Mind Mgmt: New & Improved #4 Review

 

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. Yet the blue skies above the island in the opening panels return when Ayush gets his first taste of freedom before an event Agent Swon clings to occurs.

 

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.