'Manhattan Projects' To Go On Hiatus, Change Format

It seems that even super-science is bound to its limitations, no matter how bizarre they may be. As sharp-eyed readers may have noticed -- and as reported by Multiversity -- the latest issue of Jonathan Hickman and Nick Pitarra's Manhattan Projects revealed that the series will be taking a hiatus over the next few months while the creators tinker with the book's format, presumably with the goal of delivering even more horrifying and Earth-shattering mad science in the months to come.

While the words "changing format" initially made me think that the the series might be shifting over to original graphic novels, a look at what Hickman had to say makes it pretty clear that montly issues of Manhattan Projects aren't going anywhere. Instead, it'll be the structure of the stories that changes, moving from the sprawling ensemble cast that Hickman and Pitarra have created over the past two years to a book that's much more focused on individual characters.

Here's what Hickman had to say in the issue:

The book and team will be on hiatus until March when Manhattan Projects will return with a few, but rather significant, changes.
Nick and I always knew that when the comic got to a certain point we would be changing format, as Manhattan Projects was always intended to eventually be a book where we could tell any kind of story — in any genre — we wanted. We were also aware that doing so would mean that we would be changing the entire structure of the book. Gone will be the sprawling ensemble narrative that moves each individual character’s story incrementally along, and replacing that will be tight arcs focusing on a single (or few) characters.

The announcement comes at the end of a massive, overarching story that has been running through the first 25 issues of the book, which makes it a pretty good time for a clean break.

The Manhattan Projects is set to officially return in March of 2015 with a new arc, "The Sun Beyond the Stars."