In using the graphic novel, Charles Burns is able to make full use of body horror imagery in Black Hole, through all the deformities of the “bug” that develop for some of the kids. The image-based nature of the book makes this more apparent that perhaps a regular book would.

Many of the deformities are seen as ugly and not normal. The kids of with these deformities are pushed out of society. On the other hand, some kids “pass” fairly well. They are able to function in normal society, while hiding the effects of the bug. Three of our four main characters: Keith, Chris, and Rob, all manage to hide their deformities, at least for some amount of time.

However, some deformities are neither completely grotesque nor undetectable, but only vaguely weird, sometimes in an almost attractive way. Eliza, for example, has a strange little tail, that is never drawn unattractively or in a “gross” way. For Keith, it is often seen as “cute” or even sexual, as it seems to play a part in their sexual encounters.

These three ways society can see the “deformities” also reminds me of the concept of “passing narratives”, as applied to race, sexuality, gender, diseases like Leprosy or HIV/AIDS, (to a certain extent, religion), etc. Many of these things can be seen by different people at different times of human history as a) completely unacceptable, horrifying, or wrong, b) acceptable if the bearer can pass as the default “normal” (healthy, white, straight, Christian, cis, etc.), or c) as sexually charged/fetishized (especially in the case of race and sexuality).

Parts of the imagery alludes directly to this. Deformities like Rick’s and Dave’s are reminiscent of death and disease: they are walking reminders of the sickness. Chris’s oral interaction with Rob’s little mouth and Keith’s attraction to Eliza’s tail both mimic same-sex attraction to a certain degree. There is also the connection to transgender people, in Rob’s yonic development, Eliza’s phallic one, Chris’s constant shedding of her skin, and Keith’s binding of his chest with ace bandage. This brings in a certain amount of fetishization and innate body horror present in the transgender narrative.

Often, ostracization of these groups occurs, because of fear of “catching” (of the diseases or immorality associated with the group), forcing the creation of separate, challenged communities, similar to the community of kids in the woods in Black Hole. However, such communities often lack public support, access to good food, adequate medical care, protection under the law, etc.

At the end of the book, many of the characters (most notably Eliza and Keith) reject the “normal” way of doing things and embrace their own communities, which turns out to be one of the only healthy ways to deal with being so very different (as opposed to, say, Dave’s murders and suicide). Hopefully that can change.

((Also: maybe we already discussed some of this in class (?), but I missed that day.))