Written by: Matt Kindt
Colors by: Sharlene Kindt
Publisher: Dark Horse Comics
After Matt Kindt’s Mind MGMT ended recently, I felt that there was a void in my monthly pull-list where an intricate, layered, time-jumping mystery used to live. The good news is that Kindt’s brand of intrigue and strong investigative heroines is on full display in Dept. H. The bad news is that much of what I loved about Mind MGMT is absent here: Kindt made a conscious decision to make this story take place within a small, self-contained underwater station.
This is all well and good, and this issue does a great job of utilizing flashbacks, but for a first issue the set-up is a bit too focused for my taste. Young woman is told her father has died in an accident deep under the ocean, in a station of his own design. Young woman is told not to go down there to investigate, but she goes anyways. It turns out the accident is probably a murder and our protagonist’s brother, who also lives in the underwater station, may have had something to do with the murder. Maybe I’m just skeptical that this set-up can be an an ongoing instead of a miniseries, but this initial issue did nothing to change that opinion. I want to know who killed the ‘smartest man in the world,’ but so far all I really know is that Mia is devastated about her father’s death and someone in the base did it. There’s a total of seven suspects within the station, so again, it’s not like we’re talking about a 30 person crew on an international space station or something.
As I stated before, Kindt’s protagonist in Mia is strong-willed, and she seems to be a tough investigator, though we haven’t seen her “in action” quite yet. I fully trust that Mia’s character traits and history with the other scientist/station dwellers will be a fascinating part of the story and its likely flashbacks, I think as an issue 1 I just wanted more reasons to come back next month.
The suit and station designs are incredible
Those reasons for coming back, however, are omnipresent on every page–provided you’re a fan of Kindt’s great drawings and his wife’s brilliant colors. The designs of the station and the suits are second-to-none, and it makes me really excited for a straight up sci-fi series from Kindt in the future, perhaps in the vein of Descender or Letter 44. Sharlene’s vibrant colors provide a stark contrast to the setting and attitude of Mia as she descends into the black, and I am excited to see how this couple continues to feed off of one another to create a beautifully murky world.
Dept. H is a good comic that I will continue to read for now–but I want a larger mystery to do so. The world will, I’m sure, continue to open up through flashbacks and present-day dialogue, but as a “hook” to reel in readers for the long haul, I felt this intro issue stumbled a bit. Give this series a shot if you’re a fan of Kindt’s past work and his art, but don’t be disappointed if this isn’t another Mind MGMT styled opus–at least not right away.
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