Review: MIND MGMT Vol. 2- The Futurist

Quick Summary

Pros: The concept here is very interesting and unique. The storytelling is full of excitement and suspense. The volume’s conclusion has a great twist and provides a wonderful set-up for future stories.

Cons: The artwork is weak and distracts from the story.

Overall: This is a book that delivers on all of its predecessor’s promises, and then some. It is gripping in some places, emotional in others, and interesting throughout. This is an easy book to become enamored with and this feeling is only built upon as the story progresses. It also provides a clever set-up for the future, further developing reader’s interest in what is going on. Anyone intrigued by shadow wars or who enjoyed the previous volume should pick this one up.

Story

MIND MGMT Vol. 2: The Futurist, by Matt Kindt, builds upon the successes of its predecessor and makes this an even better series overall. While Vol. 1 (Review) was primarily introductory in nature, this volume is able to jump right into the action and set the characters on an epic adventure. This helps kickstart a shadow war that is already interesting and is building up even more potential to play out in the future. The adventure has excitement, intrigue, and a twist ending that is very satisfying. In the end, this volume is great and leaves the series in better shape than ever before.

(spoilers start here)

Going into The Futurist, readers are already familiar with the concept of Mind Management and the evils of which it is capable. This volume uses that knowledge to jumpstart the actual narrative, upon which it appears this series will center around. This involves Mind Management’s attempt to reform and Henry Lyme’s attempt to shut them down.

Though this concept is similar to the plotline of the previous volume, here it is larger and more real in terms of execution. Henry Lyme is no longer on his own, he has gathered friends and is making actual progress against the organization. Meanwhile, Mind Management is able to move against Lyme and hamper his progress in more than a few places. All of this generates a shadow war that is immensely interesting.

This war is not just an interesting concept, it is also very exciting. Maru and Lyme are constantly in danger and have close calls with death on a few occasions. Plus, the potential threat Mind Management poses if they succeed in their goals is constantly in the background, generating tension and anxiety throughout the read. These elements give the book its psychological thriller angle and make it even more entertaining.

However, the best part about the read is the conclusion. In the twist ending, Maru discovers that she had previously trained to be a Mind Management agent and that Lyme had been lying to her the entire time. This changes the book’s status quo, as Maru chooses to become independent of both sides in this shadow war. It also teases the fact that she could potentially side with Mind Management rather than with Lyme, leaving the future in complete uncertainty. Ending things like this makes the book even more interesting and left me excited to read the next volume.

(spoilers end here)

Art

Matt Kindt’s work on The Futurist is better than the previous volume but still isn’t great. Individual characters are more defined than they were previously, allowing readers to more easily recognize what is happening on every page. Plus, the gruff art style still helps compliment the book’s theme. However, motion still feels incredibly static and facial expressions routinely look strange. All in all, the artwork is still the weak point in the overall appeal of MIND MGMT.

Continuity

MIND MGMT Vol. 2: The Futurist continues the story from MIND MGMT Vol. 1: The Manager (Review).

The story here continues in MIND MGMT Vol. 3: The Home Maker (Review).