Disability in Comics, Part II


Wikipedia's "fictional characters with disabilities" has nine sub-categories, and a sparsely-populated grab bag of miscellaneous. Of those, only eight are represented in Wiki's survey of superhero comics, with the majority (40.38%) being blind or "blind", paraplegic (19.23%), or amputee (17.31%). Three characters, Madame Web and Wiz Kid from Marvel, along with Henry Allnut from DC, have multiple disabilities. There are no characters with cognitive disabilities, and only one deaf character. Amputations are almost always (70% of amputees) of a single arm. Many characters which Wikipedia tagged as having certain disabilities were not flagged entirely accurately, particularly with albinism, which is often used for purely cosmetic purposes in fantastic fiction. Mutism was another category with significant inaccuracies, including Saturn Girl, whose telepathy and lack of capacity for verbal speech are standard for her race, and Black Bolt, who has taken a vow of silence, while blindness also included characters who were photosensitive and "dayblind" but had perfect darkvision. Marvel comics, despite the strong counterexample of Mr Fantastic (not included in this survey because he's not currently included in the Wiki), seems to have a peculiar problem with autism, confusing it with catatonia on more than one occasion.

Eighteen of the disabled characters (34.62%) have compensatory powers which make their disabilities essentially irrelevant, and two more have partially compensatory powers. This is more widespread in Marvel (48.15% of their disabled characters) than in DC (24%), and is disproportionately common among blind characters (80.95% of blind/"blind" characters). Additionally, three of the four blind characters with no supernatural vision abilities are supporting characters rather than superheros, and the fourth is a villain. Compensatory or semi-compensatory powers also occur in two amputees (Lizard and Kane/Weapon X from Marvel), one speech-impaired character (DC's Jericho), and two paraplegics (Marvel's Hybrid and Amalgam's Niles Cable). Two of those characters, Jericho and Madam Web, as well as 12 additional characters with no compensatory powers, use assistive technology or compensatory behaviors, for a total of 26.92% of all disabled heroes in the sample. Additionally, a large proportion of comic-book amputees (44.44%, vs 33.33% using prosthetics) have their missing limb replaced with various weapons. This trope is about equally common between Marvel and DC (66.66% and 50% of their amputee characters, respectively).

Discounting those whose powers already make their disabilities irrelevant, nine (17.31%) of the disabled comics characters have been cured of their disabilities at one point or another, although in one case (Marvel's Lizard) the cure turned them into a villain and in three more(Professor X and Puck from Marvel, as well as King Snake from DC) they later went on to have the same disability return or be re-inflicted. Professor X's paraplegia is a particularly egregious example of the narrative rule against disrupting the status quo, and Puck's bitter response at being returned to his normal stature seems a bit odd considering that his 'cure', actually impaired his ability to function. As a contrast, DC's Black Manta was simultaneously 'cured' by against his will by Aquaman both of his autism and of a voluntarily-assumed transformation into a human/ray hybrid- and responded by continuing his villainy and attempts on Aquaman's life.

Two heroes (DC's Wildcat and one of Marvel's two Ladyhawks) responded by their mid-career acquisition of a disability by dropping out of superheroism, and two more (Marvel's Gale Edgerton and DC's Risk) became villains. Lizard, as mentioned above, also went evil as a direct result of his attempts to cure himself, though Fright from DC was already villainous by the time she cured her albinism. Overall, 36.53% of the disabled comics characters in the sample ultimately go on to some dismal fate, including an early end to their vigilante career, being killed in action, murdered, depowered, or otherwise incapacitated... though without more context or comparative stats for non-disabled characters, no real conclusion ("Gimps in Refrigirators"?) can be drawn.


Marvel has slightly more disabled characters (51.92% of the total) than DC (44.23%) but the two organizations have equal numbers who feature prominently (Professor X, Daredevil, and Lizard for Marvel vs Oracle, Aquaman, and Gizmo for DC). Judging quality of portrayals rather than quantity is difficult and subjective, but I personally find myself slightly favoring DC overall.



Pans
...for blind superheroes who aren't
...for Puck and his writers for prizing the appearance of normality over the ability to actually function in society
...for Saturn Girl's shame over her lack of verbal speech, despite having projective telepathy and despite this actually being the NORMAL state for her species
...for Claudette St. Croix, Legion, and all the other characters in temporary, intermittent, or permanent catatonic states who Marvel inexplicably chooses to call "autistic"
...for complete and utter lack of representation of the cognitively disabled


Pats
...for Mr Fantastic, Aspergian superhero who bucks the trend of Marvel having no clue about autism
...for speech-impaired superheroes using sign language, paraplegics with realistic wheelchairs, and amputees with plausible prosthetics
...for Black Manta, who responds to Aquaman curing his autism... by continuing to try to kill Aquaman!
...for Batgirl/Oracle, who doesn't let spinal injury keep her from being a superheroic badass- or a "big name" comics character
...for Dan DiDio, Denny O'Neil, and other editors at DC for recognizing her value as a prominent disabled hero and repeatedly refusing to cure her:
...And...that went nowhere. Denny shot it down, because, according to him, everybody loves Barbara Gordon as Oracle and as a handicapped character. The theory was that DC didn't have enough handicapped characters, so they weren't going to do anything with Barbara as she was. And the design went into the drawer.
Some stories... are so strong that undoing them would be a crime. The DCU would be a lesser place without Barry's sacrifice, or the crippling of Barbara at the hands of the Joker.
...for all the people in the comics industry who get it to at least some degree and, despite occasional errors, are legitimately trying to treat their disabled readers and characters with respect.