Introducing your new favorite kickass comic book!
Dan White, a father in Fareham, England, has created a comic book, entitled The Department of Ability, featuring superheroes who have disabilities. One character, who uses an airborne wheelchair, is named after his 9-year-old daughter, Emily, who was born with spina bifida and uses a wheelchair to get around.
White is currently working on the comic and plans to have it out early next year. Through the series and its fantastic heroes, White aims to smash stereotypes surrounding people with disabilities.
"Disability is not scary ... it is not awkward," White told ABC News. "The heroes just happen to be different and they utilize their superpowers to compete with any invading alien or crime boss."
White decided to create the comic after he noticed there were few characters in the media that his daughter could connect with.
"I scoured the numerous channels and magazine racks looking for characters that Emily could relate too, i.e. anyone with a disability," he told ABC News. "I found several, but they were always at the edge of the action or had no real character to show off. I felt that TV and the general media was walking too much on eggshells."
So the dad took it upon himself to create some characters with disabilities. Alongside superhero Emily, The Department of Ability, which will be printed by Strongbones Children’s Charitable Trust, features heroes like Pawsy, a cheetah who has a high-speed solar powered running leg, and Azazzatz, a being from outer-space who has a bionic arm, according to the comic's website.
Though the comic isn't out yet, it definitely has at least one fan -- his daughter, who told BBC South Today that she's enjoyed being turned into a superhero and loves that her character is the "leader" of the superhero pack.
White told the outlet that he hopes The Department of Ability will eventually gain traction and be adapted into an animated series in the future.
"I am hoping that my little project will be just the start," White told The Huffington Post. "I want the general public to be enthralled by these heroes to see beyond the disability, taste the humor and the action and to see a very underrated portion of society in a whole new inclusive light!"
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