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Mind MGMT: Bootleg
MIND BOOTLEG is not: a prequel, a studio-driven sequel, or a corporate re-imagining of that comic you love.
MIND BOOTLEG weird, mind-blowing, paranoid storytelling. It was also the first ever comic book series from Flux House, Matt Kindt’s all-new imprint which features crime, science fiction, and humor stories, all told in startling and untraditional ways.
Previously in MIND MGMT: a covert government agency of psychic super spies fell into oblivion after one of their top agents went rogue.
what looked like the end was only the beginning as a former leader of MIND MGMT explores the darkest parts of the world and recruits a team of forgotten agents to rebuild the organization, bend reality, and go to war with a competing agency. From New York Times bestselling and Harvey award-winning graphic novelist Matt Kindt and Farel Dalrymple (The Wrenchies) comes the next chapter in the conspiracy-laden and mind-twisting universe of Mind MGMT, with variant covers by Dan Brereton, Jim Rugg, Marguerite Sauvage, Aron Wiesenfeld, and Laura Perez.
Collects Mind Bootleg #1–#4 with all covers and pinups by Dan Brereton in a hardcover format!
MIND BOOTLEG weird, mind-blowing, paranoid storytelling. It was also the first ever comic book series from Flux House, Matt Kindt’s all-new imprint which features crime, science fiction, and humor stories, all told in startling and untraditional ways.
Previously in MIND MGMT: a covert government agency of psychic super spies fell into oblivion after one of their top agents went rogue.
what looked like the end was only the beginning as a former leader of MIND MGMT explores the darkest parts of the world and recruits a team of forgotten agents to rebuild the organization, bend reality, and go to war with a competing agency. From New York Times bestselling and Harvey award-winning graphic novelist Matt Kindt and Farel Dalrymple (The Wrenchies) comes the next chapter in the conspiracy-laden and mind-twisting universe of Mind MGMT, with variant covers by Dan Brereton, Jim Rugg, Marguerite Sauvage, Aron Wiesenfeld, and Laura Perez.
Collects Mind Bootleg #1–#4 with all covers and pinups by Dan Brereton in a hardcover format!
- GenresComics
160 pages, Kindle Edition
Published March 21, 2023
2 people are currently reading
36 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews
May 7, 2023
Trippy journey that has a storyline..maybe
January 13, 2026
Similar rules to the original series. Several layers of dream logic and obfuscation form over a very simple plot: kill the bad guy that threatens the world. Too bad that some of the artists aren’t suited for this type of story. It just feels like simple, clean art just dumbs it down.
January 5, 2023
Loved returning to the ideas of Mind MGMT, and fun to see things in the marginalia again, but I didn't feel like this was much more than a table setting for something else (Maybe I'm wrong, maybe ten years from now this will still be the coda, and feel much more like a meditation on cycles repeating through generations. Maybe it will be a table setting, but the thing that followed will decontextualize it in a great way). Still good- I liked the new characters, and I looked forward to every issue.
May 23, 2023
“You know we need it; the world went to Hell since the original Mind Mgmt folded”--a character in the new mini-series
When Saga volume ten by Brian Vaughn and Fiona Staples began, some people bailed, feeling a different vibe, less positive and fun as things in the world turned less positive and fun. I thought it was like anything--say, when Dylan went electric--that you have to give artists the chance to lead you into new territory. And while I missed Marko, I got on board fairly quickly.
I expect a similar general response to the transition to the new run of Mind Mgmt and early reviews are muted at best. What’s going on? It’s a new four issue miniseries, MIND MGMT: Bootleg, released through October 2022, each issue drawn by a different artist, including Farel Dalrymple, Matt Lesniewski, David Rubin and Jill Thompson. Yeah, it’s different, now not drawn by Matt Kindt (whose artwork I have always liked but is consistently seen as the weakness of Mind Mgmt and likely most of the comics he does) though it retains Kindt’s fun and sort of weird storytelling approach and his typical marginalia and goofy fake ads run that remind you of what you liked in the sixties about buying single issues (Kindt has released a read-along vinyl record connected to the series, and a board game, so expect more of that. Collector’s items! Swag!
But hold up, let’s go back to the origin of the series, in 2012. MIND MGMT is a government agency of spies, formed during or after World War I, who have psychic abilities. The story is about Meru, a true crime writer who searches for the truth behind a mysterious airline flight and discovers a secret government agency of super spies, espionage, and psychic abilities. Henry Lyme, (close to Harry Lime, from the Graham Green novel and Orson Welles film The Third Man) the former top agent, has gone rogue and is working to dismantle the organization. The run was 36 issues, ending in 2015.
So, previously in Mind Mgmt: a covert government agency of psychic super spies falls into oblivion after one of their top agents went rogue. Almost seven years later, a new Mind Mgmt is in the works. In the first issue we find a kid surviving the major destruction of a city. It’s post-apocalyptic, which is to say current California. So I like that, it’s a gutsy move, as with Vaughn and Staples; we are in deep trouble politically, socially, and we have to figure out how to navigate these murky, shark-invested waters.
The point here in this mini-series (volume released in March 2023) is to transition to the new series, and what takes place is recruiting a number of young people with various psychic abilities to populate the new Mind Mgmt espionage org. The ideas are consistent with Kindt’s earlier work, though the story here seems more straightforward so far. The art is very different, with four different artists. Maybe I'l come around to liking it, but I view it cooly so far. I hate the cover, seems Farel Darymple-goofy. This is just a set up for the stories to come, but I’m basically in.
When Saga volume ten by Brian Vaughn and Fiona Staples began, some people bailed, feeling a different vibe, less positive and fun as things in the world turned less positive and fun. I thought it was like anything--say, when Dylan went electric--that you have to give artists the chance to lead you into new territory. And while I missed Marko, I got on board fairly quickly.
I expect a similar general response to the transition to the new run of Mind Mgmt and early reviews are muted at best. What’s going on? It’s a new four issue miniseries, MIND MGMT: Bootleg, released through October 2022, each issue drawn by a different artist, including Farel Dalrymple, Matt Lesniewski, David Rubin and Jill Thompson. Yeah, it’s different, now not drawn by Matt Kindt (whose artwork I have always liked but is consistently seen as the weakness of Mind Mgmt and likely most of the comics he does) though it retains Kindt’s fun and sort of weird storytelling approach and his typical marginalia and goofy fake ads run that remind you of what you liked in the sixties about buying single issues (Kindt has released a read-along vinyl record connected to the series, and a board game, so expect more of that. Collector’s items! Swag!
But hold up, let’s go back to the origin of the series, in 2012. MIND MGMT is a government agency of spies, formed during or after World War I, who have psychic abilities. The story is about Meru, a true crime writer who searches for the truth behind a mysterious airline flight and discovers a secret government agency of super spies, espionage, and psychic abilities. Henry Lyme, (close to Harry Lime, from the Graham Green novel and Orson Welles film The Third Man) the former top agent, has gone rogue and is working to dismantle the organization. The run was 36 issues, ending in 2015.
So, previously in Mind Mgmt: a covert government agency of psychic super spies falls into oblivion after one of their top agents went rogue. Almost seven years later, a new Mind Mgmt is in the works. In the first issue we find a kid surviving the major destruction of a city. It’s post-apocalyptic, which is to say current California. So I like that, it’s a gutsy move, as with Vaughn and Staples; we are in deep trouble politically, socially, and we have to figure out how to navigate these murky, shark-invested waters.
The point here in this mini-series (volume released in March 2023) is to transition to the new series, and what takes place is recruiting a number of young people with various psychic abilities to populate the new Mind Mgmt espionage org. The ideas are consistent with Kindt’s earlier work, though the story here seems more straightforward so far. The art is very different, with four different artists. Maybe I'l come around to liking it, but I view it cooly so far. I hate the cover, seems Farel Darymple-goofy. This is just a set up for the stories to come, but I’m basically in.
August 2, 2025
It’s fun to return to the world of Mind MGMT. The original run (written a decade ago) was about an organization of psychics with special abilities and a reactionary group of psychics.
Now we return to this world but it’s totally different. While some of the same characters are here, we also have a new generation of young psychics. They’re squaring off against Mr. Hide, a person or entity that is convincing people to embrace mindlessness.
Furthermore, Kindt doesn’t do the artwork . . . and that’s not necessarily a bad thing. Kindt’s artwork is scratch, basic and weird in a good way. The art in this one is more clean and in vibrant colors.
The whole vibe of this series just seems differ from the original. It seems less serious and more straightforward.
This seems like a setup for something to come later, but by itself it’s pretty, “meh.”
Now we return to this world but it’s totally different. While some of the same characters are here, we also have a new generation of young psychics. They’re squaring off against Mr. Hide, a person or entity that is convincing people to embrace mindlessness.
Furthermore, Kindt doesn’t do the artwork . . . and that’s not necessarily a bad thing. Kindt’s artwork is scratch, basic and weird in a good way. The art in this one is more clean and in vibrant colors.
The whole vibe of this series just seems differ from the original. It seems less serious and more straightforward.
This seems like a setup for something to come later, but by itself it’s pretty, “meh.”
October 30, 2023
Matt Kindt reboots Mind MGMT without really coming up with a fresh idea. All the old characters are back, plus some new ones. They're rebuilding Mind MGMT because the world is filled with propaganda and someone's gotta stop it! (Again!)
There's little here to engage the reader for another long-run narrative. There's plenty of mystery and madness, typical of Mind MGMT. The series continues to feel like the book equivalent to Lost. Kindt teams up with a grab-bag of non-standard artists here - it's a weird kaleidoscope, mostly in a bad way.
There's little here to engage the reader for another long-run narrative. There's plenty of mystery and madness, typical of Mind MGMT. The series continues to feel like the book equivalent to Lost. Kindt teams up with a grab-bag of non-standard artists here - it's a weird kaleidoscope, mostly in a bad way.
August 27, 2024
It's a 3 but the art is amazing which is why it's a 4. The story is whatever - kinda like the Invisibles in conception. Didn't love the maniacal male author trope played off for laughs in the paratexts; don't love tortured, abusive male genius. Also tired of the trope that guy seems good and looks attractive/picture perfect and then revealed to be bad and he's ugly and diseased. Anyway the art is really good.
December 10, 2025
I LOVED the original Mind MGMT books, which are sort of about if there was a government agency that was involved with mind control. This wasn't *as* good as the originals although it was still a fun return to that world. The art was done by multiple different artists, and I actually liked the art compared to the Matt Kindt's originals (I felt like his rough art was the only downside of the original series). Definitely worth the read for Mind MGMT fans.
June 27, 2023
It's a decent coda which retreads the themes and updates for the smartphone revolution but lacks the depth a long run would have allowed, however that depth already exists in the original run. Feels like a cash grab, somewhat the antithesis of the ideology. It's not Twin Peaks: The Return, however much it tries to be, it's too slight and self important. Worth a read but not a worthy read.
October 24, 2023
I was fine with how MIND MGMT ended but this sequel series is great in its own right, catching the reader up quickly and immersing us in the dizzying puzzle reading of a psychic spy warzone, now with a few new artists but the same spooky writing we love from Matt Kindt.
July 10, 2022
Is this a sequel or a prequel?
April 21, 2023
Matt Kindts work is especially prescient in this volume
November 24, 2025
There were some really fun ideas with the non-comic material, but the actual comic and story were slight.
Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews