Note: Spoilers for this and previous issues may be discussed. If you wish to avoid these, read the issue and then check back in! 
We all know about how the atomic bomb came to be. Some of the greatest minds of the twentieth century, people like Einstein and Oppenheimer, came together to make the weapon that would end World War II. It’s a great story, really. As a fan of alternate history, I prefer Jonathan Hickman and Nick Pitarra‘s take on it though. Instead of just the atomic bomb, Einstein, Oppenheimer, Fermi, and the rest were also working on other, often more terrifying, projects as part of the Manhattan Projects. In this world, Oppenheimer is really his evil twin, Einstein is a drunk from another dimension, Fermi is an alien, FDR died and was made into the first artificial intelligence, and Wernher Von Braun, the Nazi rocket scientist that later took us to space, has a robot arm. It’s in this world that we find ourselves when we read The Manhattan Projects.
Harry Truman and the rest of the Illuminati don’t like how Leslie Groves and the Manhattan Projects have banded together with their Russian counterparts in Star City. The two groups are circumventing the current ruling powers and furthering their own goals instead, upsetting the balance of power. Truman, along with other Illuminati members like the luchador Conquistadori and the Egyptian priest/mummy/possible god Nehebu, have enlisted the FDR AI in their plan to kill the rogue scientists and take the powerful technology they currently control. The Illuminati underestimates their targets as Wernher Von Braun, Yuri Gagarin, and Laika the Space Dog shut down FDR and end the attack on Los Alamos and Star City, at the cost of even more of Von Braun’s limbs.
Jonathan Hickman has created a world where his imagination runs wild. Even as a huge fan of alternative history, I still never could’ve imagined most of what happens within the pages of this comic. Instead of Oppenheimer observing with grief that he has become Death as he watches an atomic bomb test, he remarks about it with glee after he helped xenocide on an alien world. It’s these little familiar, yet so completely different moments that make you really remember that all these characters are ever so slightly based on real people. Even Laika, though not a machine-gun-toting-talking Space Dog in our reality, played a part in our history.
The issues tend to focus on certain characters more than others. This issue was a Wernher Von Braun issue and delves deeply into his compulsion to achieve what he feels is his destiny: making rockets and reaching the stars. He feels guilt for his actions with the Nazis, which he seemingly played along with in order to get closer to his destiny. He’s lost a limb, and loses even more in the pursuit of his destiny. We see in the last few pages just how resolute he is in his pursuit. His overall sentiment concerning his goals is summed up perfectly in the final quote from the fictional Clavius Aurea: The Recorded Feynman: “What did I call the place beyond pain, beyond loss, and beyond suffering? Commitment.”
Nick Pitarra goes wild with his art, and I feel that this series might just be the perfect one for him to make his mark on comics with. Whether he’s having an FDR-bot kill soldiers drawn in the likenesses of his friends and fellow comic creators Joe Eisma and Riley Rossmo or the Illuminati sitting around on piles of money, Pitarra puts his detailed style to work. While Pitarra’s art isn’t exactly “beautiful”, he’s an amazing cartoonist. Panels such as the closeup of Helmutt’s eyes as he goes from dejected to determined cements his ability to convey emotions and tell a story with nothing more than images. In addition to just great art, he adds tiny details to many panels. Text like the “Get Well Soon” cards and messages scrawled on chalkboards, which while not really relevant to the story, add a bit of flavor to the comic.
The Manhattan Projects is crazy, weird, and bit violent, but it’s always an enjoyable read. The team of Hickman and Pitarra bring an interesting and visually appealing take on Hickman’s own demented alternate history. With each issue we move further down the timeline and get greater savagery and technological brilliance from the group. It’s the dual nature of the group as some of the greatest minds of the time but also some of the worst people, that makes this story oddly compelling. It’s watching these geniuses kill entire alien races in pursuit of their goals that make me pick it up month after month. Even though they’re less than likable, you can’t help but love them.
