Undiscovered Country, Vol. 1 - TRADE REVIEW
Undiscovered Country, Vol. 1 is out July 8, 2020.
By Jacob Cordas — “The American Dream will never---,” our Uncle Sam surrogate shouts before being riddled with bullets. He, of course, stands up in a display of grit and determination that would make the Founding Fathers proud to yell at his assailants, “The American Dream will never die! But you will.” And in that insane moment, I realized two things about Undiscovered Country: 1) I unabashedly love this comic and 2) I have absolutely no idea what this is about.
None whatsoever.
Don’t get me wrong. The plot is a pretty straight forward sci-fi skinned men-on-a-mission story. In this case, America has closed its borders for years, a pandemic is spreading all over the world and the major world leaders are informed by America that they have a cure for it. A team is assembled from across these varied nations to be the first people to set foot in America since the borders closed.
But it is in all the details that Scott Snyder (Dark Nights: Metal), Charles Soule (Daredevil) and Giuseppe Camuncoli (The Superior Spider-Man) created that have made Undiscovered Country so much more than that summary could possibly suggest.
Does one of the characters have an encyclopedic knowledge of Walmart floor plans? You bet they do. Does another character quote Die Hard while fist fighting a giant starfish?* Hell yeah, that happens. Does someone ride a meat-eating and apparently lightning-powered buffalo and yell, “The tree of liberty will be watered with his blood?” Of course. Of course, they do.
The art, primarily done by Giuseppe Camuncoli with finishes by Daniele Oralndini (Star Wars: Darth Vader) and Leonardo Marcello Grassi with excellent coloring by Matt Wilson (Fire Power), leans heavily into the visual nonsense we are being treated to. This amazing art team perfectly understands the tone this comic needs. They bring a life to each and every one of those little elements making for such an exciting experience..
I need to stress how difficult what the art team had to pull off was. The sheer amount of visual incongruity they need to get to work on a single page is absurd, let alone in a single issue. In twenty-four pages you could be reading about blue ooze leaking from a character’s eyes, quickly followed by a land shark with a turret strapped to its back, with that leading into the reveal of a rebel faction in caves called The Silent Minority. That’s just the first issue. Each issue rackets up that visual insanity. And the art team more than keeps pace with every batshit idea thrown their way.
But with everything I’ve said so far, I need to circle the wagons back - I have no idea what any of this is about. In the essay in back (that was originally published with the first issue), Snyder explains the core of this book as, “Do we recoil from the world, as individuals, as communities, as nations, or do we join together to face all the daunting world-threatening problems out there? Are we in it as one, or… should we look out for ours and ours alone?” And I suppose if you squint, you could say that’s the main theme here. I can see how that’s the idea that led him and Soules down this road. But it barely comes across in the comic.
Instead what this feels most like is watching an international film trying to depict America through the pop culture ideas of what this country is. It doesn’t try to depict it with anything resembling accuracy (to culture, history, etc) but, and I mean this sincerely, I don’t fucking care. It is just so much fun the whole way through that I just kept reading it and then had to read it again.
I don’t care what the thematic excuse is to get us to this amazingly inventive world. I don’t care what the subtextual meaning in this story is. What I care about is just how rad those rainbow train tracks look, how dope the design for The Destiny Man is, how snappy every single line of dialogue is. I care about this world because everyone involved with this comic clearly does.
And I hope anybody reading this will take a visit to the world of Undiscovered Country. I know I will definitely be going back.
Overall: Undiscovered Country, Vol. 1 is delightful nonsense from a creative team that excels in this kind of world. I loved my experience in this world and happily invite everyone to come visit. 9/10
*Scott Snyder’s best use of starfishes as well as his best addition to the Bat-canon is Jarro, The Star Wonder. No, you cannot change my mind about this.
Undiscovered Country, Vol. 1 - REVIEW
Undiscovered Country, Vol. 1
Writers: Scott Snyder & Charles Soule
Layouts: Giuseppe Camuncoli
Finishes: Daniele Orlandini (Issues 1-4) & Leonardo Marcello Grassi (Issues 4-6)
Colorist: Matt Wilson
Letterer: Crank!
Publisher: Image
Price: $9.99
The smash-hit series written by New York Times-bestselling writers SCOTT SNYDER (WYTCHES, A.D.: AFTER DEATH) and CHARLES SOULE (CURSE WORDS, Oracle Year, Anyone) with art by GIUSEPPE CAMUNCOLI (The Amazing Spider-Man, Darth Vader, Hellblazer), DANIELE ORLANDINI (Darth Vader), newcomer LEONARDO MARCELLO GRASSI, and Eisner Award-winning colorist MATT WILSON (THE WICKED + THE DIVINE, PAPER GIRLS) gets its first collection! Journey into an unknown region that was once the United States of America—a land that’s become shrouded in mystery and literally walled off from the rest of the world for well over a century. Two small expeditions enter the former US simultaneously—one from the east, one from the west—and travel inward, each seeking their own form of truth as they struggle to survive in this strange and deadly lost continent! Collects UNDISCOVERED COUNTRY #1-6
Release Date: July 8, 2020
Buy It Digitally: Undiscovered Country, Vol. 1
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My name is Jacob Cordas (@Jacweasel) and I am not qualified to write this.