Annotations 

Minding MIND MGMT: Issue #8

By | February 27th, 2013
Posted in Annotations | 2 Comments

Welcome back to Minding Mind MGMT, the monthly column focused on the Dark Horse series “Mind MGMT” from Matt Kindt. Why a special column instead of a regular review? Because each issue is crammed with story, requiring no less than two reads to fully absorb everything Kindt packs into it. Each month, we try to piece together the clues Kindt is hiding throughout the book, and speculate on what may happen next. This is a spoiler-heavy column, so turn back now if you don’t want major plot details revealed.

Banner courtesy of Tim Daniel
The cover
Unlike previous covers which featured headshots of various cast members, this month’s shows a scene from inside the issue. That’s remarkable in itself – how often are comic covers anything besides pin-ups anymore? The cover has a frame around it which looks like glass, giving the impression you’re viewing this through a window.

Hidden in the action are a few neat things. One is the cover of issue seven tacked up like a flyer on the telephone pole. Second, see the guy in the bottom left getting his teeth knocked out? His landing has busted the sign and sent letters flying. The loose ones near his newly-busted mouth spell out KA-RACK. Inbetween the telephone pole and the man getting whacked with the lacrosse stick is a lone man, who appears to be doing a Kurt Cobain.

The main story
The opening pages feature a slightly different art style and limited pallet which re-introduces the Perrier twins from issue two. It’s told in first person and explains in more detail how thier abilities work. Neither sister is shown wearing glasses, though the artistic one did in the second Mind Memo. Presumably, they were left out of the autobiographical version because the girl didn’t like them.

When we’re shown these pages were a comic strip Meru was reading, the colors and style return to the regular format we’re used to seeing. Meru and Lyme’s comments are metacommentary – two very common things said about Kindt’s work.

Lyme has brought Meru to a university where the surviving Perrier sister is a teacher. When Perrier meets them, one of her first questions is if Lyme is working with the Eraser to put the Management back together. He says no…but don’t trust him. Her next question is if Lyme knows how her sister died, and Lyme lies to her about it. Perrier reveals she inherited all of her sister’s powers and memories, but says they’re fuzzy and don’t make sense. This is probably because Lyme manipulated those memories to his own ends. Still, Perrier recognizes Meru, and knows her sister knew her somehow. Before either of them can explore the thought, Lyme interupts to ask about a map to Shangra-la. The dead sister had one, and he wants it.

Perrier draws close to Lyme, preparing to use one of her abilities to find out what he knows about her sister. Just as we see her death reflected in his mirrored glasses, Lyme causes the whole campus to riot, with our trio at the focal point. The three of them escape, just in time to avoid Stane the sniper. Stane gets off one shot, which kills a bird and passes through another car before grazing Meru’s shoulder. A few pages later, she comments on how the sniper who never misses seems to be doing so quite often lately. Of course, that line of thinking assumes he was aiming for her. Last issue, his “missed shot” hit Brinks straight in the mouth. If you look in the third panel of page 13 in this issue, you’ll notice the bullet hit dead center in the back of Lyme’s headrest after knicking Meru. Is Stane really missing? I’m thinking not.

As they flee to Zanzibar, Perrier insists they need Duncan’s help. Lyme says it would be a waste of time, and he’s probably right. In Duncan’s previous appearances (issues 2 and 6), he said he was out of the game. In Zanzibar, they find the building where Perrier’s sister died. The shop next to it was a souvenir shop in issue 2 (pg 20), but now it appears to sell electronics. Perhaps it’s really a flux safe house? Inside, Perrier’s old room has been turned into a Chirstian Science reading room. The living twin sees a memory of her sister with Dusty the Musician and locates the map under a floorboard. The map makes no sense because Dusty has the other half of it, so they head to Egypt to find him.

Continued below

On their way, they pass through a town which is being run by a tyranical warlord. To convince herself she’s on the right team, Meru tells Lyme she won’t move on until he’s taken care of it. When they leave, the warlord is sitting on the ground scratching the shape of the rhino into the dirt. From the look of the second to last panel, he’s worn off at least part of his finger doing this. This one page digression is completely tangential, breaks the pace of the story some, and could easily have been expanded to flesh out some of the details. It’s inclusion begs the question of its importance, so it’s neccessary to dissect all the elements in it. In her voiceover, Meru acknowledges her tunnel vision, which has been mentioned before (#3 pg 3). The repeated referenceds to this trait, especially when a situation is shoehorned in so it can be mentioned, makes it seem vital to the plot. In a couple years, when the series is reaching a climax, you’ll probably reread this page and think “Ah-ha! There’s a hint!” What is this hinting at? No idea yet. Also, this quick aside reinforces the deeper aspects of the characters. Despite her defining characteristic, Meru notices the bad living conditions and wants to help. Lyme doesn’t until he’s essentially made to do so, and then he does it “In his own way”, which is rather ruthless and directly tied to his remaining guilt about the Zanzibar massacre.

Soon, they meet Dusty, whose music was able to influence people like Brinks’ art did in the previous issue. Dusty tells them his life has been sort of boring, right before his house explodes.

Premeditated
The side story continues the story of Julianne Verve, who killed her husband and two children. In an AMA over on Reddit last month, Kindt confirmed “MIND MGMT” and “Revolver” share a universe (but which one?), and the connection would be revealed in these excerpts through issue 12. Apparently, the side story will change themes every story arc.

The parallels between the excerpts and the main story are more clear this month. Page four talks about a “Collage of experiences” and features walls cover in papers – a collage. On page five, contrast Julianne’s father who is not evasive and without guilt to Lyme, who is the opposite. When Perrier begins to question Lyme about her dead sister, the writer questions the father about fuzzy details and makes him agitated. The riot breaks into the room the same time the father becomes enraged and incoherant, as though a switch was flipped. The trio flee as the writer is chased from the cabin. The fate of the bird on page 12 is similar to the cat Julianne caught on the same page.

The rest of the issue features similar parallels on nearly every page, and I’ll leave it to you to enjoy spotting them.

Mind Memo
In a first for the series, the Mind Memo continues where the last one ended. We see Ferris, who is taller and slimmer than last month, develop his abilities at the same time he enters into a friendship? relationship? with a very young Eraser. (Note the two marks on her left cheek.) He knows he suffers memory loss, but seems unaware it’s her causing it. At the end, he meets a bald girl. Given the missing “End Mind Memo” note, it’s likely this will pick up next issue.

Before we move on, turn back to page 23, the first page of the Mind Memo, and look at the bottom of the page. See the box with the “R” in it? Last month, it was a “3”, and it was in the first spot. The box is big enough to hold six letters. Is this a code to unlock bonus features, similar to the fake ads on issues 1-6? I guess we’ll find out soon.

The Second Floor
Her nickname is “The Wish”, and the story is hard to summarize. Of note: the book she gives the guard is written by the Perrier sisters.

The back cover
At first glance, a fun solicitation for a book written by the Perrier twins. At second, a secret message hidden inside suggesting you “Start a real riot!” Looking deeper, it’s about twin sisters who both like a guy named Henry, who will throw their lives into turmoil. Apparently, the Perrier twins had a feeling Lyme was going to make them unhappy and/or dead.

Continued below

Around the web
Last month, Kindt held an “Ask Me Anything” over on Reddit, and it’s worth a read.

He was also interviewed by Heroes Online, talking about “MIND MGMT” and more.

If you haven’t already, like “MIND MGMT” on Facebook and get fun links and updates about the series.

If you live near the St Louis area, make an effort to attend Wizard World St Louis the weekend of March 23 and meet Kindt! Get stuff signed!

And that’s a wrap!
Thanks for reading, and let me know if you caught something I missed. I know I’m not catching it all. I’ll have an interview with Kindt to mark the anniversary of the first issue, so let me know if you have any burning questions you want to see him answer.

Previous issues: #0 #3 #4 #5 #6 DHP #19 #7
Previous interviews: Matt Kindt Brendan Wright


//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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