Review - New MGMT One-Shot (@DarkHorseComics)

"They fell in love with each other and with the country, so they never left it...or each other."

The world can be both beautiful and ugly at the same time. Those extremes can lead to viewpoints that are equally as extreme, but many of the inhabitants of the world will take multiple viewpoints at one point or another. New MGMT One-Shot from Dark Horse Comics offers quite a few perspectives on the world. The issue is written and illustrated by Matt Kindt.

All good things must come to an end and New MGMT is no exception. The unforgettable one-shot acts as the conclusion to the Mind MGMT series.

A lot of what makes the Mind MGMT series so appealing is its relatively loose approach. Kindt had a story he wanted to tell and New MGMT One-Shot offers a somewhat elegiac conclusion to that story. Much of it is spent reflecting on the state of the world and how it can be bad one minute before turning into something better. That seems to be the biggest theme Kindt is focusing on in New MGMT One-Shot, as the characters all seem to be at peace with the fact that they can only do so much and even what they can do might not have an impact on the world at large. There's a bittersweet sentiment to the issue--not just because it ends the series, but also because the character seem to recognize that loss is part of life.

The ethereal approach to the artwork by Kindt lends itself well to the narrative. The watercolors are just as airy as the story itself, presenting characters who are loosely formed and lack a tremendous amount of detail. Still, Kindt manages to infuse them with plenty of emotion that allows the reader to fully grasp the intensity of the feelings the characters are subject to. The color palette chosen is pretty basic, but it doesn't detract from the magnitude of the emotion behind the issue. There's a relatively simplistic panel layout that manages to offer some level of complexity to the story, perhaps mirroring that of the world itself.

New MGMT One-Shot is a very satisfying and poignant conclusion to a thought-provoking series. There's a lot of closure in the one-shot for the reader, but it feels as if the characters themselves are getting their own version of closure as well. Kindt's dream-like dialogue allows the reader to flow through along with the characters as they embrace a sense of closure and completion. The seemingly relaxed artistic approach is the perfect complement to the story itself, as Kindt uses it as a means of conveying the somewhat free-spirited nature of the world. New MGMT One-Shot is a great issue and a worthy conclusion to a fascinating series.

New MGMT One-Shot is in stores now.