Comic casts cancer as the villain

By ELISE FRANCO

A new superhero teaches children how to be more than just a cancer survivor.

YOUNGSTOWN— Life Maxx is a special superhero, even though he has no special powers.

What makes him so special? He’s a cancer survivor.

Pop artist and comic book artist/writer Chris Yambar created Life Maxx after Brenda Rider of Austintown, founder of A Way With Words Foundation Inc., also based in Austintown, approached him with the idea to make a comic book aimed at children who have cancer.

“The kids can read it and ... be encouraged by it,” Yambar said.

Rider’s foundation was set up to provide resources that aid the healing process, to raise money for cancer research and to increase awareness of cancer among children.

Like many young people who are diagnosed with cancer, Life Maxx’s plans change dramatically when he learns of his illness. With his dreams of becoming a professional athlete gone, he decides to make something even better of himself.

“He decided to become more than a survivor, which I think is the key,” said Yambar, a Youngstown native. “To be a survivor, you just have to survive. To be more you have to become an achiever. That means going out on a limb and getting beyond your current situation regardless of what it is.”

Rider, who was diagnosed with breast cancer nine years ago, said she came up with the idea do to a comic book because she thought kids needed a way to learn about cancer that wasn’t so formal.

“When kids deal with the ‘Big C’ they just don’t want to talk about it,” she said. “There aren’t greeting cards that talk about it, and there weren’t stories or comic books before now.”

In the first issue of “Life Maxx,” the superhero, whose only special powers lie in the space suit and weapons he designed to withstand the dangers of outer space, introduces himself. He also talks about what it’s like to battle space villains and cancer at the same time. He introduces his friend, Chemo Girl, who helps explain chemotherapy to a teenage girl who is nervous about her first treatment.

Meredith Reffner, 17, of Poland, was introduced to the “Life Maxx” comics through Rider and is looking forward to the second edition.

“The book is entertaining and informative. I think the series puts cancer in a light that kids can understand,” she said. “I think it especially helps kids who are going through treatment understand what is happening to them and also shows them that they can beat it.”

Reffner was diagnosed with leukemia when she was 7, and has been in remission for seven years.

“When I read the comic book, my first thought was, ‘I wish that I’d had this when I was diagnosed,’” she said. “I think that Life Maxx shows kids that they don’t have to be ashamed of their illness, that other people will still like them and that cancer patients are some of the strongest and toughest people around.”

Yambar has been creating comics since the 1980s and is best known for his work on the Bongo Comics Group’s “Simpsons” series.

The first edition of the “Life Maxx” comic book series debuted in November, with the next edition to follow within the next few months. Yambar said plans are also in the works to take the character to a new animated level.

“This past December I signed a development deal with a producer who is interested in my properties,” he said. “He wants to do animation for as many [comic books] as possible, which is a rare deal, so we’re going to putting together a pilot episode of ‘Life Maxx.’”

Yambar said the 30-minute episodes will be an animated segment where Life Maxx interacts with other characters. Eventually he said they’ll be able to create DVDs and package them with copies of the comic book to give to the children.

A Life Maxx suit has also been developed, so children who have read the comic book will actually be able to meet and talk to the superhero in the flesh.

efranco@vindy.com