Scrap City Pack Rats

(These comic-book superheroes bring disability into the world of children�s fantasy.)

It�s a bird...It�s a plane...No! Wrong on both counts, but the first guess was closer -- it is a critter, namely a rat! Four of them, in fact. And just like superman, these heroes have some pretty mighty abilities: They read each others� minds; they fly through the air in a rocket chair; they move objects with the power of thought.

But unlike superman, and unlike virtually all other comic-book superheroes on the market, this pack of rats has disabilities. One is deaf, one is blind, one has epilepsy and the fourth is a bilateral amputee! The Scrap City Pack Rats are the imaginary result of genetic engineering coupled with a dose of synthetic "brain booster" and activated by a hefty application of lightning (without which no fantasy creation is complete). Such is the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle-like genesis of four laboratory rats with abilities, disabilities and lots of character.

In reality, the Scrap City Pack Rats were developed in 1992 by Mark Medford, a 14-year employee of Goodwill Industries of Maine, Inc. (a non-profit rehabilitation organization) and Jay Piscopo, a freelance artist. Thus far, the Rats legend consists of five comic books (published by Goodwill) as well as an audio cassette version of the stout-hearted rodents. And if a recent book-signing with a turnout of 400 is any prediction of their popularity, the leather-clad Scrap City Pack Rats are passing their initiation into the realm of children�s fantasy as "totally awesome" and "cool."

With all of the diverse characteristics portrayed by the Rats -- they�re witty, brainy and adventurous, and they like to rock -- their disabilities seem to be mere afterthoughts. But although the disabilities may be depicted as such, they are far from happenstance. The courageous critters were intended to carry with them an important message for children.

"[Co-creator] Jay and I looked at the world of children�s entertainment," says Medford, "and we were seeing a lot of different characters represented, from Smurfs to big green Hulks, transformer robots and just about anything you could think of. But there wasn�t anything that was representative of disability groups."

Realizing that children form attitudes and opinions very early in life that they will later carry into adulthood, Medford felt that something needed to exist in their make-believe world that would introduce them to people with disabilities.

"Imagine what the impact on society might have been if Mickey Mouse had been hearing impaired," says Medford. "You grow up comfortable with that. It�s one of your heroes. In a very real sense, the rewards or the impact of this project are going to be seen down the line, when this generation of kids grows up and becomes employers, or co-workers."

Comics seemed an ideal venue for communicating messages about people with disabilities, as both of the Rats creators feel that children who read comics are generally young enough to be receptive. "Most kids really don�t have a lot of prejudices about disabilities," says Piscopo, "so they just accept [the characters] as they are. They just see the disability as a part of who they are. Then maybe when they�re exposed to more people with disabilities, instead of staring or feeling uncomfortable, they�ll realize that having a disability is just part of life -- that people in general have all sorts of quirks or things that are different about them, and that differences aren�t necessarily something to be afraid of, or feel uncomfortable about."

Medford adds that when they read the comics, "kids don�t see the difference. All they see is the fun and the action."

The "fun" involves more than just the Rats� adventures. Comics also consist of pages of games and activities, special clubs, a diagram of the manual alphabet, and stories about famous heroes with disabilities.

Piscopo recognizes that there is also a message for children with disabilities inherent in the comic books: "I think it�s saying that you�re included, you�re a part of things, that you can acknowledge the reality of a disability and still be a hero -- still do amazing things."

Amazing things seem to include, according to the Rats� debut issue, boldly battling a fire to save a child trapped in a burning building. Doc, the rat without hind legs, soars through the air in an electromagnetic rocket chair. Ace plays electric guitar and shoots his super-sticky yo-yo with the speed of light. Ruby has telekinesis. Spinner can�t hear, but he communicates with the rest of the pack using Ratsense -- a rodent form of mind�reading.

Ruby, the rat with epilepsy, is a daredevil, science-fiction-loving rat with a keen sense of adventure, a boon to the feminist movement. She also symbolizes an effort to portray more than just visible disabilities. In fact, she was originally created without a disability in mind, but "the more we thought about the more we wanted to show a hidden disability," says Piscopo. "A lot of kids know about different kinds of mental powers, like telekinesis, but they don�t know what epilepsy is."

Medford himself has classic migraines about four times a year that occur without warning and are so severe that they cause him to lose his vision. Migraines, like other hidden disabilities, are "very misunderstood," he says, adding that "what makes it a disability is that I become afraid because I don�t know when it�s going to happen. There are many things that can �handicap� us if we allow them to."

Thus far only four disabilities are represented by the Rat team, but Medford and Piscopo have ideas about adding new characters. While some will have disabilities and some will not, all will have diverse and interesting personality traits. "Each character has a different quirk," says Piscopo. "It�s just a part of who they are. We never really play up the disabilities. They�re not a �disabled group� within the comic."

The comic characters have yet another positive effect for people with disabilities: A percentage of any profits made from merchandising will be put back into rehabilitation services. "That�s from now until forever," says Medford. "And if you have something that�s even a fraction as successful as, say, the [Teenage Mutant Ninja] Turtles, that could amount to a substantial contribution. That�s really important to us,� Medford says, noting that �in these days of budget cuts, one of the first areas that they seem to trim is the social service programs, as well as education."

Letters from young fans everywhere assure Medford and Piscopo that children are definitely making a warm place in their hearts for the Rats. "My fave guy is Spinner," writes one girl. "I can relate to him in some ways." A boy writes: "The Scrap City Pack Rats are awesome...I love your ideas." A seven year old comments, "My favourite character is Ace. I like him because he plays rock and roll. He is cool."

It might be the staggering popularity of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles that has helped these "mutant" rats gain immediate, open-armed acceptance. Medford and Piscopo explain that the Scrap City Pack Rats have been specifically designed to fit into a genre of children�s entertainment.

"What the Turtles had done was define that having a funny animal character in an adventure setting could be popular," says Piscopo. "We wanted to fit within that genre because kids were already comfortable with that kind of thing."

Medford adds, "This seemed like a really wonderful vehicle because it�s a language that kids are listening to, and that they�re used to."

One might wonder why the traditional dirty, disease-infested stereotype of rats has not proven to be an obstacle in the way of the rodent heroes� gaining acceptance. But the creators point out that children rarely hold that image of rats. They often have pet rats at home or in the classroom, and can be quite attached to them.

In fact, Piscopo did some pretty thorough research on rats when embarking on this project, and notes that rats and humans have much in common. "The reason they use rats for testing so much is that humans and rats have the same susceptibilities," he informs us. "In terms of evolution, they�re of unknown origin. They�re sort of the �primal rodent,� and that�s what humans evolved from.

"I kind of like that," says Piscopo. "It�s kind of redefining terms."

(Lisa Bendall is an ABILITIES staff writer.)