What if the research and development department created to produce the first atomic bomb was a front for a series of other, more unusual, programs? What if the union of a generation's brightest minds was not a signal for optimism, but foreboding? What if everything... went wrong? Welcome to The Manhattan Projects! Brought to you by award-winning writer Jonathan Hickman and possibly the best new talent in the industry, Nick Pitarra, The Manhattan Projects is a look at history through a darker, much stranger, lens.
Jonathan Hickman is an American comic book writer and artist. He is known for creating the Image Comics series The Nightly News, The Manhattan Projects and East of West, as well as working on Marvel Comics' Fantastic Four, FF, and S.H.I.E.L.D. titles. In 2012, Hickman ended his run on the Fantastic Four titles to write The Avengers and The New Avengers, as part the "Marvel NOW!" relaunch. In 2013, Hickman wrote a six-part miniseries, Infinity, plus Avengers tie-ins for Marvel Comics. In 2015, he wrote the crossover event Secret Wars. - Wikipedia
I didn't get it. At All. I would have given it one star, but everyone else seems to have loved it. So, I think it might just been the kind of story that either went over my head, because it has some sort of Loooook Deeeeper Into Your Miiiiiind style of storytelling. Or (option 2) maybe I just don't have good taste? Nah.
But, whatever the reason, I didn't enjoy Hickman's story. The gist of is that it's a twist on all of the people & events surrounding the Manhattan Project. In case you don't know what the Manhattan Project was, I'll give you the quickie version of what went down.
Ta-Da!
So, Hickman re-imagines what went on behind the scenes during this time & comes up with a bizarro version of the events. And when I say bizarro? I mean it.
Ok, I don't want to spoil anything for those of you who still haven't read this, but Einstein mowing people down with a machine gun is nowhere near the oddest thing about this sucker. Aliens, cosmonauts, talking dogs, serial killers who eat and absorb the souls/knowledge their victims, a Nazi scientist with robot arms, monks who can hold open portals to anywhere with their life-force, crazed AI that used to be a president of the United States, an insane current president who takes Masonic rituals a bit too far, and a Mexican luchador & Egyptian pharaoh who are part of an ancient underground group that controls the world. That all seems pretty cool, amirite?!
Well, it didn't work for me. After the first few issues, this bad boy had run so far off the rails that I wasn't enjoying many of the above mentioned cool parts. It wasn't confusing in a I-Can't-Follow-What's-Happening kind of way, it was confusing in a Why-Am-I-Trying-To-Follow-This kind of way. It was just bizarre! There were several moments that would have made me GASP! if I had given a shit. What I mean is, random stuff loony stuff happened, but I didn't care about any of the characters enough to have feelings about their fates. Sorry, it's hard for me to explain it any better without spoiling stuff. I almost want to see where Hickman is going with this, but that would mean I'd have to read more volumes, and that probably ain't gonna happen.
Thank you, Mike for gifting me with this one! It's not your fault I don't know how to read things right...
Third time’s the charm, because that’s how many times I’ve read this in two years. If I'm being honest, Hickman isn't my favorite. In fact, this is the only series of his I've loved. Because, I think, it appeals to everything I love. And it's deep, ambitious, stays on track. It's just so god damn insane. And the artwork is beyond incredible.
It's historical fiction surrounding the Manhattan Project during World War Two. Plus science fiction and horror. Plus physicists, killer robots, telepaths, death monks, soldiers, genocidal aliens, world dominators. Plus a cerebral civil war. And many more things you can't imagine!
I love the characters. Real life scientists, generals, Nazis, Soviets, and U.S. Presidents. They have incredible depth and personality. The writing is among the best I've ever read. The dialog, time shifts, multiple plots. It's just a damn well-written page-turner.
Nick Pitarra, Jordie Bellaire, and Rus Wooton. Illustrator, colorist, and letterer. These are some serious artists at work. Bold lines, sketchy, incredibly detailed. Vivid, borderline psychedelic colors. Perfect, creative lettering. And the blue and red sections are fascinating, representing (I think) good and evil, or safety and danger. One of the best designed books I've read this year probably ever.
Although this series is WAY out there, like Morrison territory, it's fun, thought-provoking, and insanely unique. I love the horror, the wars and power struggles, and so much damn science! And despite some reviews, I find it incredibly easy to follow. Don't overlook this series!
A Short Note on the Deluxe Edition...
The design is flawless, really. The sewn binding is spectacular, with next to no gutter loss. The dust jacket-less cover is durable and looks amazing, with a subtle yet effective spine design. And the paper is super thick semi-gloss. I've said it before, Image (and Dark Horse) is the best at oversized editions.
Super quirky and super weird with lots of science fiction injected into it.
A Lot of reviews of people who didn't like this say "I just don't get it?!".
I get that they don't get it because unless you love science and understand what significance these characters had in history then you won't get some of the jokes, but basically this book is about a bunch of genius serial killers. The whole consuming people for knowledge is weird as well, but is a ritual performed by cannabalist tribes thought to help them gain new powers and knowledge, but i'm not sure why hickman has put it in here.
For me this just works, science, with science fiction plus aliens, lasers guns and serial killers! Brilliant.
What’s it about? It was confusing and a lot happens. Basically a batshit crazy alternate history and sci-fi adventure is what you get with this.
Pros: There’s a lot of exciting action and it is, as I described the book as a whole, batshit crazy! Tons of unique and insane action throughout! This comic is often humorous. There’s a dog! I love dogs...
Cons: I really don’t dig the art style here. It’s quite ugly. The characters. While they certainly have potential, especially with it’s alternate history element (many of them are weirder versions of actual historic figures) I for some reason didn’t really care too much what happened to them. The dialogue is iffy at best.
Mixed thoughts: The story. So it is pretty interesting for sure. Unfortunately it’s also too confusing to fully follow (at least for me). I feel like I got a weird mix of pictures and words that told me something strange more than I feel like I got a story, ya know?
Overall: This is a weird comic. I’m not sure if I’ll read the second book. I’ll probably add it to my reading list but who the fuck knows if I’ll actually ever get to reading it. There’s some stuff I liked, some stuff I didn’t and I’m mixed on my thoughts about this story. This book isn’t really good or bad IMO.
the idea here is that everyone is evil (with one minor exception) who worked on the Manhattan Project. Not just evil, but brilliantly madly evil and working on so much more than the bomb. And yet, despite the absence of good guys, Hickman kept me turning the pages to find out what happens next.
Imagine scientific race during and post WWII, with stealing inventions, recruting old enemies, changing the world - not always for the better... And then add few maniacs and sociopaths, canibals with split personalities, aliens, living nuclear reactors, A.I of president Roosvelt, multidimensional doors, cyborgs, Torii gates used as teleports, soviet mind-bots, illuminati luchadores and loads of dead, dead people and you will end up with (most likely) wierdest SF shit you have read in very long time.
It's as good as it is f*** up. And that means really good.
(Zero spoiler review) My first taste of Hickman came a couple of weeks ago when I read the amazing Black Monday Murders. I was aware of the existence of this series, having seen the Deluxe's sitting on the shelves at a big book/comic store I liked to visit, although despite the premise seeming appealing, the art on the front cover hinted at the book being very light, almost comedic in tone, and the above mentioned book can attest to, I wanted this story to be dark. Not some airy fairy fluff piece. Although a friend recommended this above East of West (which I am also yet to read) and I was able to find the two deluxe's for cheap on Ebay, so here we are. So, did I like it as much as the Black Monday Murders, no. Did I like it at all? Yeah, kinda... I didn't dislike it, is probably a fairer statement, although given the knowledge Hickman indicates he has regarding the unseen forces and events controlling our lives, I was surprised to see him go in the somewhat absurdist, quasi existential direction he went, rather than so a more typical, and for me, much more interesting dark thriller. From issue to issue, I had no idea where it was going, which was a plus to a certain extent. It's just when stories get a little to science fiction-y, they start to lose their grounding and believability, and venture into the realms of silliness, as far as I'm concerned. The art was strong though, even if a little lighter than I would have liked. Bringing to mind the clean, vibrant look of Locke and Key. I'm about to crack open the second deluxe later today, so maybe that will head in a direction more to my liking. Until then, the jury is still out on this one. 3/5
I remember somebody once explained that Hickman writes his series based on "What would happen if this belief or part of society had no restraints/limits?" The Black Monday Murders is the world of finance, East of West is religion, and now The Manhattan Projects is science.
So ask yourself, what if the world of scientists was composed of entirely evil people and they had no restraints. Nobody questioning if they should do something. Nobody to tell them to stop. That's what happens here.
Its also a lot of fun. Hickman can be surprisingly funny, and it's good that this series doesn't take itself as seriously as The Black Monday Murders and doesn't try to be cool like East of West. It helps with the zany direction this story goes.
I like the concept and I like the execution, I hope it continues to be a fun story and definitely recommended to people who like science and scientists and want to see them do things like attach a machine gun to a dog.
Se podría sentir como si Jonathan Hickman se hubiese planteado un spin-off de "Rick and Morty". Pero, claro, los conceptos y narrativas manejadas aquí, apuntan con más saña y acierto a lo grotesco de su perversa ucronía sci-fi donde las mayores mentes del S. XX resultan ser unos genios embriagados de poder o influidos por infinidad de trastornos mentales, traumas, inseguridades o monstruosas ideologías. Todo lo cual se amplifica con los descubrimientos e invenciones que dejan las detonaciones de las bombas atómicas en una sesión de "quimicefa".
Hasta cierto punto creo que el mayor escollo para un disfrute total de los Proyectos Manhattan es el dibujo. Y es complicado afirmar esto, porque ese estilo de caricatura grotesca de Nick Pitarra se antoja perfecto para la propuesta argumental que maneja Hickman. Pero en bastantes tramos parece limitar los mayores momentos o fugas de delirante acción que terminan viviendo esta disfuncional agrupación de genios.
Crazy science fiction in an alternate reality starting in the 1940's. The Manhattan Projects starts with the known assembly of scientist for the manhattan project goal of producing the atomic bomb for purposes of winning the war. Quickly the scientific team discovers we are not alone in the universe and the best hope for man kind is to create their own shadow government and quickly dismantle the old world order. Chaos and borderline offensiveness consume this book but make it a bingefest at the same time.
Hickman is such a madman in this book that it has convinced me to pick up his Marvel runs of Fantastic Four and Avengers, a company I've avoided for the past few years, but if Hickman can bring his craziness there . . . well, we'll see.
AS for quality of the HC. Image continues to have great quality binds, hardcover and paper materials in their deluxe editions.
This started like Dr. Strangelove with overblown parodic military-science jingoisitc stuff painted in bright comic books colors with teleporting robot armies. Then it got weird and twisted. I probably would need to read it again to sort out the satire and the honest critique of science and war. It's interesting to see a story basically devoid of likable, relatable characters; there is a broad range of interesting characters, but they are stripped of any patriotic mytho-historical shine and instead tinted with darker shades of obsession and amorality along with plenty of highlights of straight-up comic book weirdness.
I've previously reviewed volume one of this series. This book collects volumes one and two. All of the stuff I said in that previous review applies to volume two also. To add to it a bit: This is a very violent, gory, over-the-top book. There are some "big ideas" in here, but I'm not sure if they really add up to anything. I'm on the fence as to whether or not to continue with this series. (I would kind of like to see where it's going though.)
This was my second time reading The Manhattan Projects, the first being about 7–8 years ago. I remember enjoying it then, but this revisit was even better. The story remains compelling and wildly imaginative. Jonathan Hickman’s writing is always a hit for me, aside from his Marvel work, which I’ve never quite connected with. I’d love to see him take on DC someday. The art by Nick Pitarra is fantastic, distinct, expressive, and perfectly matched to the tone of the story. If you're into wacky alternate history and bold sci-fi concepts, this is a five-star read.
Siento que esta lectura fue un reality show de lo que pasó en el Proyecto Manhattan si las cosas hubieran sucedido... de otra manera. De una manera MUY, MUY extraña y extravagante.
Es como como si Drunk history en ácido decidiera contar los eventos de Manhattan Projects en un comic.
Recomendado para aquellos que buscan algo inusual, extravagante y MUY gráfico.
This was a blast to read. A very imaginative, very weird and often uncomfortable piece of historical fiction. Really great pacing and dialogue. The world-building doesn't quite reach Lazarus level but the characters and circumstances are far more intriguing. I can't wait to read the next one.
It was very difficult to follow and I'm a huge historical fiction fan, also the characters were difficult to love. But the design are very cool and creative and the artwork is so beautiful so kudos to them for the creativity. But the story wasn't doing it for me whatsoever.
It was difficult to get into the story based on the style of drawing. The time period and premise sounded interesting but the panel set up in the beginning was a bit jarring.
En un mundo en el que se viene una guerra mundial, el presidente Americano quiere una bomba nuclear, y las mayores armas del mundo son los científicos , que puede que estén un poco mas locos y desesperados que los mismos gobernantes, y oh si, sera un peligro inmenso y multidimensional.
LO BUENO: Hicman es Hickman, el dia de hoy puede que este entre los 05 mejores escritores de comics del ambiente norteamericano, y aquí saca una historia en que un grupo de científicos se ven envueltos en una carrera asesina por el espacio, mundos interdimensionales, portales, rituales locos, sacrificios, y muchas mas ideas bizarras y geniales que aparezcan, todo en un sentido muy pulp de la palabra , con unos personajes totalmente grises, con unos mas malos que otros, y con un arte de Nick Pitarra muy...muy...mmm, bizarro ,extraño y genial, a camino entre Fran Quitely y Geoff Darrow, pero con periodicidad mensual, y el tipo saca unas ideas geniales y asquerosas que te dejan embelesado.
LO MALO: Al haber tantos personajes, unos se pierden entre tanta pelea y conflicto, para pasar desapercibidos por números enteros, ¿Que paso con Einstein?, ¿Feynman?, si, se que Oppenheimer es un gran personaje, pero se come el comic y apoca muchos a los otros...y se extraña mas a los otros.
This volume comprises the first two story arcs of this phenomenal series The scientists from the secret weapons projects fight against The Allied Enemies during WWII and then once that conflict has been ended by an application of weird and violent science the attention is drawn to the real threat to Earth Aliens the combined forces of The Manhattan Projects and the Soviet Star City put plans into motion to mobilize Earth against the imminent invasion But not all the members of The Project have Earth's best interest in mind
holy crap, i love this book. what more can i say? the story was captivating and told with great pace. i love all the interesting characters that make up this elaborate world. i strongly encourage everyone to read this. there is a strong sense of humor from the author, but there was also some messages about life, love and nature. just enough not to be preachy.