This is what an HIV positive Superhero looks like. (But, duh, you already knew that.)
Artist Robert Walker "wanted to show people that you could still be powerful with HIV" and "educate young people about the virus and how to avoid it, without being preachy." So he left his job at Marvel and created his own comic book O+Men, whose superheroes-- of all races, ethnicities, sexuality and gender-- are HIV+. O+Men: Negative came out last year, and O+ Men: Positive comes out later this month. Here's the full story
Independent comic book writer and artist Robert Walker has turned to comics as his medium to combat the physical and social epidemics that plague the globe, namely HIV/AIDS. Walker, who founded the comic studio DIGITAL NOIXE, is the creator of Delete, a super-hero epic that highlights racial issues and the dangers of technology. Delete led to the upcoming spinoff series The O+Men, about a team of superheroes afflicted with HIV/AIDS. The O+Men debuted in May 2007 with the first of two prologue issues entitled The O+Men: Negative. The second prologue issue, The O+Men: Positive, will be released in late May 2008.
Walker's interest in comic books with a social purpose first arose during a trip to a local comic book store.
"I saw a group of kids, all different cultures, and they were saying, 'I could be Batman, I could be Superman, I could be Wonder Woman.' And there was a little African American girl saying, 'I wish I was white, cause there are no heroes like me,'" Walker said. "It kind of blew my mind, because I hadn't really noticed--even though I am African American--that there weren't many profound African American women in the forefront of comics."
The eye-opening experience led Walker to the creation of Delete, which features an African American woman named Cynthia Hopps who begins to exhibit mysterious superpowers linked to technology. The series features characters representing a wide range of cultures including homosexual men and women, Latino artists and Hasidic Jews.
"I had to do it because I wanted it to be a comic book with purpose, some social meaning," Walker said regarding the inclusion of so many races and cultures in the pages of Delete.
The writer/artist's comic books would soon tackle an even more controversial topic: the widespread disease of HIV/AIDS.
"I'd always had issues with AIDS and HIV because I'd had family members and friends die of it," Walker said. "When I was doing the second issue [of Delete], a friend of mine told me he had contracted HIV. I felt I really needed to do something that talks about the issues—to make a statement to educate people about HIV/AIDS. I wanted to do a super-team because I wanted to show different people being affect by HIV/AIDS."
And thus The O+Men were born.
The book focuses on eight men and women that each contract the disease in different ways—through unsafe sex, rape, drug use, and even birth—and become volunteers for an alleged experiment that researches an HIV/AIDS antidote. Rather than alleviating their symptoms, the volunteers experience an accelerated form of the virus that threatens to end their lives even more rapidly. However, in addition to the deadly pace of the disease, some of the volunteers become endowed with new and unusual superpowers. These survivors of the project join together and form The O+Men in order to exact vengeance upon the nefarious researchers and to help others across the globe who suffer from HIV/AIDS.
"I'm putting [the series] together to show that you can still be powerful even with HIV," Walker said. "You can be a powerful being and do amazing things. I'm trying to cater both to people who don't have the virus and to educate them, and to people who do have the virus to uplift them while reading the book."
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When asked why he chose the medium of comic books to address issues of HIV/AIDS, Walker said that it was in order to appeal to the group at the greatest risk: youth.
"It's an epidemic that is spreading among our young people at an accelerating rate. A lot of people running around don't know that they're HIV positive until it's too late," Walker said. "I don't think the younger generation really understands the [severity] of it."
Walker has included a plethora of HIV/AIDS related information in the back of each issue of The O+Men. The articles—which include myths and facts about the disease, a listing of Web sites with detailed information and hotlines that readers can call—are included in the book to assist young readers who may suffer from HIV/AIDS or simply wish to understand it better.
"Some people hear about AIDS and are afraid to get tested," Walker explained. "They don't know where to go if they found that they are infected. That listing is in the book so people can be aware of where they can get tested and can get help and support about the virus."
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In spite of its important social message, The O+Men also promises to have all of the elements that draw so many readers to comic books in the first place.
"There's action, power, the excitement of any other comic book that's out there," Walker said. "The characters are gonna fight like any character from Marvel or DC, there will be villains—it just has a different story [than some might be used to].
"I'm going to hit a lot about sexuality, different cultures, global issues," Walker continued. "How other countries deal with the virus and how it differs here in America. Why the epidemic is bigger in some places and not in certain areas. It's going to be an exciting ride for everybody, including myself."
Ultimately, however, Walker is hoping to create a book that will educate and inspire people, and even himself. The writer said that he is always learning more about the virus as well.
"When I got tested myself, I found out how young these kids are," the scribe confessed. "I saw this little girl crying. She was maybe twelve or thirteen and she found out she was positive. It's really educated me about what's really happening...what's not being discussed about the virus.
"I want people to be inspired by The O+Men," Walker continued. "We go through our daily lives—we gotta go to work, got to do this—but when all is said and done, we all have to help each other to better the world. That's what I'm thinking. In my opinion, we are all here to help each other, no matter what background. We can help make the world a better place if we try. If we help each other, the world could be better. That's what I want people to get from my book."
The O+Men: Positive hits shelves in late May.