Mind Mgmt: New & Improved #4 Review
Writer, Artist, Colorist & Letterer: Matt Kindt
Cover Artists: Matt Kindt, Martín Morazzo & Patricia
Martín
Editors: Sierra Hahn & Joelena Despard
Publisher: Oni Press
Price: $4.99 US
Release Date: September 30, 2026
When he passed his entry exams with flying colors, his
superiors placed Jon Swon in Detective Services. He works with Agent Delphi to
investigate mysterious deaths. After visiting crime scenes in Arizona, their
superiors send them to Europe. In the French Alps, Swon and Delphi meet more
Mind Mgmt agents. They belong to the agency's toughest department. Agents who
graduate from the Mind Over Body department cannot die. Or at least, they
shouldn't. Yet one of their number died when a tree fell on him.
Can Swon and Delphi explain how a tree cut weeks before
suddenly fell over when Agent Zippo died? And can they connect Zippo’s death
with the murders in Arizona, and the Dutch death cult that invaded their motel
rooms?
Story
When Swon and Delphi met Agents Styx, Bear, and Fowler, they
revealed that Zippo had gone rogue a few months ago. Their Immortal friend was
convinced that someone was killing Mind Mgmt Agents. Then, they received a
damaged postcard from him. Only one word was legible: Ayush. Fowler asserts
that Ayush was a Mind Mgmt agent. But now, he’s gone missing.
As Mind Mgmt: New & Improved #4 opens, Agents Swon and
Delphi have found Ayush. He tells them he grew up on an island with other
children. His instructors trained them to become the luckiest people on Earth.
Ayush excelled during their training and could have been an exemplary agent. But
when he graduated, Ayush decided to leave them. Then, he realized the truth.
After investing so much work in training him as a Fortune Specialist, his
superiors will never let him quit.
Matt Kindt’s story takes place in a world constantly on the
brink of chaos. Mind Mgmt controls society's narrative so people trust their
leaders, and international relations don't devolve into war. Agent Gemini
Delphi believes in subverting truth to preserve peace. Jon Swon seeks to uphold
right and wrong. Yet in a controlled society, Ayush wants the ability to decide
his own future. So, he has worked to overturn an organization that treats its
subordinates as disposable objects. And true believer Agent Delphi, a Martial
Arts expert, has a license to kill in Mind Mgmt: New & Improved #4.
Art
Ayush begins his tale on a rocky island. The sheer cliffs
amid the ocean suggest an outpost of civilization. Yet as the instructors clad
in white shirts and pants clutch children in red diapers, their actions are
anything but civilized. As Ayush grows up, he wears red overalls and black
shirts like his classmates. Silhouettes portray acts of violence. Yet a broken
string heralds a lifetime of luck.
Matt Kindt inks Ayush’s memories on brown paper in Mind
Mgmt: New & Improved #4. The pre-washed paper suggests aging and distress.
Yellow, green, and red watercolors dominate the students' trials. The blue
skies above the island in the opening panels return when Ayush gets his first
taste of freedom. Yet the red of Ayush's early trials links with Mind Mgmt's act to bring him back. Green in a later trial links with Ayush's first impossible murder. And the yellow illuminating Ayush's final island ordeal links with the bamboo forest where Swon and Delphi find him.
As Agents Delphi and Swon listen, Ayush's tale appears in
beige boxes. On-screen dialogue appears in white balloons. When the action
returns to the present, blue outlines and text indicate how to file a Mind Mgmt
report. White letters in blue boxes accompany acts of violence, while black
letters in blue boxes relate to Delphi and Eraser's offscreen dialogue. Yet the
handwritten, lowercase dialogue only grows bold once, when former agent Ayush's
statement provokes Delphi to violence. Thanks to Oni Press and Superfan
Promotions for providing a review copy.
Final Thoughts
While investigating the mysterious deaths of fellow Agents,
Gemini Delphi and Jon Swon have struggled to understand how these seemingly
random occurrences could have been engineered. Then, they get a lucky break. Still,
the agents and their superiors must decide how to capture or kill the luckiest
person alive in Mind Mgmt: New & Improved #4.
Rating 9.4/10
For more covers see Mind Mgmt: New & Improved #4 Cover Preview.
For all the action in Arizona and France, see Mind Mgmt: New & Improved #3 Review.