Welcome to week four of our look at under-represented heroes in the Marvel Universe. If you want to check out the other weeks, click below (but none are needed for understanding of today’s piece):
Heroes with Physical Disabilities
Bad Side of Body Size Representation
Good Side of Body Size Representation
This week, we’ll focus on the representation of characters who have dwarfism. Also, the language used in this piece was researched from several sources to avoid offense (subscribing to the "people-first" method). Any terms that you might find offensive are NOT intended as such.
Since, unfortunately, there are so few characters to choose from (most relegated to brief appearances), I’ll lump them into three categories (from least to greatest importance).
Partners
These characters are part of a “big guy, little guy” partnership where the character with dwarfism is never seen apart from the character who isn’t.
Warstarof the Shi’Ar Imperial Guard is actually two beings who are in a symbiotic relationship with one another—the smaller B’Nee rides in a cavity in C’Cil’s back. As a classic example of the “big guy, little guy” trope, C’Cil is massive and unintelligent while B’Nee is diminutive and intelligent.
Tuskof the villainous Dark Riders has the ability to create ¼ scale clones of himself to do his bidding—called Underlings. They are more impish than their “father” but don’t appear to have much autonomy.
Due to the nature of their partnerships (and the fact that they’re either villains or antagonists), the characters with dwarfism unfortunately don’t get a chance to shine on their own.
Team Players
Although these characters are a step up from the Partners, all of these characters are defined more by their status on a team than as an individual.
Thumbelina, a member of the villainous Mutant Liberation Front, only had a handful of appearances with the team. Although her name is an unfortunate reference, one thing that set her apart from other characters with dwarfism is that she can shrink her size while retaining her strength (similar to Ant-Man).
Despite the fact that this next character only appeared in one story arc, his genesis is unique. White Dwarf—a young boy whose dwarfism actually augmented his strength and durability—started out as a character in a special one-shot idea book called X-Men Millennial Visions where he was envisioned as part of the reality-hopping Exiles. Apparently he was interesting enough that he made yet another cameo in the Millennial Visions 2001.
Eventually, in 2004, the character was actually ported into the Exilescomic as a stand-in antagonist. While it is unfortunate that his character was not developed, it is significant to point out that his size is the source of his power—a strong message to send.
Starting in the mid 80s, the Squadron Supreme—Marvel’s answer to the Justice League—began its publishing career. Many of the characters were a one-to-one pastiche of Justice Leaguers; however, instead of having a shrinking character (like Atom), the Squadron had Tom Thumb—the team’s genius inventor who just happened to have dwarfism. He wasn’t relegated to the background, he didn’t shy away from combat situations, and he used his incredible talents to aid his team.
Unfortunately, this version of Tom hasn’t shown up in various reboots of the team. It remains to be seen if he will cameo in the recently relaunched Squadron Supreme.
The character in this category with the most page time would be Pip the Troll. Starting as a sidekick to Adam Warlock, then transitioning to a member of Infinity Watch, and falling into obscurity before being co-opted into Peter David’s expansive X-Factor cast, Pip has had startlingly little character development.
His origin isn’t much more promising: he began as an interstellar party boy who gets magically transformed into a troll, becomes the snarky comic relief, and who stays a drunken, mostly-misogynistic neer-do-well into his adulthood. He definitely isn’t a candidate for a good role model award.
However, poor the previous contestants were, the last two characters have had the most chance to get to shine on their own.
Individuals
These characters—while they have been closely associated with partners or teams, have had the most time to develop as their own people.
For a time, the villain Doctor Octopus had taken over the brain of Peter Parker, dubbing himself the “Superior Spider-Man”. While in Parker’s body, Doc Ock made many changes to Parker’s life including who he dated. Enter Anna Maria Marconi.
For the better part of a year (our time), Anna Maria and Peter went to school together, worked together, and dated. Their relationship was so serious that Anna Maria even thought that “Peter” was about to propose. After Peter regained control of his body, he had the unfortunate job of letting Anna Maria in on the truth—a situation she took in stride.
As far as role models go, Anna Maria is it; devoted friend, ambitious student, brilliant scientist, the total package. Hopefully—with the absolute inundation of Spider-books this year—she will get even more story time.
But the character who takes the cake is the loveable heart of Alpha Flight: Puck. Although Eugene Judd wasn’t born with dwarfism (it’s a complicated origin story involving a magic dagger and a demon possession that shrank him down and made him immortal...no, I could not make this shit up), he has been the most visible spokesperson for characters with dwarfism since his introduction in 1983.
The things that make Puck such an endearing character are his indomitable spirit, his positive attitude, and his charisma. It is nearly impossible not to like this character. Whether he’s drinking beer with his buddy Wolverine, making quips at villains during battle, supporting a friend in need, or talking up the ladies, Puck is the very definition of a complex human being.
Although the number of characters with dwarfism are few, one can hope that their inclusion in our comic book world will help to change minds and lead to broader acceptance of people with dwarfism.
Join us next time for a look at religious heroes in comics! Can’t wait? Put in your two cents in the comments below.
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