Rad Queers: Edie Fake From Graham Kolbeins On Vimeo.

Rad Queers: Edie Fake from Graham Kolbeins on Vimeo.

Thank you, Anya Davidson, for the great recommendation of Edie Fake’s “Gaylord Phoenix”! It’s a great complimentary text to “Black Hole” in its themes and it’s also really gorgeously illustrated. :) 

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)  

HKAPA Chinese Dance - Nirvana

If I had magic powers, I would make it snow cherry blossom petals every evening at sunset.

Dinah Washington & Max Richter - This bitter earth / On the nature of daylight

I’ll be honest, I had a bad day today. Sing it to me, Dinah.

Olafur Arnalds . For Now I Am Winter (2013)

focus. study. write.

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!