A new issue of “MIND MGMT”, another hunt for clues and Easter eggs in a new edition of Minding MIND MGMT. Each new issue of Matt Kindt’s genre bending spy thriller is packed with enough story to require more than just a standard review. I’m here provide some in-depth analysis and help you navigate the intricate, overlapping plots.
The final chapter of the ‘Homemaker’ arc is another magazine cover send up. It looks like a Valentine’s day special, complete with a heart shaped blurb promoting it as extra sized. Of course, the Homemaker looks like she’s doing more than just cradling Lyme’s head – she’s breaking his neck.
The main story
The action begins where issues #13, 14 and 15 all ended, and gives a bit more context to how the various chapters fit together. The events in #16 – well, the present day events on the last page where the Eraser says Meru wants to meet, took place sometime just before the first chapter of #13, during Megan’s block party. Those events are concurrent with Meru’s dream on page 18 of #14. Remember the scene in #13, page 5 with the train moving through a forest? I initially thought the train or the owl would be important, but it’s actually the trees – that’s the woods were Meru and Bill were camping in #14 p 19-22.
On the very last page of the main story in #13, Megan has dug up her cache and makes a sideways glance over her shoulder. At the start of this month’s issue, we see she was glancing at Eraser and Links. It’s important to note here how Eraser approaches Megan first by claiming to be with MIND MGMT, then offering her the chance to get revenge on both MIND MGMT and Zero just a few pages later. While her position as a true villain is still up in the air at this point, this and some other tactics she’s employed (such as killing the monk in #12) limit her to antihero at best. Considering her habit of working with stone cold killers like the immortals and the homemaker, even that’s a stretch.
Eraser says she’s read Megan’s book in the Shangri-la library. Could this be one of the missing books Meru asked about in #12? Did the others belong to the Magician and the Immortals?
Megan gives us a quick retelling of her history, filling in some of her background with more emotion than the previous Mind Memos provided. There’s more than one noteworthy facet to her background. In the Mind Memo from #13, Megan calls one of the scientists working on the Ice Men “Mother.” At the time, the obvious implication was the woman being Megan’s biological mother, and that’s the opinion of MIND MGMT (Mind Memo #15). However, the circumstances of Megan’s birth as seen in #16 calls that assumption into question. The woman could be an adoptive mother, Megan may believe the woman is her mother, or “Mother” could be a title for the leader of the project. This is a small detail, and the answer will probably not be provided, but it’s fun to speculate.
The voice over mentions an agent who can cloak things from the monks. While seemingly a throwaway line to give the Homemaker an excuse to tell her story, it carries with it some tantalizing possibilities. If the Eraser didn’t know about the gaps in the monks’ history, did anyone at MIND MGMT know? Did they have an agent of their own who hid black ops from the monks? Aside from the missing information, could there be false information? Could Meru, the agent with the power to limit the powers of others, be able to block the monks’ vision? If so, just how complete was the her book? Like the identity of Mother, these are interesting questions to consider, but probably unimportant to the series as a whole.
When Megan is still young and sporting a shaved head, Kindt reveals she and other Zero agents all have a cranial scar similar to the Bear’s. Clearly, these weren’t obtained in battle. Perhaps evidence of human experimentation to probe the root cause of mental abilities, or to stimulate abilities in otherwise normal children? Megan asks the Bear about his in the Mind Memo in #15, but he cuts her off before she can say who gave it to him. Given how the memo jumps from this painful memory to the Bear killing Megan’s “mother,” there’s a decent chance she’s the one behind the wounds.
Continued belowWe also see Megan arranging her own recruitment by MIND MGMT. In the first panel on page 5, she sees a MIND MGMT truck drive by, and she’s dressed nicely. In the next panel, she looks much more worn and is panhandling. We’ve seen this panel before, also in Mind Memo #15 (There’s a lot of mileage in that short memo!), but the two are drastically different. In #15, her clothes are dirty but not torn, her hair is longer, her sign in on the ground, her recruiter’s (Natasha?) skirt is pleated, and Megan looks very stoic. In this new take, her pants are ripped, her hair is short, she’s holding a more worn sign, the recruiter’s skirt is straight, and her face looks much more weary. Small details? Perhaps. But there’s an easy explanation for these changes: In issue 15, we were shown MIND MGMT’s memo on the event. Here, we’re seeing Megan’s memory of it. It’s not surprising she thinks her disguise was better than it really was.
It’s also worth noting that in all the issues and mind memos she’s appeared in, we still don’t know exactly what it is Megan can do. She tagged along with other Zero agents for training, both Zero and MIND MGMT thought she’d make a good sleeper agent, and she did destroy a whole subdivision through subterfuge, but none of this is on par with telling the future, erasing memories, or never missing a target.
On the first two-page spread, we get a better glimpse into how Megan pushed neighbors other than the ones we were better introduced to in #13. We get visual confirmation she drugged her friends at the block party, but that should come as no surprise to anyone who paid attention to Matryoshkas Field Guide 13.5. At the bottom of pages 10 and 11, we see Megan’s husband Clive come running out of his house after killing Doug. This scene is also inconsistent with the previously shown events. In #13, Clive killed Doug for accusing him of sleeping with Doug’s wife. Then he ran outside and saw his neighbor being arrested for murder. Here, the accusation is reversed, and he runs outside to see someone getting shot.
Homemaker joins Eraser’s team, and the trio run their RV through town while Megan shoots her old neighbors on pages 16 and 17. On the next page, another double spread shows Lyme’s team fleeing the carnage. This shot includes Perrier and Dusty, who were hinted to be in the cabin with Lyme and Duncan in #13 but haven’t actually been seen since #12. You can also see the contest winner, Jay Harlow, crouching just below Perrier. If you look close at these two double splash pages, you’ll notice they’re not separate images – they connect into one large panorama. Lyme’s team isn’t just fleeing generally, they’re specifically running away from the RV. Links is trying to run them down.
When the whole cast meets on page 22/23, Eraser tells Links not to kill anyone. This is probably for Meru’s benefit, not for any moral reason. As they converge on each other, Meru’s abilities manifest as a dragon and a knight which seem to be visible only to us. On page 26, Eraser makes another attempt to recruit Meru by claiming to be the team with more noble goals and quietly tells Megan not to shoot her.
Meru responds in two ways. First, she shields herself with the story of the truth-seeking princess from #3. Second, she demands to know why the Eraser wants her. At first, this seems strange. After all, she and Bill only came to this party because Meru reached out to the Eraser and requested a meeting in #14. What changed? Well, recall why she wanted the meeting: the burning man had told her the Eraser was reforming MIND MGMT as a peacekeeping force. When Meru arrives, it’s a full fledged war zone. Add to this her life changing experience in Zanzibar, and it’s not surprising she turns on the Eraser immediately.
After using some fancy shooting to disable Megan’s weapon and the RV, and to stun Links into inaction, Meru and Bill leave with Lyme’s crew. They retreat back to the apartment in Zanzibar, which looks like it’s still a Christian Science Reading Room. Duncan laments the loss of Brinks in #7, and Perrier mentions the other Ad Man, Karl Box, from the Mind Memo in #3. She and her sister are specifically said to have worked with him, so her “I think” statement is probably referring to him still being alive, not just possibility of his existence.
Continued belowThe final splash page shows Meru wearing new clothes, which aren’t her characteristic khaki top with green pants. Perhaps this is a symbol of her new attitude and position?
The Gutter Text
Remember the talk earlier about Megan’s mother not really being her mother? Matryoshkas Field Guide 17.1 adds a little more fuel to that discussion with the part about being “a weapon for Mother.”
Guide 17.3, coupled with Megan’s actions, reveal just how vital it is for agents to adhere to the rules. She failed to keep her personal emotions in check, and it destroyed a whole town. This is the same thing Lyme did in Zanzibar, except with a bit more purpose and little less remorse.
On page 7, Megan’s Zero training is at odds with her MIND MGMT training, and the two overlap in a mess of red and blue text which is almost indecipherable. Almost By whipping out my trusty 3D glasses (which came with my Giant Man post cards from Matt’s shop – get yours today!), I was able to separate the words. So, I present for your reading pleasure the two lines of text:
Matryoshkas Field Guide 17.7 If time allows, a final mission report should be filed before Self Disposal takes place.
MIND MGMT Field Guide 17.7 If your double-agent status becomes uncertain it is recommended that Psyche-Reboot routines be used to establish your true identity.
The Matryoshka FG is somewhat generic, but the MIND MGMT FG helps explain Megan’s decision. She was near tears in anger in frustration, then paused during her reboot, then calmly rejoined the ranks of other MIND MGMT agents.
After several guideless pages, page 30 and 31 have a short excerpt from a book called “MIND MANAGEMENT: A Novel.” Is this the book Meru has ostensibly been researching since #1? If so, she’s writing in third person. Perrier is another potential writer.
The Second Floor
This month’s second floor centers on Jay Harlow, who happens to be the winner of the contest first announced back in #13. Jay is a member of the Curlers, a team of agents who use the power of suggestion to amplify the abilities of other agents. Here we see him helping to arrange the Zanzibar massacre, setting up Lyme’s easy entry into Iraq as seen in #4, and making Duncan’s initiation a little more likely to succeed. He vanishes into Central America for reasons unknown. Possible motives include the secret of the immortals, who first appeared around the Amazon, and Machu Pichu, which has popped up in previous issues (such as #12, p2).
The Letter Column
The title of this chapter was ‘The Home Wrecker.’ Seems appropriate enough, and is a great foil to the opening chapter, ‘The Home Maker.’
L. J. Kott, Jr.’s letter. Wow. Just…wow.
There’s also a reminder about another MIND MGMT short in “Dark Horse Presents” #31, available in stores December 18, 2013. You shouldn’t need a reminder about that, though, because you should already be reading it. It didn’t win Best Anthology two years in a row for nothing, you know.
In January, there will be one last one shot story before jumping into the next arc. This one revisits Ella Jean, the Animal Kid, whose first and last appearance was in the Mind Memo of #4.
The Back Cover
More fake ads! The most important thing on this is the final piece of the mystery code:
www.mattkindt.com/thisisnotanadvertisement.
This link takes you through the process of creating the four page spread found in issue 17.
The “Look at My Cool Swag” Section
Matt was selling some dust jackets for the first “MIND MGMT” hard cover at conventions this year, and I was lucky enough to get this one:
If the paper looks wrinkled, that’s because it is. It was made from a paper bag, cut and folded to size.
And remember the sketch variants for #13? I was able to get these two thanks to Dr No’s and Challengers Comics + Conversation. (Previously interviewed for this site)
If you were also able to get a sketch cover and want to share it, please share a link in the comments or email me and I’ll include it in a future installment. If you weren’t, keep an eye on eBay. Some have sold for as little as $81 in the last couple weeks. There’s currently one open auction with a buy it now of $199, if you really, really want one.
Continued belowAround the web
If this column isn’t enough for you, there are more reviews of this issue at Unleash the Fanboy and Comic Bastards.
Matt recently gave interviews to CBR and Geeks Unleashed.
Nothing But Comics takes a look at some of Matt’s earlier work.
And that’s all this month
I know I didn’t catch everything, so please let me know what I missed in the comments. Thanks for reading!
Previously, on Minding MIND MGMT…
Issues: #0 #1 #3 #4 #5 #6 DHP #19 #7 #8 #9 #10 #11 #12 #13 #14 #15
Interviews: Matt Kindt Brendan Wright Matt Kindt (2)
Annotations: Volume one
