The Manhattan Projects: Volume 3: Building. (2013)

Author: Jonathan Hickman | Artists: Nick Pitarra / Ryan Browne | Page Count: 152

“This whole thing has just come completely off the rails."

I like to try and distil a book down to just one word, which is a crazy thing to do, I admit, but it helps me plot the journey that a serialised work takes from one point on a map to the next point in the most fundamental way. The word for this book is SECRETS. TMP is a secret organisation and each member of the group has their own. Within that framework a small number of new projects are undertaken that split the group into little pockets of filler. One of them is an undisclosed undertaking by one specific member and is the only part of the story that goes anywhere interesting. There's a probability the others will get their time to shine in the next volume, but I'm not prepared to bet any money on it.

Which brings me to the quote above; it was chosen for two reasons. It's spoken by one of the group but they echo my own sentiments and quite possibly the author's own. It's like a commentary or an admission that's pertinent not just to what's happening on the page but to the creative process and the story's construction as a whole.  The characters are there but they don't really do anything, except for Oppenheimer and he gets pushed aside for too long. When he does come back it becomes clear that his story is the only one still firmly on track, which in Oppenheimer's case means he's very much "off the rails," but in a good way; good for us, at least. He's the man with the most secrets and they're fighting inside his head for dominance.

The series started strong and then hit a rocky patch, but the slide in quality in this volume was even steeper than I'd predicted. Throwing in a great ending each time won't be enough to sustain reader interest if the overall strength and focus doesn't pick up a little in the next book. I really hope it does because TMP is unusual and I love to see the unusual be successful.

Nick Pitarra's art is as good as ever, or as bad as ever if you're not a fan of his style. Ryan Browne fills in for one chapter but you'll likely hardly notice the difference because his style mimics Pitarra's well and Bellaire's colouring keeps everything beautifully unified.

The book collects together The Manhattan Projects issues 11–15.

2½ space perverts out of 5

The Manhattan Projects: Volume 2: They Rule. (2013)

Author: Jonathan Hickman | Artists: Nick Pitarra / Ryan Browne

Page Count: 152

'All men are pawns to a master with vision.'

Volume 2 of TMP is just as insane as Volume 1 (2012) but it's more explosive, which is another way of saying it’s less focused. I had to take some time prior to reading to reacquaint myself with the characters because there are a lot of them. It didn't help that even more new ones were introduced.

The superpowers are done playing it safe, so the Cold War heats up. The alternate history shit hits the chaos fan and sprays all over the place.

The dramatic change of pace was unexpected and I wasn't completely enamoured with it, but part of me knows it had to happen and I suspect it'll happen again on a larger scale sometime in the future. That particular storyline takes up the bulk of the book but it feels rushed. I heard that it was falling behind schedule, so maybe the hurry was to compensate for that? Let's hope the pacing is better next time.

The second part of the book is much more satisfying despite being shorter. It's a continuation of J. Robert Oppenheimer's story that paradoxically feels like a new beginning, and as such would've been better suited as an opening to Volume 3. If you remember the mess Oppenheimer was in at the end of Volume 1, then you'll know that his fractured state of mind would demand consequences for one or other of his personalities. Hickman doesn't disappoint. His intricate plotting and attention to detail shine through. I can't wait to see where he takes it.

Nick Pitarra is still on art duties, except on episode 10 where Ryan Browne fills in; the wonderfully stylised colouring scheme is the same regardless. Rarely do art and text gel so beautifully.

The book collects together The Manhattan Projects issues 6–10.

3 familiar landscapes out of 5

The Manhattan Projects: Volume 1: Science. Bad. (2012)

Author: Jonathan Hickman | Artist: Nick Pitarra | Page Count: 144

'Circles within circles. Worlds within worlds.
He saw the door for what it was, and he threw it open.'

Don't judge a book by its cover. Everyone knows the idiom but there's no doubt that a good cover is the thing that first attracts the eye. The covers of TMP caught my attention instantly. The monthlies, not the one above. They were simple but striking, enigmatic and alluring symbols on a spacious background that held the promise of something different, something deep. What lay beneath the cover delivered on those assumptions... mostly.

TMP is a wild fiction built around the real life creation of the first WWII atomic bomb. The build is simply a front for what the militant project leader identifies as "...more important concerns." He enlists the troubled scientist Oppenheimer and a team of equally disturbed real life geniuses to fulfil a very different agenda. More than once I was reminded of Mike Mignola; they're a kind of reverse B.P.R.D. 

It's an engaging and far-reaching story that draws the reader in with hermetic secrets, drip-feeding future possibilities alongside some cryptic past histories.

However, holding back like it does made me question whether it'll come together in a satisfyingly cohesive manner. By the end of the book that question was still ringing in my mind. One thing is clear, though: it’s a bubbling pot with two lids, neither of which is able to contain the inevitable—there will be spillage.

Nick Pitarra provides art so successfully that it's hard to imagine the work being presented in any other style. He's not completely original, his influences are clear to see, but his vision gels with Hickman's wild sciences perfectly.

The colouring is as important as the art in getting the message across. It uses a palette of contrasting primary and tertiary colours that support the dualities present in the written word. It was so well presented that for a change I didn't mind the digital colouring methods.

The book collects together The Manhattan Projects issues 1–5.

3½ flirtations with reckless abandon out of 5