The Eraser takes center stage this month. She skillfully turns her best side to the camera, almost completely hiding her twin scars. She’s cutting what appears to be a very bloody tomato as her hubby with the erased face comes home. The copy offers new ways to butcher, which makes you wonder why she isn’t cutting a heart instead. It also makes a clever reference to preserving certain memories, which is exactly what the Eraser does. The offer to vacation from reality is a slight peek into a major theme of this issue.
The Main Story
So far, every character who has had a chance to narrate the story has received their own color of caption box. Lyme is yellow, Meru is pink (with the exception of the zero issue), Duncan is green, Bill is blue, and the Homemaker is white. What better color for the series villain than black? The white copy on the dark background sets an immediate contrast between the story the Eraser tells us and the story we’ve been told otherwise. The unconventional choice of coloring without using a correspondingly unusual font gives the impression of a film negative and gives the page a whole different feel before you even read the words. Then the first line talks about “white spots” and draws even more attention to the change.
By the end of the issue, it’s clear the Eraser is also Julianne Verve and she has much deeper ties to the story so far than was previously indicated. She was a central character in Meru’s book, and we were treated to a different account of her history in the side text of issues 7-11. In the same vein, she’s connected to Jason Corridor, who was first introduced in the -2 chapter of issue zero (which was first available two weeks before issue 1)!
The first page will most likely take on additional significance after future issues. In the first panel, Julianne appears to be having a very private and personal conversation with her brother. His name is David, according to #7,p8, and they had an incestuous relationship according to #7, p18. Julianne doesn’t appear to remember this, and it’s possible the bad memories David has of her were implanted later by someone else. Especially since it was supposed to have happened during her teenage years, when she was being trained by MIND MGMT (#8, p16). Of course, she was plenty nasty to Bill in the Mind Memo of #8.
She’s apologizing for something in the second panel, but it’s not clear why because the man’s bubble is cut off by the panel border. It’s unlikely to be her father, because #7,p11 says her parents were distant and never abusive. If it’s her handler at MIND MGMT, he certainly has a different way of interacting with students than Natasha did.
The second page is a beautiful splash showing the various adventure stories Julianne escaped into above her dark, brooding reality. It’s not clear how soon after the slap from the previous page this is, but the left side of her face (where she’s scarred) is red and maybe bleeding.
She talks about vague memories of college, which is suspiciously similar to the vague memories her father and brother had when Meru was interviewing them in #7, 8, and 9. Her favorite writer is Philip K. Verve, something she has in common with Meru (#9, p12). This is the first time (in “MIND MGMT” or “Revolver”) we’re told what the ‘P’ in ‘P. K. Verve’ stands for. In hindsight, it should’ve been easy to guess – Kindt’s favorite writer is Philip K. Dick. The ‘about the author’ section contains an obscure Easter egg: in the “MIND MGMT” world, Verve is the author of “Beast with a Thousand Faces.” In “Revolver”, Verve is reading the same book, but it’s written by Phyliss K. B[something] (page 123).
Continued belowOn page 5, Julianne comments on Verve being older than she expected. On page 6, she says he was 40 when he began writing. If he started then, and had been at it long enough to have a worn copy in a used bookstore for her to find while in college, there must be at least a 30 year gap between them. The explanation for Verve’s writing seems good enough, but the “Revolver” connection makes you wonder – is he getting his stories from other universes, or did he write in those other universes under a pseudonym?
If you’re like me, then your first thought when you saw the two panels at the top of page 7 was “A ha! More scenes from Triple Indemnity!” But no! Triple Indemnity was a black and white film, and this is in color and sounds more like a daytime soap. The dialogue is about amnesia, which plays right into the main themes of the Eraser.
The side text in this issue has been excerpts from Verve’s book, and page 7 is the first time the text jumps from the side to being an active part of the page. At first read, it seems incoherent and irrelevant to the main plot, and you no doubt felt the urge to skip it and continue with the action. It is important, but it’ll all be covered in the next section.
Julianne’s son, named after his father, wanders down the hall and opens his father’s office. Julianne tries to stop him, only to find the typewriter tapping its own keys. (The tap sound effect here is the same one used over the dead Perrier twin in issue two. Yay for consistency!) The bottom panel of page 9 shows the first time Julianne felt like she was losing her mind, and the emotion on her face makes it very difficult to continue seeing her as the series’ unsympathetic villain.
Over the next few pages, it’s clear Verve is an active member of MIND MGMT, but Julianne remains a sleeper agent. When Lyme and Natasha come to visit on page 14, it’s to tell Verve to quit erasing parts of Julianne’s memories. When he refuses, MIND MGMT sends Jason Corridor to stop him. There is one curious piece to this part of the book. Julianne checks on her son, who we saw earlier and is now dead, then finds Verve dead after a tussle with Corridor. According to Meru’s book, she had two kids (#7, p2 & 22). During the scuffle, Corridor scratches Eraser’s face, leaving two bloody marks. These scars seem to have a way of attracting violence.
The first panel of page 22 is a repeat of the dream sequence from #14, p18. In that dream, Julianne had been in the bathtub when she saw Corridor. It seems unlikely she met him again after being arrested/busted out by Duncan. There is no doubt a purpose to it, but I’ve got nothing. If you have a guess, please share it in the comments.
The Eraser’s sudden mention to Links that Meru wants to meet seems to come from nowhere, until you remember Julianne was visited by Anthers Kindle, the dream walker (#10 front cover).
To put this issue into a broader context, Verve and baby Phil were killed in 1973 (#7, p1). Verve was at least 40 when he began writing, which would put him at 50 or more when he married Julianne, and maybe 60 when he died. This has him being born around 1913 – just the right age to be one of Leopold Lojka’s first recruits into the new MIND MGMT, but not quite old enough to fit with his story about finding some obscure books from the 20s at age 15 (p6). As discussed earlier, though, he may have made that part up.
According to #11, p5/6, part of Duncan’s initiation into MIND MGMT was to rescue the Eraser from prison the day of her execution. According to #7, p22, Meru first interviewed Julianne’s father shortly after that day. These two things don’t quite fit together. We know from #15 p10 Meru got the idea to investigate the murder sometime around 2010, well after Zanzibar. However, events in #10 are pretty clear when they show Duncan being an initiated agent well before Zanzibar.
Continued belowThere are some possible explanations for this. We already saw in #0 p16 that at least part of Meru’s book was altered before publication, although this particular alteration would be easy to spot if Julianne’s crime was well known. It’s also possible the execution was stayed when Julianne escaped and then some other woman was executed for the crime in 2010 (37 years after the murders!). Or, perhaps, she was in jail twice – once before Zanzibar and once after. It’s unlikely to be sure, but who guessed Meru was trained by MIND MGMT twice? If you have any other theories, please share!
This chapter of the series makes one thing clear: The Eraser is just as much a victim of MIND MGMT as Meru. Her life and family were literally destroyed by it. So why did she go back, and why does she want so badly to reform it now?
One last note on the main story: Julianne was a college graduate, a wife, and a mother all before 1973, and she doesn’t appear to have aged a day in the last forty years. Despite her comment about Verve being older than she expected, he also looks pretty good for a 60 year old. Same for Jason Corridor. This column has commented on the apparent agelessness of MIND MGMT agents before, but these examples are even more striking than the previous ones. Could this all be the unconscious side effects of immortal training?
The Memory Titans of Felix Five
The side text this month is from Verve’s book, and it has some strong parallels to Julianne’s story and a strong stench of foreshadowing. Even if it never appears in the series again, comparisons between this and the “Tales of the Black Freighter” in “Watchmen” will be hard to avoid.
The sample on page 3 talks about having two futurists, described in an identical manner as Duncan and Link’s abilities. The two reactors are also described – probably Lyme and Julianne, the ones leading the futurists. Who then, is the pilot taking orders via mind-link from page four? Meru, of course.
The excerpt on page 5 is a subtle joke. Throughout the series, most of the side text has related at least tangentially to the main events on the page. Every now and then, it doesn’t, and this appears to be one of those times at first glance. Look again. This page shows Verve having sex with Julianne, and the text talks about lasting “approximately ten seconds.”
On page 7, the text invades the main plot. Devoid of context, it doesn’t seem to make much sense. However, all of the questions asked in the block connect thematically to the idea of forgetfulness and questioning your sanity.
Page 9 contains such a huge revelation it deserves to be quoted in full:
But during training exercises it was discovered that close emotional bonds increased the ability to mind link and many for many teams, the crew members were able to share abilities.
Taken in the context of the MIND MGMT agency, this has huge implications. Is this how Meru is able to negate and borrow the abilities of others, like Bill mentioned in #12, p11? More relevant to this issue, was the cruel and manipulative Eraser mind wiped and put with Verve so he could siphon off her powers?
The line from page 12 about kids being taken to train in a space station at age five might be a reference to “Ender’s Game”, where pretty much that exact thing happens. It might also be a reference to when MIND MGMT likes to move recruits to Shangri-la, although that seems young for what we’ve seen.
On page 13 we’re given some context for the block we saw earlier on page 7. Viewed one way, it can be taken as meta-commentary on comics and franchises. The characters live in a fictional world, and they get written and re-written to suit the stories. In another light, this is how regular people (like Julianne believes herself to be) would feel in a world with a real MIND MGMT. If Henry Lyme really existed, wouldn’t you have to question everything you thought you knew?
In the story, Sam survives impossible odds after going on her first mission at age 15. Of her four crew members, two die and two are driven insane. Under strain and questioning reality herself, Sam goes on a murderous rampage to rescue her teammates, only to find their memories have been erased. Could this be what happened to Julianne during her first mission, and the after effects why she was mindwiped and let go? It talks about soulless eyes, and the colors green and blue. Do you remember Lyme’s eyes in issue 6, when he mind-wiped Meru? They changed from blue to green and back again.
Continued belowThe story repeats itself, reinforcing how Julianne is questioning her sanity, until Verve is dead.
Mind Memo
Not much to say about this one, aside from confirmation Megan is indeed a sleeper agent and the Russian Zero program was shut down at the same time as MIND MGMT. It’s also dated for next Wednesday. Perhaps Matt was ahead of schedule?
The Second Floor
Meet Mary Anger, a MIND MGMT agent whose job is to hunt down rogue agents. Based on the description alone, it seems likely Jason Corridor was also a member of the Bloodhounds before Meru outted him.
Anger’s ability to go without sleep provides a great segue to plug a great book, in no way related to “MIND MGMT”, Matt Kindt, or comics. It’s written by Nancy Kress and titled “Beggars in Spain.” It’s about some people who are genetically altered to live without sleeping, and you should read it if you enjoy good sci fi. I read it about two years ago, and I’m glad to finally have an excuse to push it.
The Letter Column
Nothing worth noting this month.
The Back Cover
Another mix of real and fake ads. The one about the pencil (below the barcode) is referencing the MIND MGMT Insurance Agency (#4, Second Floor). You can buy you own pencil from Kindt’s store.
The code for the new bonus content is “This is not an” Guesses on the last word?
If you’re following “MIND MGMT” on Facebook, you already know there were 100 unique sketch covers of issue 13 which were sent out to comic shops around the country last week. If your store got one (and you don’t want it), please share the store’s name and contact info so fans who want them can track them down a little easier.
Other books you may enjoy
There are several other books written by Matt Kindt available in the next month, including “Infinity: The Hunt” #4, “Marvel Knights: Spider-Man” #2, “Justice League of America” #9, “Suicide Squad” #25, and “Unity” #1.
Plus, don’t forget to reserve your copy of “Dark Horse Presents” #31 for December. Among other great stories, there’ll be a “MIND MGMT” short to kick off the next arc.
Around the Web
Matt gave several interviews at NYCC this year, including one for this site. Stagebuddy.com asked him about his DC work in a video interview, and Writer without Fear talks with him briefly about his art.
And that’s all…
Thanks for reading. I know I didn’t catch everything, so let me know what I missed in the comments!
