Congenital malformations and genetic diseases in comic books

Medical syndromes have often been represented in fine arts, but rarely have clinical diagnoses been discussed in comic book characters. Since their first appearance in Europe in the middle of the 19th century and in America in 1895, comic books have been considered as "the 9th art". In many comic books, the appearance and/or the behavior of central or support characters are suggestive of already well-defined medical disorders. The representation of five particular groups or clinical features: mental retardation, abnormal stature, abnormal hair, obesity, and cranial malformations is discussed from mostly European comic series. Whether comic authors intended to describe specific clinical entities while drawing their characters or whether such situations appeared by mere luck, is open to debate. In many series from the first half of the 20th century characters with remarkable clinical features were also painted as psycho-social deviants. Such stereotypes are found much less frequently nowadays. Writers of comic books, realizing the major impact of their work especially in adolescent age groups, have increasingly been using their series to actually promote issues of equity and well being for physically or mentally impaired people.