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Don’t Miss This: “Undiscovered Country”

By | January 13th, 2022
Posted in Columns | % Comments

There are a lot of comics out there, but some just stand out head and shoulders above the pack. With “Don’t Miss This” we want to spotlight those series we think need to be on your pull list. This week, we’re taking a look at one of Image Comic’s most recent hits: “Undiscovered Country”. The world order is dying and it turns out the United States has the cure for a deadly plague. Unfortunately, the United States shut down its borders years ago and nobody’s seen or heard from them since. Now it’s up to a crack team of scientists, diplomats, soldiers, and historians to break into the United States and figure out what the hell is going on.

Who Is This By?
“Undiscovered Country” is written by two of the most well known writers in comic books today: Scott Snyder and Charles Soule. While Snyder made a name for himself with one of the best Batman runs in recent memory and some fantastic horror comics such as “American Vampire” and “Wyches”, lately he’s been moving away from the Big Two and focusing more on his excellent independent comics with his own imprint Best Jacket Press.

Meanwhile, Soule–who broke into the industry around the same time as Snyder–has been best known for his work with Marvel, especially with the “Star Wars” series of books. The book is drawn by Giuseppe Camuncoli–another industry veteran who has worked on some of the most popular titles from Marvel and DC–and Danielle Orlandini with colors by 2019 Eisner Award winner Matt D.Wilson.

Basically, “Undiscovered Country” is an all star creative team coming together to create their own story free from the editorial constraints of

What’s It All About?

Set 30 years in the future, the world is tearing itself apart. On top of the usual war and geopolitical issues, a strange virus named Sky is killing large numbers of people at an alarming rate. What’s worse, it seems that the United States of America has completely abandoned its current role as the world’s hegemon and has completely isolated itself from the rest of the world. Nobody’s heard from the U.S for three decades and any attempts to enter U.S territory has been met with lethal force.
However, a few days before the book starts, a strange broadcast from inside American territory was received by every other government on the planet. It promises a cure for the Sky Virus and the possibility of reopening America’s borders to the rest of the world. The catch is that the negotiations need to happen on American soil, which leads to a crack team of diplomats, scientists, historians, journalists, and soldiers to board a helicopter and attempt to visit a country that nobody’s seen in years.

The America that greets the main characters is completely different from the America that we know and love/hate today. For reasons I won’t be mentioning here, time in the states has jumped forward by three hundred years, allowing American technology, culture, and society to leap ahead into the future in ways that nobody could have possibly imagined. It’s up to the main characters of this story to navigate a strange and terrifying new world that is filled with all sorts of wonderful ideas…and terrors.

What Makes It So Great?

“Undiscovered Country” is a fascinating thesis on American society, a pulse pounding action story, absolutely gorgeous to look at, and completely bonkers to read.

The insanity of “Undiscovered Country” mostly comes from the book’s setting. Instead of splitting up into states, America is now divided into several zones that represent a certain aspect of American culture and thought. For example, the first zone that the group enters is what is known as the “Destiny Zone”, a place where every American who believes that the country’s strength comes from its zealous and militant belief in absolute individual freedom. This belief has allowed the specific zone to turn into what can only be described as a Mad Max style, post apocalyptic Wild West where its people wrap themselves in tin foil and roam the desert of the American Southwest on the backs of genetically modified animals.
Of course, this is just one of the zones and has a completely different flavor than a zone that prefers to set itself up as a technocratic innovation based society, or a massive ocean with islands that represent various aspects of American art and culture. Each of these different zones have their own look, feel, and dangers that threaten to overwhelm and destroy the main cast before they can find the cure for the Sky Virus and save the planet

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In my opinion “Undiscovered Country” is a shining example of what comic books can be. The sheer scope and scale of Snyder and Soule’s imagination is awe inspiring and it is brought to light with some of the most gorgeous artwork and colors I’ve ever seen in a book. On top of that, the book isn’t just over sensationalized, jingoistic claptrap. Snyder and Soule do a great job of balancing the insane visuals with thought provoking commentary on what America means to the rest of the world, what direction its citizens think it should be headed, and the challenges and horrible things that must be done in order to make each facet of the American Dream a reality.

How Can You Read It?

The series is well under way and has already published two trade paperbacks, which are available in both digital and print form. Also, Image was quick to realize that they had a hit on their hands and have been devoting a fair amount of marketing and press buzz to the book, which has allowed readers to pick up the first issue of “Undiscovered Country” for just a dollar at your local comic book store.


//TAGS | Don't Miss This

Matthew Blair

Matthew Blair hails from Portland, Oregon by way of Attleboro, Massachusetts. He loves everything comic related, and will talk about it for hours if asked. He also writes a web comic about a family of super villains which can be found here: https://tapas.io/series/The-Secret-Lives-of-Villains

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