Image Comics Review: Undiscovered Country #4

Image Comics Review: Undiscovered Country #4

[Editor’s Note: This review may contain spoilers]

Writers: Scott Snyder and Charles Soule

Artists: Giuseppe Camuncoli and Daniele Orlandini 

Letters: Crank!

Colors:  Matt Wilson  

Reviewed by: Carl Bryan

Summary

New York Times bestselling writers SCOTT SNYDER (WYTCHES, A.D.: AFTER DEATH) and CHARLES SOULE (CURSE WORDS, the forthcoming novel Anyone) teams up with artists GIUSEPPE CAMUNCOLI (The Amazing Spider-Man, Darth Vader, Hellblazer) and DANIELE ORLANDINI (Darth Vader) and 2019 Eisner Award-winning colorist MATT WILSON (THE WICKED AND THE DIVINE, PAPER GIRLS) to embark on an epic adventure in the brand-new ongoing series, UNDISCOVERED COUNTRY!

All is lost. The world will wither under the Sky pandemic, and the Destiny Man will murder our intrepid explorers before they’ve made it further into the former US than Nevada. Unless, that is, brilliant journalist Valentina Sandoval can discover one…essential…truth.

Positives

The team is in the clutches of The Destiny Man and one member will tell them the bitter truth of how they ended up in the United States to begin with.

With Daniel Graves’ betrayal, the Destiny Man has the entire team captive. Daniel is bent on his idea that his and Dr. Charlotte Grave’s father is the key to the cure they have been challenged to be a part of.

As the Destiny Man (drawn by Giuseppe Camuncoli and Daniele Orlandini) tells the captives of his vision of the United States and why he wants passage to the Spiral.  Valentina Sandoval will reveal she knows more about their mission than all of them.

I love the fact that Sandoval provides a “Lois Lane” type of character who wants to know the “why” behind the selection of this team.  And according to her, there is no way that these people should even be assembled into a team to do anything to save the world.  But what is the key?

This story was starting to shape up to be a brother sister duo tale where they are trying to find their father in order to save the world.  However,both Snyder and Soule are developing the story much like the series Lost with a mixture of The Stand and Mad Max.  Throw in some history references and you have some really rich content for an apocalyptic playground stuck in some sort of time warp.

Positives (even more accolades)

Scott Snyder is great in providing small objects that have a major influence on the entire script –  a subway coin in his Batman Who Laughs series – and now we have … a rail road spike.

Not just any rail road spike, but the Golden Spike that was the last one driven in when the Central and Union Pacific completed  the first rail line across the country.

And apparently that may be the key… but the key to what? Not to spoil anything, but this object is playing a part in setting up the next phase of the journey to Uncle Sam.  And for the Graves children to figure out if they are working together on the same side or against?  

Negatives 

None…this is some original stuff.  

Verdict

What?  It’s not already on your shelf?  Buy this book!  And go back and obtain Issue #1, #2. and #3 as this will eventually be a movie! It’s ground floor original stuff!  And it;s starting to be somewhat of a “The Stand” aftermath.  It’s really haunting and really well written and illustrated.