(Everything in this post is based on my personal opinions.)
This is Johnny Do, a Marvel character most have never heard of since heās only in 6 issues (#27-32) of a short-run series called āPsi-Forceā (Earth-148611). Why is he important? Because heās an unusually well portrayed autistic character from 1989.
Back in 1989, autism wasnāt usually shown in media and although comics wasnāt as mainstream as it is today, this is a Marvel comics and they were already a well-established comics publisher. The fact that they even allowed an autistic character to be a main character of a group for 6 issues is quite amazing. But, letās put that aside for now, because a big company creating an autistic character isnāt good just on itself.
WARNING: The series is still from the 80ā²s and does contain racism and ableism, and also have quite a few scenes that might be triggering.
PERSONALITY
Johnny isnāt a passive force. He isnāt treated as just an accessory. Heās shown to have an own will and personality. Yes, he is non-verbal, but he is shown to use sounds he tries to communicate with and heās definitely shown to have intelligence. This is still uncommon. Non-verbal autistics are usually depicted as being less intelligent. He is also shown to have empathy and caring about others.
NO MONSTER
Autistic characters are often depicted as not being āfully humanā. As lacking something fundamentally compared to neurotypical people. That is not the case with Johnny. Yes, they do make it sound like autism is a mental illness, but itās also pointed out that heās just a kid and that he has been abused, which he has. Itās also mentioned that the autism can be genetic (and therefore not an illness), something that also wasnāt common in 1989.
POWERS
They gave him real powers. Dangerous powers. No something savant related either. They made him pyrokinetic.
RELATIONSHIPS
Heās given actual relationships. Thereās one man he gets more attached to, kind of like a father figure, but heās shown being pranked and pranking right back with the others. Thereās no doubt that heās actually part of the team. Heās not just a token.
DEVELOPMENT
Johnny is shown to develop, although the most obvious thing is a bit stereotypical of him saying ālove youā to a character at the end, but this is during a time when many still thought autistic kids couldnāt develop much (unfortunately, many still holds that belief.
Thatās it for now. Iāve probably forgotten something.
I wish there was more of Johnny, but there isnāt. Heās not a perfect representation, but heās pretty darn good for being a Marvel character from 1989.
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