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Delicate And Sickly / Comic Books

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Female Examples

  • Archie Comics: Cheryl Blossom, according to recent issues. She has cancer.
  • Chuck Dixon's Avalon: The comatose Elena Ramirez. Her twin sister Esperanza aka Vendetta regularly sneaks into her hospital room to give her fresh flowers.
  • Funky Winkerbean: Lisa Moore and her cancer. To the point where readers of the strip have constantly mocked the comic because of its over-reliance on it.
  • The Incredible Hulk: Betty Ross once got cancer after being poisoned by the Abomination.
  • Shadoweyes: Sparkle has bee diagnosed with terminal lung cancer.
  • Sonic the Hedgehog (Archie Comics): Buns Rabbot, the Mirror Universe Evil Twin of Bunnie D'Coolette-Rabbot, has N.I.D.S., the same disease that Maria Robotnik had. To save her life, Ivo Kintobor placed her in the Omega Care Unit, the Mirror Universe version of E-123 "Omega".
  • Wonder Woman Vol. 1: Sally Lee is one of the WAAC stationed at the same military intelligence headquarters as Steve and Diana, but is often bedridden. She likely only still has a job because Gen. Darnell is nice to those working under him and he knows she's living on her own raising her younger brother.
  • X-Men: Illyana Rasputin aka Magik. More exactly, she falls victim to the Legacy Virus, which makes her Colossus's dead little sister. For a while anyway. It's... complicated.

Male Examples

  • Superman: Downplayed with Conduit, aka Kenny Braverman in The Death of Clark Kent. He was irradiated by Kryptonite when Clark's shuttle flew over his pregnant mother. His frequent bouts of poor health prevented him from excelling to quite the same degree as Clark.
  • NYX: Bobby Soul aka Felon's little brother, Lil' Bro, is severely autistic, and he has been using his powers for shady jobs to raise the money to get him out of District X and into a school where he can receive the care he needs. The only reason Felon takes on Zebra Daddy's job to track down a runaway prostitute is because Daddy offers to not only pay him the rest of what he needs, but a substantial additional bonus. The sequel suggested that Lil' Bro was not actually autistic, but had become catatonic as a result of severe sexual abuse by their mother's boyfriend, which is also why Bobby was raising the little guy on his own — he'd completely lost trust in their mother.
  • Supergirl:
    • In Supergirl (1972) #2, Kara's professor Allan Forsyte has an obscure brain malady for which there is no cure.
    • In Young Love, Supergirl's childhood crush Dick Malverne wants to see Linda one last time because he is dying from cancer.
  • X-Men:
    • James Howlett aka Wolverine was this as a boy, and was treated a delicate flower as result. After running away after unknowingly killing his father, Wolverine’s sickness wore off and Rose (his childhood friend) notices he becomes healthier and healthier. This is the beginning of his Healing Factor which made any possible diseases he could get almost non-existent and made him near immortal. It’s truly ironic that one of the most hardcore macho badasses in the Marvel Universe was once a sickly pampered little rich boy.
    • Abraham Kieros was a Vietnam War veteran who ended up horribly crippled and abandoned in an hospital. Then, he takes a Deal with the Devil from Apocalypse and becomes his follower, War. After the group is disbanded, Kieros is again paralyzed, but later he was healed by his ex-fellow Horseman Archangel.


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