A new issue of “MIND MGMT”, another hunt for codes and Easter eggs in a new edition of Minding MIND MGMT. Because each issue of Matt Kindt’s monthly series is overflowing with hidden clues and interwoven narratives, a standard review just doesn’t cut it. This column will provide in-depth analysis and help you navigate the overlapping plots.
The Cover
Once again we have Meru surrounded by flowers, imagery that goes back to the cover of issue six. This is the first multimedia cover for the series. The background and Meru were drawn/painted by Matt, and the flowers were hand made by his wife Sharlene.
The Main Story
The pink boxes let us know immediately that we’re being narrated by Meru. It becomes obvious pretty quick anyway, but it’s nice to know the book is staying consistent with it’s conventions.
The old ad for a magic show is shown in its entirety on this issue’s back cover, and it completes the cycle from the previous arc, which was interrupted by the wrap-around cover of #25. More on it below.
The last time we saw Meru was at the end of #23, and she had just woken up in an alley where a man was saying he was going to call the police and collect his reward for finding her. A wall of TVs fills us in on why she’s wanted – she’s being blamed for the deaths of Dusty and Bill (who must have also been in the recycling yard with Dusty in #23).
The Eraser’s construction site was first shown in #19 p15, and was formerly a safe house.
The montage of violence on page 3 fills in the final blackouts Meru had during her fight with the Eraser in #23. It looks like Spain is dead, and the Eraser took a hard hit to the head. We know Meru didn’t leaver her alive because of any moral convictions, because she hasn’t hesitated to kill in the past (see #9p5, for example). She must have either believed the Eraser was dead, or she was still in danger from Spain or another agent.
Meru’s narration on page 4 subtly tells us a little more about what happened between the close of #23 and the opening of this issue. Apparently Meru caught up to the man who was running away from her, and they had some type of scuffle. In addition to taking whatever money he had, she also took his hat and jacket. When we see her out of his clothing on page 5, she’s wearing the gown the Eraser had put her in at the close of #22.
The fight between the police and the gang from the recycling center (end of #23) over the next few pages is quick and brutal. It’s not clear how the police found Meru, but they definitely came prepared in their riot gear. Identifying themselves as “Dusty’s Army,” the group is prepared to fight dirty to achieve their goals. Take a look at the guy in the lower left part of this two page spread:
That’s right – a punch to the crotch while the guy’s in mid fall.
It may be important, it may be nothing, but it seems interesting that on page 10, the kids tell Meru they’re Dusty’s Army, and then tell her to go build her army, subtly letting her know that they may work together, but that they’re not with her.
As Meru heads for Nepal over the next three pages, we’re also treated to a recap/expansion of her history with MIND MGMT. The first panel shows her being recruited in her parent’s bookstore in Zanzibar. When shown previously (#12p8), it looked more like a house call.
We know the bookstore had living space built with it (Lyme, and later Perrier, lived above it), so
it’s possible Meru’s family also lived in the building. Perhaps the scene in #12 was the agent arriving at the store’s backdoor, which was more house-like than the front. Either way, we’re finally told Meru was nine when she was first recruited. Given how this series sometimes seems to have a wobbly timeline (more on that in a second), it’s always nice to get a firm date/age.
The second flashback is also something we’ve known, repackaged with a little something new. When we saw Meru’s first removal from MIND MGMT (#12p8), it was decided by a committee headed by the chief. Here, we see the Eraser was the one who gave the chief the idea. While discreet, this is actually a very big deal. Previously (Mind Memos in arc 2), it was hinted the reason the Eraser got rid of Meru the second time was out of jealousy over Bill. Now knowing she was out for Meru the whole time… well, that puts a new light on things.
Back to that wobbly timeline I mentioned. The age gaps in some of the relationships of this series have always been a little…wide. The Eraser married the 50+ PK Verve when she was in her 20s. Lyme married one of his teachers (and he would have been 9 or younger when he met her). Now, we see that when Meru was 9, the Eraser was old enough to be in a position powerful enough to influence the chief. Either the Eraser was much older than Bill, who she dated when he was a student, Bill was much older than Meru, who he dated when they were both students, or both
The narration on page 12 highlights just how manipulated Meru has been over her life. She was recruited at 9, trained, then returned with no memories. She survived the Zanzibar massacre, then dropped off with foster parents and no memories. Then she was recruited again, and returned again with no memories. And then she was mind-wiped seven more times as she repeatedly tracked down Lyme.
Meru’s narration for her second recruitment says there was “no mention that [she’d] already been there once before.” Given how often she’d had her brain scrambled, it’s completely forgivable that she doesn’t remember this:
She’s also a little wrong about her second removal. Here, she says she went home the second time when the government disbanded the agency, but the mind memo from #11 makes it sound like she was sent home before all the others (but only by a little). Since this is a case of agency documents vs Meru’s memory, it’s a safe bet the mind memo is the more accurate account of events.
On page 13, Meru suspects the subject of her book “Premeditated” was the Eraser (she’s right), and that it’s not a coincidence (Lyme gave her the idea during a memory wipe). Meru’s suspicion is probably based on her meetings with the Eraser and her meeting with “Julianne Verve” on death row while writing her book (side text in #11). Since Duncan rescued the real Julianne from prison as his first solo assignment, whoever Meru talked to (and was executed) must have been a replacement of some kind with fabricated false memories planted over accurate false memories over whoever the person used to be. By ‘accurate false memories,’ I mean the agency gave the replacement the true memories of who Julianne was – see #11p4 – truly a bone headed move on their part.
Meru’s travels took her to the Ganges, a river in India and Bangladesh. As Meru waits, she sees a man throwing flowers into the dirty water. She briefly sees herself floating among them in blue water, mirroring the cover. Then a monk named Kevin puts his cigarette out in the water, and the sound effect for it is tucked into the smoke.
Mount Meru is a legendary mountain which may have a physical counterpart somewhere in northern India. The story about Vayu and Garuda is a real legend. It’s an entertaining story own its own, but if you let Mount Meru, Vayu, and Garuda symbolize Meru, Eraser, and Lyme it takes on a different meaning. It’s another clue the Eraser has been after Meru over more than just Bill. If you take the part about being ‘intent on destroying Mount Meru’ literally, it’s the first in-story indication the Eraser may have instigated the Zanzibar massacre (I first speculated this based on the back cover to 19). Another interpretation is that Eraser began trying to destroy Meru with the assassination letter in #7, and Lyme came to her aid in Brink’s office. Either way, the tale foreshadows the death of Lyme, and potentially Meru as well, although Meru’s sacrifice will protect others from the Eraser.
Continued belowThe Bell test experiments are a fairly complex part of Quantum Mechanics. You can read up on it here. Here is some information on making holograms with lasers, but I have no guesses about how it relates to the story.
At the bottom of page 18, Meru talks about how Hong Kong is a strange place to head quarter a US government agency, but so is Nepal, right? There have been numerous hints throughout the series about MIND MGMT existing prior to Leopold Lojka’s organization, going all the way back to issue 1. It’s possible the United States (and Russia, with its Zero program) only co-opted part of an older, global organization and were led to believe they were operating it.
On page 20, Kevin gives Meru a book from the Shangri-la library. Duncan could have taken the book during the battle in issue 12, but he and Lyme returned to Shangri-la at least once afterward (they retrieved the wake-up video for the Homemaker in the bottom story of #13). If Kevin was lying about being sent by Duncan, then this may be one of the missing volumes Meru noticed in #12p3. The pictures in the book are the Second Floor from #3. The first immortal (Sir Francis) was last seen in Hiroshima trying to stop the bomb from being dropped (#0p24).
The side text
Per guide 25.2, Meru disguises herself, taking extra care to hide her distinctive red hair.
Meru rented a room on the top floor to make rooftop escapes easier, according to 25.3.
25.6 mentions déjà vu when an agent travels a lot. This corresponds to Meru getting a surprise visitor at her hotel room. The set up isn’t quite the same, but it’s very similar to how she met Bill in both point of view and situation.
As Meru travels through various terrain alone on page 12, the guide tells her to travel in a group to remain inconspicuous. There is a black cat with her in the first panel, though, and the totem in the second panel may be like the ones the Magician crafted in #22p15.
Guides 25.14, 15, and 17 warn that if a rendezvous deviates from plan, it should be aborted immediately. Here, Meru ignores it to talk to Kevin, and Duncan seriously violate guidelines to let Kevin know about it (if he did, that is). If Duncan did arrange this, then the monk’s name isn’t really Kevin, per 25.19. Kevin would have been the name of Meru’s mother’s first pet.
The final guide of the issue, 25.22, lets us know that Meru’s new top priority is finding Sir Francis.
Mind Memo
‘The Sub Texts’ gives us some background on the other book Kevin gave to Meru. It’s part of a series written by the Perrier twins. One of them – “The Secret of the Green Poison” – made it out of the library and into a used bookstore. The girl reading it could be Lyme’s daughter, but it’s hard to tell. The black cat brings Ella Jean (the animal kid) to mind, but her hair was curlier when she was younger (per Mind Memo in #4).
The Second Floor
Like other Second Floors of opening arcs, this one is a recap of the story so far. There are no new tidbits in it this time.
The Letter from Brendan
Among other announcements, Brendan says Kindt’s forthcoming book “Pastaways” will be ‘every bit as brain teasing as “MIND MGMT.’” Assuming that’s true, I’m already dreaming up a title for another annotation column. ‘Pasting Pastaways’ just doesn’t seem right…
The Back Cover
When last month’s issue didn’t finish the picture begun by issues 19-24, I thought it might be missing forever. Then along comes issue 26, featuring the missing piece and a burning Lyme.
Aside from making a great picture (make a print available, please!), there isn’t much to say about it. Lyme is blindfolded, which seems redundant on a blind man.
In Other News…
The eBay auction for the original art to the cover of #25 ended and it went for a whole lot of money. Yikes.
And that’s all for this month
If you spotted something I missed, or if you had a different interpretation of events, please share your thoughts in the comments!
Previously, on Minding MIND MGMT…
Issues: #0 #1 #3 #4 #5 #6 DHP #19 #7 #8 #9 #10 #11 #12 #13 #14 #15 #16 #17 DHP #31
#18 #19 #20 #21 #22 #23 #24
Interviews: Matt Kindt Brendan Wright Matt Kindt (2)
Annotations: Volume one
