Comics
Review: ‘Mind MGMT’ #19
Visually appealing and cleverly written, “Mind MGMT” #19 is an exciting sci-fi thriller that has the right mix of action, humor, and suspense. Because of its unpredictable plot twists, you won’t be able to tell where the story is going. Full of mystery and ambition, readers should not miss out on Matt Kindt’s “Mind MGMT” series.
WRITTEN BY: Matt Kindt
ART BY: Matt Kindt
PUBLISHER: Dark Horse Comics
PRICE: $3.99
RELEASE: Feb 26th, 2013
After being compelled to write about Amnesia Flight 185, crime writer Meru Marlow unexpectedly found out she was part of a top-secret conspiracy. After digging into the mysterious organization known as Mind Management, Meru suddenly became the target of killer psychics and highly trained assassins. While the Immortals have been tracking her every move, ex-agent Lyme has been protecting her from them. Though they cannot trust each other, Meru and Lyme have been gathering ex-agents to join their cause for justice. The Eraser has also been recruiting agents for her own agenda.
After an amusing and informative twenty panel recap, which is perfect for first-time readers, writer/artist Matt Kindt doesn’t hesitate and dives right into the action-packed story. What I really like about the narrative is how Kindt plays around with uncanny powers of the Mind Management agents. We get to see how Anthers communicates with other ex-agents through their dreams. Interestingly, whenever Meru is anywhere near an agent, she abruptly stops their powers and inadvertently causes them pain.
In this installment, readers meet The Magician, who is able to fool others and herself with her mind-bending tricks. What was supposed to be a great magic show, suddenly turns into a complete disaster. Through creative uses of flashbacks, Kindt gives hints of reasons why the Magician left Management. As the narrative flows at speedy pace, Kindt switches back and forth between the character growth of the Magician and the downfall of Meru’s recruitment plan.
I particularly like the character design of the Magician. On stage, the Magician is supposed to be glamorous and young to the audience’s eyes. But in reality, the Magician is actually old and bitter; as if the years carried such a heavy burden on her. Taking advantage of his water-color techniques, Kindt shows how the Magician’s young face sags and elongates.
Because this is a globe-trotting adventure, Kindt makes great use of his stylish backgrounds. Rather than keep the setting grounded in reality, Kindt makes surrealistic choices to exaggerate the foreign surroundings. Play close attention to the background where the Magician is walking around the streets of Berlin. As if Kindt is foreshadowing what’s to come, she passes by a billboard that advertises a man in a suit handcuffed in chains.
Readers will not be able to put “Mind MGMT” #19 down for a second. The forces of good and evil are gathering in the series and I can’t wait to see what happens when both sides clash.
4.5/5 skulls
Reviewed by – Jorge Solis
IDW Dark and Paramount recently joined forces to launch limited comic book tales set in the worlds of Smile and A Quiet Place, and we’ve learned today that they’ll continue hanging around in those franchise universes with two brand new limited series tales.
Entertainment Weekly has exclusively revealed this afternoon that IDW Dark’s Any Given Smile debuts in September, while A Quiet Place: Rising Tides arrives in November.
First up, from writer Stephanie Williams and artist Pablo Collar, Any Given Smile puts a football-themed twist on Parker Finn’s successful Smile movie franchise.
The five-part limited series is “set in January 1995, during the American Arena League football championship game in St. Augustine, Florida. The rising superstar of the Sharks, backup quarterback Dupree, is feeling the pressure from his teammates, the fans, and also the city’s gambling underworld, to whom he owes a considerable debt. Meanwhile, a sports journalist investigates a string of suicides that may be connected to the big game. At the very least, they are connected to a sinister entity that preys on the minds of its victims.”
From writer Declan Shalvey and artist Luke Sparrow, A Quiet Place: Rising Tides will also be a five-issue limited story. The comic book tale “brings the creatures to the Florida Keys, where a father-daughter duo attempt to survive on water in a houseboat.”
EW further details, “This tense family reunion coincides with the arrival of the vicious creatures that hunt through sound. Grace and her dad find safety on the open ocean, but she’ll have to make landfall sooner or later; the father’s oxygen tank and their supplies are running low, while a hurricane swiftly approaches.”
Learn more about both comic books over on Entertainment Weekly.
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