As comics fans, we’re all too familiar with the concept of mind control. Whomst among your favorite heroes hasn’t turned on their friends and allies because a supervillain was using some overcomplicated device to direct their actions from a hidden lair miles beneath an island shaped like a skull?
But what if I told you Silicon Valley had already mastered the art of mind control and was employing it on you right now?
Vault Comics’ Mindset is the story of what happens when an introverted tech geek accidentally discovers mind control, and he and his friends put the science into an app to help users break their technology addiction. But as their Mindset app achieves a dangerous cult following, lies, conspiracies and murder come to light.
Are they helping people or controlling them? DUN DUN DUN!!!
Said series writer Zack Kaplan: “Mindset is a mind-bending sci-fi thriller about four wide-eyed grad students who discover mind control and put it in an app, and a dark journey that follows, twists and turns, murder and mystery, love and heartbreak through the absurd world of overnight technopreneurs and social media empires. But the series is really about a dilemma I think we all feel today. How do we use devices, social media and apps to connect with each other and feel influential without allowing the technology to influence the very choices we make and thoughts we have? We believe the timing for the story couldn’t be more socially reverent, since we’ve increased our dependency more than ever on technology, but as Silicon Valley tightens its digital grip on our behavior, mind control exists right now.”
Added series artist John J. Pearson: “I set out to factor in a range of divergent approaches to the art to reflect the nature of the story, mixing traditional and digital approaches in a tactile way. The artwork isn’t merely an extension of the story, it’s substantial and distinct, with its own visual narrative. We’ve developed a story where we’re dealing with themes surrounding social media, misuse of power and mind control, all very much in a post-truth context. The questions that I’m pushing throughout the series with the art reflect and subvert these themes, making the viewer question what they’re seeing and the reliability of the art presented to them, alongside (and at times against) the narrative. It’s aiming to be much more than simply an illustrated thriller, I want it to be a tangible experience with the reader as an active participant, with us leading them through a story that they can revisit time and again.”
Check out an extended, exclusive preview of Mindset #1, courtesy of our friends at Vault, and pick up the first issue Wednesday at your local comic shop.
And for more with Kaplan and Pearson, listen to their recent appearance on the WMQ&A podcast.
MINDSET #1
Writer: Zack Kaplan
Artist: John J. Pearson
Letterer: Hassan Otsmane-Elhaou
Cover A: John J. Pearson
Cover B: Martin Simmonds
On Sale: 06/29/2022
Dan Grote is the editor-in-chief of ComicsXF, having won the site by ritual combat. By day, he’s a newspaper editor, and by night, he’s … also an editor. He co-hosts WMQ&A: The ComicsXF Interview Podcast with Matt Lazorwitz. He lives in New Jersey with his wife, two kids and two miniature dachshunds, and his third, fictional son, Peter Winston Wisdom.
