud to the men at one point, from Paradise Lost!) and asks him to write down the captain's memoirs, which are both elegantly told and violent.
The deal is that the English teacher believes in God, and wants to see his wife again. . . in Hell (just stay with me here), so in order for that to happen, he wants to ensure it will be happen. . . and so has to do certain things, maybe like Scheherazade.
The tale is fragmented, feels incomplete in some ways, and decidedly weirdly original, but the dialogue is rich and it is disturbingly compelling. Hmm, maybe 3.5 as a rating is more accurate for me, but this is shaped by someone with real talent, seems to me.
But here is what I have to say in defense of this book: It is a pirate story! And it is not a children's pirate story, it is an adult pirate story, so the people are very violent, crude, sadistic, not Johnny Depp, not Pirate Day in School where we all say "argh,", so Wright's version seems pretty convincing to me. The pirates kidnap an English teacher, and the captain of the ship both gives him classic texts to read (and he reads aloud to the men at one point, from Paradise Lost!) and asks him to write down the captain's memoirs, which are both elegantly told and violent.
The deal is that the English teacher believes in God, and wants to see his wife again. . . in Hell (just stay with me here), so in order for that to happen, he wants to ensure it will be happen. . . and so has to do certain things, maybe like Scheherazade.
The tale is fragmented, feels incomplete in some ways, and decidedly weirdly original, but the dialogue is rich and it is disturbingly compelling. Hmm, maybe 3.5 as a rating is more accurate for me, but this is shaped by someone with real talent, seems to me.
January 3, 2016
One of the strongest graphic novels I've read in ages, a savage, visionary tale that feels like a fusion of Blood Meridian and A High Wind in Jamaica, or like one of Will Oldham's darker songs ("A Sucker's Evening", "New Gypsy", "Madeline Mary") as illustrated by David B. Superb.
January 24, 2013
If you're a person who would like to write a graphic novel but you can't really draw all that well, take heart; this book was actually published. I struggled so hard trying to read this, each day getting a little further into the mess of ridiculously bad artwork because I was so sure there was something remarkable here. All the blurbs I've read on this make claims that there's some sort of redemption to be found, but I think it may have been left out of the copy I got. I find nothing redemptive here, no fortitude, just some poorly drawn figures acting out terrible brutalities on one another. I read this whole thing, I persevered in the end, & by the time I finished I had no idea why I even bothered.
November 8, 2021
Black Lung is the work of an extraordinary cartoonist whose reach has exceeded his grasp.
I reveled in Wright's previous book, a collection of short tales titled Ink Weed (Sparkplug, 2008), which is filled with wonderfully flavorful cartooning and writing. Wright's work tends to be both spiritual and brutal, and his rounded, grotesque, figures, like mad sock dolls in appearance, spout some of the oddest, tastiest dialogue I've seen in comics. The loving textures of the drawing, the visionary flights in word and image, the occasional burst of terrible, blanching cruelty--I dig all that. Wright has a distinct sensibility, and takes big chances. In its sheer eccentricity, his work reminds me of both Elzie (Popeye) Segar and the British outsider cartoonist Ed Pinsent.
Black Lung is Wright's first novel-length tale, a piratical seagoing yarn about a cosseted academic who falls in among an insane crew of buccaneers, captained by a Miltonic Satanic skipper who wants dearly to offend God and go to hell. Passages from Paradise Lost and a general debt to Melville coexist with the Segar-esque bigfoot cartooning. The dialogue is off-kilter and often brilliant. Sadly, the novel doesn't come off despite boasting all these qualities plus the artistic virtues above-named. The lancing brutality of the tale--seriously, there are moments of inventive cruelty and mayhem here that robbed me of breath--aims at a kind of divine catharsis through sheer excess, but the story's point of view and structure seem irresolute, the tale diluted by distractions and odd sideways lunges.
Though I love Wright's defiantly non-realistic character designs--heads like cauliflowers, hands like flippers, fingers like sausages, with curious, near tattoo-like scarification on so many faces--the cast is hard to get to know, and I often had to flip back and forth in the book to get a grip on who was who, even in dire, climactic moments. Motivation is hard to grasp, even in the captain whose mission against God is the heart of the plot. The story pitches this way and that, not quite arriving at a clear focus even in the home stretch, when Wright seems determined to gun the engine and get somewhere. Lacerating violence gives the story its decisive nodes, its key moments, but the payoff, despite heroic striving on the levels of layout and scripting, does not register strongly enough. For a story about affronting God and wading through brutality and perversity, Black Lung ends up seeming vague and etherous, its ending fumbled and obscure.
This is still a mighty interesting comic, often beautiful to look at and written with unlikely verve. Wright is really something, and I would buy and read another book by him in a heartbeat. Unfortunately, he has not found a novel's shape here, and the result is a bit of a dizzying mess. Check out Ink Weed for a more accessible introduction to this artist.
I reveled in Wright's previous book, a collection of short tales titled Ink Weed (Sparkplug, 2008), which is filled with wonderfully flavorful cartooning and writing. Wright's work tends to be both spiritual and brutal, and his rounded, grotesque, figures, like mad sock dolls in appearance, spout some of the oddest, tastiest dialogue I've seen in comics. The loving textures of the drawing, the visionary flights in word and image, the occasional burst of terrible, blanching cruelty--I dig all that. Wright has a distinct sensibility, and takes big chances. In its sheer eccentricity, his work reminds me of both Elzie (Popeye) Segar and the British outsider cartoonist Ed Pinsent.
Black Lung is Wright's first novel-length tale, a piratical seagoing yarn about a cosseted academic who falls in among an insane crew of buccaneers, captained by a Miltonic Satanic skipper who wants dearly to offend God and go to hell. Passages from Paradise Lost and a general debt to Melville coexist with the Segar-esque bigfoot cartooning. The dialogue is off-kilter and often brilliant. Sadly, the novel doesn't come off despite boasting all these qualities plus the artistic virtues above-named. The lancing brutality of the tale--seriously, there are moments of inventive cruelty and mayhem here that robbed me of breath--aims at a kind of divine catharsis through sheer excess, but the story's point of view and structure seem irresolute, the tale diluted by distractions and odd sideways lunges.
Though I love Wright's defiantly non-realistic character designs--heads like cauliflowers, hands like flippers, fingers like sausages, with curious, near tattoo-like scarification on so many faces--the cast is hard to get to know, and I often had to flip back and forth in the book to get a grip on who was who, even in dire, climactic moments. Motivation is hard to grasp, even in the captain whose mission against God is the heart of the plot. The story pitches this way and that, not quite arriving at a clear focus even in the home stretch, when Wright seems determined to gun the engine and get somewhere. Lacerating violence gives the story its decisive nodes, its key moments, but the payoff, despite heroic striving on the levels of layout and scripting, does not register strongly enough. For a story about affronting God and wading through brutality and perversity, Black Lung ends up seeming vague and etherous, its ending fumbled and obscure.
This is still a mighty interesting comic, often beautiful to look at and written with unlikely verve. Wright is really something, and I would buy and read another book by him in a heartbeat. Unfortunately, he has not found a novel's shape here, and the result is a bit of a dizzying mess. Check out Ink Weed for a more accessible introduction to this artist.
April 9, 2020
Chris Wright's Blacklung is kind of bleak, ambitious mess: I admire Wright's attempt to deal with moral ambiguities of telling a tale of amoral pirates. Wright's ruminations and the contrast of his artwork--cartoony and, frankly, sloppy figures doing horrible violence to one-another--save the work but the story is mostly: teacher gets caught up on a pirate ship and is forced to the tell the story of a captain who wants to ensure his turn in hell to see his dead wife and the amoral and immoral characters would be around such a figure. Most of the characters are not particularly likable even as villains. Yet Wright has a gift for compelling dialogue that keeps one interested. A very bleak and blood mixed bag.
August 12, 2017
I didn't know what to expect from this comic. Based on the cover I figured it was going to be a bunch of abstract comics. But, it's a pretty straight-forward tale about a well-to-do, stuck-up school teacher inadvertently getting stuck on a pirate ship. And the pirates do bad things. And stuff.
I was pretty bored for most of the book. Coincidentally, the most interesting pages in the book were these abstract images and text about religion. The pages reminded me of the considered-classic R. Crumb Abstract Comics.
I can't recommend this book to anyone except people who enjoy alternative comix and want to read a tale about pirates.
I was pretty bored for most of the book. Coincidentally, the most interesting pages in the book were these abstract images and text about religion. The pages reminded me of the considered-classic R. Crumb Abstract Comics.
I can't recommend this book to anyone except people who enjoy alternative comix and want to read a tale about pirates.
January 30, 2013
I'm not sure what to make of this book. Unlikable characters. Thoroughly unpleasant subject matter. Occasionally incomprehensible writing. But somehow compelling.
May 7, 2013
Blacklung is an original comic with dark, sadistic poetic themes. The illustrations were nothing great; actually pretty crude and basic..However, Chris Wright makes it work somehow, consciously identifying and exploiting his lack of drawing ability, but applying it effectively throughout the comic with clever tactics and original techniques.... The way the panels of the drawings were arranged on certain pages created an interesting affect bordering surrealism and realism with bursts of sudden, unpredictable, and brilliant moments of delirium with quite simple drawing techniques...The composition and arrangement of these parts of both words and the drawings were quite good and effective....
The context of the writing really adds a lot of life to the rather mediocre illustrations (Just flip through the book). If you read and experience the images in the context of the writing, its a whole new experience, adding way more depth to these rather bland and almost comical illustrations...Good balance with images and writing.... Also, the characters physical appearance were a great juxtapose to the actual writing in the comic; unusual, grotesque, undefined, loose, and purposely lacking detail... At first I thought the writing was just a remake of old tales by famous authors and poets, but I guess they were in fact original..Quite impressive writing for sure.... Overall, I found it to be quite interesting, though a bit too short and confusing in the first few pages...
I thought the drawings of the cigar smoke were pretty great too. Good solid piece of art/literature...I want to die..
The context of the writing really adds a lot of life to the rather mediocre illustrations (Just flip through the book). If you read and experience the images in the context of the writing, its a whole new experience, adding way more depth to these rather bland and almost comical illustrations...Good balance with images and writing.... Also, the characters physical appearance were a great juxtapose to the actual writing in the comic; unusual, grotesque, undefined, loose, and purposely lacking detail... At first I thought the writing was just a remake of old tales by famous authors and poets, but I guess they were in fact original..Quite impressive writing for sure.... Overall, I found it to be quite interesting, though a bit too short and confusing in the first few pages...
I thought the drawings of the cigar smoke were pretty great too. Good solid piece of art/literature...I want to die..
March 21, 2013
There are and will be better/smarter reviews than mine (see Anthony V.'s above), but this a pretty astonishing comic debut. Chris Wright gives us what seems like simple art, but the storytelling is never bad and there are some extended sequences where Wright plays with the panels in creative ways. You can read the plot description above, but this violent tale exploring life, love, religion, hope, despair and surrealism is much more than the above. Some of the closing sequences might leave you scratching your head (I did), but if this book is for you like it was for me, you'll be floored by the time you reach the last page. Can't wait for more from Mr. Chris Wright.
(Note: There is an unfortunate incident where Page 28 was printed twice in the book. So skip Page 19 as it shouldn't be there twice.)
(Note: There is an unfortunate incident where Page 28 was printed twice in the book. So skip Page 19 as it shouldn't be there twice.)
December 3, 2013
Mr.Wright, I hope you have a therapist.
This is some messed up shoeshine, brother.
I'll go with some surreal, and stomach some violence, but there's a lot of both here and the ultimate message of your book seems to be that intellectuals should just "man up" and expose themselves to some psychopathology. If you're a war vet, and you have something to say about violence from lived experience... ok. This feels like high school sex and violence doodles, sometimes. Seriously Chauvinist and borderline sociopathic. As an artist, I recommend you don't stay in this world. I respect your creative gifts, but the narrative was more sloppy than truly surreal at times - unnecessary characters, and it was so hard to acclimatize to the visuals I wasn't sure who anyone was until the bearded dude showed up. I totally missed the first kid being murdered the first time I read it. I guess it would help me to know definitively that this kind of violence is historical (I'd guess it is). Some notes a the back about 19th century gangs, or the historical record of piratical violence might have helped me put the book in context. As it is the book just feels kind of indulgent to me, which is weird considering you must have put hundreds of hours into the creation of it. Pretty sure the copy of the book I read had a misprint page too, which only added confusion... which mmmmight have been deliberate - but just came off annoying and kind of irresponsible. To be fair, I'm the kind of guy who thinks Frank Miller is a fascist with PTSD - and to each their own.
This is some messed up shoeshine, brother.
I'll go with some surreal, and stomach some violence, but there's a lot of both here and the ultimate message of your book seems to be that intellectuals should just "man up" and expose themselves to some psychopathology. If you're a war vet, and you have something to say about violence from lived experience... ok. This feels like high school sex and violence doodles, sometimes. Seriously Chauvinist and borderline sociopathic. As an artist, I recommend you don't stay in this world. I respect your creative gifts, but the narrative was more sloppy than truly surreal at times - unnecessary characters, and it was so hard to acclimatize to the visuals I wasn't sure who anyone was until the bearded dude showed up. I totally missed the first kid being murdered the first time I read it. I guess it would help me to know definitively that this kind of violence is historical (I'd guess it is). Some notes a the back about 19th century gangs, or the historical record of piratical violence might have helped me put the book in context. As it is the book just feels kind of indulgent to me, which is weird considering you must have put hundreds of hours into the creation of it. Pretty sure the copy of the book I read had a misprint page too, which only added confusion... which mmmmight have been deliberate - but just came off annoying and kind of irresponsible. To be fair, I'm the kind of guy who thinks Frank Miller is a fascist with PTSD - and to each their own.
October 2, 2017
This book was pretty horrific. I'm not usually one to shy away from graphic violence, but I really didn't care for this. The art style was also ugly and confusing - hard to keep the characters straight until well into the book.
March 7, 2013
This was some heta-uma grizzliness.
April 16, 2022
Dark, deep; and necessary. A superb piece.
W.H.
W.H.
July 9, 2020
Wow! Blacklung is a wild and rather violent adventure like no other that I've read. A hapless intellectual and teacher gets shanghaied on The Hand, which is a notorious pirate ship. The ship's run by one Outwater, though he is not the captain, yet he is the voice of reason for the most part. There is a truly violent and mad pirate who likes to kill and maim for no reason and a captain who enjoys unleashing him to win his battles. Some horrible things happen to the hapless teacher, but after the resident priest goes bonkers, the captain uses the teacher to dictate his memoir (which is mostly musings on life and religion). The captain does have a goal, which is mad, but we learn this much later (it has to do with his dead wife).
Overall, the art is fantastic, especially the epic, half-mythological stories that take over the page like mad dreams. The story is layered and complex, though perhaps relies on pointless madness a but too much. It has a bit of a French ending, where some readers might want a more satisfactory resolution to the predicament of the teacher. But overall, the radical emotional and physical journey is well worth the read.
Recommended for those who like pirates, books, and treasure.
Overall, the art is fantastic, especially the epic, half-mythological stories that take over the page like mad dreams. The story is layered and complex, though perhaps relies on pointless madness a but too much. It has a bit of a French ending, where some readers might want a more satisfactory resolution to the predicament of the teacher. But overall, the radical emotional and physical journey is well worth the read.
Recommended for those who like pirates, books, and treasure.
November 28, 2022
An ambitious comic with interesting themes and unique cartooning, but the overall narrative felt bloated and frankly, a little dull.
Chris Wright's Blacklung tells the story of a teacher who finds himself on a pirate ship run by a brutal yet erudite captain. The captain is compelled into action by visions of his dead wife in hell and thus commits as many violent atrocities in the hopes of reuniting with her. The narrative is bleak and profane, but there is some nuance in the depiction of the violence. Wright's cartooning is also hypnotic - the characters are depicted with strange proportions and inhuman appearances that really feel unique. However, I did struggle to discern the identities of different characters at various points, and I do think this had a major impact on my reading experience.
However, the story really dragged for me. It took several attempts for me to finish the book, and I feel the real reason is that plot is stretched. While the dialogue is quite well realized and there is quite some depth here, I imagine some brevity could have salvaged my reading experience here. Overall, I can't imagine I'd strongly recommend this or find myself revisiting this book.
Chris Wright's Blacklung tells the story of a teacher who finds himself on a pirate ship run by a brutal yet erudite captain. The captain is compelled into action by visions of his dead wife in hell and thus commits as many violent atrocities in the hopes of reuniting with her. The narrative is bleak and profane, but there is some nuance in the depiction of the violence. Wright's cartooning is also hypnotic - the characters are depicted with strange proportions and inhuman appearances that really feel unique. However, I did struggle to discern the identities of different characters at various points, and I do think this had a major impact on my reading experience.
However, the story really dragged for me. It took several attempts for me to finish the book, and I feel the real reason is that plot is stretched. While the dialogue is quite well realized and there is quite some depth here, I imagine some brevity could have salvaged my reading experience here. Overall, I can't imagine I'd strongly recommend this or find myself revisiting this book.
August 9, 2018
Makes me think of S. Clay Wilson mixed with the metaphysical genius of Alan Moore. This is a stunning book - visually and narratively. It's absolutely brutal but pocked with moments of introspection that broaden the scope far beyond the pirates of The Hand to haunt the reader with questions of sin and redemption.
March 9, 2022
A dirty and violent story about a pirate doing real pirate things drawn in a simple style makes it even darker. I’m not sure I’d recommend this but if you’re reading comic reviews you probably gave the time to read and appreciate this.
February 3, 2020
Warm-fuzzy blob looking guys commit heinous acts on land and on a ship. They speak sort of high-falutingly. This wasn't my cup of tea but I am sending my copy to my little brother!
August 9, 2025
Was worried that the character design would weird me out. Instead I was pleased with how good the writing and characters were. Nothing I love more than maritime grunge and ceaseless violence.
December 19, 2025
A bit rough around the edges… but I liked the style variation at the end with the words and pictures more abstract
February 26, 2014
how odd: a truly interesting failure. art so primitive it will put off a large amount of the audience. violence and sexuality so base and revolting it will put off a large amount of the audience. Still, the plotline is irresistable: an intellectual disgraced by his passions is in the wrong place at the wrong time and gets press-ganged with a huge mobster. there he deals with an enforcer who gets an erotic thrill from slaughter as well as a captain who wants to sin himself into hell to be reunited with his wives. There are crazy amounts of Milton in here and occasionally Wright busts out pages of breathtaking compositions that totally scramble your ideas of what can be done with panels (maybe David B gets close with his sacred geometry texts like The Armed Garden).
But it takes too long to get to the good stuff and he glosses over the most ripe character conflicts. There are incredible things here, scattered among long stretches of dry sadism and conventional piracy narratives. Hidden among the fashionable nihilism of the captain and all the Melvillainy of Milton we get too much awkward plotting with soft doughy shapes that we struggle to associate with distinct characters.
A huge disappointment only because it is so close to being a 5-star book.
But it takes too long to get to the good stuff and he glosses over the most ripe character conflicts. There are incredible things here, scattered among long stretches of dry sadism and conventional piracy narratives. Hidden among the fashionable nihilism of the captain and all the Melvillainy of Milton we get too much awkward plotting with soft doughy shapes that we struggle to associate with distinct characters.
A huge disappointment only because it is so close to being a 5-star book.
February 26, 2016
This is definitely a unique graphic novel, subject matter and artistic style like none I have seen. About a fairly unlikeable teacher who gets press-ganged into a pirate crew lead by a captain trying to commit as many sins as possible so he could be reunited with his wife in hell (interesting premise). It was confusing at times, other times really dark and violent, and then all of a sudden - it was over. The style was confusing with some of the characters, especially one who's appearance changes ... all of a sudden, I couldn't figure out why they were calling what I thought was a different character Sweaney. Alas, some of the more violent/sadistic images will stick with me for some time. I read this in one sitting when I woke up in the middle of the night and couldn't go back to sleep. I didn't put it down and it could have gone in a direction/details that I would have enjoyed further... but on the flip side...what did I just read? So three stars - not for everyone, but very different, and some interesting moments.
March 6, 2014
Whattttt. I am giving this guy four stars for ballsiness. This is some weird, tripped-out, kinda-art-school-y, kind of just some guy doodling shit, with a really rewarding climactic emotional extra-artsy sequence near the end. Lots of gross-out violence and madness too. It's not perfect - the story is really meandering and obscured by the crazy mess, but hey, it's there somewhere! And that is saying a lot! I like the roughness, I like the weirdness, I wasn't sure I would, but in the end I was like WHOA I was way too into that, so I think it did it's job. I don't think it will do that job for most readers, but if you like weird gross trippiness or old school Decemberist songs about sailors and prostitution and the drink and such, then please do check it out.
June 6, 2014
I picked this up mostly because I was fascinated by the drawing style.... The copy I had was a bit misprinted; a few pages were mixed up in themselves/repeated, so following the story was much more confusing than it ought to have been.
Even so, it was pretty convoluted and I had no idea who I really cared for or not. I was enthralled, but confused.
Even so, it was pretty convoluted and I had no idea who I really cared for or not. I was enthralled, but confused.
May 5, 2013
Not the normal kind of art that I enjoy but it grew on me. The style is simplistic but you can tell the writer/ artist knows how to use a pen nib. Interesting and well done with some artsy flavor. Also, this was not a debut. He did at least two other books previously.
February 26, 2013
Weird. Bloody. Hilarious. Imagine a NC-17 version of Cabin Boy. Sometimes it made me grin, and sometimes it just made me howl.
December 6, 2012
A fantastic Graphic Novel! Whimsical and twisted, we loved every panel of it!
December 18, 2012
That was just a bit much for me.
February 13, 2013
Uhm. Maybe some other time, when I'm more into ugly Clockwork Orange-y stuff.
September 17, 2015
Somehow I can love Tezuka and Jason and have so little patience for this book's art. Colors would have dampened the dizzying effect of all the cross-hatching.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 41 reviews