By Wes Jones

What if ADHD was the reason Quicksilver is so fast or dissociative identity disorder was the cause of Mystique’s shape-shifting abilities? MANIA presents us with a future where mentally ill tech mutants called ‘supermanics’ are the result of futuristic cybernetic tinkering. It’s 2052 in the completely automated city of New Renard, and all citizens are provided with a neural implant called the ARC. When the ARC is implanted into people with normal brain chemistry, it works as a sort of personal assistant with a HUD — think a fully-realized Microsoft HoloLens. Those with mental health issues, however, may cause the ARCs to malfunction and they end up with superpowers because comic books.