''The Manhattan Projects'' is a comic book series co-created by writer

Jonathan Hickman Jonathan Hickman (born September 3, 1972) is an American comic book writer and artist, best known for his creator-owned series '' The Nightly News'', '' The Manhattan Projects'' and ''East of West'', as well as his lengthy stints as a writer on Ma ...

and artist

Nick Pitarra Nick Pitarra is an American comic book artist known for his numerous collaborations with writer Jonathan Hickman, which include mini-series '' The Red Wing'' and ongoing '' The Manhattan Projects'', both released through Image Comics. Pitarra ...

published by

Image Comics Image Comics is an American comic book publisher and is the third largest comic book and graphic novel publisher in the industry in both unit and market share. It was founded in 1992 by several high-profile illustrators as a venue for creator-ow ...

. It is a story about an alternate history of the end of

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

in which the

Manhattan Project The Manhattan Project was a research and development undertaking during World War II that produced the first nuclear weapons. It was led by the United States with the support of the United Kingdom and Canada. From 1942 to 1946, the project w ...

was a front for other more esoteric

science fiction Science fiction (sometimes shortened to Sci-Fi or SF) is a genre of speculative fiction which typically deals with imaginative and futuristic concepts such as advanced science and technology, space exploration, time travel, parallel unive ...

ideas. The series is a monthly ongoing and began in March 2012 to much critical acclaim. The series was relaunched as ''Manhattan Projects: The Sun Beyond the Stars'' on March 11, 2015.

Characters

*Joseph Oppenheimer, an American physicist with fractured personalities;

Robert Oppenheimer J. Robert Oppenheimer (; April 22, 1904 – February 18, 1967) was an American theoretical physicist. A professor of physics at the University of California, Berkeley, Oppenheimer was the wartime head of the Los Alamos Laboratory and is often ...

's evil, psychopathic twin brother. He can gain knowledge from an individual after eating them, as he did with his brother. In his mindscape, an ongoing

civil war A civil war or intrastate war is a war between organized groups within the same state (or country). The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government policies ...

occurs between Robert and Joseph's personality as well as their respective armies of personality analogues. Although cooperative at first and spearheading three major projects, he would later betray the team for his personal goals before being killed. *

Albert Einstein Albert Einstein ( ; ; 14 March 1879 – 18 April 1955) was a German-born theoretical physicist, widely acknowledged to be one of the greatest and most influential physicists of all time. Einstein is best known for developing the theory ...

, a German physicist. After encountering his alternate-reality self, he was forcibly displaced to the alternate dimension. Using his intelligence to travel through and survive alternate worlds, he finally returns to his original reality as a barbarian. He would later kill Oppenheimer and start an expedition across alternate worlds through his portal. *Albrecht Einstein, the alcoholic alternate reality version, posing as the original Albert Einstein after switching places. He would later join Albert Einstein's expedition. *

Richard Feynman Richard Phillips Feynman (; May 11, 1918 – February 15, 1988) was an American theoretical physicist, known for his work in the path integral formulation of quantum mechanics, the theory of quantum electrodynamics, the physics of the superflu ...

, a somewhat narcissistic American theoretical physicist. He helped activate Einstein's portal and would also join Albert Einstein's expedition. *

Enrico Fermi Enrico Fermi (; 29 September 1901 – 28 November 1954) was an Italian (later naturalized American) physicist and the creator of the world's first nuclear reactor, the Chicago Pile-1. He has been called the "architect of the nuclear age" and ...

, an extra-terrestrial disguised as an Italian physicist. Although cooperative at first, it was revealed that he attempted to kill Daghlian and sabotage the Project from the beginning, only to be killed and experimented on by Einstein. *

William Westmoreland William Childs Westmoreland (March 26, 1914 – July 18, 2005) was a United States Army general, most notably commander of United States forces during the Vietnam War from 1964 to 1968. He served as Chief of Staff of the United States Army from ...

, a US Army general and a sadist. He is tasked by John F. Kennedy to terminate the Manhattan Projects before conspiring with Groves and Johnson. He would later assassinate Kennedy and frame it on

Lee Harvey Oswald Lee Harvey Oswald (October 18, 1939 – November 24, 1963) was a U.S. Marine veteran who assassinated John F. Kennedy, the 35th president of the United States, on November 22, 1963. Oswald was placed in juvenile detention at the age of 12 fo ...

. *

Harry Daghlian Haroutune Krikor Daghlian Jr. (May 4, 1921 – September 15, 1945) was an American physicist with the Manhattan Project, which designed and produced the atomic bombs that were used in World War II. He accidentally irradiated himself on August 2 ...

, an irradiated American physicist; later dubbed the "Atomic Messiah". The "

Demon core The demon core was a spherical subcritical mass of plutonium in diameter, manufactured during World War II by the United States nuclear weapon development effort, the Manhattan Project, as a fissile core for an early atomic bomb. The core wa ...

" incident left him a sentient, extremely radioactive skeleton. *

Wernher von Braun Wernher Magnus Maximilian Freiherr von Braun ( , ; 23 March 191216 June 1977) was a German and American aerospace engineer and space architect. He was a member of the Nazi Party and Allgemeine SS, as well as the leading figure in the develop ...

, a German rocket scientist with robotic prosthetic limbs. * Leslie Groves, a no-nonsense US Army general and director of the Manhattan Projects. He ordered the Hiroshima and Nagasaki atomic bombings and was the reason for Manhattan Projects' continuation. He would later conspire with Westmoreland and Johnson. *FDR: A.I., the artificial intelligence of the deceased American president, Franklin D. Roosevelt. * Lyndon B. Johnson, the 37th President of the United States of America and conspirator of

Kennedy's assassination John F. Kennedy, the 35th president of the United States, was assassinated on Friday, November 22, 1963, at 12:30 p.m. CST in Dallas, Texas, while riding in a presidential motorcade through Dealey Plaza. Kennedy was in the vehicle wit ...

. * Harry S. Truman, the 33rd President of the United States of America, a Freemason cultist, and leader of the Illuminatorium. * Yuri Gagarin, a Russian cosmonaut and national hero. After escaping the attack on Star City, he and von Braun decides to explore space in hopes of finding Laika. * Laika, a Russian talking space dog and Gagarin's close companion. * Helmutt Gröttrup, a German rocket scientist and engineer. He was made the Project's slave for his cowardice. * Dmitriy Ustinov, a 'brain-in-a-jar' android and the Russian Minister of Defence. * John F. Kennedy, the 35th President of the United States of America. He is a drug-addict who ordered the termination of the Manhattan Projects, regarding them as conspiring with the enemy before being assassinated. * Leonid Brezhnev, a Soviet Union General Secretary who was mutated by the alien matter retrieved from the Tunguska event. He alongside his team was tasked by the Soviet Government to terminate Star City and those involved in it for conspiring with the enemy. * Che Guevara, an Argentine revolutionary, military strategist, and diplomat. He was captured by Brezhnev's team, craniotomized, and eventually mind-controlled by the Soviets. *

Fidel Castro Fidel Alejandro Castro Ruz (; ; 13 August 1926 – 25 November 2016) was a Cuban revolutionary and politician who was the leader of Cuba from 1959 to 2008, serving as the prime minister of Cuba from 1959 to 1976 and president from 1976 to 200 ...

, a Cuban revolutionary and politician. He was also captured by Brezhnev's team, craniotomized, and eventually mind-controlled by the Soviets.

Collected editions

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

References

External links

Review
from Comics Alliance
Review
from Comic Book Resources
''Manhattan Projects'' bends history around atomic bomb
'' USA Today'' {{DEFAULTSORT:Manhattan Projects Comics by Jonathan Hickman Shadowline titles 2012 comics debuts Science fiction comics Cold War in popular culture Comics set in the 1940s Comics set in the 1950s Comics set in the 1960s Cultural depictions of Albert Einstein Cultural depictions of Wernher von Braun Cultural depictions of Franklin D. Roosevelt Cultural depictions of Lyndon B. Johnson Cultural depictions of Harry S. Truman Cultural depictions of John F. Kennedy Cultural depictions of Yuri Gagarin Comics set in the United States Comics set in Germany Comics set in Russia