It certainly doesn't hurt that I have met Matt Kindt on several occasions and have always found him to be pleasant if not outright charming. It also doesn't hurt that I have read many of his previous works and have always found them engaging and entertaining. And if this were a lesser book I could imagine my past experiences coloring the way I talk about the book.

But Mind MGMT is not a lesser book.

It is a spectacular book.

The art is fluid and accessible, though some super-hero purists may not find it to their liking, but I would challenge them to read the book nonetheless as even though it may not be to their crisp-line-heavily-photo-referenced tastes it achieves a great story telling pace and suits the narrative quite nicely. The pacing is whip-smart and the characters are, at first blush (which is all you can really get from a first issue), human and complex. 

The thing about this book that I really think people are going to get attached to quite quickly is the secret nuggets hidden within the book and information that is peppered throughout in ways that many writers wouldn't think to include. Wrapping the frame of each page is, what appears, to be content instructions, such as "When filing report all essential details must fall within the solid "live area" box. This is the border for a standard, non-bleed field report", but if you read them on each page you get additional content, you get insight into the world in which the book lives. It's a brilliant and subtle way of executing such an easter egg, which other creators have done to differing levels of success in the past (Jeph Loeb and Chris Bachalo in the pages of The Witching Hour, Joe Casey and Giuseppe Camuncoli in the pages of The Intimates, as well as Kindt in the pages of his most recent graphic novel Revolver), and this is definitely the kind of thing that I can imagine having to go back and re-read after having finished an issue and realizing that I had forgotten to read the gutter content since I was so taken by the pages of the actual issue.

Which is exactly what Kindt wants. He admits in the back matter of the first issue that he has been a "trade waiter" for a while now and that when he was given the opportunity to work on a monthly comic that he wanted to make sure that it was the kind of comic that he would want to buy. And I hope he achieved it for himself, I know he achieved it for me. The hidden pieces from the frame, the short story on the front and back inside covers, the short story at the end of the issue ... all add up to the kind of release that gets me excited to read. Most of the comics that I think make the most of the single issue format are like that. The releases from Brubaker and Phillips that include both a bit of journaling from the creators and an essay from one of their friends. The kind of letters pages that you can only get from The Walking Dead, Invincible, Powers, and Savage Dragon. The additional content provided by Richard Starkings in the pages of Elephantmen (also out this week!). And he lets you know that the extra content in each issue will be exclusive to the single issues. To reward the people who are willing to come out to shops and get the issues.

I say all of this and I haven't told you a single thing about the book. And I feel like I could get away with not telling you anything and based solely on the passion with which I speak that you should go check it out.

But I won't.

The book is about a young woman, who is a true crime novelist, trying to uncover the truth, despite the desires of her publisher, behind a mysterious commercial airline flight, during which all the passengers were suddenly and simultaneously struck with amnesia. As the rest of the story unfolds we see shady characters in the background and hear heart breaking stories of the people whose lives were ruined by their having been on the flight. People who no longer recognize their spouses or children. And yet the story presses on (I hope that as the story weaves that we might see more of what happened to the passengers in the additional content supplied in each issue). It's clear that in one instance we are in for a ride of breakneck proportions but that there will be the chance to have side moments and more of the history of the story unfold in the aforementioned extra content. And I have to say that I look forward to reading the next issue. But even moreso that I look forward to re-reading the first issue. And to talking with other people about the issues as they release. The way that I used to talk about episodes of LOST with friends and co-workers. The way that I talk about issues of Morning Glories with my employees. And I look forward to hearing ideas and theories that others put forth that make me want to go back and give each issue a 3rd and 4th reading. And I hope you'll come along on the journey with me.

So I got a unique chance to play a new game a couple of weeks back.  Anyone who knows me probably knows that I rarely get a chance to play anything nowadays, but I was at an open house for one of our distributors and got a chance to play Escape from the Temple.

Twenty- five words or less: Think the beginning scene to Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark, and you pretty much have this game nailed.

That's right, you're playing explorers in a temple full of booby traps.  The game plays in 10 minutes.  I'm not kidding.  There is a sound track to the game that marks out how much time you have left.  Everyone gets five dice and are all rolling at the same time to explore the temple.  You're trying to roll your dice to as fast as you can to open up new rooms and unlock the way out.

Explore as much and as fast as you can, the way out in in the stack of tiles.  But beware, twice a game a gong will sound.  That means that someone has tripped a trap and now you have forty seconds to get back to the starting tile before the doors slam shut.  If you don't make it to the starting tile, you lose a die permanently.

Finding the way out is only half the battle.  The door is locked by these magical gems.  Luckily there are rooms inside the temple that allow you to eliminate gems from the door along the way.

Cooperative game play, so you can use your friend's dice to help complete objectives or to unlock cursed dice.  Easy mechanics to learn, it took me longer to write this review of the game.  The only time it's every man for himself is when you are exiting the temple, because you have to rely on your own dice to get you through.  I got out with less than ten seconds to spare.

I can't wait for this to hit the shelves!

Hello dorks. It's been a while since I last posted a review. Sorry about that. You all know how time simply flies. Plus I have somewhat of an excuse; I've been very busy with school. Why didn't I write any reviews over the winter break, you ask? Well you'll have to figure that out for yourself.

I have one book I want to review tonight. I'm going to review a book that actually came out last week. It was so good that it needed two weeks for me to fully appreciate it. Will Eisner's The Spirit #10, written by David Hine. This month's issue features a very cool cover pose of The Spirit dodging some bullets. The title of the story, Crime and Punishment actually pays homage to the famous Russian novel by Fyodor Dostoevsky. The two plots are very similar. Many of you literary types out there will be familiar with the basic plot structure of Crime and Punishment(1866). The ex-student, Raskolnikov, plans the murder of a corrupt pawn-broker. In this comic rendition, the criminal Roscoe Kalashnikov(great name) takes center stage instead of the title's namesake. This one-issue story leaves the typical genre of hardboiled fiction and the whodunit to focus on the psychological aspect of the criminal's mind. Within the book, we follow Kalashnikov as he comes to terms over his guilt of the pawnbroker's murder. Along the way we get a fascinating glimpse into his inner fears, including the typical Freudian issues of parental abuse mixed with an intense fear of bugs. Really, just like the novel it was based off of, the plot of this story isn't so much the murder and the investigation by the detective, but the plot of Kalashnikov's mind as he journeys through its dark interiors. The ending leaves the reader satisfied if not a little creeped out by the sense of folly fate leads us into.

I really dig what is going on with this new volume of The Spirit. The artwork by John Kantz and Gabriel Bautista really emphasizes the grittiness of the city along with its superb use of dull colors. Also, the writing by David Hine is just excellent. I also like the ambiguity of what era these stories are exactly set in. True to its origins, the book features many aspects of a pulp-era 1930s and 40s gangster-ridden American city. But along with that we get traces of the modern and contemporary, specifically in some of the younger characters who act as The Spirit's sidekicks and close friends.

This book really isn't getting the attention I feel it deserves. To me it has become one of those top deckers, the books I immediately place at the top of my stack of comics to read. The First Wave line of books published by DC Comics have really drawn me into the pulp era of literature. Another series I like includes Doc Savage, though I feel it has a lot of catching up to do to match The Spirit for my affection. The revival of the pulps is a great thing, and like film noir, which has had its revival, I believe that this is a time for the neo-pulp to resurrect itself.

This has been Matt Reviews. Thank you and goodnight.     

Good evening, dorks. After a rough night at work, I like to lie back and read the comic books I bought for that week. Lets get to it, shall we?

First up, Will Eisner's The Spirit #5, written by David Hine. This issue is part 2 of the new story arc, Frost Bite. In this story, The Spirit must battle the presence of a new drug, nicknamed frost, plaguing the streets of Central City. This story is definatly an anti-drug tale, and seems as if it were written specifically for that purpose. Drug related issues are not foreign to comic books. Back in the 1970s, both Spiderman and Green Arrow dealt with the problems of drug addiction. Specifically, Spiderman saves a doped teenager from attempting to fly from a rather high building in Amazing Spider-Man, issues #96-98, and Green Arrow discovers that his young ward, Speedy, is addicted to a certain drug (heroin, I believe), in Green Lantern/Green Arrow #85-86. The teens who get hooked on this new drug, frost, are depicted as victims, which I appreciated. In this issue, Spirit must get a young girl named Ebony to a doctor before she freezes in the frigid weather. Suitable enough concerning the name of the drug, Central City is suffering the worst blizzard on record, and Spirit has miles of snow to chug through to get to the doctor. Taking advantage of the situation, a hit is put on his The Spirit, and while he is dealing with saving Ebony, he must also contend with every criminal in the metropolis. There is a nice psychedelic splash page, where a very tripped out Ebony sees The Spirit battling the criminals. Overall, I'm really enjoying where this series is going, and I think Will Eisner would be proud to see where his creation is going. A bonus for this series is the second feature. This issue's story was written by David Lapham(need I say more?) The Spirit Black and White is definatly an awesome addition to this series of books.

Now how could we possible top a book like The Spirit? I'm glad you asked, because my next review is of Star Wars Legacy #50, written by John Ostrander and Jan Duursema, and the final issue in the series! Wow. I could leave it at that and feel complete in my review. But lets look closer. When I first heard that this series was going to be cancelled, I gnashed my teeth and swore to the gods. How could something so good end? I dismissed whoever said to me, "but remember, all good things must come to an end." However, letting the news sink in, I soon calmed down and realized that this series was one hell of a epic story, and I was just glad to have read such a book. Plus I had been reading this books since #1 first came out, about 4-5 years ago. I had been reading this book since I was a freshman in high school! Anyway, since the series was closing down, I settled in for a epic, be all, end all, battle for the galaxy between the Jedi and the Sith. As the issues got closer to #50, I began to think, "They better begin to resolve some of these plot lines, or they're never gonna have enough time!" Some clever store clerk, who's also a fellow Star Wars guru, pointed out, and Dan I'm looking at you, that they can't just end the story here. The story was going to continue even if the series didn't. Lo and behold, Dark Horse has announced a six-issue miniseries to proceed and possibly conclude from Legacy, entitled War, slotted to begin this December. That's awesome.

Putting aside that long rambling of mine, the issue is fantastic conclusion to the series. Though Cade Skywalker isn't the most heroic character, we still feel for him as he struggles to understand his destiny(it seems Skywalker and epic destiny go hand in hand). Scorning the label of Jedi, he is still a man who struggles to see good things happen, and sacrifices as much, and I'd say even more than any other Jedi. There are some epic moments in this issue, and all I can really say is you'd have to read them for yourself to get the full experience of the issue. Simply excellent.

Finally, I'd like to briefly mention Harlan Ellison's Phoenix Without Ashes #1. Harlan Ellison, enough said. Also Cullen Bunn's The Sixth Gun #3, from Oni Press reveals some background on the antagonists chasing the heroes of our tale. Excellent new series, dealing with western and demonic themes. 

Next week, I'm looking forward to Action Comics #892, and Green Arrow #3. Farewell for now.