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Disabled Identify With Heroes at Comic-Con

'You have legs, you can become a warrior,' says fan at SD convention

By Wesley Oliver, Newser Staff

Posted Jul 25, 2009 5:30 PM CDT

(Newser) – It’s no accident that some of Comic-Con's most popular heroes are X-Men’s wheelchair-bound professor and Daredevil’s blind avenger. Many of the San Diego convention’s 125,000 guests say they relate to the struggles of their favorite superheroes, the Los Angeles Times reports. “You feel like you can be one of them,” said one 62-year-old. “You have legs, and you can become a warrior.”

Attendees praise convention organizers for rental wheelchairs and stand-ins for people unable to wait in long lines. Director James Cameron's Avatar added to the convention theme, depicting a paralyzed soldier who inhabits the body of an able-bodied alien. “I underestimated how resonant it would be," says Cameron. "You see the guy in the wheelchair. You see him get his legs, and you see him walk in the world. It’s powerful.”

[Images (4)]

[Quotes (1)]

Fans on the elevator on the second day of the Comic-Con International convention in San Diego, Friday, July 27, 2007. (AP Photo/Denis Poroy)

Sam Mcclellan, dressed as Captain America, asks a question at a panel discussion for the Marvel Studios film "The Incredible Hulk" at the Comic-Con convention in San Diego on Saturday, July 28, 2007. (AP Photo/Denis Poroy)

Delani Davis, left, and Alyxandra Barbeau, right, take photos of their friends at the annual Comic Con International 2009 pop-culture convention held in San Diego Wednesday, July 22, 2009. (AP Photo/Denis Poroy)

People with mobility problems make up a significant portion of Comic-Con's 125,000 guests. (Shutter Stock)

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Every superhero movie I see, I see some sort of larger disability story. They are trying to fit in, and trying to tell people who they are—what it means to be human. - Andrew Imparato, president and CEO of the American Assn. of People With Disabilities

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Disabled Identify With Heroes at Comic-Con