Mind Mgmt #8 – Review

By: Matt Kindt (writer/artist)

The Story: Meru & Henry Lyme run into another former Mind Management operative.

Review: I’m starting to struggle with the story for Mind Mgmt.  This is a comic that I enjoy very much while I’m reading it, but I have a hard time looking forward to the next issue because (a) I have a hard time remembering what happened last issue and (b) I don’t have a strong connection to the characters.  It actually struck me earlier this week while preparing our Top Picks column that I couldn’t remember WHAT the previous issue of MM was about.  Sure, I knew that it was vaguely about the MM organization which has been recruiting psychic-types for nefarious reasons in the past and that our protagonist, Meru, had somehow gotten wrapped up in the intrigue.  But beyond that, each issue is turning into a wholly new adventure for me.

That doesn’t mean it’s time to drop the series, but it does mean that the freshness and newness has faded.  Now it’s purely down to how well can Matt Kindt tell me a story that I enjoy.

Mind Mgmt #7 – Review

By: Matt Kindt (writer, artist, colors)

The Story: Meru, suffering from another bout of amnesia, begins tracking down some answers.

Quick Review: If you’ve been missing Mind Mgmt, this would be a great jumping on point.  Sure, you’ll be a little confused, but I’ve been reading the series since the first issue and I was a little confused too.  That’s the way Mind Mgmt is supposed to be.

What makes this issue such a good jumping on point is that it doesn’t flow directly from the events of last issue.  Honestly, I can’t remember if Mind Mgmt #6 was the end of a story arc or not, but this issue finds our protagonist, Meru, back to being an amnesiac and pursuing some answers.  She’s just kinda going along, trying to gather information for a book (she’s a writer), falling in with seedy characters and starting to realize that she has some funky, deja vu memories that make her quest for answers seem pretty personal.

Mind Mgmt #3 – Review

By: Matt Kindt (writer/artist)

The Story: Meru arrives in China, searching for answers to her amnesia with the bad guys in hot pursuit.

Review: I have a feeling that Mind Mgmt is going to be a hard series to review in single-issues.  That doesn’t mean that the single issues are bad or that “it would read better in trade” or anything like that.  The single issues are very enjoyable but it seems like it might fall into that trap of me saying, “That was another really good issue!” to which the reader of the review could say, “Why?” and I’d just copy and paste what I said last time, “Matt Kindt’s haunting watercolors combined with an intriguing story about conspiracies and memory loss makes for a great issue.”

That could sum it up every time, I feel.  And, it’s hard to figure out how to embellish more without giving a recap (which is boring to read about unless you’re making fun of that material).

A couple of elements that really struck me in this issue were (a) the very well done parallel stories between our protagonist Meru and her pursuers (the Immortals) and (b) the interesting way that the old Chinese man envisioned the Immortals as demons who clawed him to death….until we saw that he was full of bullet holes.  Weird.  Good!  But weird….

About the only part that is slightly falling flat for me is also one of the coolest parts of the comic.  These little Mind Mgmt Field Guide notes in the panel gutters are really nifty: “If you find that you are short of funds in the field, remember that any paper can be mind augmented to perform in the place of real money.”  Every page has a little nugget of this sort.  The only problem is that they don’t incorporate into the flow of the comic book.  When should I read them?  I don’t want to read them before because I’d rather read the events of the comic book.  I don’t want to read them after either because I’m done and I want to think about what happened in the comic book.  I don’t want to read them after each page because they interrupt the flow of the story.  Even though they’re a cool element in the series, I can’t help but wonder if they’d work better in a caption box.

The star of this book is still the art.  I love how much emotion Kindt and wrings out of pretty simple lines and smeary watercolors.  Of course, I mean “smeary” in the best possible way.  It just means that he isn’t really focused on whether he keeps his painting within the lines or whether it even fills the spaces between the lines.  He’s not trying to create a photograph….he’s trying to tell a story and he’s got a clever enough mind to know that sometimes a vague shape with smeared color is more effective than a hyperrealistic image.

Conclusion: Another wonderful issue.  Honestly, if you’re a fan of Vertigo ongoing series, there’s no excuse to not be reading this.

Grade: B+

– Dean Stell

Mind Mgmt #2 – Review

By: Matt Kindt (writer, artist)

The Story: Meru’s continued investigation into the “amnesia flight” (where an entire plane of passengers and crew lost their memories mid-flight) involves her with some shady folks.

The Review (minor SPOILERS):

1. Tickling a lot of sweet spots. – The concepts behind this series are cool.  Last issue we learned about the “amnesia flight” and it was a neat idea.  It plays on a natural human fear of flying in planes.  True, we’re usually worried about the plane crashing, but the whole thing is unsettling for our brains that have evolved from tree-shrews (trapped in a metal tube, 5 miles up, 500 mph).  So, Kindt cleverly found something else scary to about a plane flight: What if you came off the plane as a different person?

This issue again plays with something relatable as we watch Meru and her companion/helper being chased through Mexico by “bad guys”.  Anyhow who has traveled internationally knows the sense of dread that can come from being in a strange place where you don’t know anyone, don’t speak the language, don’t know where the police are, don’t know if you can trust the police, etc.  I have a feeling that’s why seeing Meru chased feels so real to the reader; we’ve all kinda worried about this sort of thing.

Of course, there’s also the standard, “Who should Meru trust?” question.  In this issue, the CIA is cast as the good guys.  Has the CIA ever been “good” outside of a Tom Clancy novel?  And, how could Meru have good judgment about who to trust????  She just had amnesia!  But, the CIA dude seems markedly nicer than these trippy “Immortals” who are chasing her.  These guys reminded me a LOT of the wooden soldiers in Fables for some reason: hard to kill, just keeps coming, singular of mission, lacking empathy….

2. So fresh and new…. – All of the above combines to make a reading experience that is very crisp and novel.  Who doesn’t like new ideas and stories?  I have no idea whether Meru will find what she’s looking for or not.  I have no idea if the CIA guy is good or not.  No idea where these Immortals are coming from.  What a great feeling!

I hate to build this issue up by tearing something else down, but compare this to Avengers vs. X-Men.  While it certainly is kinda neat to see Cyclops with the power of the Phoenix Force, are there any readers gullible enough to think that Phoenix-Cyclops might be the new thing?  Or that Captain America will be the new bad guy of the Marvel Universe forever?  There is a charm to AvX, but the possible endings are in a much smaller box than the possible endings for Mind Mgmt.

3. Classic Kindt art – The art is as Kindt’s art always is: wonderful.  His line style is very loose and open and this allows his characters to have a lot of energy.  And his watercolors give the art a very unique look.  But…what always set’s Kindt’s art on a different level is the quality of his storytelling.  He pretty much sticks to a grid and this greatly enhances the flow of the story.  I love to go gaga over artists who can do cool layouts, but for every Gabriel Hardman (who can make crazy layouts work) there are ~20 artists who should just stick to a grid.  Within the panels, his art is all directed at telling the story.  In fact, just going back through the issue while typing this review, I was noticing more and more storytelling elements in the panels that I’d missed the first time.  It’s Kirby-quality storytelling.

Mind Mgmt #1 – Review

By: Matt Kindt (writer, artist, letters, colors)

The Story: Who is behind a series of episodes of collective amnesia?

Review: Issue of the week!  Ding, ding, ding!  We have a winner!  As regular readers of WCBR know, we do a weekly “best of the week” feature and there are many weeks where no issue seems to want it.  In those weeks, you just hand out the “award” to the comic that was best, but you don’t feel very good about it.  Mind Mgmt #1 is of the same caliber as Saga #1 from a few months ago: interesting concept, great art, well told, etc.  These are the kinds of issues that make reading comics enjoyable.

The primary attraction to this issue is the brilliance that is Matt Kindt.  If you haven’t been exposed to his OGNs (Three Story, Super Spy and Revolver), you should remedy that as soon as possible.  Kindt has shown in those works that he is a master of thoughtful storytelling and compelling art.  His stories always work both on the surface level – where they’re enjoyable to read the first time – and at a deeper level if you want to keep scratching.  Balancing “complex” with “accessible” is very difficult, but Kindt makes it look easy.

The basic plot of Mind Mgmt #1 revolves around an airline flight where everyone loses their memory mid-flight.  That’s right, they all just blink their eyes and suddenly have no concept of who they are, where they are or anything.  When they land, they don’t know their families, their jobs or anything.  So, you can imagine what a sad story this is.  Kindt’s art is perfect for this sort of sadness.  But, the story isn’t all mopey crap…. We quickly fall in with one of the victims who wants to get to the bottom of the mystery and figure out what happened.  There are implications that some nasty government agency might be behind events, but Kindt is too clever of a storyteller for that to be the whole truth.  I’m so eager to see how this turns out.

Previews – May 2012

Maybe we’ll start this as a new feature?  I’ll flip through Previews, tell you what I think is worthwhile and you can tell me I’m a moron.  Sound like fun?

DARK HORSE

– Axe Cop: President of the World #1 – At some point, this odd comic that is written by 8 year old Malachai Nicolle and illustrated by his brother, 31 year old Ethan, will lose it’s magic.  Someday Malachai will probably “grow up” too much or become too self-aware, but until that happens we should enjoy the ride.  Here’s a link to my review of last Spring’s Axe Cop: Bad Guy Earth #1.

– Early issues where you can hop on before it’s too late.  Fatima: The Blood Spinners #2 by Gilbert Hernandez, Mind Mgmt #3 by Matt Kindt and The Massive #2 by Brian Wood.

– Eerie Comics #1 brings back the beloved old Warren Publishing title.  It’s really hard to go wrong with a horror anthology in black and white.  Of course, don’t miss the big brother: Creepy Comics #9.