Key Comic #3: MIND MGMT #1

This time I decided to do an independent comic, a nice hidden gem of a comic called Mind MGMT #1 from Dark Horse Comics. The comic is written and drawn by Matt Kindt. I really enjoy comics that are written and drawn by a single person, because the artist draws exactly what the writer wants, there is no disconnect of vision or ideas! Some of my favorite runs are by creators who write and draw them:  Walt Simonson’s Thor, Mike Mignola’s Hellboy, Frank Miller’s Daredevil, John Byrne’s Fantastic Four, Will Eisner’s The Spirit, Jeff Smith’s Bone, and Dave Sim’s Cerebus.

The story starts with Menu, a novelist who writes about a commercial flight where everyone aboard loses their memory, and discovers a secret company called Mind MGMT. This starts her on a quest that involves agents with fantastic powers, hypnotic advertising, talking dolphins, immortals, and more! You really need to read each issue slowly and multiple times, to pick up every little detail and secret that Mr. Kindt packs in each issue. The amount of time he has spent creating and planning this world and the incredible diverse cast of characters is quite impressive.

This series is a little hard to describe and do it justice, it crosses many genres and ideas. Ultimately, the story is about a secret government company of agents of various psychic abilities and talents. The story is densely packed with great characters, flashbacks, flash forwards, hidden messages, mystery, action and so much more. Every issue needs multiple readings, to extract the many cool story plots and elements. There are small scenes that happen in one issue, that payoff huge in later issues. You almost need a flowchart to keep track of the various characters and plot threads, but don’t worry it never gets too complicated or crazy, Mr. Kindt rewards the reader with a richly layered story, that you cannot wait for more. Twists and turns, and secrets, and prophecies, I love it!  Every issue is framed with a 1 page story called “The Second Floor” and a 1 or 2 page Epilogue story, that contains background information on the characters or history of the secret agency of Mind MGMT. The art style isn’t for everyone, but I feel that the artwork with his beautifully watercolors really fits the story and tone.

The story is expected to run approximately 36 issues, the current issue of #33 just came out, so we are almost at the end. The series has appeared on numerous “Best of” lists for the last 3 years running. Drew Bradley over at Multiversity Comics has a column called “Minding Mind MGMT” breaking down the cool secrets and all of the wonderful details of each issue. Check it out, I highly recommend it, and will give you insight and show you how packed each issue is with plot and secrets.

This hidden gem has an extremely low print run of around 7,000 issues, and even went to a 2nd printing.

20th Century Fox has started pre-production with Ridley Scott producing. I really hope it gets made into a movie, I think that it would make a very interesting one.

Overstreet Comic Book Price Guide #44 (2014) has the NM of this comic at $30. If you can EVEN find this book, especially at a decent price, I would definitely recommend picking this comic up all day long. The value has increased $15.00 (100%) since the year before, and overall an increase of $26.00 (75%) since the book first came out.

Updated 07/21/2015: Overstreet Comic Book Price Guide #45 (2015) NearMint is $30, the value has not increased since the year before.

Click on chart for larger view.