A rather interesting article below about
an aspect of comics superheroes that most of us probably have never thought about
: that a number of them have actually been portrayed as having, and in a few cases even dying from, cancer.
Not being a devoted comics aficionado, I would not be all that familiar with the lives and exploits of most of these superheroes, especially those who have emerged into the public consciousness only over the past few years or even decades. But I am still surprised to learn from articles such as the one linked below, of the comics superheroes who have actually been portrayed as having, fighting, and sometimes even losing to the beast.
From the article:
"Superheroes spend their fictitious lives beating up bad guys. But there is a type of villain that no superhero, no matter how strong, determined or powerful can simply pound into submission. Or threaten. Or negotiate with. That villain is cancer."
"The truth is all superheroes who battled cancer were essentially in the same medical and existential conundrum that real people trying to fight cancer are in. They had no advantage."
"When we feel like we cannot cope with what is being demanded of us, we can turn to these stories of heroes who were forced to face the greatest enemy of their lives—sometimes winning, sometimes losing, but always being a courageous example for those who need inspiration, and always being a testament to that greatest of all super powers: Hope."Most of the superhero characters discussed in the article are 1980s era or later, with the notable exception of Captain Marvel, who, we are told, expires from cancer in "The Death of Captain Marvel" (1982).
Formal literary criticism of the comics and their superheroes points out that the comics invariably serve as a mirror of both our society and of ourselves. It would thus seem only fitting that they would occasionally address the issues and emotions that cancer brings into our lives.
/www.popmythology.com/superheroes-who-battled-cancer/