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Minding MIND MGMT: Issue 31 and DHP 5

By | March 25th, 2015
Posted in Annotations | % Comments
Banner courtesy of Tim Daniel

Because each issue of Matt Kindt’s monthly series is overflowing with 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
This mug shot of Henry Lyme harkens back to issue five, which was a similar image of Henry during his better days. It’s hard to say if this picture represents Lyme just after the immortals beat on him, or if it’s from his more recent attack at the retirement home. Perhaps the only thing truly notable about this cover is that despite his rough condition, it looks like he still has all his teeth.

The Second Floor
As with all the previous first parts of new arcs, the second floor acts as a recap of the story so far. For the first time, it spreads out across two full pages. There’s nothing new revealed here, but some of the information is presented in a curious order. For instance, Lyme was blinded immediately after the last time he erased Meru’s memory, but here it’s presented like it happened after the events of the Magician arc. Duncan and Perrier are introduced well after they started affecting events, and Dusty’s omitted entirely. Most of these choices were probably made for the sake of brevity and clarity.

One thing that caught my eye, though it’s probably just coincidence, was the juxtaposition of panels featuring Meru and Bill at the bottom of the cover interior. They look like they’re facing each other, and she has a balloon saying the agency is a monster. Bill has his fist pulled back and says “wanna bet?” The caption for Bill’s picture provides no context for his words, and it looks like he’s ready to fight Meru. Sure, he and Meru seemed to be in love, but Bill was also a former paramour of the Eraser. The bullet to the head he took in #23 looked fatal, but we never saw his body again. The two immortals from the first arc took hits just as bad, got dumped in a river, and they recovered quick enough to beat Lyme half to death. Would it be gut wrenching to find out the Eraser had used Bill to manipulate Meru? Absolutely. But that’s not something Kindt has shied away from doing.

The Main Story
The camera pulls back from the recap to show it as part of a book being read by Charlie, Meru’s agent. He was first mentioned by name way back in #1p8, but this is the first time he’s been shown. His office looks very similar to the one Bill worked in when he was with the CIA (#11p24), and Charlie looks like he takes fashion tips from Marty McFly. Meru’s book was drawn by Jardin, who first appeared in the Second Floor of #14. She commissioned the art when she busted him out of prison in #29p7. The covers to the book are blue, and the color is noticeably more saturated than the rest of the art. This is a visual clue that it contains mind managing content, similar to the Ad Man’s pictures (#7) or the musical notes played by Dusty (#9).

On page 3, Charlie passes under a sign on his way to the subway. It says “see more”, and the beach setting also makes a face framed by palm trees. If the 6 D sign means anything to you, please let me know in the comments because I’ve got nothing. We also see Perrier cross Charlie’s path on this page, which raises the question of if she’s tailing him. If so, and she didn’t intervene when Spain attacked, that would mean she let Charlie die. That seems very out of character, so it’s safe to assume this was a chance meeting.

When Meru escaped the Eraser’s new headquarters in #23/25, there were a few flashes of her fight with Spain, but nothing conclusive. Page 4 reveals that she was able to kill one of them, which destabilized the other. Lucky for him, the two don’t seem to have shared anything vital.

Continued below

The next few pages contain the comic equivalent of a montage, showing what Meru’s been up to while simultaneously building the scene for her confrontation with Lyme. Among other things, she sent a message to Duncan through Kevin, the monk from #25. When he first appeared, he sent Meru to find Sir Francis and I questioned whether he was really Duncan’s agent. The jury’s still out, but consider the following: One, he told Meru to find Francis so she could receive training. None was given, unless you count a history lesson. Two, the Eraser had an agent on the boat with her because she’d been trying to find Francis for a long time. Three, we don’t see Duncan get the note here. We see him reading one of the random bulletins Meru hung up. Did Meru just hand the Eraser her battle plans? Time will tell.

Also, the tail for Perrier’s word balloon jumps from one of the boxes to the next, which I think is a pretty cool effect.

Lyme returns on page 7, without explanation of his recovery. When he was last shown, he was waking up from a coma with someone with someone coming to identify him. Who was that mystery caller? Among the montage, which is mostly made up of previously seen scenes between Meru and Lyme, is one showing a monk with a shriveled hand. That’s Alberto, the second immortal who has only been seen in #0, story -3. Why has he returned now, after so long an absence? It may have something to do with the title of this arc: “The Immortals”.

The red flowers that take over the background in various panels starting on page 8 are familiar imagery, dating back to the cover of #6. They represent blood and death, and here they’re directly connected to Henry’s guilt – notice how they faded away when Meru forgave him. The retelling of the Zanzibar massacre doesn’t present much new information, save for the confirmation of his wife and daughter’s death (it had previously been implied, but never so explicitly stated). The first panel on page 9 is another reference to the Bamiyan Buddha in a Missouri cavern, first mentioned in #11p10 and reappearing a few times since.

Pages 15 through 17 brings the series full circle by providing an end to one of its oldest plot threads – the Amnesia flight. In a subtle but neat continuity nod, the people shown regaining their memories are the same people Meru interviewed in #1p9. According to the text scrolling the bottom of the news casts, the young boy who had been unaffected was abducted nearly a year ago by a white van. It seems that in addition to reactivating old agents, the Eraser has been recruiting new agents as well. She’s not as good at it, though, since people are looking for him. During the agency’s heyday, the guardians of the boy would have been managed into not missing him.

The newscast also notes their memories came back on the anniversary of the flight. Since the first issue began on the second anniversary, that means the story so far has taken place over the course of either one or two years.

On page 20, the narration says Meru is headed to Guangzhou for one last fight. That aligns with what she told Lyme earlier in the issue, but the pictures show her outside the Eraser’s new HQ, which is in Hong Kong. Perhaps the troops are going to rally in Guangzhou before storming Hong Kong? But then, are they supposed to go the the Guangzhou shown in the early issues of the series, or the actual one that’s a thriving city? I guess we’ll find out soon.

Triple Indemnity
This film has come up a few times in the series so far, notably in #13p12. The director, Salvador Dali, was first identified on the back cover of #28. The segment concludes with Dali saying they’ll film in Greenland, but the map on #28 identifies the movie set’s location as either Italy or France. Perhaps that will come up in the next installment.

The Letter Column
Kindt’s already prepping for the series he’s writing and drawing after “MIND MGMT” wraps. There was other stuff mentioned, but I’m too excited about that news tucked away inside a longer reply to pay attention to much else. With all the other books Kindt’s writing now, I had been wondering if he’d hang up his brush for a while. Very glad he’s not.

Continued below

The Back Cover
Fake ads are the best ads. I get that the scent contains cyanide, but it still seems like a missed opportunity not to make something called CYANure blue. Maybe that’s just me…

In related news, Kindt put out a call on Facebook for a slogan to use for a fake ad in a future issue. He’s looking for a name for dog treats made by MIND MGMT. If you have an idea, let him know.

DHP 5
Last month, “MIND MGMT” had a short story appear in “Dark Horse Presents” #5. Like the last time, the colors were handled by Sharlene Kindt. It may just be the different paper quality, but her work in noticeably more vibrant than the usual comics. The bright, deep colors are a perfect palette for the wildly costumed theater troupe featured in this story. Aside from the troupe being currently active in Guangzhou, there isn’t much to this brief tale.
And that’s all for this month
I know I didn’t catch everything. If you spotted something I missed, please let me know about it 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 #27 #28#29 #30

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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