C

Charles Burns

4 Series • 17 Books

4
Series
17
Books
4
Active

🎯 Where Should I Start?

Best Starting Point
Publication Order of Last Look Trilogy Books
Start with: X'ed Out (2010)
Popular Choice
Publication Order of Graphic Novels
Start with: Hardboiled Defective Stories (1988)
Popular Choice
Publication Order of Charles Burns IllustrationBooks
Start with: One Eye (2007)

ⓘ About Charles Burns

In 1992 he designed the sets for the restaging Mark Morris was doing of “The Nutcracker”, now renamed as “The Hard Nut”, at the Brooklyn Academy of Music. Charles illustrated covers for The New York Times Magazine, Time, and The New Yorker. He was also tapped as the official cover artist for The Believer magazine during its inception in the year 2003. In 1994, he was awarded a Pew Fellowship in the Arts. “Black Hole” received Ignatz, Eisner, and Harvey awards in 2005. “El Borbah” is a graphic novel that was released in 1987. Meet El Borbah, who is a 400 pound private eye that wear an eerie Mexican wrestler’s mask and tights. Subsisting totally on beer and junk food, he conducts his investigations with a short temper and tough talk.

All Book Series by Charles Burns

1
X'ed Out book cover

X'ed Out

Series opener · book 1 of 4 · published 2010

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2010
2
The Hive book cover

The Hive

Book 2 of 4 · published 2012

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2012
3
Sugar Skull book cover

Sugar Skull

Book 3 of 4 · published 2014

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2014
4
Last Look book cover

Last Look

Latest in the series · book 4 of 4 · published 2016

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2016
1
Hardboiled Defective Stories book cover

Hardboiled Defective Stories

Series opener · book 1 of 6 · published 1988

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1988
2
Curse of the Molemen book cover

Curse of the Molemen

Book 2 of 6 · published 1991

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1991
3
El Borbah book cover

El Borbah

Book 3 of 6 · published 1999

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1999
4
Skin Deep: Tales of Doomed Romance book cover

Skin Deep: Tales of Doomed Romance

Book 4 of 6 · published 2001

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2001
5
Black Hole book cover

Black Hole

Book 5 of 6 · published 2005

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2005
6
Final Cut book cover

Final Cut

Latest in the series · book 6 of 6 · published 2024

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2024
1
Facetasm book cover

Facetasm

Series opener · book 1 of 5 · published 1997 Co-authored · Gary Panter

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1997
2
One Eye book cover

One Eye

Book 2 of 5 · published 2007

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2007
3
Permagel book cover

Permagel

Book 3 of 5 · published 2008

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2008
4

Johnny 23

Book 4 of 5 · published 2010

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2010
5
Vortex book cover

Vortex

Latest in the series · book 5 of 5 · published 2016

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2016
1
The Best American Comics 2007 book cover

The Best American Comics 2007

Series opener · book 1 of 2 · published 2007

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2007
2
The Best American Comics book cover

The Best American Comics

Latest in the series · book 2 of 2 · published 2009

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2009

? Frequently Asked Questions

Who is Charles Burns?

In 1992 he designed the sets for the restaging Mark Morris was doing of “The Nutcracker”, now renamed as “The Hard Nut”, at the Brooklyn Academy of Music. Charles illustrated covers for The New York Times Magazine, Time, and The New Yorker. He was also tapped as the official cover artist for The Believer magazine during its inception in the year 2003.

Which Charles Burns series should I start with?

The best place to start is the Charles Burns IllustrationBooks series, the earliest of Charles Burns's multi-book series: it opens with Facetasm (1997) and runs to 5 books across 1997–2016, ending with Vortex (2016). Charles Burns's other series stand alone, so they can be read in any order.

How many books has Charles Burns written?

Charles Burns has 17 books catalogued in this guide, published between 1988 and 2024. 9 of them belong to 2 named series — the largest being the Charles Burns IllustrationBooks series with 5 books — and 8 are standalone titles, collections or anthologies.

In what order should Charles Burns's series be read?

Read each series in publication order — the numbered entries in each series follow the year each book first appeared. Charles Burns's series do not depend on one another, so they can be started in any order; by start date they are Charles Burns IllustrationBooks (1997–2016, 5 books) and Last Look Trilogy (2010–2016, 4 books).

How are Charles Burns's books organised into series?

This guide splits Charles Burns's 17 books into 2 named series and 8 titles that stand alone or appear only in collections: Charles Burns IllustrationBooks (5 books, 1997–2016); Last Look Trilogy (4 books, 2010–2016).