Review: MIND MGMT Vol. 5- The Eraser

Quick Summary

Pros: The main storyline is more focused and more interesting than ever. The narrative is becoming more exciting as the series moves toward completion. The worldbuilding is still great and feels even more relevant than it did in previous volumes.

Cons: The artwork is lackluster in some places and less creative than before.

Overall: The awesome storytelling and overall sense of excitement make this a strong candidate for the best volume in this series so far. It uses the conclusion of the previous volume to place a renewed focus on Maru’s adventure, which contains some of her more exciting actions as of yet. Alongside this, worldbuilding answers questions that have existed since the series began and show how these questions relate to the current situation. Anyone who has enjoyed this series thus far will love this volume.

Story

MIND MGMT Vol. 5: The Eraser, by Matt Kindt, proves that the MIND MGMT series is only getting better as it moves into the endgame. This is an awesome volume that takes the dramatic fallout from the previous volume and uses it to amp up the storytelling and excitement. It uses Maru’s valiant resistance as the base for a story filled with dramatic tension and a ton of excitement. Plus, the worldbuilding here is more interesting and relevant than in previous volumes, which helps make the overall narrative even better. Overall, the story here is fantastic and makes this one of the best volumes in the MIND MGMT series.

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The Eraser primarily focuses on Maru’s story, which is the central plotline upon which the MIND MGMT series is based. This volume has Maru begin her assent from the rock bottom position where the previous volume left her. She has been pushed to her physical limits, left with little to no resources, and her allies are either dead or no longer in contact with her. Maru starts out this volume in a position where it appears as if she has little to no chance against the enemies she is set to go up against.

However, here she is able to do things that no other Mind Management agent has been able to do and, through the course of the story, is able to put up a valiant resistance against the Eraser. Her progression here is incredibly exciting and makes for a wonderfully satisfying story, even in the places where Maru doesn’t succeed. By the volume’s conclusion, it appears as if Maru may actually have a chance against Mind Management, though she still has plenty of odds to overcome. The central focus of this collection is very well done and, on its own, makes this one of the better volumes in this series.

However, Matt Kindt does not stop there, as this book also sees an improvement on aspects of the MIND MGMT series that were already great in previous books. Prior to this collection, one of the best aspects of MIND MGMT was the worldbuilding. Worldbuilding allowed unique showcases of mental abilities and painted an in-depth picture of the rich history behind Mind Management’s role in the history of the world.

In The Eraser, this worldbuilding is every bit as entertaining but is now far more relevant. The secret histories of the first Immortal and the Eraser help answer questions about Mind Management that have been unclear since the very beginning of this series. In addition, their backstories are immediately relevant to what is happening as this series moves toward its endgame, more so than ever before. Learning all of this information is a very satisfying experience and makes reading this volume even better.

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Art

The entire MIND MGMT series has suffered from lackluster artwork, but previous volumes were able to somewhat compensate by offering up visuals that were unique and helped enhance the storytelling. Though this can still be seen in The Eraser, it is less noticeable and has a smaller role overall. This makes the collection’s visual problems, like different characters looking confusingly similar, stand out more and weakens the overall appeal of the collection. This isn’t a terrible looking book, but it also could stand for some visual improvements.

Continuity

MIND MGMT Vol. 5: The Eraser continues the story from MIND MGMT Vol. 4: The Magician (Review).

The story here continues in MIND MGMT Vol. 6: The Immortals (Review)