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.
In this issue, Groves gets pumped with enough truth serum to make a politician be honest, we meet a 4-brained alien, and our scientists sit around a bunch.
“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.
“The working theory was a finished product from which we could extract the necessary components for rapid evolutionary progress…”
It is a little tough to discuss this half of the quote, as it is clearly incomplete. But, at its core, this is talking about the mission of Project Gaia – to compile information from as many alien species as possible, in order to help speed along human evolution.
A good chunk of this issue takes place with Feynman and Einstein traveling to an alternate dimension and finding someone on the other side. Namely, this fella:
We met him last issue, briefly, but now we get a better idea of who he is. Namely, that he speaks like a surfer dude. Let’s call him Corey, k? So, Corey is a four-brained alien who wants off of his planet, and so he travels with the scientists and gets experimented on. Corey is one of my favorite new characters the book has introduced in a long time, and each of his interactions with humans jumps between brilliant and stupid in a very satisfying way. This guy, let me tell you.
“…we were so very wrong.”
I guess Corey wasn’t such a great guy after all.
One of the joys of this book is how Pitarra naturally ramps everyone up. If someone had crazy hair, they now have the craziest hair. With Westmoreland, he is the consumate military man. That means, of course, that he has to have a necklace of ears, a rocket launcher, a quiver of arrows, and a machine gun. The best touch, though? The Ultimate Warrior-esque arm tassles. Classic touch.
These issues are a little bit harder to write about than past installments, if only because so much of what happens is visual, and I don’t simply want to recap what’s going on. There haven’t been as many areas to delve into, theoretically, as there were for the first dozen issues or so. What there is, though, is a lot of funny. Like this encounter between the two guards (one of who should look quite familiar), discussing how one of them really likes hot dogs. Don’t we all?
“We were trapped, and captivity would lead to compromise. Compromise would lead to betrayal. Betrayal would lead to murder. Such is the world.”
It is only in this issue that something fundamental about the series jumped out at me. I’ve talked with Jonathan Hickman before about the nature of the Clavis Aurea excerpts, and he told us about how each volume represents a different period of Feynman’s life – not the accounts within, but the attitude he takes looking back from a particular perch.
Continued belowThat may not seem like a big deal, but it is. Why? Because it ensures that Feynman survives. That’s a big deal.
It is hard to predict what will happen in the future when the future is coming up later in this article. I’ll project after the next issue is covered.
Issue 13 showed everyone working diligently on their projects, making progress with every step. This issue is the opposite – nothing gets accomplished. Sure, we get to meet Corey, but no project moves forward. #13 was all about forward progress; this is all about stasis.
Is Now.
In this issue, the men of the Projects get honest.
“Hmmmmmmmm”
“Hmmmmmmmmmmmm!”
“Hmmmmmmmmmmmm?”
“Hmmm–”
This actually sort of sums up the issue pretty well.
This issue opens with the damage of a massive gunfight with an alien, and continues to show the damage all over the Projects. There’s structural damage, dead bodies and, perhaps most importantly, damage between the scientists themselves. Even Harry, who everyone loves, is suddenly annoying.
When Oppenheimer returns, it isn’t as a liberator, or even as a conquering hero rubbing his enemies’ noses in his victory. Nope – he just needs an assistant.
Yes, the series has been delayed a bunch and yes, that is frustrating. But the extra time lets Pitarra draw panels like this, and everything seems worth it then, no?
Westmoreland killed Corey. Oppenheimer solved Charon. Today is a good day to have short cropped white hair.
But each victory isn’t without its downsides. Sure, Westmoreland has Corey’s ear around his neck, but it wasn’t as easy as it should have been for him. He recognizes he needs help, and he presumes that Groves is the man to help him (more on that later).
More importantly, though, Oppenheimer and FDR are trying to pull off Project Charon and seem to succeed. But, then this happens:
Yup – there’s a big hole in Oppenheimer’s head. Let’s take this sequence one beat at a time:
Einstein is supervising (and drinking), while Oppenheimer is, seemingly, sending or receiving signals through his Professor X Cerebro helmet with the help of FDR. He can no longer take the pain, so he rips it off, with 93% completion. And then, he pronounces “Oh my God – it worked. It worked! I’m not – wait – wait! No. Don’t” BLAM. Dead. Oh, shit, indeed.
1. That Whole Transfer Business
So what exactly was happening here? As I predicted back in the 14th installment, I believe that Charon was going to give birth to, literally, infinite Oppenheimers. Remember these tubes?
Look again at the shot of him pulling off the helmet:
Yup, they’re connected to the electrical current coming off the helmet. He’s feeding them.
With 93% completed that means, what, thousands of Oppenheimers? Millions? We’ll see.
2. Westmoreland and Groves – BFFs?
Westmoreland believes that Groves is on his side – and he might be. But it has been some time since Groves got some truth serum – is he playing Westmoreland? My bet is yes – sure, he’s not a genius, but he’s been running the show for a long time. Sure, he’s a military man, but he’s a general. He’s not going to want to take orders from someone else. Watch your back, William.
3. The New Power Structure
If Oppenheimer is really dead (more on that in a second), and Groves isn’t giving up on the Projects, then who is the new man in charge? Maybe the narrator, Feynman, finally steps up to the plate. He makes the most sense, as Einstein is going to be punished for his infraction, von Braun is basically a torso, Yuri is too lovesick of Laika, and Harry is irradiated. The Groves/Feynman combo will be an interesting pairing to say the least.
Continued below4. Can The Science Save Oppenheimer?
Let’s presume for a second that Charon failed, and no clones are born from the process. Can the work of Project Gaia save him? Can evolutionary science fix a hole in the head? Maybe not, but it may be able to preserve whatever is left of his brain. Think about it – FDR was “dead” and now is an omnipresident. Can Oppenheimer be omniscientist?
5. “I’m Not…” Who?
My theory? The voice heard at the end of this issue is actually Robert (the “blue” Oppenheimer), having defeated his evil brother, finally taking over the body by ridding itself of all the red monsters within his brain. Of course, the assassin doesn’t know this and ends his victory celebration quite quickly.
Let’s ask the obvious question – who is the assassin? It seems too simple to be Westmoreland or Groves. It even seems too simple to be one of the scientists. I have an absolutely crack pot theory. He’s the most famous assassin of the 20th century – no longer enraged by JFK, he’s enraged by his puppet in the projects. That’s right folks – could it be Lee Harvey Oswald?
Probably not, but what fun are these if I play it safe?
This month, I talk to Nick Pitarra about a disturbing trend I’ve been noticing in the book:
Is it just me…or have you been killing comic book creators off in the background of Manhattan Projects?
Nick Pitarra: Yeah, good eye! It’s true. I’ve taken advantage of the loose nature in which Jon and I work on Manhattan Projects. To his dismay and disappointment…he gets the art back to see comic creators and personal friends brutally killed in the background…and increasingly the foreground of Manhattan Projects.
The Hit List so far…
Artists…
Ryan Stegman (Spiderman/Wolverine)
Tommy Patterson (Game of Thrones)
Riley Rossmo (Drumhellar/Bedlam/Proof)
Joe Eisma (Morning Glories)
Greg Capullo (Batman)
Rob Guilorry (Chew)
Charles Paul Wilson (Wraith/The Stuff of Legend)
Writers…
John Layman (Chew)
Jeff Lemire (Sweet Tooth/Trillium)
Scott Snyder (Batman/American Vampire)
Others…
Paolo Belfiore (Old Art Rep)
Terry (Cosplayer who beat me at Arm Wrestling)
A lot of the guys that die in MP are close friends or creators I really admire. All of which have been bludgeoned, shot to pieces, smashed, and/or beheaded. Whenever the scripts say guards/soldiers I instantly want to plug a friend in the scene. Plus…I really enjoy doing caricatures and it makes Manhattan Projects more personal and wacky for me. In middle school when I figured out I could draw…I’d get sent to the child psychologist for drawing my friends beheaded …now I get paid for it.
My favorite cameo so far is killing Terry Terman, a guy who crushed my decade reign of terror in armwrestling …serving up my first loss since my teenage years. He wrecked my arm for about a month as well. Terry is a massive guy and a big sweet heart….he loves gaming and is a legit Cosplayer (he’s the best Mr. Incredible you’ve ever seen). Joe Eisma put him in Morning Glories as well. I’ve attached some shots of the recent cameos for you guys to check out!
And here’s the video of Terry killing me at Arm Wrestling! That’s SCAM artist/creator Joe Mulvey on the chair screaming “Come on Nick!”. To this day I can’t make love without hearing his words of encouragement.
Issue 14 was the last time that any of the scientists could be reasonably optimistic about anything. In this issue, it appears that things are in the process of changing again – but this time, Westmoreland (who was introduced in #14) seems on the precipice of being too cocky, for this surely can’t end well for him.
Ryan Browne is back, baby! Another trip inside the (now bullet-ridden) mind of Oppenheimer Prime in “Finite Oppenheimers: Forever!”
Continued belowThis issue feels like the real end of the first act of this story – so, when act two starts up (presumably in full swing post-“Finite Oppenheimers: Forever”), expect a very different book.
As always, thanks for reading, and leave your corrections, theories, and boo hisses in the comments below!
