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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!