Polarity

February 1, 2014
Unlikely hero gets unexpected superpowers, fights for justice, defeats the baddie, and gets the girltypical superhero plot, sure. But Tim Woods' powers come from his bipolar-disorder meds, and his fight for justice takes the form of a viciously satisfying takedown of Brooklyn hipster culture. Once Tim catches on that his manic episodes cause more than just public nudity and paranoia, he starts smallouting the hypocrisy of the hipster elite at a loft partyand moves up to the big leagues: defeating the crackpot psychiatrist who has been manipulating his patients to create an army of weaponized psychotics. Bemis' tongue-in-cheek dialogue is insouciantly self-awareI'm the guy reluctantly making it safe to be a douchey indie rocker in a gentrified former ghetto, you big ugly mammothbut Coelho's gorgeous full-color art saves it from being a mere joke by bringing vivid life to Tim's mania and adding a much-needed touch of pathos in delicately rendered facial expressions. Though the plot is nothing new, the hipster-bashing trappings and entrancing art certainly make up for it.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2014, American Library Association.)