Okay wow. You can call this issue the “Secret History of Mind MGMT” because it reveals a ton of information about the series. It explains things that we’ve been digesting and reading for twenty-seven issues without a clue. I mean just wow. Meru has found the first immortal Francis and he’s agreed to help her, but only if she kills him. Of course she protests because Meru isn’t a murderer and that’s obviously not why she came to see him. He decides that giving her context will help in the decision so he tells her and sequentially us, everything. He begins in the jungle and when he meet Leopold Lojka the founder of Mind MGMT. Leopold convinces Francis to leave with him and continue to create Mind MGMT; through this conversation we learn about the second floor.
That’s right the very same “Second Floor” we’ve all been reading since the beginning. They weren’t just stories that were interesting, but they were in fact the knowledge passed onto to each agent along with the handbook that’s stored in their head. The premise is that the headquarters only has one floor and that the second floor is their brains. Brilliant, though it does make me wonder if Matt Kindt is turning us all into members of Mind MGMT, don’t think I haven’t noticed that each comic is created on the official report paper.
From there we continue to see the creation of Mind MGMT and eventually we see the beginning of the end for Francis and Leopold. Eventually Francis leaves and we see how he came to be in the condition he’s in.
This is one of those brilliant issue in which Kindt just explains the world and pulls back the veil on more of the mystery. What’s great is that even though we pick up so much knowledge here he’s shown us before that he can come back to this scene and completely change our perspective on everything.
The liner notes are again perfectly suited for the story and if you pay attention, feed right back into the page. It basically confirms that what Leopold is telling us is his version of the truth and that we should take it with a grain of salt.
Kindt has this amazing ability to develop new characters within one issue. You really feel as if you know Francis quite well by the end of the issue. We do experience a vast majority of his life with him, but it’s more than that. We see how he changes, we see what he likes from life and what his morals are. He’s a great character that Kindt has briefly shown before, but now he’s just here and adds an amazing layer to the story.
After twenty-seven issues what is there that I can say about Kindt’s artwork? Well surprisingly there is something to say, it’s improving and growing. It’s not that his style is changing, it’s that he’s being more creative with the panels and angles. What I really want to talk about is the cover. That cover is so incredible and wonderful. It just says everything about Francis’ life in one image and yet you only understand that by reading the issue. Just incredible and definitely one of my favorite covers of the series.
We’re in the home stretch with just nine issues to go. I don’t know what’s going to happen, but I do know that if it continues this pace it’s going to be spectacular. Mind MGMT is still one of the best series on the stands and by the time it’s done it’ll be on every comic fans, “must read” list right next to Watchmen, Saga and Fables all those other “classics” that people love to list. It’s just that damn classic already.
Score: 5/5
Writer/Artist/Creator: Matt Kindt Publisher: Dark Horse Comics Price: $3.99 Release Date: 10/29/14 Format: Ongoing; Print/Digital