| Title | : | The Manhattan Projects, Vol. 1: Science. Bad. |
| Author | : | |
| Rating | : | |
| ISBN | : | 1607066084 |
| ISBN-10 | : | 9781607066088 |
| Language | : | English |
| Format Type | : | Paperback |
| Number of Pages | : | 144 |
| Publication | : | First published August 22, 2012 |
| Awards | : | Will Eisner Comic Industry Awards Best Continuing Series (2013) |
A collection of the coolest new series of the year into one super science package.
Collecting: The Manhattan Projects 1-5
The Manhattan Projects, Vol. 1: Science. Bad. Reviews
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Picked this up on a whim, just because I've been impressed with Hickman's work in the past....
And I wasn't disappointed. Weird story, funny bits, interesting premise.
I liked it well enough that I bought the rest of the series based on the strength of this single book. That says something...
I'll let you know how I feel about the overall experience when I'm a few more books in....
Edit - November 25th - I don't know how highly I can recommend this series, given the progression of the story after issue #20. And the odd ending (?) of the series. I'll go into details in the reviews of later volumes. Specifically Volumes 5&6. -
I read the comic book issues #1 to 15, that includes this volume of Hickman's interesting alternate parallel history / sc-fi / conspiracy / horror / black comedy. With Einstein, Yuri Gagarin, Laika the dog and Franklin D Roosevelt all part of the cast, an interesting read. For me some of the sci-fi stuff is a bit too much, but otherwise really enjoyable especially some of the off the wall original characters. 8 out of 12 for this volume.
2016 read; 2014 read -
Historically, reading a Jonathan Hickman-penned funnybook has elicited one of two reactions from me:
1) A yawn of such impressive size and duration that it very nearly necessitates the installation of and/or evolution toward a flip-top head; or
2) An expression akin to Joey Tribbiani’s patented “smell the fart” acting style
I’m not entirely sure, then, what prompted me to pick up the first volume of Manhattan Projects. I’d like to blame alcohol, but there’s been a paucity of that mind-altering substance in my life of late (though I could certainly use a beverage at the moment), and I’d like to blame climate change, but it would be insensitive to do that under the circumstances (to toe the Scott Pruitt line).
Nonetheless, the decision was made, and I’m delighted to report that it was a wise one. Perhaps Hickman’s creator-owned work leverages his scientifically inclined mind in a way that his Marvel work doesn’t (enough with the physics, man; just let Thor hit something with a hammer), or perhaps he just needed a different (and weirder) canvas to work with.
Whatever the reason, I got a frisson of the same joy I felt when I discovered Preacher way back when, a sense of epic wonder amidst perplexity and perversion. I’m not saying MP is the second coming of Preacher, mind you (pun intended)—just that the first volume evoked similar feelings (and, with 100% less doomcock).
Unquestionably worth a read if you’re looking for something a little different that mixes alternate history, sci-fi, and aliens. I’m looking forward to volume two… -
If you’re one of the sheep that just believe the ‘official’ history, then you think that the Manhattan Project was America’s top secret operation to build the first atomic bomb during World War 2. However, if you read these comics then you’ll know the real story.
Actually the a-bomb was just the beginning. The Manhattan Projects were led by General Leslie Groves who gathered the US’s top scientist to come up with advanced weapons and tools to counter what the enemy was doing. Both sides were constantly trying to take out the other’s capabilities so any given day might find the Japanese landing a Red Tori teleportation gate powered by Zen Death Buddhists in the MP’s headquarters and then sending a bunch of Honda Kamikaze Killing Machine robots through to do as much damage as possible.
In the face of threats like this, fanatical General Groves feels justified in extreme methods, and he’s not choosy who he’ll have work for him like Dr. Robert Oppenheimer. What Groves doesn’t know is that Oppenheimer was actually just killed and eaten by his psychotic twin brother who has stolen his identity. Or that Albert Einstein has more than a few secrets surrounding a mysterious monolith he’s built. Or that Werner von Braun and his robot arm are so obsessed with getting humanity to the stars that he’ll work with and/or betray Nazis or Americans with a equal enthusiasm.
So if you want to finally learn the truth about these men and many others that your history teachers never told you, check out The Manhattan Projects. -
”The universe asked a question. I simply answered it.
Who could have predicted the HELL that followed?”
Albert Einstein
I know we think this is the real Einstein, but is he?
Albrecht Einstein, a bit more unstable than the facsimile above. He drinks. He is more paranoid.
”I apologize if I’m exceedingly formal, but I find it a necessary coping mechanism. You see, I suffer from an embarrassingly mundane affliction that, when unaddressed, results in a shameful lack of manners.
I am cursed with the burden of always being right.”
Richard Feynman
Richard Feynman in his regular office. He had another office. ”At Caltech, [Feynman] used a nude/topless bar as an office away from his usual office, making sketches or writing physics equations on paper placemats. When the county officials tried to close the place, all visitors except Feynman refused to testify in favor of the bar, fearing that their families or patrons would learn about their visits. Only Feynman accepted, and in court, he affirmed that the bar was a public need, stating that craftsmen, technicians, engineers, common workers “and a physics professor” frequented the establishment. While the bar lost the court case, it was allowed to remain open as a similar case was pending appeal.”
The more perfect Feynman but pre-nude/topeless bar patron.
”The bomb made us reckless. It made us arrogant. It made us stop believing in the possibility that anything could be done.
Instead we knew it.”
The Recorded Feynman
"Now I am become Death, the destroyer of worlds." I know we have been lead to believe this is Julius Robert Oppenheimer, but it is not.”
Will the real Oppenheimer step forward! Joseph Oppenheimer is Robert’s twin brother, his evil twin brother. Dementia on a whole new scale.
Like you I always believed this was the man that was elected President four times and wartime leader during WW2.
Actually it was this slightly modified AI version.
Oh and there are ALIENS too. Open the gateway!
So basically what I’m revealing to the GR universe today is that everything you know about history is wrong and the only way you are going to get it right is to read this graphic novel. Just know that once you know it, you can’t unknow it. -
This book combines a whole boat load of the things that fascinate me most: legendary scientists, America's relationship with Nazi's post WWII, and some seriously amazing art- so this was a great recommendation (thanks Kemper). The first half of this was five stars all the way for me, but by the time aliens entered the scene, I was pretty confused.
As if the reality of of The Manhattan Project wasn't already devious enough, Hickman introduces us to the lesser-known, more nefarious experiments going on, as well as Robert Oppenheimer's twin, Joseph. And, not to give too much away, but if ever there were a man to contain multitudes, it would be Dr. Oppenheimer.
The art work is incredible, at times resembling something from Where's Waldo?, and at others the level of detail seems more akin to a diagram from a technical manual.
Oh, and also, this image cracked me up as it occurred to me that it looked like some twisted nightmare of being asked on a date by Hitler.
Bonus Archer Reference:
Cyril Figgis: Kreiger’s father was a nazi scientist!
Malory Archer: And JFK’s father was a bootlegger.
Cyril: That’s like comparing apples to… nazi oranges!
Malory: Oranges, exactly! Do you like powdered orange breakfast drink?
Cyril: No. Not Really.
Malory: How about Microwave ovens, Neil Armstrong, hook and loop fasteners?
Cyril: Ok, you lost me…
Malory: None of those things would have been possible without the nazi scientists we brought back after World War Two.
Cyril: The nazis invented Neil Armstrong?
Malory: Rockets! Which put him on the moon. After the war ended, we were snatching up kraut scientists like hot cakes. You don’t believe me? walk into NASA sometime and yell “Heil Hitler” WOOP they all jump straight up! -
Twisted, bizarre, with insane clarity. This is a brilliant graphic novel that promises to grow into a fantastic series. There's more to The Manhattan Projects than The Manhattan Project. Atomic bombs? Child's play. There's much more afoot and much more at stake in this secret history of science. And the government's aims are not the only layered ambitions. There's also the question of Oppenheimer, Einstein, Feynman, Fermi, Daghlian, and Von Braun and their individual aims, let alone their real identities. This is complex storytelling, spaghetti code in graphic novel format. Each character is fascinating in and of himself. Throw them together in the context of super-secret projects that could change, and possibly destroy, the world, or possibly many worlds, and you've got a knockout combination. The artwork is evocative and well-presented, the dialogue shows just enough restraint to let the underlying genius of the storytelling leak through, and the plot, while incomplete in this volume, has the most potential for being something monumental that I've seen in a graphic novel in some time. Even the colors ring of
Moebius in all the right ways. This is "the whole package," utterly coherent. I'm hoping against hope that Hickman can sustain the excitement and intrigue in upcoming volumes and look forward to watching his next trick. -
I am just now reading this volume, after having earlier abandoned it, finding it just a little too crazy for me. This time, encouraged by Eisnein, I tried to slow down and savor it a bit, and I like it a little better, so far, and will read the next volume. It's imaginative, it draws on some research of The Manhattan Project and of scientific geniuses that informed what was going on during WW II. It also has aliens, dual-personalities and opposite personality (think: good/evil) twins and just might be one of the angriest comics I have read in a long time. Anger at what, you ask? Did you ever hear of Hiroshima and Nagasaki and all of the military justifications for it? The arrogance of science and technology in the destruction of the planet (and maybe the universe) is what Hickman has on his radar. So give him a little space to get crazy, I guess I'll say.
This alternative reality-version of The Manhattan Project posits ProjectS, which is to say Big Baby was just the tip of the iceberg, with evil plans emerging out of an underground science-laboratory-of geniuses-without-consciences and a shadow government. None of this should surprise any of us now, with secret surveillance and secret underground everything going on. But Hickman seems to posit this happening even back then. Decisions being made by "leaders" who cared more about winning and "scientific results" than the survival of the planet. One other dimension Hickman has in mind that Science in fact explored (or knew about, depending on your view of the X-Files, or Area 51) is the existence of extra-terrestials. Hickman's fiction has it happening, among other things.
The good/evil duality/twin theme is an interesting one for Hickman, seeing the darker side of all these actual historical figures--Einstein, Oppenheimer, General Groves, Fermi, Feynman, Von Braun, and so on--as Hickman himself was a twin. (His bro won an Olympic Gold Medal as he worked for Marvel). But Hickman suggests basically ALL of the geniuses, even our beloved Einstein, all of them turn to The Dark Side, finally, in their arrogance. I like all the quotes from Einstein and Feynman and others on science and their own genius that opens all the chapters.
So that so far makes it sound so far like a 5 star review, doesn't it? And it could be higher, over time. But some of it is still just a little too crazy for me. Just one example will suffice. Though I've already mentioned the alien story, which points to the colonization of the universe. Wacky? Well, you tell me. Well, Hickman's fiction suggests that Oppenheimer's identical twin is a serial killer who actually eats his brother and becomes Evil Incarnate. He's Just Bad, Dad! Well, this is a fanciful and creative idea, I guess, but also is over the top. Clearly. No? Who are you if you think this is a reasonable thing to put in a story about the envelopment of the atomic bomb?!
Well, let's think a minute about what Hickman maybe has in mind: Maybe the Evil Oppenheimer character points to Hickman's rage, in a way, to show what is for him this self-centered scientist as soullessly pursuing the destruction of scientific accomplishment at the expense of the planet, to make him a Dahmerian cannibal. Over the top, I say, but Hickman says, oh, you think Dahmer is evil? You think Oppenheimer and Feyman WEREN'T crazy?! He may just have a point, though all serious science readers are going to castigate Hickman for his anti-science science fiction horror story.
Let me wait and see if I buy the whole crazy world he is building over time. Maybe I will, as Hickman is smart and ambitious and inventive, I will give him al that, and so I'll read another volume, at least. Maybe's it a 3.5 for me, finally. And could be better, over time, who knows? I am, as usual, not going all in on this series yet. -
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The Manhattan Project, the scheme to construct a working atomic bomb, was the tip of the iceberg with Oppenheimer and co. working on an artificial intelligence computer with the brain of Franklin D Roosevelt, as well as some kind of stargate. But none of the major players in these projects are who you think they are. Oppenheimer, Einstein, Feynman all have secrets and demons. There are also parallel dimensions and aliens thrown in as well.
Jonathan Hickman presents an alternate take on a world-changing team of scientists and their most famous creation, jazzing things up with futuristic tech and destructive personalities all with different motivations and goals. As with a lot of Hickman's stuff, there are strands and threads that aren't fully answered like the parallel universes thing and the duality of characters was puzzling but this is a first book, I'm sure he'll get around to addressing this in later books.
Nevertheless this is an engrossing and fascinating read with the mix of reality and fiction providing the reader with lots to think about and enjoy. Hickman's twisted take on Oppenheimer being a highlight as well as giving Einstein a kind of Tony Stark flavour was cool. Imaginative, creative, fizzing with ideas and storylines, Hickman and Pitarra have crafted another fine book to hang their hats on; where will it end? Follow the trail through the stargate... -
Whacky, zainy and excellent! A joy to read.
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The Manhattan Projects is so full of bizarre details that I almost don't know where to start. It's an alternate version of the real Manhattan Project, but here the atomic bomb is more of a smokescreen, to detract attention from the real, and really strange, work of the project. But that's just the basic setup. The real interest is in the many strange things we find here. Like Robert Oppenheimer's twin brother murdering him, eating him, then assuming his identity. Like Einstein's monolith. Like von Braun's robotic arm.
I feel like I should have read up on the real Manhattan Project before I started reading this series. I bet I would have found even more strange divergences from our reality, and probably enjoyed the book even more. As it is, a passing knowledge of the project gave me plenty to work with, and the concepts are so interesting and executed so well that I think even somebody with very little or no background knowledge would be able to get into it.
I could describe Manhattan Projects as what would have happened if
The Invisibles had been written by Warren Ellis after binging on the History Channel, but that's kind of a shallow way to describe the basic feel of the thing. But if that description sounds interesting to you, then this is a series to check out. -
And here I thought I was weird.
Alternative history is my jam, and I like to think that I have a high weird tolerance, but oh my gosh, color me confused and a little crazy feeling right now.
Think twists upon twists upon twists, morally questionable characters (that, I love), a messy plot I had a hard time following, mad scientists EVERYWHERE, the absence of ANY woman in there (come on now, there are women scientists in History - include them, for fuck sake), aliens, blend all this together, and you have a perplexed and slightly frowning reader.
Intrigued, though. How couldn't I be, really.
-
There's a certain excitement in reading a book in which anything can happen, no matter how incredulous. But this unpredictability comes at a cost; when the crazy things just keep happening with no apparent reason it gets tiring.
I love the premise. I read this book as if it were written by a maniac conspiracy theorists. The most brilliant minds in the world would break away from the control of the government and do things on their own terms, and create the zany things that they want to create.
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Enjoyed it but not nearly as much as I'd hoped. The premise had me expecting something giddy and insane along the lines of Atomic Robo, or Umbrella Academy, or at least SHIELD. (I'm still holding out hope for Five Fists of Science which I may finally dig up next, to get the fix I missed here.)
Instead this was more of a character study, once we stripped all the Stargate Universe layer away. Looking deep into the soul of some twisted portraits of the great minds of 20th century science, and imagining what they'd look like up close through a cracked mirror. I don't know whether Hickman is starting to dislike his audience, or if he's angry or depressed and this is the unfortunate result. In a few minor panels this feels fun, but in most it's more like I'm reading a Thomas Harris novel by way of Isaac Asimov.
I feel like I'm supposed to have learned something from this - not about science or history but about humanity and the drive to transcend it. Is this a slightly political statement on Hickman's part? Has Hickman gone humourless/political like other wunderkind artistic talents I've known?
There's very little wonder I feel here, though there is plenty of grandiosity - but what's odd about a book about "the projects behind the Manhattan Project" is how much of the page count still ends up retreading the very publicly-known scientific and war achievements. It gets weird and sci-fi too - Hickman hasn't lost his mind or talent for world-building, but something feels off for me. Maybe it's the art? The art definitely disappointed me - doesn't suit one of (a) Hickman's style or (b) the tone of the writing.
Who knows? As with other Hickman books (like part of his run on Fantastic Four, for example), this could just be the groundwork that blows up huge once he gets his momentum. I'm going to come back to this, but if I had to gauge my enjoyment so far it's definitely a B- or C+. -
Whoa.
This gives me the same WTF feeling after reading that Hickman usually does, especially similar to how I felt after Vol. 1 of East of West.
I'm not entirely sure how to rate this.
I'm going with 3+ stars bumped up,for curiousity about what comes next.
It is definitely creative, inspired, wacky, batshit, nuts, paranoid, zany, serious, foolish, colourful, mindfucky, and then some.
Oh, and it's based on real people who were part of the actual Manhattan Project in the real world.
So here the one we know about, Atomic Bomb, is just one facet of the MP, and that's the one that justifies the whole rest of,it's existence. Military need funds more out there theoretical and other types of scientific exploration and development. Seems spot on for real actually.
Then we see the differences; Oppenheimer is actually his twin brother, who ate the real Robert, and has multiple personality disorder and gains wisdom by eating others souls.
Einstein is actually a parallel dimension evil Einstein, but no one has figured it out yet.
Feynman is a narcissist and bit of a space cadet.
Von Braunn is a psychotic übermensch who cons the U.S. Into taking him on.
One of them is actually Mr. radiation, who is dead but still alive as radioactive energy.
Oh, and Truman is a dummy Masonic cult leader.
FDR has been resurrected and turned into the first AI robot/corpse who has all knowledge of the world.
Oh, and Aliens have visited for years, the U.S. UK, Chinese, Russians all team up to keep it secret. Then someone from the gang declares genocide against the alien races of the Milky Way...
Am I high right now? Not as high as I wish I were...or this would be AWESOME. This is the kind of shit,that makes awesome b-movies on late night cable.
This is Grant Morrison territory, which explains why the art looks like Frank Quitely... -
Love, love, love the art and colouring in this. The red/blue flashbacks were beautiful, and the line art was wonderfully grotesque
I'm a fan of alternate history sci-fi, so I was predisposed to like this anyway, but it was just such an wacky and evil take on reality that I couldn't help falling in love. -
Bullet Review:
Wuuuuuut...
I'm no WWII fan, but when my coworker gave this to me, I couldn't say no. And I have to admit, for being alternate WWII, it wasn't half-bad. At the very least, got a WHOLE lot more respect for Jonathan Hickman, who's
Avengers, Vol. 1: Avengers World made me screw up my face in consternation and confusion.
The Manhattan Project(s). With split personality Oppenheimer, drunk Einstein, narcissitic Feynman, and more. Absolutely insane, but really interesting as well.
Not sure if I'll continue with the series; I have a ton of Walking Dead my coworker has lent me that I still need to wade through. -
"I try, but I have learned that there are no simple truths.
How do you define...'doing good'. Or even 'being good'. There are no perfect answers.
There are no perfect solutions to impossible situations.
There is simply the daily race to the finish line called survival, and the motivation necessary to make it there."
Certainly intriguing enough to continue onward with the story. Alternate history, the good versus the bad within one's self, science and its potential for sheer terror or bliss, Feynman, Oppenheimer and Einstein... Can't go wrong with that.
"Imagination is more important than knowledge. For knowledge is limited, whereas imagination embraces the entire world, stimulating progress, giving birth to evolution." -
Hickman combines history and brilliant fantasy in this intelligent, funny, exciting story. Complemented with Pitarra's crazy artwork and an inventive use of colours this results in comic perfection.
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Prvni volume The Manhattan Projects ctu uz asi potreti a porad nevim, co si o tyhle serii myslet.
Manhattan Project byl americkej projekt, kterej mel ve 40. letech za ukol sestrojit prvni jaderny zbrane pod vedenim fyzika Roberta Oppenheimera. V Hickmanove pojeti byla vyroba nuklearnich zbranich jen zasterka pro spoustu vyrazne zajimavejsich projektu zahrnujici portaly, kontakt s mimozemskou civilizaci, AI s tvari mrtvyho Roosevelta a podobny srandy.
Rozhodne necekejte zadnou vaznost a historickou akuratnost. Hickman vsechno zene do totalniho extremu, ze kteryho by mel nejeden konspirator jeste dneska mokry prosteradlo a vsechny postavy jsou vlastne karikatury svejch realnejch predloh. K cely tyhle absurdite pak paradne sedi styl Nicka Pitarry a tradicne skvelej coloring Jordie Belaire.
Nedokazu presne rict, co me na tyhle serii bavi nebo spis co me nuti ji cist dal, ale kdyz nepocitam East of West, tak u Hickmana je uspech, kdyz jeho veci nezahodim po par strankach. -
Holy shit. It is so rare when I come upon a novel let alone graphic novel of this caliber. Where to even start?
This historical science-fiction story takes place at the end of World War II. The Allies have beaten Nazi Germany, the U.S. has dropped the bombs on Japan, but both Japan and Russia loom as definite threats. The basic premise is that the Manhattan Project (notice singular) is a guise for top secret scientific/political/military research. Enter a boatload of fucking science. There is so much science in this book it's crazy. Most characters are based upon real life scientists and military figures but twisted in the hilarious nightmarish circus lens of Jonathan Hickman. Albert Einstein, Richard Feynman, Wernher von Braun are just a few that appear, also including a stunningly badass version of Harry Daghlian (as Dr. Daghlian), a real life American physicist who was the first person to die from irradiation during a critical mass experiment. Interestingly the story seems to wax and wane between soft and hard science-fiction, sometimes providing hard details and images of how something works, and other times merely implying or leaving it to the imagination. Physics is a hard subject to dabble in literarily and Hickman does it exceptionally well.
This story is character driven, almost forcing the plot underneath their trampling feet, and they are by far some of the most enthralling, wild, insane characters I have ever read, which is amazing considering they are based upon real people who are embedded in the cultural mythos. Psycho, genius, soldier, alien creature, irradiated, artificial intelligence are just some of the characters you will see here. Some characters are so brilliantly written they deserve their own spinoff.
Let's talk about the science. Wormholes, robotic arms, A.I., psychic knowledge. I just read Black Science and their Pillar is almost exactly like The Gateway in this work. They talk about gaining interstellar technology and knowledge and traveling literally anywhere, which just lights up my nerd alarms and imagination like crazy. Of course chaos and conflict arise from this opportunity/responsibility and it makes for a very fascinating element within the story, especially when aliens visit trying to acquire said technology and shit just goes awry.
Thanks to Nick Pitarra and Jordie Bellaire for providing stellar art (pun intended) for anchoring down this downright awesome novel. It's colorful, complex, and unusually complements what's going on in the scene sometimes with two tones. And they by far illustrate how crazy and bizarre this world can be. -
Hickman's writing can be brilliant (Secret Warriors) or abysmal (Secret Wars). In this case, he is somewhere in the middle. It was kinda hard for me to get over such an unapologetically satirical portrayal of the great minds who actually worked on The Manhattan Project, but after a while it was even kinda funny, especially with Feynman. What I couldn't get over is the whole aliens storyline, which went right over my head — maybe I wasn't supposed to understand it at all, much like with Hickman's many other books. But when they just appeared out of nowhere in one issue, it was really confusing.
Basically, what I'm trying to say is this book is completely bonkers. Hickman very noticeably tries to channel his craziest Grant Morrison impression here, with questionable success. I think he tries too hard. Or maybe I don't try hard enough. Still, it was a moderately enjoyable read, and I will read the second book — mainly because I have it already — but I am not entirely sold on this. -
A bizarre and weird wacky retelling of the Manhattan Projects. Its got a weird FBI type men in black feel mixed with scifi aliens. Ok tbh its weird. I havent read anything by Hickman that I've been overly obsessed with as of yet. I guess his writing hasnt worked with me yet. I also feel like its heavily entrenched in usa historical events ( the ones ive been exposed to so far) which as a child werent big at school down here. I need to check out other things hes written.
-
It's weird, but when Hickman is trying to jam science where it doesn't belong, it goes haywire. When Hickman FOCUSES on science, it seems to go much better. Perhaps his love of sci-fi makes him shoehorn it into places it doesn't belong?
Nonetheless, that is other books. Science definitely belongs here and it's awesome. A bit of history as a plaything and historical figures becoming protagonists. It works really well and the book is super fun. -
A delightful alternate history romp, Manhattan Projects imagines America's WWII crash research program as a mad science endeavor. Right off the bat we learn that the atom bomb is just one project from the portfolio. Instead the MP's main focus is on teleportation, fighting robot armies, creating technology through sheer imagination, and more: ... all in the first volume. Hence the title's plural.
Moreover, historical characters become warped in all kinds of ways. General Groves is a power-mad warrior.
Harry Daghlian has been irradiated by the Demon Core, as in our reality, but this has made him nearly immortal in the MF universe, and turned his head into a floating, fiery skull. Richard Feymann is goofy and good as ever, pretty much the team's moral center. Werner von Braun shows up, sporting a gigantic robot arm. Oppenheimer and Einstein...
I must mention the book's rapid pace. Each issue leaps into action, racing from idea to idea at top speed. Plots explode, collapse, and morph into something new with the speed of sketch comedy.
The referential universe of MP is also entertaining. The red/blue art dynamic suggests the underrated tv show Fringe. The rapid change of main idea from issue to issue recalls the great Warren Ellis graphic novel Planetary, as do some of the topics.
The art took me a little while to appreciate. It seems to relish human deformity at first, which makes sense once the characters unfold. Panels with obsessive details remind me of Geoff Darrow, while the gleaming fantasy images suggest Frank Quitely.
This is only the first book, but I hanker for the rest. -
The history I wish we had.
This book is awesome! Unfortunately it took a few tries to get into. It wasn't because anything was wrong with it, it was just a little difficult to read. I don't consider myself much of a science geek, so reading the first 3 issues was a little hard. They kept making references to people I only know about from TV and talking about projects that may or may not have actually happened in our world. BUT! The thing that kept me going was how strange it all is. There's a man who eats peoples brains to gain their knowledge, an old general with a new robot arm, cults, aliens, the works! all easily explained with science.
The art is fantastic and the coloring even better. The colors are very important and even help guide your eyes through the pages. It actually helped me get passed the first issue. There's a lot of compare and contest dealing with the colors and the characters and the way they were able to use them, sets this series apart from any other right now.
There is so much to this first volume. Science, witch craft, the "truth" about WWII and FDR! Not to mention all the moral questions in between; the difference of "being" good and "doing" good being the biggest. If you're having trouble getting into the series, I recommend trying to at least get through the first Vol, I almost gave up and now I am very glad I didn't. -
Well that was odd.
WW2 meets sci fi meets a heavy dose of WTF
I am not crazy about the art style here either, its a little too....creepy. The squiggliness bothers me (that is some solid art lingo). Not sure if I will continue reading or not, I picked this up on a whim so maybe I will pick up volume 2 on a whim as well. If you like alt history, WW2, mad scientists, conspiracy theories, and don't care if you can relate to characters, you will like this. I couldn't relate to anyone in here (you're not supposed to) so for me it was more of a wtf roller coaster that was moving too quickly for me to jump off. Not sure if I'll be getting back in line for this one. -
I was unsure if I’d be able to get into The Manhattan Projects, because I do not tend to dabble in much historical fiction, but this story is historical science fiction and it turns out that is a thing I am all for. MP includes a cast of Oppenheimer, Einstein, FDR, and others during wartime with some cross-dimensional and violent twists.
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Excellent weird-fun althistory/altverse featuring presidents, scientists, serial killers, aliens, mystery gateways, and... And stuff. It reminds me a little bit of Preacher's whole giggly-grotesque thing.
