Heady and psychotic: That’s how I’ll describe the second issue of Mind MGMT: Bootleg. Our hero from the first issue is now working as a recruiter to find the two other people that survived Zanzibar to work for the newly formed Mind MGMT. While the plot is pretty simple, it is not simplistic, especially if you understand the lore and story of the first series.

We know (or knew) who the good and bad guys were, but does a differing point of view make one thing good and another thing bad or just two ways to approach the same thing, each with their positives and negatives?  Along with these new kids who are being inducted into what we have known to be the “bad guys,” there are other cogs in the machine spinning, other groups and factions with mysterious designs, like the collapse of society as we know it. Yikes!

This is the wildest of Matt Kindt rides, and Matt Lesniewski brings it to life with visual aplomb and gusto! There are some images that are simply bizarre. Lesniewski was the perfect artist for this issue, everything feels just shy of a dream. The most normal image we get is of two airplanes sitting at their terminals.

On top of that, we have Bill Crabtree creating insanely tight color palettes. He somehow brings a world of colors, but mutes them just enough to make them feel natural together. The sequence in the alley is a masterclass of threatening surreal imagery.

Mind MGMT holds a special place in my heart, and so far this comic book series isn’t just paying homage and living up to the name of the original run, but it feels like a new creation all together. So far, so great!


Creative Team: Matt Kindt (script), Matt Lesniewski (art, letters), Bill Crabtree (colors), Daniel Chabon (editor), Chuck Howitt-Lease and Misha Gehr (assistant editors), Patrick Satterfield and Matt Kindt (designers), Allyson Haller (digital art technician)
Publisher: Dark Horse Comics: FLUX House
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