Despite your pseudo-bohemian appearance and vaguely leftist doctrine of beliefs, you can’t help but be a bit excited or intrigued about Say Anything’s Max Bemis making a comic inspired by the hit album …Is A Real Boy. Proto-typical non-conformist.
Read on for a review.
Written by Max Bemis
Illustrated by Jorge CoehloFrom the mind of SAY ANYTHING frontman Max Bemis comes POLARITY, a manic-depressive trip you’ll never forget. Timothy Woods is a bipolar artist stuck in the world of hipsters, meaningless sex, and vain art — better known as Brooklyn. But after he survives a near fatal car accident, Timothy discovers that his mental instability is more than just a disorder, and that his bipolar medication hasn’t just been subduing depression and uncontrollable mania…it’s been suppressing his super powers! Now it’s time for Timothy to stand up to his disease alongside an onslaught of wretched human villainy as he finally finds his place in the world.
Each issue comes with a free download for a new original song written and performed by Max Bemis!
It’s a tricky thing when people crossover between their given mediums. It always gives you something unexpected; most people know Emmy Rossum from her acting roles, so her jazz/lounge album caught a lot of people off-guard (even though she started as a singer, but hey, semantics!). This goes equally true for comics- apparently the impression has been given that writing comics is easy, so almost everyone thinks they can do it. BOOM! is great at cultivating talent, so that’s why you see comics written by Paul Scheer (most known as a comedian), Claudio Sanchez (most known as a musician) and Sam Jackson (most known for being Sam Jackson). Now Max Bemis of the band Say Anything enters into the fray, and while it may be high praise right off the bat it’s fair to say that Bemis has set the bar to a new level for first time comic writers.
“Polarity” is the story of Tim, a young man living with mental health issues in the pseudo-bohemian world of Brooklyn amidst its hipster renaissance. Based on his own experiences that drove Bemis to write the album …Is A Real Boy, “Polarity” can basically be described as “Admit It!!!”: The Comic, with a dash of “Woe” — that is to say, a sarcastic and humorous satire of the culture and world that Bemis came from, where subtlety is not the name of the game and the commentary is never the less poignant. Bemis’ eye for scene-commentary prevalent in his lyrics is just as pointed and in attack mode here as in any song he’s done, only now elaborated upon in a much more visual scope. It’s interesting to see the transition from song writer to comic writer, as Bemis’ songs had always been relatively vivid in their lyrics; the transition seems relatively natural for him, as the story from an album nearly a decade old is reinterpreted on the pages of the book.
Of course, there’s a bit more to it than just that. “Polarity” also comes with a slight super-hero tick, one that’s not excessively overt but never the less there. It’s a slow build where we only get to see a small sampling of the greater picture, a la the most recent Spider-Man film or “the Strange Talent of Luther Strode,” but it’s never the less intriguing. All of “Polarity” is done in such an affable fashion that it’s easy to latch on to; Bemis’ love of the medium is apparent and infectious as he plays with a few established “origin story” trends, and having Jorge Cohelo and Felipe Sobreiro on the art only makes the book that much more engrossing. It’s a pretty killer team that seems to have a great awareness of not just the story they want to tell but also the type of story it is and how it needs to be told that, in terms of a debut, “Polarity” is one of the strongest new releases this week.
However, as good as the book is, it’s clear this is Bemis’ first time. A very noticeable tick is Bemis’ dialogue, which certainly matches his lyrical tonality but doesn’t quite mirror most actual human conversation (outside of maybe a more serious Statler and Waldorf). The inner-ramblings of Tim’s head work just fine as a place to offer criticism, but some of the interactions between characters seem too scripted, too on-point, like a less-snappy Sorkin diatribe, and it’s those little moments that take you out of the book, albeit briefly. Not only that, but as much as “Polarity” skirts around established trends in comic book mythology when establishing a new hero, there are a few instances in the book where it seems to lean a bit too heavily on tropes; that aspect doesn’t ostensibly hurt the book (because what origin story doesn’t lean on tropes?), but for something with as interesting a concept as “Polarity”, where you can’t easily tell what’s real and what’s in Tim’s head, you’d at least hope Bemis would do a bit more to break the mold given his encyclopediac knowledge of comics.
Continued belowIt’s pretty clear that this isn’t Jorge Coehlo’s first time out, as the book is incredibly rich in the art department. Teamed up with a fantastic palette of color provided by Felipe Sobreiro, Coehlo’s work here is beautiful; whether it’s the hipster breakdown or Tim’s descent into madness, Coehlo does a great job of bringing Bemis’ story to life. What makes Coehlo particularly great for this project, though, is his character work; often exaggerated in humorous ways, Tim and his world are injected with an extra special bit of life due to the various aspects Coehlo ascribes to them – whether it be more angular bodies, a noticeable hunch or just the fact that he’s so able to transcribe that smug look of fake knowledge across their collective faces. Coehlo’s art has so notably evolved from “Forgetless,” which was great visually on its own, and it’s great to see him taking chances and really playing with what this medium offers over any other in order to make “Polarity” a more unique comic.
Suffice it to say, “Polarity” is definitely off to a good start. It’s certainly a good debut for a new creator (if it were someone lesser known than Bemis, you could almost guarantee a huge celebratory deal would be made), and it makes for quite an entertaining read. It’s a book that has all the makings of a classic origin story, and aside from some awkward dialogue and a few exaggerated tropes, there’s a lot to like. Add in a free song to listen to while reading and “Polarity” is a sharp story in a beautiful package that you’d do well not to miss out on.
Final Verdict: 9.0 – Buy
