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This November, New York Times bestselling writers Scott Snyder and Charles Soule team up with artists GIUSEPPE CAMUNCOLI and DANIELE ORLANDINI and 2019 Eisner Award-winning colorist MATT WILSON to embark on an epic adventure in the brand-new ongoing series, Undiscovered Country!
In this special oversized Undiscovered Country #1, readers journey into the near future, and an unknown nation that was once the United States of America. A land that's become shrouded in mystery after walling itself off from the rest of the world without explanation over thirty years ago. When a team seeking a cure for a global pandemic breaches U.S. borders, they quickly find themselves in a struggle to survive this strange and deadly lost continent!
A group of scientists, soldiers and politicians travel to the United States of America. The first invited guests, 30 years after America suddenly closed its borders. Becoming a hermit kingdom. What caused the super power to close its doors? Why is America reaching out after all these years? Who are the brave souls chosen for the journey? These are just a few of the questions writers Scott Snyder and Charles Soule pose in this weeks Undiscovered Country #1.
Undiscovered Country is a very important series for Image Comics. Robert Kirkman’s The Walking Dead is no more. Brian K. Vaughan’s Saga is still on hiatus. Leaving Spawn as the only Image series regularly shipping over 25k comics an issue. Leaving Undiscovered Country as Image’s next break-out candidate. Scott Snyder and Charles Soule certainly have the pedigree. Snyder’s Batman run was the last ongoing comic series regularly shipping over 200k issues a release. Soule’s work on Vader and Daredevil were inspired. They’re teaming with a group of amazing artist, led by Giuseppe Camuncoli.
There are a lot of concerns, due to the premise, Undiscovered Country is a response to President Trump’s border policies. I personally didn’t get those vibes from the solicitation information. And none of the creators have hinted at that while promoting the series. I can say with 100% certainty, Undiscovered Country #1 doesn’t deliver any commentary on modern day politics. If you read it specifically looking for political commentary, I’m sure you can probably convince yourself it’s in the book. But you would have to do some serious mental gymnastics getting there.
Artists Giuseppe Camuncoli is in top form on Undiscovered Country. Undiscovered Country #1 is very much a character driven story. Making Cammo’s work designing each characters look and body language even more important than usual. His cast is very expressive for the entirety of the comic. Cammo takes advantage of his real estate in the book, mixing up his paneling and continuously changing angles. Especially when tensions ratchet up. Inker Daniele Orlandini does a great job with Cammo’s pencil work.
Color artist Matt Wilson who adds layers of dread and character to the New World. The synergy from Giuseppe Camuncoli, Daniele Orlandini and Matt Wilson is evident in the quality of the visuals. The settings are impeccably detailed, character expressions lively and visual tone ominous. Snyder and Soule’s vision is executed to near perfection.
Scott Snyder and Charles Soule’s debut as a writing team is very successful. They do a great job introducing the characters and setting. Dr. Graves gets a good amount of development and her brother’s backstory is very intriguing. Some parts get a bit too wordy with exposition, but that’s to be expected in a comic debuting an entire new world. Despite holding an extra 10 pages of story the comic is paced nearly perfectly. Scott Snyder and Charles Soule never linger too long in one space and several elements are introduced that move the story along.
I personally was sold on the premise behind Undiscovered Country when the series as announced. The story execution from Scott Snyder and Charles Soule is even more exciting than I imagined. Snyder is at his best with science-fiction and horror. He’s absolutely in his element with this series. Soule seemingly flourishes with any genre. There are plenty of twists and turns along the way. Using flashbacks for character development suits the comic very well.
#undiscoveredcountry #imagecomics #scottsnyder
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