#Thor odinson series#

Thor's recent physical disability (a severed arm, which is soon 'replaced' by a prosthetic arm) is presented as permanent and follows his loss of worthiness, which prevents him from lifting his mighty hammer thus, he is captured by his enemy, who gleefully severs his arm. While disability itself is the main focal point, the texts invite readers to consider familial/social attitudes towards disability and depression.

#Thor odinson series#

Recent issues of the Thor comic book series imply a stigmatizing view of disability by promoting the notion that disability hinders power and should be 'corrected.' These comic books also suggest that depression, as a disability, haunts its victims, while they also present the idea that anyone, even a superhero who is also the Norse God of Thunder, can become emotionally and/or physically disabled. The convergence of comics and disability creates a prism through which disabilities can be seen as empowering (as in Daredevil's blindness creating precise sensory awareness, which contributes to his superpowers), but disability can also be viewed in a negative light.

Although much scholarship exists within the area of disability within comics, there is a lack of focus on simultaneous physical and emotional disability in regard to Marvel's Thor. The fusion of comics and disability can also spark a performative focus in regard to disability, ''comics can show us things that can't be said, just as they can narrate experiences without relying on words, and in their juxtaposition of words and pictures, they can also convey a far richer sense of the different magnitudes at which we experience any performance of illness, disability, medical treatment or healing' (Squier 131). Scholarship involving this subject also focuses on cognitive disabilities, such as autism, represented and understood within the arena of comics and 'underground comics:' as a part of this scholarship, Katie Ellis' research illuminates comics' established intrigue with disability, stemming from such iconic merging of the subjects represented by Superman's battling against polio and Wonder Woman explaining the function of an iron lung (19). As scholar Sarah Birge writes, 'comics, a relatively understudied medium for representations of disability, have enormous potential for providing important critical perspectives' (Birge 2010). Scholars have scratched the surface of this area of study, but much more can be added to the critical conversation. Comics can both challenge and reinforce societal attitudes towards both emotional and physical disability specifically, recent Thor comic books participate in this reinforcement and simultaneous challenge.ĭisability represented in comic books has been seen and studied primarily in terms of physically deformed villains (Jacobs and Dolmage 77) and superheroes who have physical impairments however, the representations of disability in comic books not only provide visual depictions of disability, but they also serve to ignite conversations regarding the complexities and interpretations surrounding the disabilities they present. This notion is echoed in Susan Squier's observation that, 'as a medium combining verbal and gestural expression, comics can convey the complex social impact of a physical or mental impairment, as well as the way the body registers social and institutional constraints' (74). Physical disability has been the primary type of disability depicted in comics however, through the same means of understanding, mental and emotional disabilities can be understood as well. Further, in comics, disability is typically represented, and can be understood, in terms of the body, the 'superbody,' and its aesthetic significance, especially as it relates to the superhero, power, and masculinity. Through the visual portrayal of a character's disability, readers can understand social attitudes towards, implications of, and ideas about disability, which can situate the interpretation of disability in a specific context encouraged by the comic itself.

Despite this dismissal, as a multimodal form of visual expression, comics hold tremendous potential to depict disability, thereby simultaneously espousing and endorsing certain views of disability and its associated characteristics. Comics are often perceived as juvenile or silly they are marginalized because of their dismissal as 'semiliterate, cheap, disposable kiddie fare' (McCloud 3), evoking unrealistic ideas and unbelievable circumstances. Visual recognition is a quality shared by Garland-Thompson's view of disability and the highly visual, multimodal arena of comics. Rosemarie Garland-Thompson notes that, 'disability is always ready to disclose itself, to emerge as some visually recognizable stigmata, however subtle, that will disrupt social order by its presence' (347).