Manhattan Projects #1
It’s 1942 and the War Department has created & developed the first atomic bomb. What if other projects were developed? Things like newly discovered inter-dimensional artefacts, super computers with A.I, telepaths & samurai robots? Enter Doctor Robert Oppenheimer. Doctor Oppenheimer is given a tour of the facility and General Groves offers him a job. The activities & research are kept secret from the general public, but the good doctor has secrets of his own… family secrets.
Remember the ending of Raiders Of The Lost Ark? The final shot of the ark stuffed in a crate and tucked away in storage with the rest of America’s best kept secrets. Take that storage room and add military personnel, scientists, laboratories & Albert Einstein and you’ve got a good idea what this comic is about. Doctor Oppenheimer is one complex character, especially when you get to the ending you realize this man has some serious issues that are inevitably going to get worse. Themes like good & evil & both sides of the coin are explored throughout the story. Writer Jonathan Hickman is a perfect fit for this series. Having written The Fantastic Four for Marvel, he knows how to write about scientists & experimentations. I’m unfamiliar with Nick Pitarra’s work, he has an attention to detail that would make Geoff Darrow (Hard Boiled) proud.
Two of the criteria’s for a successful first issue are a captivating story & a fascinating protagonist. It has to suck you in immediately. And this issue does that in spades. On another note, I’d like to wish Image Comics a happy 20th anniversary! I feel like I should give a gift, but the truth is, Image has given me a gift with another sensational new title.
A Look Inside
