It’s Disability Pride Month, which makes it the perfect time to profile some notable disabled heroes. However, given the nature of superhero comics, let me set some guidelines.
First of all, many heroes have been in existence for decades, and many have suffered incapacitating injuries at one point or another. Batman is probably the most famous example of this, having a broken back. nightfallBut there are others too. In the late 1980s, Iron Man was shot and briefly paralyzed, and Arsenal lost an arm. scream for justice. Although these were disastrous in the short term, in each of these cases the status quo was largely restored. For this list, I’m sticking to characters whose disability was significant, either in its duration or in its impact on the character.
Second, I am only including physically disabled characters, mostly for space reasons. But for the record: mental disabilities are disabilities too, and they should be taken just as seriously as physical disabilities. I would like to give mentally ill and disabled superheroes their own list at some point.
Third, I’m not counting characters whose disabilities disappear when transformed into superheroes, like Freddy Freeman/Captain Marvel Jr. or Don Blake/Thor. Nor am I discussing superpower-related conditions that could be considered disabilities, like Cyclops having to wear red glasses or Aquaman needing to shower every hour. I’m sure someone could write an excellent article on whether or not these limitations are good metaphors for disability, but I’m not here to do that. Instead, I’m here to tell you about it…
Really Famous People You Already Know
I’m reserving most of this list for characters who aren’t A-list. However, for the sake of completeness – not that I’m claiming this list includes every disabled hero of all time – let’s look at some of the more famous names:
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- Daredevil lost his vision after an accident involving the same leak that caused the Ninja Turtles. It’s true, look at it.
- Professor X, leader of the X-Men, started using a wheelchair because of the aliens. This is also true, as you can read in this X Men #20.
- The Winter Soldier lost an arm in the explosion, which supposedly killed him when he was Captain America’s sidekick Bucky. This proved to be the least of his problems.
- Explanations as to how the original Nick Fury lost his eye have varied over the years. His son, Nick Fury, who most people are now familiar with, has lost an eye due to torture or, if you’re a fan of the MCU, an attack by the Flerken.
- You were fooled, Iron Man is on this list anyway because of his sometimes painful and potentially fatal heart condition. All treatment attempts have failed to provide a permanent solution to the problem.
niles calder
A full three months before Professor X, Caulder is the wheelchair-using leader of the Doom Patrol, a band of misfit heroes. Like Professor X, Calder has also been known to engage in morally questionable activities, complicating his status as a hero.
madam web
A clairvoyant who occasionally uses her abilities to help Spider-Man, Cassandra Webb is blind and has myasthenia gravis. The latter condition leaves her extremely weakened, to the extent that she cannot survive outside of her adapted, web-like life support system. However, this does not stop him from being sarcastic when necessary. she appeared for the first time amazing spider man #210.
Sadly, Madame Web is dead at this time, but seeing as how comic books work, one can hope she’ll be back to make more prophecies soon.
Dr. Midnight/Midnight
Dr. Mid-Nite (sometimes Dr. Midnight) has to be the most distinctive legacy character in the comics. The trio—Charles McNider, Beth Chappell, and Peter Cross—are physicians who lost their sight in an accident, but later realize they can still see in the dark. Naturally, he decided that the sole purpose of this ability was to fight crime.
hawkeye
Clint Barton lost his hearing in a supervillain attack in 1983 hawkeye As a result, wearing short-circuit and hearing aids was started. While his hearing was briefly restored due to reality-distorting causes, he eventually lost it again during Fraction and Aja’s race. hawkeye. Issue 19, right after Clint goes deaf for the second time, features a lot of empty speech bubbles and sign language.
Jericho and Ravager
Both of the mercenary Deathstroke’s children, Joseph Wilson and Rose Wilson, are disabled. Joe loses the ability to speak after his vocal cords are damaged during a kidnapping attempt, and Rose, in a very maladjusted attempt to bond with her one-eyed father, stabs herself in the eye. Ik. Both will join Teen Titans at different times: Jericho in new teen titans stories #44 And Ravager Inn new titans #122.
Shroud
If you couldn’t tell from the name, Maximilian Coleridge is extremely rich. After his parents were killed Batman-style, he endured intense training to become a superhero, which ultimately led to him losing his vision. Not the most fun guy to be around, but he usually means well. He also got a chance to be Moon Knight for about ten minutes, which sucked.
the pied piper
Another rich kid with issues! As revealed Glow #190, Hartley Rathaway was born to capable parents who spent a lot of money to “fix” their “imperfect” son. The resulting high-tech implants gave Hartley extreme hearing and sparked his passion for music. At first he turned this addiction to crime, using the hypnotic flute to carry out robberies, but has since become a trusted ally and friend of the Flash.
misty night
After losing her arm while serving in the NYPD bomb squad, Misty was given a strength-enhancing bionic prosthetic by Tony Stark. After several upgrades, the arm became even cooler and was made virtually indestructible. Misty has remained in law enforcement for years, even running a private business with her friend Colleen Wing.
Oracle
Barbara Gordon was Batgirl for years before being shot and paralyzed by the Joker The Killing JokeOne of the most controversial Batman stories ever published. Ray of Hope: Barbara emerged as another badass and iconic character, computer hacker Oracle.
Unfortunately, in Another controversial moveDC gave Barbara back the use of her legs in 2011. The justification given for this was the fact that the DC universe is full of miraculous cures and resurrections, so there would be no point in Oracle remaining paralyzed. Actually, as I said in the beginning, there are plenty of examples of heroes who were seriously injured only to regain their lost abilities after a short time.
But how far do they want to take this argument? Should Nick Fury regrow his eye because, apparently, it’s illogical for him not to? Are people with disabilities not allowed to exist in fantasy and science-fiction at all? I hope that doesn’t happen, because the characters listed here are compelling just as they are.
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