Ripple Effects

Would-be writer George Gibson has a superheroic invulnerability to injury but has type 1 diabetes that requires insulin injections. So when SoCal’s local superheroes pester him to join them, he opts out to focus on his book project. But circumstances push him to help people in trouble, first alone and then in fragile collaborations with other superheroes. Was it better to just rescue the endangered or take a more proactive approach and attack potential miscreants? His maybe-crush Norma helps him navigate his choices. Throughout, Hart (Doppelgänger) foregrounds the paradoxical outcomes of an invisible illness: people don’t know and stigmatize individuals but then become critical when they need help. Following each episode come essays from people with invisible illnesses, including myalgic encephalomyelitis, paranoid schizophrenia, and thrombophilia—which Hart has himself. The realistic, simple art from Chiroleu (El Borde) punches through with vibrant colors for the superheroics and more somber tones for everyday life and medical settings.