In the book, Hannah realizes this when she sees that her new girlfriend, Iz, is also struggling with her bipolar disorder. This really drives home one of the major messages of the story-when you’re dealing with mental health issues, you’re not alone. I also started antidepressants for the first time during college and I also struggled to absolute hell at the time with side effects, like brain fog and memory loss. Anderson described this book as “almost autobiographical,” but honestly… it felt almost biographical for me also. Let me be clear: despite the fantasy superpower aspect, Side Effects is one of the most relatable graphic novels that I’ve ever read. These superpowers are a great metaphor for the antidepressants themselves: they make her capable of interacting with the world and helping people in a way that she couldn’t before, but they also make her life difficult in new and imaginative ways. But instead of just normal side effects like headaches, weight gain, and sleep issues, Hannah finds herself grappling with side effects in the form of superpowers, like astral projection and mind reading. The main crux of the story deals with Hannah, under the guidance of the campus psychiatrist, trying out a variety of medications, attempting to find the right one that will help her cope with a minimum of side effects-a difficult process very familiar to anyone who has ever needed antidepressants.

Side Effects follows the story of Hannah, a newly minted college student whose depression and anxiety are causing her to struggle while navigating campus life and all it entails, like schoolwork, dating, and generally being independent for the first time. Side Effects Ted Anderson (writer), Tara O’Connor (artist/colorist), Dave Sharpe (letterer)

What if superpowers could originate from something a little closer to home, like say, from our own health and the ways that we treat it? This is the question author Ted Anderson explores in his new graphic novel, Side Effects. But most people will probably go their whole life without being bombarded by gamma rays or bitten by a mutant spider.

Side Effects by Ted Anderson