Disabled superheros
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tony ingram
Hourglass
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Disabled superheros
I was looking at the annuals today at the charity shop, discussing them with my fellow workers. I was asked which superhero do I admire the most and I said Daredevil because like me he's blind. They seemed surprised and one of them said "are there many disabled superheros". I though for a while but could only think of Professor Xaviera and Daredevil, although I could list many villains.
So anyway can you folk think of any more?
So anyway can you folk think of any more?
Hourglass- Posts : 466
Join date : 2009-12-28
Re: Disabled superheros
Offhand: the World War II veteran hero Doctor Mid-Nite, his successors Doctor Mid-Nite II and Doctor Midnight, and Tagak the Leopard Lord (all of whom are or were blind; the first two Doc M's are now deceased); the Avenger Hawkeye and the female vigilante Echo (both deaf to one degree or another); the Chief from Doom Patrol (paraplegic); Komodo of the Avengers Initiative (who has no legs when in her human form, though they spontaneously regenerate when she's in lizard form); Jericho of the Teen Titans and Snake Eyes of GI Joe (both mute). There are probably more, though.
tony ingram- Admin
- Posts : 7143
Join date : 2009-12-24
Age : 54
Location : The Wilds of Suffolk
Re: Disabled superheros
Aren't they all disabled? Fury has an eye-patch, Stark has a dodgy heart (if he's still alive this week), none of the Marvel heroes can keep a relationship going...there are many ways of being disabled...
Re: Disabled superheros
I'd forgotten Colonel Fury. But Stark's heart problems were finally resolved several years ago, mercifully. I never could understand why, if this guy was supposedly so smart, we'd be continually treated to endless scenes of him running out of power, clutching his chest and looking desperately for a wall socket to plug himself into. A basic design flaw there, I think...GBF wrote:Aren't they all disabled? Fury has an eye-patch, Stark has a dodgy heart (if he's still alive this week), none of the Marvel heroes can keep a relationship going...there are many ways of being disabled...
tony ingram- Admin
- Posts : 7143
Join date : 2009-12-24
Age : 54
Location : The Wilds of Suffolk
Re: Disabled superheros
How did you folks forget Barbara Gordon (pre-New 52 version)?
The shooting / time in the wheelchair are still part of her backstory (but not her Oracle identity), though she has returned to mobility through some experimental surgical procedures or something.
The shooting / time in the wheelchair are still part of her backstory (but not her Oracle identity), though she has returned to mobility through some experimental surgical procedures or something.
MajorHoy- Posts : 2735
Join date : 2012-06-17
Location : Connecticut, North America, Eastern Time Zone, USA
Re: Disabled superheros
I think taking Babs out of the wheelchair was one of the worst things DC did with the reboot (and I hate the reboot with a passion). Here was a smart, capable, resilient person in a wheelchair, a positive depiction of disabilitywho had been popular as such for twenty years, and they miraculously "cure" her and make her a bloody costumed acrobat again! Why?
tony ingram- Admin
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Join date : 2009-12-24
Age : 54
Location : The Wilds of Suffolk
Re: Disabled superheros
Hear, hear!
Lucy Ingram- Posts : 2447
Join date : 2010-03-12
Age : 36
Location : Ipswich, UK
Re: Disabled superheros
tony ingram wrote:I think taking Babs out of the wheelchair was one of the worst things DC did with the reboot
I disagree, and it's something I've said for years. It makes no sense that in a world of magic and supertechnology for her to still be in a wheelchair. I know it's about making it seem like the real world to some extent, but it's just not the real world.
It really bothers me that there's so much ability to make life better for people in superhero worlds (DC in particular) and all it's used for is to fight supervillains.
Mbast1- Posts : 1707
Join date : 2012-02-02
Re: Disabled superheros
The thing is, if you take his super tech to its logical conclusion you end up with a world totally divorced from reality, which your readers can no longer relate to. That was basically the point of Miracleman.Mbast1 wrote:tony ingram wrote:I think taking Babs out of the wheelchair was one of the worst things DC did with the reboot
I disagree, and it's something I've said for years. It makes no sense that in a world of magic and supertechnology for her to still be in a wheelchair. I know it's about making it seem like the real world to some extent, but it's just not the real world.
It really bothers me that there's so much ability to make life better for people in superhero worlds (DC in particular) and all it's used for is to fight supervillains.
tony ingram- Admin
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Join date : 2009-12-24
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Re: Disabled superheros
tony ingram wrote:The thing is, if you take his super tech to its logical conclusion you end up with a world totally divorced from reality, which your readers can no longer relate to. That was basically the point of Miracleman.
I don't know, that kind of assumes that people aren't that bright. A lot of science fiction takes place in worlds very different from ours. Plus, I'd like to read something like that, where ALL aspects of the differences are explored. From the law (in our world they'd be arrested for vigilantism), to psychology to physics. Don't know who else would read it, but it's there.
My problem is the line makes no sense. Superman comes back from the dead, but she is still in a wheelchair? There are plenty of things that don't make sense. Which I would like to see addressed.
Mbast1- Posts : 1707
Join date : 2012-02-02
Re: Disabled superheros
I think the difference is that Superman is an alien, a larger than life figure. Barbara Gordon is supposed to be human, grounded in reality.
tony ingram- Admin
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Re: Disabled superheros
But paralyzed when she was shot by a psychotic clown with dead-white skin and green hair that aren't a disguise.tony ingram wrote:I think the difference is that Superman is an alien, a larger than life figure. Barbara Gordon is supposed to be human, grounded in reality.
MajorHoy- Posts : 2735
Join date : 2012-06-17
Location : Connecticut, North America, Eastern Time Zone, USA
Re: Disabled superheros
Well...more or less grounded in reality.
tony ingram- Admin
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Re: Disabled superheros
tony ingram wrote:Barbara Gordon is supposed to be human, grounded in reality.
But she still lives in a world of magic and super-technology.
Which is the problem with the shared-universe concept over so long a time and so many genres and writers. There's no consistency.
Mbast1- Posts : 1707
Join date : 2012-02-02
Re: Disabled superheros
tony ingram wrote:Well...more or less grounded in reality.
More or less is the perfect way to put it because it depends on the story being told, and not the reality in which they live. Our reality is not theirs, and that should matter.
Mbast1- Posts : 1707
Join date : 2012-02-02
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