Courtesy of Oni Press, The Beat can exclusively reveal Matt Kindt‘s MIND MGMT: New & Improved #1 has sold out from distributors ahead of its June 24 release, and will receive a second printing, with new blind bags featuring cover art by Jenna Cha (The Sickness), Jeff Lemire (Black Hammer), Jesse Lonergan (Drome), Fábio Moon (Casanova), David Rubín (Ether), J.H. Williams III (Batwoman), and Kindt himself.
Oni shares the covers were originally intended as exclusives for conventions like San Diego Comic-Con, before making the decision to add them to the second print run. Oni president and publisher Hunter Gorinson states, “We’ve known all along that the return of MIND MGMT would be a big moment for fans, readers, and retailers. But we couldn’t have possibly anticipated that it would be THIS big. MIND MGMT: New & Improved #1 is the first single issue comic in Oni’s 30-year history to exhaust its initial print run this far in advance of its release date.”
He continues, saying, “As a consequence, we’ve spurred our printing and distribution partners to move as lightning fast to make sure there are enough copies to reach readers around the world when Matt Kindt’s best-selling, award-winning comic masterpiece returns with a shocking new chapter – and a very rare, same-as-release-day second printing – on June 24th.”
Spencer Simpson, Vice President of Marketing and Sales, adds, “Psychic spies? Check. 32 pages of non-stop content inside masterfully designed die-cut covers? Check check. A book with re-orders moving so fast that we have to get a second printing on stands alongside the first? Shocking, but true! To say nothing of one of the year’s most truly surprising blind bag programs. Mark your calendar: June 24th will be the day that MIND MGMT: New & Improved #1 melts brains in comic shops around the world. Make sure you’re one of them and DO NOT UNDERORDER this book!”
A continuation of the Dark Horse series that ran from 2012 to 2015, MIND MGMT: New & Improved picks up a decade after the psychic agents of the titular extra-governmental agency went underground, and follows two investigators, who discover someone is killing them “in improbable and arcane ways… Seemingly impossible crimes committed by a faceless killer capable of evading even the most pervasive digital surveillance. What secret are they killing to protect? Who will be next? Has Mind Management returned? Did it ever go away?” The book marks Kindt’s first at Oni since announcing he would relocate his Flux House imprint there last year.
The new covers will be available to order along with the first batch until Monday, May 25. In the meantime, you can check out Kindt’s cover for the second print run below, as well as a six-page preview of the first issue.
