The Manhattan Projects

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The Manhattan Projects
Publication information
Publisher Image Comics
ScheduleMonthly
Format Ongoing series
Genre science fiction
Publication date 20122015
No. of issues25 [1]
Creative team
Created by Jonathan Hickman
Nick Pitarra
Written by Jonathan Hickman
Artist(s) Nick Pitarra
Ryan Browne
Letterer(s) Rus Wooton
Colorist(s) Cris Peter
Rachelle Rosenberg
Jordie Bellaire

The Manhattan Projects is a science fiction comic book series co-created by writer Jonathan Hickman and artist Nick Pitarra published by Image Comics. The premise is an alternate history near the end of World War II in which the Manhattan Project was a front for other more esoteric science fiction ideas. The series is a monthly ongoing and began in March 2012 to much critical acclaim.

Contents

The series was relaunched as Manhattan Projects: The Sun Beyond the Stars on 11 March 2015. [2]

Characters

Collected editions

The Manhattan Projects has been collected into the following trade paperbacks:

TitleMaterial collectedISBNStory
Vol. 1: Science. Bad.The Manhattan Projects #1–5 ISBN   978-1-607066-08-8 In 1942, US Army lieutenant general Leslie Groves hires Robert Oppenheimer (who is secretly Oppenheimer's psychopathic twin brother Joseph) to work at the top-secret Manhattan Project to help develop a mass destruction weapon for the U.S. government. Joseph meets scientists Richard Feynman, Enrico Fermi, Harry Daghlian, and Albert Einstein. After their laboratory in the War Department is invaded by Japanese robots through a torii , president Franklin Roosevelt dies suddenly and is resurrected as an Artificial Intelligence, with Harry S. Truman replacing his office. Wernher von Braun betrays the Nazis and joins the project after his fortress was surrounded. Einstein, with the help of Feynman, successfully assembled an interdimensional portal. After the periodic meeting with the Project and the Soviet Union's alien contact gone wrong, Oppenheimer kills their leader and eats its brains to gain knowledge of space travel. After the atomic bomb is successfully constructed, the Enola Gay bombs Hiroshima and Nagasaki, defying Truman's orders and resulting in Japan's surrender.
Vol. 2: They Rule The Manhattan Projects #6–10 ISBN   978-1-607067-26-9 Following the projects' success with the atomic bomb, and the end of the Second World War, the projects begin to turn their attentions towards advancing the human race. They ally with Soviet Union's Star City, namely Minister Dmitry Ustinov, cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin and his dog Laika, without the knowledge of their respective governments. This catches the attention of the Illuminatorium, the secret society of leaders led by Truman. The Illuminatorium deemed the Manhattan Projects as a threat and decides to attack with the help of their intel, F.D.R. AI. After suffering losses, the Project manages to finish off the Illuminatorium.
Vol. 3: BuildingThe Manhattan Projects #11–15 ISBN   978-1-607067-53-5 This volume details the first half of Oppenheimer's master plan. With the Illuminati now destroyed save for the F.D.R. AI, a simple question looms over the scientists of The Manhattan Projects: how are they going to govern the world? The Projects are split into three divisions with their own goals: Project Ares will deal with space exploration and colonization, Project Vulcan will deal with the accumulation of renewable energy sources and Project Gaia will deal with perfecting the human condition. All of the projects are to be controlled by Oppenheimer's secret project, Project Charon, to gain knowledge and control throughout creation.
Vol. 4: The Four DisciplinesThe Manhattan Projects #16–20 ISBN   978-1-607069-61-4 Oppenheimer aims to gain control of all the projects by imprisoning the leaders of the various projects and torturing the information out of them. The result of Project Gaia, an alien-human hybrid, is killed by general William Westmoreland. Oppenheimer recruits Albrecht to finish Project Charon. Robert and his blue alternates wage war for the control of Joseph's mind, eventually winning, resulting in Project Charon's failure. However, at that moment, Albert emerges from the gateway and kills Joseph. Albert and Albrecht reconcile and alongside Feynman, set off for parts unknown.
Vol. 5: The Cold WarThe Manhattan Projects #21–25 ISBN   978-1-63215-184-1 "The Cold War" reveals the dark days of the 'real' Cuban Missile Crisis, Grove, Westmoreland, and Lyndon B. Johnson's real scheme to assassinate president John F. Kennedy, and the end of the Manhattan Projects-Star City alliance. [3]
Vol. 6: The Sun Beyond the StarsThe Manhattan Projects: The Sun Beyond the Stars #1–4 ISBN   978-1632156280 Yuri Gagarin continues his quest to find Laika. After encountering each other, two of them alongside their allies embark on adventures while being lost in space.

The Manhattan Projects has been collected into the following hardcover collections:

TitleMaterial collectedISBN
The Manhattan Projects Vol. 1 HCThe Manhattan Projects #1–10ISBN 978-1632151155
The Manhattan Projects Vol. 2 HCThe Manhattan Projects #11–20 ISBN   978-1632157430

References