Review: Manhattan Projects #4
By Cody "The Thorverine" Ferrell on Jun 27, 2012 with Comments 0
Welcome to yet another review of The Manhattan Projects. This issue is called “The Rose Bridge” and the solicit info describes it as the life and death of Albert Einstein. Issue #4 of Jonathan Hickman and Nick Pitarra’s series of alternative history series finally gives us what I’ve been yearning for- more Einstein!
This issue sees Oppenheimer and General Groves having a close encounter of the third kind in New Mexico. This scene is only used before, for lack of a better phrase, the pre-title sequence style the comic has utilized in previous issues and has no bearing on the story as of yet. Even though it isn’t picked up in this issue, this pre-title scene is the best one to date. After we get our title and quote page we dive into an Einstein and Feynman team up book. We fi
nally get to see what the item Einstein has been staring at in the previous issues is. Einstein pulls Feynman away from working on the Roosevelt AI to help him work on opening “the door.”
This issue explains what Einstein has been pondering on since issue 1. I’ve been saying that Einstein is a pretty hardcore character, and after all the twists and turns of this issue it turns out he is even more of one than I expected. While we get some answers about what is going on with him, even more are raised and become ripe for exploration. I’ve been describing this book as trippy, and I stand by that. You’re led to believe that Oppenheimer is the main character since we found out he is actually the evil twin of Robert Oppenheimer, but he has been slightly pushed to the background. That’s not a bad thing though; the other historical characters are just as troubled and just as interesting. I don’t know who I have to beg, but I still want more Einstein. Give me a one-shot at least.
The issue is strong, and keeps the overall plot moving along. We get more questions but enough is answered to keep us happy. I’ve said before that Nick Pitarra has quickly become one of my favorite artists, so I don’t want to pile on more praise and sound like a crazed fan. The art in this issue is very good. I’ve loved Pitarra’s interpretation of Einstein, and character and artist both shine throughout.
Bottom Line: By now you know if this is your kind of scene or not. This issue is another quality entry in the series. Even with my Einstein bias aside, this is a spectacular issue. Hickman and Pitara continue to please with this series. I give Manhattan Projects #4 a 4.5/5.
Cody "The Thorverine" Ferrell
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