Wow! Thank You So Much For Replying! I Wish I Could Reach Through The Screen And Hug You :P Yeah, Black

Wow! Thank you so much for replying! I wish I could reach through the screen and hug you :P yeah, Black Hole is kind of what got me started on this theme, but I haven’t really heard of the rest. I am familiar with Lynda Barry but hadn’t thought to consider her work from this angle so cheers for that suggestion! Edie Fake and Osamu Tezuka also both sound perfect for my project :D I’m really hyped so will go and check them out of the library first thing Monday. 

It really made my day to read this message from you! :) None of my uni tutors specialise in comic studies and trying to find people to discuss this with has felt a lot like shouting into the wind. Thank you both for your thoughtful recommendations and sorry for gushing so much! 

Hi! I'm a lit student looking for recommendations for comics that use the form innovatively to express their narratives, OR for comics that touch upon the themes of monstrosity & deformity, I'm interested in stories featuring characters who face stigmatisation for 'Othered' bodies. If you know any related comics that would be great! Thank you so much!

Hi comicsstudent! Thanks so much for asking. This is a fascinating topic and it was fun to think of work that fits the bill. 

Edie Fake deals with gender, sexuality and the body in his mostly wordless collection “Gaylord Phoenix.” Bodies come apart and are put back together in all kinds of monstrous ways.

My partner suggested Ode to Kirihito by Osamu Tezuka, in which the protagonist contracts a disease which slowly turns him into a dog. 

Lynda Barry deals with race, gender, the body and feelings of alienation in her amazing book One Hundred Demons

I also can think of a lot of classic comics in which someone’s deformity becomes their greatest asset: Swamp Thing, Plastic Man, the X-Men. These characters are shunned by society but use their “deformities” for good. There’s also Shigeru Mizuki’s character Kitaro, who acts as an emissary between the living and a bunch of monsters, called Yokai, from Japanese folktales. 

Black Hole by Charles Burns fits the bill if you haven’t read that one. 

I wish I could think of more. I know there are thousands!!! Good luck and let me know what else you find!

Hi! Thank you for such an in-depth and thoughtful reply! ‘Stitches’ and ‘Velvet Glove’ both sounds as if they will be extremely useful, thank you! I’ll give the others a look too, the wordless work of Rafael Sica looks particularly interesting :) All the best, Will xx

Hi! I'm a big fan of 'Building Stories' here, I'm a literature student looking either for comics that use the form/medium in a unique and innovative way to express their narratives, OR for comics that touch upon the themes of monstrosity and deformity, (I have so far focused on 'Epileptic' by David B. and "Black Hole" by Charles Burns.) If you know any comics that focus on the stigmatisation of people with 'Othered' bodies that would be fantastic! Thank you so much!

comicstudent Hello! Thanks for your visit! How can I answer your question? I’m not a great scholar, not as deep comics connoisseur so! I’m just a fan, as you are too! ;-) Well what can I now remember are the stories of the brothers Hernandez, which you can find in “Love and Rockets”. I also remember the great “Stitches” by David Small. We can not forget the powerful “Like a Velvet Glove Cast in Iron” of Daniel Clowes. Then there are other languages, “Ma circoncision” of Riad Sattouf. “Acht, Neun, Zehn” of Arne Bellstorf. “Insekt” and “Vier Augen” of Sascha Hommer. It would be nice you visit the catalog publishers like The Fantagraphics, Drawn and Quarterly and the like. The Le'Association from Paris, The Reprodukt from German. And the Cachalote in Brazil. Look for work of Rafael Coutinho and Rafael Sica, both Brazilians. By the way Rafael Sica does not use speech, point! Sorry for the translator;-)

Brazil Hugs.

https://embed-ssl.ted.com/talks/pilobolus_perform_symbiosis.html

I’ve found myself watching a lot of dance in my study breaks. I think it puts you in a really relaxed yet contemplative mood. This is quite an old video, but it takes my breath away every time I watch it.

I guess you haven’t heard the news that David Cameron face-fucked a pig.

In the news today; a man doesn’t sing the national anthem. Never mind the ongoing refugee crisis, or the child tax credits cut though, yeah?

Day 1: Sort out your life Will

Dear Tumblr, I’m a 22 year old mess, trying to get my shit life together and write my Masters dissertation. I love comics, so I’m writing on that, and if you have any tips / recommendation / advice, then I would love love LOVE to hear from you. 

I’ve kept a diary for a long time, and will continue to do so, but I want to chronicle my learning and my life in a new way, to share it and make conversations happen and organise it all and go paper-free. 

BOOM, that’s what I’m here for.

ONE PICTURE CAN CHANGE EVERYTHING: Changing British Attitudes Towards the Refugee Crisis

(Comic above by OneMillionMouths)

Below is a timeline of how the image of Alan Kurdi transformed the British response to the refugee crisis overnight. (With Lots of Pictures) 

I realise tumblr has probably been flooded with posts like this, but I wanted to make my own, when I saw the above comic by OneMillionMouths, which really resonated with me in regards to this issue. People are naturally empathetic, you just need to change their perspective and get their attention. 

1) ‘Perceptions & Reality: Public Attitudes to Immigration’ - Bobby Duffy & Tom Frere-Smith (January 2014), Recent report on British attitudes to Immigration. 

2) Katie Hopkins, prominent British tabloid columnist and ‘deluded lunatic’ (her words), publishes a piece of hate speech in a national newspaper describing refugees as ‘cockroaches’. In a following LBC interview, she states ‘I would use gunships’ to deter fleeing refugees. (Monday 20th April 2015)

3) Photos of drowned 3-year-old refugee Alan Kurdi are taken by Nilüfer Demir, (Wednesday 2nd September 2015)

4) Within 24 hours, the image has spread across the world and internet, prompting passionate and fierce debate over the refugee crisis. The Independent UK, The Telegraph. There is a global outpouring of grief and empathy. The Independent (UK) starts a #RefugeesWelcome campaign. (Thursday 3rd September 2015)

5) The Sun Newspaper (which previously published the ‘cockroaches’ article) does dramatic U-turn and starts ‘For Aylan’ campaign, still manages to propose bombing Syria as a solution two days later. (Friday 4th September 2015)

6) British PM David Cameron announces UK to accept 20,000 more refugees. (Monday 7th September 2015)

7) The UK Marches in Solidarity with Refugees. (Saturday 12th September 2015)

8) Government Petition for UK to accept more refugees has amassed 438,312 signatures. Thus meeting criteria  of 100,000 signatures to be debated in Parliament. Official Gov response has been posted from the Home Office (Last accessed: Wednesday 16th September 2015)