Bipolar Bear and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Health Insurance

A bear faces the baffling complexities of health insurance in Founds’s wacky but pointed debut. Theodore, a bear, lives in the forest. Tired of his wild mood swings, he follows the advice of a chachalaca to get medicine from town. After a long journey, a pharmacist lists all he needs to gather before he can issue meds: a prescription, a doctor, insurance, and money. Theodore gets a job in a grocery store, but he has to wait a year for insurance. His relief at eventually getting pills quickly sours when a massive bill follows, which leads him into the labyrinth of health insurance claims (“To file a new claim, cross the jungle of man-eating plants to your left”) and a brawl with the literal fat cats who run the insurance company, under the direction of mangy Baroness Von Stinkleshanks. A dejected, defeated Theodore returns home and is arrested when he cannot pay an old fine for digging through the dumpsters to survive. During an exuberant manic state, Theodore concocts a scheme with fellow inmates to escape, which brings about strange new alliances and a slightly hopeful future. The art is simplistic with mostly full-page panels, and is bright with what looks like colored pencil or crayon, reminiscent of a storybook. Indeed, the style makes the point that the state of America’s healthcare is so absurd it should be a story to frighten children. It’s zany with a zinger of a political message.[em] (Nov.) [/em]