Welcome to The Multiversity Projections, our monthly column focused on the Image Comics series “The Manhattan Projects” from Jonathan Hickman and Nick Pitarra. Each month, we’ll be taking a look at the most current issue of the series and comparing notes from actual history and the alternate version presented in the book, and trying to use actual historical data to predict where the series is going next. This is a spoiler-heavy column, so if you have not yet read the most current issue of “The Manhattan Projects”, be warned that many major plot points will be discussed.
The column logo is designed by the incredible Tim Daniel, whose work can be found here.
Disclaimer: I am not an expert in either science or history; all of the information I will be using in this column is either easily found on the internet or is purely my opinion.
If you’ve been granted security clearance, read on for your briefing.
This is the second of, at least, a three part series of interludes taking place inside of Oppenheimer’s mind, illustrated by Ryan Browne (“God Hates Astronauts,” “Bedlam,” “Blast Furnace”). In the last issue of this story, we saw Robert, killed and eaten by his brother, figure out how to turn his mind constructs against him. In this issue, we see that go to the next logical conclusion: war.
“Clavis Aurea: the Recorded Feynman” is excerpted three times per issue. The Golden Key (the English translation of the book’s title) deals with those quotes. This month, we only get three quotes not from Feynman, but from Oppenheimer (billed just as Oppenheimer, not Joseph or Robert).
“The great eye of Oppenheimer watched over them all. This was evolution.”
What sort of evolution is the quote speaking of? Is this evolution of the human being, allowed to contain multiple personalities and consciousnesses within itself? Or, rather, is this an evolution within Joseph’s brain – has his great eye finally made law and order possible?
When this issue starts, Robert has been recruiting many towards his cause – by plucking our their eyes, he has turned them to his side, and begun to fight Robert’s various doppelgangers. Some of the now blue soldiers include: Basketball Oppenheimer, Native American Chief Oppenheimer, Top-Hatted Oppenheimer, Astronaut Oppenheimer, and Artist Oppenheimer. Loyalists include Tiny Oppenheimer Riding Giant Oppenheimer, Punk Rock Oppenheimer, Roman Oppenheimer and Sandwich Eating, Good Head of Hair Oppenheimer.
I tried to see if there were any outwardly obvious signs of why certain projections took certain sides, but it appears that Robert is simply turning all he encounters, regardless of their profession or genetic make-up.
Joseph’s minions all speak in “Hmmmm” speak, 4 m’s each time; Robert’s on the other hand, all speak numerically. Is this evolution? It is certainly a more specific way of communicating – I mean, one man’s “Hmmmm” is another man’s “Hmmmm,” so to be able to express something a little more concrete can’t be a bad thing. But clearly, it is not complete or particularly accurate communication.
“The great eye of Oppenheimer watched over them all. This was assimilation.”
This becomes a key point later in the issue, and something that the book has always, in some way, advocated for: assimilation is the key to success. When Star City and the Manhattan Projects came together, they achieved more than either dreamed possible. When the military world of Groves and the scientific mind of Oppenheimer aligned themselves together, the war was over very quickly. The individual holds almost no power against the monolith in this world.
The last time Browne did an issue, I mentioned how the book felt more cinematic than Nick Pitarra’s issues. That continues here – Pitarra’s issues feel like comics influenced by comics, whereas Browne’s issues seem to be influenced by the greater cornucopia of pop culture, especially film.
Continued belowThe above image references Terminator 2: Judgement Day and the entire book feels like a Spaghetti Western gone wrong. I also spot references to Dr. Strangelove, Bond films, Star Trek, and even more Matrix Revolutions (more on that last one in a bit).
Browne’s art is a pure joy here, and I wanted to highlight a piece of it that I found especially fun.
“We looked up, and from the megamid, it looked down. The great eye offended, so we ate them. Again, and again, and again.”
I checked two different sources (my advanced PDF and a print copy of the issue) to make sure that the 7th word was “megamid” and not “megamind,” although you could see both working here. Megamid is a type of tent, apparently, and perhaps refers to the triangular shape of the pyramid in the center of the city in Oppenheimer’s brain. If it is megamind, it would reference the giant brain in the center of the city as well. Either way – there’s a lot of eating going on.
1. Assimilation
The secret word of the day is: assimilation!
This is the key to the entire issue – Robert is trying to turn others against Joseph, but since Joseph has, seemingly, unending resources, that plan isn’t working. If Robert turned a million projections against him, it wouldn’t matter – he’d make 10 million more.
However, by realizing that the rules kept changing, Robert is calling an audible. By not assimilating into Joseph’s weird world, he is forcing assimilation into his own. And how does he do that? Well, through eating you.
And what would eating you do? Well, we don’t really know. But we can assume that the same principle applies to when Joseph eats someone – they will live within him. So, if Robert is eating people, they are now within him, and he can do to them what he pleases, the way Joseph can to the denizens of his brain.
2. Personality Retention
Besides Robert, only the alien has retained any sort of personality or intellect. Is this because they are both geniuses? Is this because both of them are foreigners in the body, whereas the other projections are natural inhabitants> I would think it is the latter, but I’m not certain. Perhaps we’ll see Truman hiding out and can see if he’s still a blathering idiot, or if he too is reduced to Hmmmming.
3. What the constructs say about Joseph
I keep looking for a pattern, for clues, for anything to help determine why exactly Joseph makes the constructs he does. Some, as described above, are “derivative herotypes,” others are obviously wish fulfillment, others seem to be just weird. I’m guessing that his generation of doubles is not unlike the theory of the multiverse – every idea he thinks of becomes “reality.”
I don’t want to know what the inside of Salvatore Prime’s brain looks like.
4. The cover
On the cover to #10, we see a sea of red, with only one blue dot (Robert). Here, we see that blue has taken over approximately 1/4 of the dots – his forces are growing. My prediction for the next cover? A 50/50 split.
5. The opportunities of assimilation
If we look at the image for the first projection, we see that the alien is missing his hand, because Robert is still eating it. This means that the assimilation is literal – if he eats your face, your face turns blue and is under his spell. Could this lead to him, let’s say, eating the arms and legs of an enemy combatant, therefore just leaving their helpless torsos on the battlefield? Or, could he just eat some brains and get the intellect without the pesky body? Time will tell!
Continued below
First up, I talked to writer Jonathan Hickman about the various Oppenheimers floating around. (See my favorite of the issue above – the Oppenheimer Moon!)
So, this is the second in a series of “Finite Oppenheimers” stories that you guys have done. I’ve really enjoyed both of these (due, in no small part, to the incredible Ryan Browne art), and have two questions about them. First of all, these issues rely a lot on multiple iterations of Oppenheimer, and Ryan has been candid about asking on Twitter for people to toss out some suggestions. Who has been your favorite unscripted Oppenheimer yet?
In issue #14, we see Robert for the first time outside of Joseph’s head since issue #1. Will we see the “Finite Oppenheimers” story poke its head out of their insular issues more, or was this a one-shot deal?
Jonathan Hickman: I’m still partial to Oppenheimer the Magician from early on in the run that Pitarra threw out. Ryan’s done a great job on the two issues he’s done, however the third one he’s working on right now might possibly have my favorite Oppenheimer of all.
Which kind of answers your second question…but beyond that, no spoilers.
Next, I spoke to Ryan Browne about one of his big goals for this issue: symmetry.
So Ryan, you mentioned how symmetry was important to you in issue #15. Tell our readers why it was so important to you, and how you incorporated that into your work?
Ryan Browne: For my the whole issue I wanted to focus on the symmetry of Oppenheimer Vs. Oppenheimer. I used symmetry in story beats, scene construction and composition as often as I could and kept a “Spy Vs. Spy” theme at the front of my kind. I like to use a lot of call backs in my work, like the Oppenheimer trees returning but now blinded, the wrist knife that he uses later to free himself and of course the continued use if the headless horse.
Issue 11, “Building,” was about growth – the projects taking bold steps forward, and using the past as a springboard for bigger and better things. Well, Robert is building his army here, and looking forward to taking things to the next logical level. The parallels continue!
Issue #16 is titled “Schism.” The solicit information is actually for #15, so we know nothing more of the plot. I guess people will be choosing sides?
These little interludes have been fantastic so far, and more Browne artwork in the world is never a bad thing. I’m looking forward to his next issue – perhaps it’ll be #20?
As always, please leave your thoughts/observations/theories in the comments, or email me, brian@multiversitycomics.com
Thanks for reading, and I’ll see you next month!
