Undiscovered Country Vol. 3: Possibility
Scott Snyder & Charles Soule, writers; Giuseppe Camuncoli, layouts; Leonardo Marcello Grassi, finishes; Matt Wilson, colors; Crank!, lettering.
Image Comics, 2022
The saga continues as the group makes its way through Possibility, the third of the thirteen zones in the no longer United States of America. This region was built on American creativity, from folklore to superheroes to virtual reality, which makes it especially ripe for imaginative visual storytelling. The zone was once populated by all of the creatives responsible for the stories, myths, music and styles that made up the American culture that was such a draw for the rest of the world. They were tasked with making new creations that would redefine the land, so that when the doors re-opened the American Dream would be renewed. Uncle Sam claims not to remember what happened in the past three hundred years, but he tells the group that their task is to create an American masterpiece.
As usual things are even more complicated than that, but it's fun watching them fight off a bunch of black-and-white gangsters and an island full of superheroes. Next thing you know they are meeting characters like Paul Bunyan, Davy Crockett and Annie Oakley--who take them to meet George Washington, Betsy Ross, Johnny Appleseed and others. George tells them about how the Crossroads Devil convinced them to kill all of the humans. But the Devil is still in charge, and the story is just a ruse to get the visitors to find the last Anything Engine (a magical machine capable of creating literally anything). Teamwork allows the team to prevail, and move on to the zone of Disunity.
As a musician I especially enjoyed the musical references in this installment. The guitar-playing Crossroads Devil is a clear reference to blues legend Robert Johnson's famous midnight wager. And I enjoyed seeing them open the gates to The Mix by correctly singing a piece of music notation. There were also several interesting flashbacks to earlier scenes after the Sealing showing past lives of the team members. The collection ends with the usual array of supplemental materials, including a timeline, sketches, and alternate covers.
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