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Minding MIND MGMT: Issue #27

By | November 4th, 2014
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Banner courtesy of Tim Daniel

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
Sir Francis and Leopold’s umbrella, surviving an explosion. Aside from being pretty, not much to it, really.

The Main Story
Meru describes Francis as “God knows how old,” but she knows he’s about 140. According to the Second Floor story in #3, Francis became an immortal on his expedition in the Amazon in 1918. This story was shown to be a page from the monk’s history in #26, and Meru was aware of the date. While the exact age of Francis prior to becoming an immortal is less clear, the -3 story from #0 indicates one of the men with him was 40 (Meru herself gives the 140 figure on page 24). It is worth noting the #0 description of events puts the expedition in 1910. This is irreconcilable with the 1918 date, since the Second Floor specifically says the expedition when sour two weeks in; this isn’t a case of two men marking the start of a long trip differently. The earlier date must be the correct one, because Alberto was an immortal during WWI. If Francis hadn’t discovered the secret to immortality until 1918, that would be pretty tough. It seems the monks aren’t always accurate…

In panel five, Francis awkwardly slips in “whoever sent you.” This serves as a reminder to the reader Meru believes, but doesn’t know, she was sent to Francis by Duncan. Combine this with the Field Guide in #26 clearly explaining why Meru shouldn’t have trusted Kevin in #25, and there’s no reason you should be surprised when Meru finds out it was someone else.

Francis’ narrative isn’t without holes. Between his discovery of immortality on page 2 and him spending months in the wild, he returned to Europe where he taught Alberto how to heal himself. When Leopold approaches him, he implies (page 4) that he’s already working with Alberto. However, on page 22 of #0, Alberto plainly says that Francis was recruited first. Continuity snare, or master manipulation by Leopold? You decide.

I think the conversation flows better if you read the two balloons in the last panel of page 4 in reverse order – the lower one first, then the higher one.

At the top of page five, Francis describes joining Leopold as “leaving my new home.” This is another indication the expedition took place in 1910. Since Leopold began recruiting in 1914, Francis wouldn’t have had much time to bond with the natives unless he’d been there much earlier than 1918.

The map of the underground base shows it to be much more extensive than was first implied in #0 p22, which only showed the exterior dome. It also reveals distraction totems predate the Magician – she just refined and improved them, apparently. The living quarters portion is also where Meru and Francis are currently talking – this is later confirmed by Francis on page 19.

The fortuneteller’s first prognostication about a phoenix and a rot from the inside may sound like a vague generalization to Francis, but it’s clear to us she was foretelling Meru and the Eraser. The second panel on this page has its word balloons flipped – unless you believe Francis likes to call his friend “Francis.”

On pages 8 and 9, we finally learn why the agency destroyed the Hindenburg in 1937, two and a half years after the event was first shown in the -3 story of #0. On page 10, we finally learn how and when the independent agency came under the control of governments. This also explains why an agency of the United States would be headquartered in Shangri-la instead of somewhere in North America – Shangri-la was built prior to the conversation on page 10.

Continued below

It’s probably coincidence, but Leopold’s stained glass window on page 17 looks a lot like the Image comics logo.

If Francis – or you – had any doubt that his fears and worries about MIND MGMT were unfounded, Leopold dispels it with his comment on page 18 when he answers Francis’ hypothetical with the present tense.

The protective umbrella originally belonged to Archduke Ferdinand (#1, Second Floor). Leopold must have begun carrying it after Ferdinand’s death.

Francis’ explanation of Meru’s powers are the clearest and most direct explanation yet. It also implies that all mind management techniques work on the same principle as Duncan’s finger gun – it works because people believe it will. This does raise some questions, though – who has to believe in the ability for it to work, the target or the user? Some, like Duncan’s finger, imply the former, while something like the assassination letter imply the latter. Is Meru’s skepticism so powerful it causes doubt by proximity? In #12, she was able to weaken Links’ powers just by running by the door.

It does, perhaps, explain why Lyme was able to erase her memory so many times instead of finding himself powerless – by telling her all about her history first, he temporarily upsets the balance of Meru’s Truth and Skepticism. She’s believing everything he’s saying, so she’s not skeptical when he starts his mind wipe.

Finally, this also offers a clear explanation of why MIND MGMT was so susceptible to corruption. Francis outright states on page 20 that this is the first time in 100 years that he’s had self doubt about his powers. This must be true of every other agent, too. The agency must be packed full of the most prideful, arrogant people in the world.

Francis begins coughing on page 21, and there are some interesting lettering choices. The first two coughs in the first panel are all caps. Then, they go to all lower-case in following panels. This may be meant to imply the first two are louder, despite the letters themselves actually being smaller than some of the others. Then, in the second panel, the first cough is hyphenated co-ough, and the u is raised unusually high. The letter jumble may symbolize the congested sound, or it may have been the easiest way to correct a misspelling.

Francis dies thinking of Grace, whose picture is hanging on a nearby wall. I have a theory on this, covered in the “Second Floor” section below.

The issue closes with Meru sitting down to repair the lucky umbrella she broke.

The Field Guide
Most of this month’s Field Guide is devoted to the art of portraying a flashback. 27.1 talks about using verbal-visual cues to convey the most accurate account. This ties in with the last panel, which shows the modern Francis in the 1910 Amazon, and moves his words from bubble to caption. This wordlessly eases us into the flashback. By showing the past events instead of showing modern Francis talk about them, the scenes we’re shown feel more genuine. While reading, it didn’t occur to me he might be lying, but I certainly would have doubted him if it was just recounted with text.

Guide 27.2 is not just a flashback technique – it’s how many comics and films begin their stories. The camera moves along, setting up the setting before finally getting to the main meat of the scene. Classic tension building.

When the characters in the flashback start speaking for themselves instead of being narrated, it’s so an “impartial account of events” can be given. 27.5 re-emphasizes this is not a varnished or altered flashback. Guide 27.7 does hint, however, that Tana’s depiction may be more mean spirited than reality, since Francis had such a strong dislike for her.

Guide 27.8 highlights Francis’ omission of his role in the Hindenburg. The art makes it clear to us what he did, but his narration to Meru is rather vague. This underscores Francis’ shame at his actions.

Leopold and Francis’ casual conversation after a bomb was dropped across the street is lampshaded by guide 27.10, which explains how to converse in the case of temporary hearing loss. The insincerity of Leopold’s side of the conversation about the morality of involving themselves on a large scale is highlighted by 27.11, which encourages agents who doubt their missions to go see the Eraser and had have their memories adjusted.

Continued below

Guide 27.18 puts a heavy burden on Francis’ shoulders. “Teams working in pairs have historically been more effective in operations and in efforts to discourage corruption and mismanagement.” Effectively, the guide is saying Francis is partially to blame for the corruption of Mind Management because he quit, leaving no one to monitor Leopold.

Guide 27.20 mentions the possibility of infection in non-physical wounds. Personally, I find this idea fascinating, although I’m not sure exactly what it means. Regret? Bitterness?

Francis’ final thoughts are so powerful, they temporarily spread to the triconscience, where they show up as Guide 27.21. This also provides a slightly different version of his final words, and implies the old wounds that have opened due to Meru aren’t just physical.

Mind Memo
This month, Senator Idris is threatening the first lady in order to secure funding for the new MIND MGMT agency. There’s nothing particularly interesting about what he says, but there is one huge, monster revelation here: The first lady is white. Previous issues have made it very clear this story is set in the modern present (or was, when the story started. I’m not sure if the issues are coming out in “real time,” or if it’s still 2013 here.). Until now, we’ve been given every indication “MIND MGMT” is set in “our” world. Except here, we learn that, at the least, Obama has a different wife.

The obvious explanation here is that Kindt didn’t want to imply Michelle Obama had an affair with an intern. The less obvious explanation is that the world of MIND MGMT is vastly different from our own, we just haven’t been shown the differences because we’ve been focused on the finer details. Assuming Idris gets his sit down with the POTUS next month, perhaps this will all become clear.

The Second Floor
Grace has the ability to create good luck charms, and is described as “Singular, never replicated.” Of course, we know that’s not true, because the Second Floor of issue one told us Leopold had the very same ability.

Until now, we’ve been working under the assumption the umbrella carried by Leopold and later Francis was the same one from the Archduke, and it probably was. But what if – and this is pure speculation – Leopold could not charm something for himself? He might carry the umbrella for other reasons, but it wouldn’t protect him the way it did Ferdinand. Not until someone else put a similar charm on it, that is. Someone like Grace.

Now, further suppose the effects of mind managing only last as long as the manager is alive. Since they’re meta-science powered by belief, it’s not an unreasonable supposition. It also doesn’t contradict anything we’ve seen so far, although it has some horrifying implications for when memory erasers die…

So, if Grace did charm Leopold’s umbrella, and if the charm would vanish upon her death, then her disappearance isn’t so mysterious after all – Francis killed her before going to visit Leopold one last time. If the rumors of a relationship between Francis and Grace were true, that makes the moment all the more tragic, and adds depth to the ferocity in Francis’ beating of Leopold.

The Letter Column
The code from Agent Harlow is a basic A-1, B-2 code that says “Keep reading.”

The code from RJ Cresswell is two messages with the letters shuffled together. If you cross out every other letter starting with the second one, you get “WAKE UP THIS IS NOT A TEST THIS IS AN EMERGENCY NO HOUSE IS SAFE.” If you start with the first letter, you get “ALL AGENTS BE ADVISED THIS IS YOUR PROTOCOL PAWN TAKES QUEEN.”

The Back Cover
It seems the pieces of the world map won’t be able to fit together after all, which is too bad. The blurb under the Sphinx is a call back to issue nine. The Cairo blurb mentions a “Dusty Death Day” celebration, hinting that his last song and his army have spread out of Hong Kong. Zanzibar is described as “newly updated,” which is an interesting euphemism for “recently rebuilt.”

And elephants re-enacting historical events? I’ve never wanted to visit South Africa more!

Continued below

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 #25 #26

Interviews: Matt Kindt Brendan Wright Matt Kindt (2)
Annotations: Volume one


//TAGS | Minding Mind MGMT

Drew Bradley

Drew Bradley is a long time comic reader whose past contributions to Multiversity include annotations for "MIND MGMT", the Small Press Spotlight, Lettering Week, and Variant Coverage. He currently writes about the history of comic comic industry. Feel free to email him about these things, or any other comic related topic.

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