Comic Review: Undiscovered Country #1

Undiscovered Country #1

Image Comics

Writers: Scott Snyder & Charles Soule

Artists: Giuseppe Camuncoli, Danielle Orlandini, and Matt Wilson

Undiscovered Country is a book that I had high expectations for when it was announced. It has some of the best writers in the industry, with Scott Snyder and Charles Soule collaborating to write something special. It has a stellar art team too with Guiseppe Camuncoli, Danielle Orlandini, and Matt Wilson to bring the script to life. All of these creators come together to introduce what might be Image’s next major hit.

Thirty years ago the United States isolated itself from the rest of the world. The country is now shrouded in mystery and the rest of the world is beginning to collapse due to a deadly plague. A team of scientists finds that the United States is their last hope to save humanity and enters the mysterious country, only to find that nothing goes as expected.  Undiscovered Country‘s plot is creative and feels strangely relevant right now.

Snyder and Soule do an excellent job of setting the stage in the first issue. The dire stakes are established early, and the introduction of the world is believable. The first issue feels like the first thirty minutes of a disaster movie. The plague is devastating, the scientists are daring, and the only solution is dangerous with a low chance of success. Despite how familiar it all feels, the creative team avoids cliches through interesting characters and authentic dialogue. What is most impressive about this first issue is how grand everything feels in scale. Despite the massive scale, the small, intimate moments do a fine job of focusing on the characters and emphasizing their struggles and motives.

Undiscovered Country is wordy, with a lot of information for readers to digest. Snyder and Soule make for a fantastic team and manage to balance worldbuilding with exceptional pacing. Despite all of the information in this issue, I never felt overwhelmed while reading it. There is a lot to take in, but there is never too much. This is a smart book with a lot of thought and love put into the story. The story shifts from scene to scene at just the right moment every time. Undiscovered Country never feels like it is too slow, and the last few pages of the book are thrilling and full of intrigue.

Camuncoli and Orlandini do a fantastic job of bringing Snyder and Soule’s vision onto the page. The book’s art is full of superb spreads that fill the pages with life. The panel layouts are complex and no page looks the same. Still, the action flows across the pages naturally, which reinforces the issue’s pacing. The characters all have satisfying designs while the backgrounds are fully developed. Matt Wilson’s color palette sets the tone for each and every panel. Everything is enhanced by his work, completing the package. The reader will likely be feeling the necessary emotion before even fully absorbing the pages due to the color-work. Few books successfully blend art and writing together so well, but this creative team nails just about everything that makes a comic book successful.

Undiscovered Country #1 is as good of a debut as it can be. Snyder, Soule, and the rest of the creative team have given readers an incredible product that is entertaining and provokes thought. This project is clearly dear to the creators, and that love shows in every speech bubble and panel. The final few pages tease a bright future for this series, and I can’t wait to see where it goes next. Add this one to your pull list.

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