The major comic companies get enough reviews and press, it’s time for the creator-owned and indie series to get some love and judgment. Indie review takes up-and-coming indie and creator-owned series and puts them through the review process so you can confidently support the best of the small press and passion driven projects in the comic industry.

 

The Info Bit

Title: Mind of Mirrors

Genre/s: Drama

Writer: Leland Jackness and Dan Franklin

Penciler: Tom Hodges (Star Wars: Tales from the Clone Wars)

Colorist: Brianna Garcia

Letterer: Dan Franklin

Publisher: Self

Number of Issues: Book One (of Three)

Page Count: 96

Price: $29.99 (includes 10 track original soundtrack CD by Dan & Leland)

 

The Review Bit

“You ever feel like there’s something more out there for you? Like there’s a big picture you’re missing? Like, given the opportunity, you could be a completely different person.”

What would be your response if you were asked this question? I’m sure for a lot of you the answer is likely to be yes. This is the question bought before Jack by a mysterious stranger in Jack’s local watering hole. You see, Jack has not had the easiest life, the son of a drunk who always seemed to be followed by trouble. Whether it was cheating when he was a youngster, drinking and doing drugs when in high school, or getting into bar fights on the regular as an adult, trouble and problems just had a way of finding Jack. The only positive influence in Jack’s life is Allison, a childhood friend that grew up into a beautiful woman that still saw the good in Jack, that didn’t see the son of an alcoholic well on his way to becoming everything that was wrong with his father, like the rest of the town.

That is where Mind of Mirrors Book One opens, with Jack once again sitting in jail after another bar fight, wondering how, at 25, his life has yet to begin, or if it even ever will. Jack is once again bailed out by Allison, who admonishes him for his usual poor choices. It’s at this moment that something clicks in him, call it a moment of clarity, but he realizes that this girl he has known pretty much his whole life helps when he calls, and goes above and beyond whenever she needs to for him, not just because he is her friend, but because she loves and cares about him. It is in that moment that he realizes that he thinks he feels the same way. For the first time in his life he does something that is good for himself, and he acts on it. He spends the night with the one person who cares for him on this earth more than anything and it changes his life.

Then the evening involving the mysterious stranger comes about. On one of the rare nights that Allison and Jack are not together Jack decides to head out to the bar, old habits die hard. When in walks in a man in a flashy green suit. Jack seems to be the only one who has noticed the man. The man approaches Jack and seems to know him already, to Jack’s confusion, even knows his real name is James. The man in green starts to befuddle Jack by quoting Julien Jaynes in an attempt of very high brow humor that goes miles above Jack’s head. He then offers to buy a drink, and instead of buying the drink brings out a golden flask of his ‘private reserve’. Jack gulps it down and as another shot is being poured for him by the stranger Jack is asked the question I posed at the beginning of this review.

Jack stands there listening as this mysterious man whom he knows nothing about, yet knows everything about him, uses a lot of words that jack might not even be able to spell to tell him that he is wasting his life and potential and is on the “slow road to nowhere fast.” Jack takes offense to this and explains that his life isn’t so bad, and is finally turning around. He has a job, friends and a girl who loves him. The man in green uses this against Jack, telling him he has nothing to offer her, and doesn’t she deserve to have a man in her life that is living up to his full potential? Jack is poured one more drink as the words echo through him, and the stranger presses the issue more. Jack stands at the bar with his back to the man filling his head with thoughts that are now suddenly striking a chord within him. He turns to thank the mysterious man in green for the drink, but he is now gone. As Jack leaves the bar his mind feels clear, and he realizes the stranger was right. Late that night he writes a letter for Allison and he drives off on his motorcycle to nowhere in particular, except to find his potential, and himself. Hoping that once he finds what he has been looking for all his life, he will come back renewed and Allison will have been waiting for him and he can give her the man she has always deserved.

This is an incredibly well written story. When I was finished I immediately wanted to read it again, which I did the next night. A successful Kickstarter project from 2013, Mind of Mirrors has been a labor of love for Dan Franklin and Leland Jackness for several years now, and you can feel it when you read it, there is a care and passion behind this story that is incredibly evident to me. The story that Dan and Leland are trying to tell us is one about life. Who are we? Where are we going? How do we get there? These are questions we have all asked ourselves, never having the answer. But whether it is from the stranger’s slick words, or whatever elixir was in the flask, Jack thinks he can find them. I know this might seem like an oversimplification, and it likely is (but it is also only the first book of this story), but self-worth and self-discovery seem to be the theme here. And while they seem like simple concepts, they are also very powerful forces. Dan and Leland had a way with words that felt very genuine. The characters felt real, the dialog felt real, I was very impressed with these first time comic writers. When Jack has his realization regarding Allison and their feelings for each other really stood out to me “It’s like listening to the radio and catching traces of another station that’s almost breaking in. Then the signal and noise switch places and all of a sudden I hear a totally different station.”

Tom Hodges art is something I have been aware of for some time now being the Star Wars fan that I am, and his art in Mind of Mirrors did not disappoint. There are several Easter eggs in the art (if you know what to look for) that I enjoyed. Like the envelope in the police station with Jack’s property has the “numbers” from LOST across the top, or the bottle of “Skywalker Ale. Since 1977”. One sequence I really enjoyed artistically were the panels where the man in green was talking to Jack about his wasted potential and how he can choose to be stuck in this life or make the world his own. As Jack stood across from him, every panel had a background that took on an almost supernatural approach. Like the stranger’s words were spells, showing Jack the past, present and future. As well as the universe and his place in it, ending with Jack standing lost in a maze while the giant face of the stranger loomed over him.

Brianna Garcia is another new face to this medium and I thought she did a really great job of bringing life to Hodges pencils. Her colors along with Hodges did a wonderful job of bringing this story to life. When the story called for psychedelic images, Tom Hodges provided the trippy imagery while Brianna Garcia provided brought the bright vibrant colors needed to tell Dan and Leland’s story.

Music is a very important part of this story. Not only is music a part of Jack’s life but Dan Franklin and Leland Jackness are musicians, and music has always been a major part of their lives. They themselves are a musical duo, “Dan and Leland.” They also wrote an original soundtrack to their story that comes with the graphic novel. The music is fantastic and pairs well with the story. I confess to only having heard the first 4 songs simply because the soundtrack is for all 3 parts of Mind of Mirrors and I really do not want to have any of the remaining story spoiled for me ahead of time. But those 4 songs have seen a lot of play on lengthy drives. The music is a little rock, little pop, little country even, but is very accessible, and wonderfully written and played by the authors.

The Rating Bit

OK. Now on to this part, I have not done this much in the past, but I have no problem rating Mind of Mirrors as a 10. I’m not sure what all else I can say I didn’t say above, but this book spoke to me. It is also possible that I am a little biased because I have had stories in my mind for years that I have only developed in my head and never on paper, that have a similar feel and tone. So that somewhat familiarity I was feeling just completely sucked me in, but that is OK, I accept that, but I do think everyone should read this, it really is just that good.

You can pick up your copy of Mind of Mirrors on Amazon.com or click here for retailers carrying this book.