Get Well Soon, Foggy Nelson!

Having waited for the trade paperback of Mark Waid and Chris Samnee's Daredevil, I was late in learning that Franklin "Foggy" Nelson, Matt Murdock's longtime friend, legal partner and confidant was recently (that is to say in March 2013) diagnosed with cancer. Specifically, Ewing's Sarcoma, a rare sarcoma, which is a form of cancer that affects bone or soft connective tissue. Being a sarcoma survivor myself, this obviously struck me as something I might use to raise awareness of sarcoma cancers and ask that you keep reading and perhaps consider helping in our fight against this nasty disease.  Below are the panels of the doctor with Foggy and Matt Murdock. 

Foggy Nelson's Matt Murdock's best friend, legal partner and confidant receives the news: it's Ewing's Sarcoma. From Marvel's Daredevil Vol. 3 #24 (May 2013) Written by Mark Waid with art by Chris Samnee, colouring art by Javier Rodriguez and letters by VC's Joe Caramagna.  

There are over fifty forms of sarcoma cancer, which originate in connective tissue such as bone, cartilage, muscle and fat. Osteosarcoma, the form of sarcoma that I survived over nineteen years ago, has increasingly become more treatable, but sadly people still pass away because of it. Indeed, you might recall that the the comic book world has not been immune from pains caused by sarcoma, with Sam Loeb, the son of Marvel creative executive and writer, Jeph Loeb, passing in 2005 from the disease at only 17 years old. Our sympathies remain with the Loeb family.

  

The five-year survival for Ewing's sarcoma 70% to 80% when treated with chemotherapy. However, if metastasized (moved from it's original location to another), the survival rates fall to less than 10% to 25-30% depending on the source. Like all cancers, its important to get it early. 

If you would like to support a sarcoma related charity, please consider a donation to one of the following links. Because most of the readership of this blog comes from either the USA, UK or Canada, I have named the respective sarcoma charities from these countries. Recently, when Toronto Mayor Rob Ford was diagnosed with a sarcoma cancer, in my capacity as a board member of the Sarcoma Cancer Foundation of Canada, I took to the airwaves to speak on Canadian television about my own experience with the disease. Please feel free to watch what I had to say here and here. Thank you for reading and have a great week.

Does It Stand? The Death of Captain Marvel

With the January announcement that comic book legend Jim Starlin was returning to Marvel to write a new graphic novel titled Thanos: The Infinity Revelation to be released in 2014, I got to thinking about one of his marquee works The Death of Captain Marvel and an exchange at a Marvel panel of FanExpo Canada 2012 between Marvel Editor-in-Chief Axel Alonso and a fan. The floor had opened for questions and the fan asked when was the real Captain Marvel coming back. Of course, the impressive sales Captain Marvel #1 (July 2012) were still on the Marvel minds and that's what probably led to Alonso's curt response: "We have a Captain Marvel in the Marvel Universe and her name is Carol Danvers."

Axel Alonso (far left) and other "House of Ideas" dignitaries at Fan Expo Canada 2012

The fan, not taking the hint, persisted and subsequently launched into an ill-thought-out diatribe about how Danvers wasn’t the same as Mar-Vell. Alonso’s tone immediately changed from fan-obliging editor to ticked-off expert and he proceeded to dress the fan down (in as polite a way as possible) explaining how he watched his father die of cancer and would never disrespect such an important part of the Marvel Universe. Alonso also saw Starlin's story as an important tribute to all those who have been taken by cancer and if Marvel were to resurrect Mar-Vell, it would seriously insult those people. As a cancer survivor myself I could not have agreed more with Alonso's statement and afterwards approached him to express my thanks. In my opinion Mar-Vell's death remains both an important moment in the Marvel Universe and in comic book storytelling generally.

The original cover of Marvel's Death of Captain Marvel Marvel Graphic Novel Vol.1 #1 (April 1982) by Jim Starlin. The volume was reprinted in a 2013.

But what of the telling of the death of Captain Marvel itself? Does this early graphic novel stand the test of time? It's over 30 years old now, and we've all read late Bronze age material that isn't quite as readable as today's books. Does The Death of Captain Marvel stand up to today's discerning comic book reader? The following piece will look at this question but also do so through the eyes of a cancer survivor as this aspect of the book is such an important part of the story itself. 

Pain, self-pity, frustration and fear are just some of the emotions Mar-Vell goes through when coming to terms with his cancer diagnosis. All subsequent images from Marvel's  The Death of Captain Marvel (April 1982)

I'd say that The Death of Captain Marvel does stand up for today's reader. Starlin’s writing could be counted in the "gifted" category even back in the early 1980s and while script does have some self-reflective bubbles that one normally doesn't see in today's books, the dialogue does not have too "Uggh the 80s" of a feel to it and could match contemporary comic book storytelling. 

The sentiment is similiar for Mar-Vell's friends.

Moreover, the basic storyline – one of reflection and contemplation – is still very poignant. The story begins with Mar-vell on a spaceship, recording his thoughts about the life he has lived. We then track back to his days when as a hero he was exposed to a canister of nerve gas while fighting a villain named Nitro. This happened seven years prior, but now the exposure's legacy has finally come out of remission and presumably metastasized (become a secondary tumor of similar cells) and is killing him. It also becomes apparent that the Negabands which had previously held the cancer at bay, were no longer effective and the inevitable would soon arrive. Once the reader learns that it's the "Inner Decay" (call that by the Titans), the "Blackend" (Kree) or cancer, we are then introduced to Mar-Vell's efforts to come to terms with his impending death, his friend's efforts to use their considerable talents to save him, his final good-byes before one last challenge from his old foe, Thanos. When that is all completed Captain Marvel dies.

Mar-vell of the Kree dies surrounded by heroes in The Death of Captain Marvel.

As mentioned, I read this book through the lenses of a cancer survivor. My personal experience with the disease started in May 1995 when I threw a baseball and twisted my leg, experiencing a pain that I never quite experienced before. From there I met with a many different doctors who eventually referred me to one of the biggest research hospitals in Canada where I was diagnosed with osteosarcoma, a form of bone cancer. With that I immediately started an intense regime of chemotherapy. This went on for three days at a time with three weeks between each session. After the third, I had an operation to remove the infected tissue and have a titanium prosthetic inserted to hold my leg together. After three more chemo sessions, I started the long road to recovery and 18 years later, I'm still here. I now walk with a slight limp and cane, but otherwise live a relatively normal life. 

Very much like Mar-Vell's experiences in The Death of Captain Marvel, the external reaction to my own illness was quite mixed. Some friends walked away not sure how to deal with the gravity of my condition. Others did whatever they could to make me feel better. Again some other friends simply sat with me and were quietly and patiently my friends. Indeed, I think Captain Marvel is a story that most people who have been diagnosed with cancer can relate to and Starlin does an excellent job taking his readers through the journey of feelings and emotions of so many people who have undergone treatment. Pain, self-pity, frustration and fear is all very normal for anyone who has cancer and not even the greatest of us – superhero or mortal – is immune to them. Being a long-time volunteer with numerous cancer organizations and currently in a position where I sit on a committee of fellow survivors who advise doctors who treat cancer patients, I can tell you from personal experience that Jim Starlin hit on some universal feelings when he wrote how Mar-Vell saw his own life slowly slip away and how powerless he felt about it.

A Marvel-616 Universe without cancer would be unfair to  both the heroes and us readers. In this scene Starlin makes it clear that even the greatest minds in the Marvel Universe cannot stop cancer. 

In fact, I would go as far to say that The Death of Captain Marvel is an important comic reading experience and most certainly stands for the reader in 2014. The art is typical of what you would see in the early 1980s, but the real power is the experience of watching a formerly (near) invincible individual, reflect on his passing and then die. Fortunately, this is something I have yet to experience, but reading this graphic novel did remind me of many of my cancer-related trials and is valuable for anyone wanting to understand what it's like for someone living with cancer. Kudos to the list of Marvel editors who have keep this book so powerful by not resurrecting Mar-Vell (on a permenant basis at least) and to Axel Alonso for coming to its defence in 2012. As always, thank you for visiting WGTB and below are some links to cancer organizations you might consider supporting. They're from countries where the readership of this blog is greatest but if you would like to suggest another, please leave a comment with its website below. 

Sarcoma Cancer Foundation of Canada 
Sarcoma UK
Sarcoma Foundation of America 
Teenage Cancer Trust (UK)
Australian Youth Against Cancer

Remembering a True Superhero

Today in parks, school grounds and community spaces around the world people of all walks of life took part in the annual Terry Fox Run for cancer research. For thirty-two years this charity event has been a staple of early autumns in Canada and continues to grow each year with one goal: to raise money for cancer research. 

Terry Fox runs through Toronto in July 1982.

Terry Fox was a superhero in the truest sense of the word. Born in Winnipeg, Manitoba in July 1958, Terry grew up in Port Coquitlam, British Columbia and was from an early age a gifted athlete. But in 1977 at aged 18 he was diagnosed with a rare form of bone cancer called osteosarcoma and was forced to undergo chemotherapy to save his life. What's worse, he also needed to have his right leg amputated. Never one to quit, Terry was reading an article about an amputee runner of the New York City Marathon when he got an idea: he would run across Canada to raise money for cancer research. 

After months of training, it was on a cold April day in 1980 when Terry dipped his prosthetic leg into the Atlantic Ocean at St. John's and started to run the cold roads of Newfoundland. His plan was to run a marathon a day -- 42 kilometres (26 miles) -- until he had crossed the second largest country in the world. Initially discouraged, he soon arrived in Port aux Basques on the south shore of that rocky province where he received a hero's welcome and the equivalent of a dollar from everyone in the town. It was there that Terry and his small team set about their new goal: one dollar from every Canadian. 

Terry on University Avenue in Toronto

Sadly, Terry did not reach his goal. After 143 days and 5,373 kilometres (3,339 miles) he was forced to abandon his run on the north shore of Lake Superior outside of the city of Thunder Bay, Ontario. The cancer, believed to have been stopped, had metastasised in his lungs and he was forced to urgently seek more chemotherapy to stop it.  Rushed back to his hospital in British Columbia, Terry started his new treatments. While at the hospital he was given the Order of Canada, Canada's highest civilian honour and named Canadian sportsman of the year. On June 28, 1981 at the age of 22 years Terry Fox died. 

Terry Fox didn't have lasers for eyes or claws in his hands. He was simply a young man who wanted to make a difference in the world. He experienced the terrible event of being diagnosed with cancer and decided to make good of that experience. To date the Terry Fox Foundation says that over $600 million dollars have been raised at Terry Fox Runs around the world. That, in my books, is the act of a true superhero and as a cancer survivor myself I will always be grateful for both the actions of Terry Fox and the thousands of people each year who carry on with his work. Terry Fox: a true SUPERHERO.