By Cat Wyatt

Do you ever wonder how you’d handle everything in your life changing, in the blink of an eye? Alex doesn’t have to wonder, he’s already been there. He’s the main character in a new series, Mindbender, by Scout Comics, and it’s safe to say that he’s had more than his fair share of trauma.

The series starts out with Alex when he’s only seven years old; the perfect age to love going to amusement parks. So it’s no surprise he’s having the best day of his life with his parents at one.  That is, until he lost his red balloon. That’s when everything changed for Alex. That’s the moment that Alex lost his parents (and many other people lost their family members as well).

You’re probably wondering what’s up with the red balloon, and believe me; I was too. There is a connection, naturally, but isn’t revealed until later. After the fateful events that one day in the park, our story jumps ahead another twelve years (I know, quite a jump). Alex is now twenty-three …well his body is. While time has been moving forward, part of Alex has been trapped and locked away. Because of this, it’s hard to say what his mental age is.

Ever since that day that changed everything, Alex has been in the (not so) tender care of the Branch Institution. I know that mental facilities tend not to have the best reputation, and admittedly stories like this probably don’t help. But there’s a historical precedent to the sort of treatment Alex receives - though it sort of travels a bit more into the sci-fi realm, but let’s be honest here, if the ‘doctors’ of the 1870s had access to futuristic tech, I’m sure they would have abused that as well.

I’m not sure if Alex hit his breaking point with the treatment there, or if it was the introduction of a new doctor (Margo Amos), but either way, Alex finally woke up after all these years. Personally, I believe Alex felt some sort of connection with Margo, which is what helped bring him back to the real world.

The problem, of course, is that Alex isn’t equipped to deal with the real world as it (or he) stands. Both have changed so dramatically; it’d be overwhelming. Imagine one day, after over a decade of being catatonic (but somewhat aware of your surroundings) to suddenly come to. It’d be a lot to handle, wouldn’t it? Now try adding some magical abilities on top of that, abilities you don’t know how to control. Abilities that possibly killed your family. Way too much to handle, right?

It’s no wonder that Alex is a walking mess, at least to start with. Through the course of the next few issues we do see him start to gain a level of control, but I wouldn’t say his abilities are even remotely stable. More like he’s figured out how to trigger certain abilities, but he’s still struggling to dampen others.

There’s a lot more going on here than meets the eyes, and it seems like multiple groups have their own objectives and priorities. Sorting through the mess to figure out what is going on is difficult, and frankly, I don’t envy the position Alex is in. The lead psychologist at the Branch Institution is clearly on the edge of cracking, assuming he hasn’t already surpassed it. Then there are the other people like (well, not exactly like) Alex that are in hiding. How did they end up here? How did they get powers? For that matter, how did Alex end up with powers? Were they all part of the same experiment, or is it some crazy coincidence? I’m looking forward to getting the answers to these questions.

Mindbender proved to be an interesting read. We still don’t know much about the origin of Alex’s abilities, or even whether they’re born from science or magic (semantics for some people, but I truly would like to know). I do think the world established has been interesting, though it’s lacking in its character development (I don’t feel like I know or understand Alex or Margo at all, let alone any of the secondary characters).

The artwork tends to lean towards the more realistic side. For the most part, this makes for really impactful scenes, but there are a few exceptions. The first page, where a young Alex is having fun with his parents, frankly it’s terrifying. Their eyes look like they’re possessed by demons. It’s freaky. Thankfully those were the only terrifying eyes of the series, so once you get past that point your safe. The color palette is stunning, especially when Alex is between worlds. Those were my favorite moments.

Score: 4/5

Mindbender #1-5
Publisher: Scout Comics
Writer: James Preuett
Illustrator: Federico de Luca