UNDISCOVERED COUNTRY #5: Soldiering On

Issue #5 sticks to format as Snyder and Soule split the story between the past and present. The past this time focuses on Colonel Pavel Bukowski: a soldier hero suffering as many soldiers do from the effects of trauma bought on by past missions. To be honest, up until this point I thought this character would simply be collateral damage in the grand scheme of things but this issue proves me wrong as the colonel he is still a strong resourceful soldier who isn’t going to hang around or be just another brick in the wall (ha ha couldn’t resist) and escapes his horrible imprisonment on the wall.

From there the story comes back to the present and focuses on the Graves siblings as they head toward the wall seemingly heading to accomplish opening the spiral for the Destiny Man. Meanwhile, the rest of the party continues to make good their escape and we get to see some really cool mutant riding creatures.

The most important part of the issue for me is a single panel exchange between Charlotte Graves and Sam where he admits to having been with the Graves parents before and the wording Sam uses when asked is he Sam Elgin is: “WE ALL ARE.” We know there is time travel involved or rather time lensing (see the history pages toward the end of the book).

It’s another strong issue writing-wise as Soule and Snyder continue to flesh out every single main character providing them a history and depth that informs their actions in the present. Pavel immediately goes from one-dimensional soldier type to a flesh and blood human being this issue and that balances the frenetic pace and action going in the present. It’s still not 100% clear to me where this is going but that’s, I think, the best part of this series so far, it’s providing a wild ride where you never sure what’s around the next corner and these issues ending is exactly that.

The art swings between the futuristic modern of the world outside and the bizarro fever dream landscape that is this zone in America, the American symbolism continues in this weird and wonderful world with a literal pink Cadilac riding down the freeway pulled by what essentially is two eyeballs with teeth flying, riding sharks all against the pink and purple-hued landscape, a space shuttle carried by balloon power in red white and blue. It’s like something out of an acid trip in Hunter S. Thompson’s Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas and the contrast in colors from Matt Wilson when switching between the world outside and the world within the wall works well to remind one that we really are somewhere and somewhen different. There is some very good paneling to which gives weight to the scale of the images Camuncolli and Grassi are showing us too especially in the scenes of Pavel on the wall in this issue.

lettering and cover are rock solid too as this issue continues to draw us further and further down the rabbit hole. It’s also really worth mentioning that this issue like the others also has some design and process pages by the creative team at the end along with more historical outtakes from this world. These are always great and well worth reading.