NY creator develops comic based on experience with ADHD

WBNG-12 news talks about a creator from New York who produced a superhero tale building on his experiences with ADHD and bullying:

A Central New York comic book creator spent a decade developing a superhero series inspired by his own experiences with ADHD and bullying, and says the project is aimed at readers who have ever felt like they didn’t belong.

Tyler Raymond is the creator of The Different, a comic series he says is built around the idea that being different is something to embrace, not hide.

Story behind the series

Raymond says growing up with ADHD and being bullied in high school drove him to create something that could uplift others.

“School isn’t easy, especially when you’re different,” Raymond said. “So being the kid that talks too much, it was particularly hard to find friends. I wanted to make something that uplifted others and reinforce the idea that it’s okay being different. And we should all love ourselves for who we are and accepting our flaws because what other people might see as different, I see as something we should embrace and accept.”

The comic’s premise

The series follows five young heroes — Inferna, Celestial, IL GELO, The Stone Golem and Blueprint — who gain extraordinary powers from mysterious alien energy crystals buried beneath the Earth. The team protects Manhattan while navigating personal struggles and learning to function as a family.

Raymond says the central conflict goes beyond fighting villains. In the world of The Different, people fear the heroes trying to save them because of their powers.

“People treat people that have superpowers differently,” Raymond said. “So in Manhattan, when these heroes are saving people, they actually get negative responses, and these people fear them and treat them differently because they have superpowers. So I wanted to make a niche little parallel there. It’s a coming-of-age story; it’s about a group of strangers becoming family and working together to do good while also handling the adversity of being different.”

It's the kind of premise the X-Men for one was known for, but as anybody well-versed in recent history knows, Marvel's since gone downhill with comics like those years ago. So it's to be hoped this independent comic will prove a good successor for mainstream comics that lost their way. I just hope it doesn't build upon extreme left-wing ideologies, metaphorically or otherwise. That will only ruin it.