Illness, Disease, And Comics

[aaron_bourque]

This is probably going to be disjointed and rather stream-of-consciousness. It was sparked by ponderings made after I got the news--if anyone's been curious as to where I've been, that's half of the answer; the other is that my main computer crapped out on me and it'll still be a little while before I get the funds together to fix it--and a general dissatisfaction with certain portrayals of certain illnesses in comics anyway (any die-hard fans of Judd Winick probably aren't going to like what I say about his portrayal of an HIV-positive character . . .).

Anyway, first the cut.

Now that that's out of the way, second, the image for legality (at least it's on-topic):


The Death of Captain Marvel came out in 1984, a time of great maturity and depth in comic books. I think I first read it between the ages of 8-11, sometime around then. It was the first time I had ever heard of "cancer," and indeed, I initially mispronounced the word for a while before I was corrected. In the book, for those who don't know, Captain Marvel succumbs to a cancer he got after being exposed to something whilst superheroing. However, in the story, "cancer" could just be a place-holder for any life-threatening illness, including made up sci-fi ones; the use of a real world disease just lends that much more credence and verisimilitude to the story. While cancers can still be lethal, and their treatments debilitating or worse, a diagnosis of cancer is, nowadays, no longer a life sentence (for example, the type of cancer I've been diagnosed with has a very high rate of remission, it's just there's other factors, some of the chemo drugs for instance, that can cause discomfort or worse. But that's just my case. My grandmother died of lung cancer--OR DID SHE??? Yes, she did.) But there are few stories about that. Mostly, cancer is used for drama, rightly or wrongly.

And cancer patients don't care about the drama, they care about getting through it and hopefully outliving a relapse.

But cancer is hardly the only real-world disease that's used to maximize the drama of a story. AIDS and the HIV virus, for example. While Mia Dearden's life with HIV could be a good, well told story, unfortunately, it was told by Judd Winick, and it just smacks of "token HIV character," the same way that Terry Berg felt like, to me, a token gay character under his pen. And while there are comics that deal with these real-world diseases or afflictions (and others--I'm reminded of a porn comic I heard about once about amputees . . .) too often, in super-hero comics at least, the characters with these afflictions are "characters with these afflictions" first, and "people" second. When I was first thinking about writing this essay (or rambling) I had in mind one or two fictional people in mind as counter-examples, but I can't think of them right now. The point of this essay (or rambling), however, is two-fold. What examples are there of comic characters living with debilitating or life-threatening diseases, illnesses, or afflictions, and do they belong in super-hero comics? Other genres, sure, but super-heroes? Richard Donner once said something to the effect (discussing the plot of Superman IV with Christopher Reeve, I think) that introducing such real-world concerns to super-heroes can mess them up beyond repair. Is he right? Is he wrong? How much of a point does he have? Do people want to read about tights-wearing crime-fighters battling cancer, or HIV, or lupus? Should such characters be relegated to supporting cast? And what about those characters? Are any of them people first?



I guess I have to put tag suggestions here? char: Captain Marvel/Mar-Vell, Marvel Graphic Novel aka The Death of Captain Marvel, discussion (I don't know quite how those should be tagged), anything else? I'm really bad at tags.

Aaron "The Mad Whitaker" Bourque; I do recall an ad for the American Cancer Society, I think, depicting Commissioner Gordon dying of lung cancer from the mid-80s? or so . . .

Comments

[thebigapricot]

Aaron, I am very sorry to hear your news. I've known two people who had it and beat it. Best of luck to you.

[kamino_neko]

Damn, sorry to hear that, dude.

But it's good that the doctor thinks your prognosis is good, anyway.

[thokstar]

Just remember that scans_daily will be pulling for you throughout your chemo.

Or at least I will be pulling for you, and giving the evil eye to anybody who isn't supporting you.

[grazzt]

Well I was going to just ignore everything, but now that Thokstar's on my case, I guess I'll have to support you as well.

Seriously, my best wishes go out to you.

[benicio127]

I like Mia, I thought the stories Winick wrote about her were touching. Unfortunately, not much has been done since.

Thing about Mia is she's not a "superhero." She has no powers, she's just a human being. She's skilled at shooting an arrow and fighting. I always thought her learning about being HIV positive was what fueled her to become Speedy. In a way, many vigilantes have a bit of a death wish. Perhaps this was a death wish on her part, perhaps it was to make her life more meaningful. If we're talking about the "afternoon special" feel to comics and dealing with real world issues, I've got an on/off again relationship with that theory and Steph Brown's pregnancy.

Speaking of illnesses, didn't Tim and Alfred go through the "clench" or something like that? I'm sure there's been stories where they've gotten bedridden sick.

Edit: Oh God, that's brutal news. Sorry to hear it. Glad to hear it's a good prognosis, though?

[icon_uk]

Tim had the Clench during the "Contagion" arc, it was some sort of haemorrhagic fever Ra's Al Ghul whipped up.

[rdfox]

I will just say this; "The Death of Captain Marvel" was written because Jim Starlin's father had recently died of cancer (lung cancer, IIRC), and Starlin wrote it partly as therapy, and partly to increase public consciousness about it. Apparently, he heavily based its effects on Mar-Vell on the symptoms his father had shown, both to the cancer and to the treatment.

However, I agree 100% with you on Mia.

[bradhanon]

I did not know that about Starlin. I just lost my mother to ovarian cancer a few weeks ago, so I can feel all too well where he was coming from. That information helps me understand one of the major themes of that story: the feeling of overwhelming helplessness. Thanks for the info.

[lencannon]

I just finished chemo two months ago. If you ever want to talk about what it is like or what to expect, you can get in touch with me.

[aeolos_sakya]

Damn, dude. I can't imagine what it must feel like.
But I'm sure you'll get through this, after all, the doctor say you have a good prognosis. You'll do it, man!

[icon_uk]

Sorry to hear your news Aaron. I'm pretty sure I speak for all of scans_daily when I say we're all wishing you well. (Hey, we only argue about the IMPORTANT stuff here, like comics continuity)

[hyperactivator]

A supriseingly good example of comic character with a life threatening illlness is Deadpool.

Sure he's a silly character but that is one of his serious points. He always loses his attitude whenever it comes up. He knows what its like to suffer so much that all you want is to die and be released from the horror that your body has become. Plus his mother died at an early age from cancer as well though that isn't touched on that much due to Wade's weird backstory issues.

[dorksidefiker]

I wish you the best of luck, and I'll keep my fingers crossed for you.

[whitesycamore]

Sorry to hear about your harsh news. You are right, stories still tend to use cancer as a death sentence despite the fact that it's simply not an accurate portrayal anymore; I have known a lot more cancer survivors than people who died of cancer. Good luck, dude.

I... kind of agree with your opinion on Mia. Sometimes it did seem like tokenism. I really hated the issue where she decided to stand up and do a school presentation on the subject of her own medical status. I hated it when she explained her HIV to the titans by saying that she had made 'bad decisions' (girl, the only bad decisions made were when other people decided to abuse you).

But she is a character with a horrible past, a past that sometimes does leave a physical legacy as well as an emotional one. It's nice to see a character who is a survivor but hasn't just walked away completely unharmed. Loads of characters with tragic backstories and dark secrets etc. have them written in such a way that the emotional consequences can just be swept under the rug as soon as the 'very special issue' has run it's course. But Mia's HIV can't just be forgotten about or ignored. In a way it's like a physical manifestation of her baggage, and it's an issue that's just going to keep on surfacing every now and then - like when she has to disclose her status to her teammates or her love interests. It's not pretty but she has to deal with it, sometimes in unexpected ways, just like real survivors do.

[aaron_bourque]

I consider her "token" because a) she doesn't really act like a person with HIV, b) it's only important to her (and others) when it's a plot point and c) it's a retcon.

Aaron "The Mad Whitaker" Bourque; well, and I usually don't like Winick's writing at the best of times, but that has nothing to do with Mia.

[punishermax]

Cancer blows ass. My mom just had to deal with breast cancer and chemo. Sorry to hear about this bro

[feyandstrange]

Jaysus, lumbar puncture chemo? Like regular chemo isn't harsh enough?

I've lost my dad and my best comics buddy and a co-worker to one of the supposedly least fatal cancers in the last year and a half, so I'm sort of glad comics isn't going "Oh gut cancer, that's a very survivable one, you're gonna be fine". (Yeah, it's survivable if you catch it before it metastizes, which none of these folks did.)

Which is not to say that I am not very glad to have cancer survivors in the family as well, and be glad that yours is a better flavor of diagnosis. Just - well, I got tired of people saying my friends would be fine when they didn't know WTF they were talking about, just like I got tired of people thinking my cousin was gonna die of breast cancer *even after treatment* and telling her she shouldn't have a baby in case she didn't live to raise it.

But as my best comics buddy said, "I get chemo and radiation! Somebody get me a spider. I'm finally getting those eye lasers."

May you develop superpowers of your favorite kind, and get the kind of care comics heroes deserve.

[glprime]

May you develop superpowers of your favorite kind, and get the kind of care comics heroes deserve.

Yes, let us all hope for comic book science in AB's treatment (the good kind, not the crap kind) :) Or as I once opined on the subject of Cloak and Dagger: "Remember kids, don't do drugs... or you'll get superpowers."

Here's to a clean bill of health in your future, Aaron.

[tanetris]

Just want to add another good luck.

[wonderwomanhero]

We shall help you get through it! Do not worry! Scans_Daily is here to cheer you up with cracktastic stuff!

[wolfy]

Just echoing what everyone else said--you're an awesome part of this community and we're all behind you. You have my best wishes for a swift recovery and a lovely future.

That said, totally agree on a lot of comics characters being their disease first and characters second. And personally, I think anything that can be written well belongs in superhero comics.

[sistermagpie]

Another good luck from me too!

This is an interesting question...probably in large part because superheroes are physical, so some diseases come too close to attacking what's fundamental about them, especially one who doesn't have powers. Do we want a superhero who struggles with a chronic illness that puts him/her out of commission or keeps them from fighting? Probably not. But there's certainly ways to show a superhero dealing with a condition, even if it's a sci-fi one, that mirrors that sort of thing. The one thing that comes to mind is Tony Stark's alcoholism, which is a different type thing, but still shows somebody with a condition that has to be managed.

[protogarrett]

Good questions, all of them. I was always curious about Silhouette of the New Warriors. She seemed far to token and her crutches had knives in them for godsake. It was a bit much I thought.

My condolences to you and your family.

[braisinhussy.livejournal.com]

It was for the American Heart Association—I posted it back on LJ SD in…2006, I think? I have my scan at home, but this works, too:

http://www.politedissent.com/archives/1164
http://politedissent.com/images/mar06/gordon.html

Best wishes and best of luck.

[mesmiranda]

Just wanted to pop in and wish you good luck and best wishes as well. *hugs tight*

[citygod]

Sorry to hear about your illness, and best of luck with your recovery.
And I think any subject can be done in comics, even in superhero stories. It depends on how it's done, and usually best done organically. As for "comic characters living with debilitating or life-threatening diseases, illnesses, or afflictions", I'd say having unstoppable laser beams coming out of your eyes counts. Cyclops has had some interesting character moments that didn't become obvious metaphors - his attitude to self-control and isolation, for example is a character definition. Is that what you mean?

[joasakura]

:HUGS TO YOU:

We're all pulling for you, Aaron- good luck and much strength in dealing with the chemo!

(and man, I remember the Death of Captain Marvel. That made me bawl like a baby when I was young :T)

[pallas_athena]

I wish you all the best of luck with this. Comics are good for what ails you! It's been proven, with SCIENCE.

[renface]

Best of luck with everything. A friend went through it recently, I can imagine how tough it is.

[gailsimone]

Aaron, I'm so sorry to read this. There are a lot of people out here who admire you and are pulling for you!

Now is a good time to be selfish. Take care of yourself!

[aaron_bourque]

Wow.

I hadn't noticed the name before (icons really do become your online "face," don't they?) Thanks for saying anything and good luck to you (and congratulations) on the return of the Birds of Prey.