this post was submitted on 18 Apr 2026
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Comic Books

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A place to discuss comic books of all types, from old to new, Big 2 to indie, and everything in between.

Floppies, graphic novels, compilations, omnibusses (omnibusi?) are all fair game.

There is only one rule:*

Comic Books is a no judgement zone.

You can talk all you want about how Rob Liefeld is trash, Bob Kane is an asshole, or Frank Miller and Dave Sim’s politics have made them toxic, that’s all good.

If, however, another user is LEGITIMATELY a fan of something you don’t like, that does NOT make them a lesser person. Attack the art for being bad, not the person for being a fan of bad art.

* I lied. There are TWO rules... No piracy. Cover shots? That's good. Interior pages, in moderation? Sure. Full books? Links to pirate sites? That's how we get things shut down. :(

I'm not saying it's been a problem, because it hasn't been.

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[–] Drusas@piefed.social 2 points 5 hours ago

Wolverine does deal with PTSD, but more from loss than from physical pain.

[–] kyonshi@piefed.social 2 points 6 hours ago

I mean, isn't the whole point of Batman that he does it to work off his ptsd?

[–] imeansurewhynot@sh.itjust.works 11 points 20 hours ago

The Boys is basically PTSD: The Comic

Idk if it's the JL specifically, but there any number of scenes in which Batman reflects on and talks about the people he's let die/down.

The origin story comic of Wolverine explains who he became as a consequence of PTSD from his childhood.

A ton of comics deal with or are constructed entirely around ptsd.

[–] jordanlund@lemmy.world 6 points 20 hours ago

A very good one in fact, Motor Girl by Terry Moore. 10 issues on it's own but it's part of his larger "Strangers in Paradise" universe.

Available as a collection, I can't say enough good things about it.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Motor_Girl

Less universally loved was Tom King's "Heroes in Crisis", which is about DC characters undergoing PTSD.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heroes_in_Crisis

I liked it, but the fanbase absolutely hated it.

[–] southsamurai@sh.itjust.works 4 points 19 hours ago

Well, someone already covered the DC in crisis run, which was mostly well executed in how it dealt with the subject matter.

And, as others have mentioned, Wolverine is essentially built on PTSD. But I'd also argue that while a lot of superheroes are built on it, that's not really what you're asking. And it isn't something the big three address directly often, and rarely well. You'll get single issues where it comes up, and often done right, but it isn't really the kind of thing that matters because it's not mentioned again for a long time.

The DC series definitely addresses the subject well.

But marvel has had a similarly excellent run, in She Hulk: Deconstructed. Shulk got beat down hard by Thanos, and when she comes out of a coma from that, she deals with PTSD in as realistic and well rounded a way as you can get in a superhero comic. Definitely worth the read.

However! I couldn't remember the name of that run, and did a quick search for "she hulk ptsd" and found an article that mentioned it with some others. https://cripplemedia.com/comic-books-and-ptsd-a-quest-for-representation/

I've actually not read any of the rest in that list, so I can't say how good they are, but it's a starting point if you want to step outside of superhero stuff.

[–] FiniteBanjo@feddit.online 2 points 19 hours ago* (last edited 19 hours ago)

Batman clearly has a few positive and constructive methods of coping with his trauma. Wolverine has memory loss most of the time, but he's definitely not the kind of guy you want to wake up from a nightmare.

EDIT: There is this one weird psychological batman comic where he gets drugged to the point of amnesia and addicted to meth but previously while he was still sane he constructed a mind palace and was eventually able to snap himself out of it. Idk if that counts.