UNDISCOVERED COUNTRY #5 REVIEW
Writers – Scott Snyder & Charles Soule
Art – Giuseppe Camuncoli, Leonard Marcello Grassi
Colors – Matt Wilson
Letters – CRANK!
Publisher – IMAGE
UNDISCOVERED COUNTRY has been one of my all-time favorite books to review. As most of you know, I am usually the full time Batman review writer for the site and it takes up almost all of my time but when I saw that UC was coming out, I HAD to be the one to review it. Scott Snyder has been a big part of my life being as great as it is today. His work on The New 52 Batman not only got me back into comics but inspired me to change my life and I would not be here today if it wasn’t for his stories in Batman. So, it only made sense that I be the writer to cover UC. Charles Soule has also been a writer whose stories I have always loved so when you put the two of them together, you already know its going to be something that we’ve never seen before and man was I right! UC has blown away any expectation I have had of the story and in all the best ways. It’s not only dark and terrifying, but also has a story of survival and overcoming obstacles and also gets the reader to really think about what’s going on in our own lives that could easily cause UC to become reality, especially with the COVID-19 outbreak we currently face. These are all the things we as readers look for in a story and Snyder and Soule are leading the charge by giving us all these things and so much more!
UNDICOVERED COUNTRY #5 begins like most issues, giving us a flash back based on one of the characters we presently know in the story, this issue focusing on Sergeant Pavel and how he has impacted the story since this original story. We are shocked by how gruesome of a story this character has in the beginning and there is just an immediate terror that we feel as we read the opening of this issue. We are then thrown back into current times and go back to the current situation of Daniel and Lottie where Daniel is trying to explain to Lottie the facts of their father and the tortures he went through after coming to the US and running into the Destiny Man (or Destiny Fucker as Daniel calls him) The issue goes back and forth between the current events as well as the past of Pavel and we are given a few twists and turns along the way in true UC fashion that keeps us glued to the pages wanting to know more and more about what’s to come and what all these events are going to lead too. Snyder and Soule do an amazing job of giving us just enough breadcrumbs to follow along without giving too much or too little. The do a great job keeping us entertained the entire time even while jumping back and forth and progressing the story based on what we learn from the past reveals. It is just such an exciting and terrifying tale to follow along with and we don’t want it to stop, which speaks highly of its writing!
The artwork of this issue is stunning and really does a beautiful job helping sell the excitement and fear we read in each panel. The pencils really look as if they are out of a horror comic at times when its needed and then go to a smooth and exciting stylish looking panel. There is even an amazing panel in the beginning where it looks as if the characters are in movement and helps sell the emotions and excitement of the story. The pencils are all smooth and there is a stunning amount of detail in the character designs as well as beautiful detail in the entire panel and backgrounds. The coloring helps sell the emotion of the artwork even more by giving us vivid but dark tones as well. This issue has a lot of pink overtone, but the way it is used really comes off as creepy and added to the pencils gives us the ultimate feeling of terror. It really takes an amazing art team to work on a story like this where you have to be able to sell the feeling of terror at times and then have to do a panel of excitement and action and the team behind UC has hit that nail on the head and continues to really get better and better as the stories come out and I couldn’t imagine any other team working on this incredible book. The lettering of the issue is all very clear and easily readable and completes the perfect overall art for the story.
UNDISCOVERED COUNTRY continues to be one of the best stories in comics right now and every issue finds a way to get more and more exciting giving us more insight into the bigger story and how things got to be the way they are now in the US. Its like reading a puzzle where we get one more piece every issue to complete the overall puzzle and get all the answers, we are looking for without making us bored or lose interest. If you guys have not already started UC, I highly suggest you start with issue #1 and get caught up to now because its an amazing adventure to go on to escape all the issues in the current world and just have a terrifying yet fun adventure along the way! UC #5 is available today so head to your local Comic Shop and pick it up now! Do not wait on this one!
-Wes Greer
Art – Giuseppe Camuncoli, Leonard Marcello Grassi
Colors – Matt Wilson
Letters – CRANK!
Publisher – IMAGE
UNDISCOVERED COUNTRY has been one of my all-time favorite books to review. As most of you know, I am usually the full time Batman review writer for the site and it takes up almost all of my time but when I saw that UC was coming out, I HAD to be the one to review it. Scott Snyder has been a big part of my life being as great as it is today. His work on The New 52 Batman not only got me back into comics but inspired me to change my life and I would not be here today if it wasn’t for his stories in Batman. So, it only made sense that I be the writer to cover UC. Charles Soule has also been a writer whose stories I have always loved so when you put the two of them together, you already know its going to be something that we’ve never seen before and man was I right! UC has blown away any expectation I have had of the story and in all the best ways. It’s not only dark and terrifying, but also has a story of survival and overcoming obstacles and also gets the reader to really think about what’s going on in our own lives that could easily cause UC to become reality, especially with the COVID-19 outbreak we currently face. These are all the things we as readers look for in a story and Snyder and Soule are leading the charge by giving us all these things and so much more!
UNDICOVERED COUNTRY #5 begins like most issues, giving us a flash back based on one of the characters we presently know in the story, this issue focusing on Sergeant Pavel and how he has impacted the story since this original story. We are shocked by how gruesome of a story this character has in the beginning and there is just an immediate terror that we feel as we read the opening of this issue. We are then thrown back into current times and go back to the current situation of Daniel and Lottie where Daniel is trying to explain to Lottie the facts of their father and the tortures he went through after coming to the US and running into the Destiny Man (or Destiny Fucker as Daniel calls him) The issue goes back and forth between the current events as well as the past of Pavel and we are given a few twists and turns along the way in true UC fashion that keeps us glued to the pages wanting to know more and more about what’s to come and what all these events are going to lead too. Snyder and Soule do an amazing job of giving us just enough breadcrumbs to follow along without giving too much or too little. The do a great job keeping us entertained the entire time even while jumping back and forth and progressing the story based on what we learn from the past reveals. It is just such an exciting and terrifying tale to follow along with and we don’t want it to stop, which speaks highly of its writing!
The artwork of this issue is stunning and really does a beautiful job helping sell the excitement and fear we read in each panel. The pencils really look as if they are out of a horror comic at times when its needed and then go to a smooth and exciting stylish looking panel. There is even an amazing panel in the beginning where it looks as if the characters are in movement and helps sell the emotions and excitement of the story. The pencils are all smooth and there is a stunning amount of detail in the character designs as well as beautiful detail in the entire panel and backgrounds. The coloring helps sell the emotion of the artwork even more by giving us vivid but dark tones as well. This issue has a lot of pink overtone, but the way it is used really comes off as creepy and added to the pencils gives us the ultimate feeling of terror. It really takes an amazing art team to work on a story like this where you have to be able to sell the feeling of terror at times and then have to do a panel of excitement and action and the team behind UC has hit that nail on the head and continues to really get better and better as the stories come out and I couldn’t imagine any other team working on this incredible book. The lettering of the issue is all very clear and easily readable and completes the perfect overall art for the story.
UNDISCOVERED COUNTRY continues to be one of the best stories in comics right now and every issue finds a way to get more and more exciting giving us more insight into the bigger story and how things got to be the way they are now in the US. Its like reading a puzzle where we get one more piece every issue to complete the overall puzzle and get all the answers, we are looking for without making us bored or lose interest. If you guys have not already started UC, I highly suggest you start with issue #1 and get caught up to now because its an amazing adventure to go on to escape all the issues in the current world and just have a terrifying yet fun adventure along the way! UC #5 is available today so head to your local Comic Shop and pick it up now! Do not wait on this one!
-Wes Greer
A Look Inside
