The hero’s beautiful death: body, cancer and medicalization in comics’ narratives

• Main Authors: Marcos Fábio Medeiros Vieira, Denise da Costa Oliveira Siqueira
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Instituto de Comunicação e Informação Científica e Tecnológica em Saúde (Icict) da Fundação Oswaldo Cruz (Fiocruz) 2021-03-01
• Series: RECIIS
• Subjects: histórias em quadrinhos; medicalização; midiatização; corpo; câncer.
• Online Access: https://www.reciis.icict.fiocruz.br/index.php/reciis/article/view/1998

In this article, we study the fabrication of the social imaginary about cancer represented in superhero comics. The goal is to discuss the emergence of cancer in media culture. It raises the question of the medical imperative as a producer of knowledge and practices of body control in fictional narratives and in the hero’s tragedy. The methodological approach lies in the study of the trajectory of two comic characters from the US Marvel Comics Publishing House: Mighty Thor and Captain Marvel. We also approach the influence of the medical model of thought in western societies. To this end, we use a framework of communication and readings in the fields of sociology and anthropology. Through documentary research and reading of spectacular narratives about the hero and cancer, we relate issues involving myths, the imaginary, the body and emotions.