ABSTRACT
This chapter focuses on the relations between men when one or more is "disabled." It examines one example of autobiographical comics, a "genre" in which comics creators tell their life narratives to explore the everyday assumptions of male ability in Western culture, which conceal dis/ability and the "failures" of masculinity. Al Davison constructs graphic narratives of his encounters with other boys and men, at school, at home, in institutions and in comics. Often he graphically represents himself unclothed, and many of the naked self-representations occur when Davison is almost helpless. Davison demonstrates in his autobiography that the notions of being "differently abled" or "temporarily abled" may be more appropriate. An able-bodied reader can learn from his struggles over his right to walk, his spiritual journey, his engagement with masculinity in its most brutal form, his channelling of creativity into an artistic vocation, and his learning to "polish his mirror" to reflect the love of a woman.
