Polarity #4 | Writer: Max Bemis | Artist: Jorge Coelho | Colors: Felipe Sobreiro | Letters: Steve Wands | Cover: Frazer Irving & Logan Fareber | Publisher: BOOM! Studios | Price: $3.99 | From my column @ Forces of Geek.com
“It’s been in my DNA, in my blood since my birth, an encoded destiny that spelled out the fact that I’m nothing more than an unhinged dreamer whose fantasies of normalcy and peace were always far out of reach.” This is life, according to Tim, as his superpowers brought on by his mental illness bring about an inevitability that may or may not be pre-conceived.
Musician Max Bemis, who shared his own struggles with mental illness, touches on underlying issues of bi-polar disorder while producing a highly imaginative story that results in one hell of a comic book.
Bemis uses mental illness as a vehicle while sending us on an adventure filled with action, romance, and hilarity.
One of the funnier moments occurred when Tim’s friend puts him on blast, in front of his girlfriend no less, for liking the Vanilla Ice nu-metal album, which made me chuckle because I considered using the ice, ice baby remake as my entrance theme when I first started wrestling……don’t judge.
Tim has been duped by the one person he could trust his therapist, Doctor Mays. The mad doctor feels Tim has gone from asset to liability and wants him terminated.
This turn of events cuts deep because Mays has been the Obi-Wan Kenobi to Tim’s Luke Skywalker. Mays also belittles Tim’s“illness,” which twist’s the knife even more and leads to a cornucopia of chaos where Tim has to dig through the emotional bedlam of his psyche to save the day.
Jorge Coelho did a wonderful job illustrating facial reactions, body language, and anguish. One of the great things about this series overall is Bemis’ portrayal of Tim.
Absent is the stereotypical, self-loathing whiner with a bleak outlook on life, and present is the stereotypical, self-loathing whiner of sorts who is troubled by the degeneration of his generation. The real difference is that now he has the power to actually do something about it.
The ending teases the possibility of a sequel down the line, and while there was no stone left unturned, Bemis and the entire creative team have turned in something special, and I hope we haven’t seen the last of Tim and his “Manic-Man” persona.
Grade: A
Ringside Logic 