I've been meaning to start a thread on this book since it came out, but hadn't taken the time before now...
Is anyone else reading this? It's a new ongoing from Dark Horse, written and drawn by up-and-coming indie darling Matt Kindt. Most likely, if people are familiar with Kindt's work, it'd be for his OGN Revolver from Vertigo, as the writer of the Robotman story in the My Strange Adventure relaunch last September, or as the creator of the book 3 Story, which Warner Bros is (supposedly) adapting to film..
MIND MGMT #1 had a feel that was kind of reminiscent of Revolver: a seemingly normal person is finding herself in a less-than-normal world, and what's real gets called into question. The premise revolves around a secret organization called MIND MGMT which is thought to have begun in 1914 by a small-time grifter who convinced people he could give everyday object special powers. Somehow, from those beginnings, MIND MGMT seems to have become "a secret espionage organization that is unconventional to say the least." The first issue (mostly) follows a down-on-her-luck true-crime writer as she investigates the story of an airplane flight whose passengers and crew inexplicably lost all their memories mid-flight.
The book itself is gorgeous. Kindt's scratchy, sketchy art hides nuanced storytelling behind simplistic-looking forms; he utilizes the 3×3 panel layout to great effect; and the book is 100% content: he tells a background story on the inside front and back covers, there are no ads in the book, there's a letter column (complete with fan letter from a young fan named Jeff Lemire of Canada), and the back cover...is a yet-to-be-deciphered puzzle.
Kindt's welcome to the book really sold me:
Thanks for picking up the first issue of MIND MGMT. You're not like me. I don't read monthly comics anymore. I wait for the trades. Which is funny, because now I'm writing and drawing a monthly book. That doesn't make sense. That's what I thought. But then I thought some more. Why don't I buy monthly comics? What would it take for me to buy a monthly series again instead of waiting for the inevitable collection? MIND MGMT is my solution. Every issue is going to be jam packed with secret messages, codes, riddles, and bonus stories (like the "Second Floor" story in this issue) that won't be included in the trade. I want the reading of this monthly book to be unique. I want it to be something that can't be replicated in a trade. Something that hasn't been done before.
I'm basically making this into a monthly book that would get me reading monthly books again. And I hope it gets you to do the same.
There are a lot of hidden things in each issue. Some of them I'll mention; some of them I won't. I'll give you one for free though — there is a message and a code number hidden on the back of every issue. When the first six issues are out, you will be able to piece the back covers together like a puzzle and you'll get the code number. That number will unlock exclusive content online that won't appear anywhere else. But you'll need the monthly issues.
I don't know that Kindt's goals are quite as "something that hasn't been done before" as he wants (what he describes as his goal for the monthly issues makes me think of Ed Brubaker's Criminal, for instance), but his execution is enough to get me coming back next month.
I would definitely recommend this for fans of Vertigo, as well as those who enjoyed Lost.
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