Jonathan Hickman is known for cramming big ideas into all of his work. But if you want big ideas mixed with sadistic characters, copious bloodshed, and plenty of black humor, The Manhattan Projects is the place to turn. Issue #7 explores both the origins and the fruits of the new American/Soviet super-science partnership. If readers felt bad for poor Helmutt and his perpetual whipping boy status in issue #6, things don't get any better for the Nazi scientist-turned-Soviet science slave this time. With so many sadistic murderers and madmen on the payroll now, it's important that the series retain its focus on the "normal" guys like Helmutt and Richard Feynman. It says something when an ex-Nazi is one of the closest things a book has to a regular protagonist.

In many ways, issue #7 defines the ongoing status quo of the series and what the characters are actually building towards. Where does a secretive cartel of super-scientist go after committing alien genocide, anyway? Hickman answers that questions, and the implication is that these seven issues have only offered a taste of the wacky weirdness to come.

Nick Pitarra's art offers that blend of surreal imagery and distinct but exaggerated character designs the script calls for. Though Pitarra is able to provide some novel new imagery this month, my favorite visual element continues to be his depiction of Joseph Oppenheimer and his split personalities. One area this issue stumbles, however, is in the use of color. Previously, Jordie Bellaire has been able to deftly distinguish between past and present scenes, as well as among Soviet, American, and German characters, through calculated use of blue and red tones. This time, however, the colors change at random and do a poor job of differentiating the various talking heads.

The series looks to be growing ever more wild and gruesome in the coming issues, and that's exactly what I want from my alternate reality tales of science run amuck.

Jesse is a writer for various IGN channels. Allow him to lend a machete to your intellectual thicket by following @jschedeen on Twitter, or Kicksplode on MyIGN.

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