Monday, October 12, 2015

The Manhattan Projects. Vol. 5: The Cold War

The Manhattan Projects, Vol. 5: The Cold WarThe Manhattan Projects, Vol. 5: The Cold War by Jonathan Hickman
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Just when I was worried that this series would go "off the rails" and become "supergenius scientists . . . in SPAAAAACE!", along comes Lyndon B. Johnson and JFK to ground things back in . . . well, reality isn't quite right. In fact, it's completely wrong. Like previous volumes of this outstanding series, we deal with extradimensional entities and even watch as Einstein, Einstein, and Feynman travel through the interstices of our dimensions. But what make this volume unique from the others is the strong emphasis on political events happening at home (meaning Earth, in this case) including the assassination of JFK and the . . . persuasion . . . of Fidel Castro and Che Guevara to . . . play along with the . . . erm . . . Soviets. Yeah. The Soviets. Um. As you might be able to tell from my hesitations, nothing is as it seems. But is it ever, in Hickman's and Pitarra's universe? The Cold War, which I lived through as a kid, is portrayed here as the most complicated interdimensional chess game you've ever contemplated. But don't contemplate too long, or your mind might be lost, your brain extracted from your skull and replaced by mind control devices, just like what happened to . . . well, nevermind. Imagine the Cold War gone totally gonzo, ratcheted up to "11", then drop a bunch of acid, and you might start to get the idea. Maybe.

This is, by far, the most enjoyable graphic novel series I've read in . . . well, ever. Which means that most "normal" people will absolutely hate it.

I'm totally content with this. Hate on, normal people, hate on.

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