Welcome back to the comic book corner. This week I’ll be discussing one of my personal favorite titles, Image Comics’ Manifest Destiny. Written by Chris Dingess and with art by Matthew Roberts, Manifest Destiny was first released in 2016 and will conclude this year. The series totals 48 issues in length and was collected in eight trade paperbacks, the last of which will release this Fall, a month after the final issue releases.

In anticipation of the final volume release, I wanted to break down the series from the beginning. This review will cover issues 1-24 collected in the first four volumes. I’ll be giving my final thoughts on the second half of the series later this year.

Manifest Destiny is a historical fiction series that follows Lewis and Clark on their famous expedition mapping the Louisiana territory. However, it is soon revealed that the expedition written about in textbooks was merely a cover story for the real excursion. In this retelling, the explorers have been tasked with eradicating various monstrous and fantastical entities of unknown origin.

This series has some of the best debut issues for a comic book. The first volume immediately throws you into action as the expedition comes face to face with the unknown right away. The tone quickly shifts to that of a horror story as the men of the expedition suffer heavy casualties. Every issue ends with a beautiful full-page spread that has you constantly on the edge of your seat wondering how their journey could get worse.

As the story progresses, the reader gradually learns more about the origins of these unearthly threats which plague the expedition. This allows for some unique world-building and emphasis on the core themes. Of course, these themes generally center around a pervasive fear of the unknown.

My favorite aspect of this story is the creative monster design and various fantastical hazards our heroes encounter throughout the series. Some of these are completely original, while others are unique twists on classic American folktales and myths. Matt Roberts’ art is at its best here. He always manages to capture the unnerving and alien nature of each threat with brutal action and body horror.

I also enjoy the setting, as I feel that both Colonial America and Native American culture are underutilized in fantasy stories. I would definitely place this series within the “grimdark” genre. Every character is deeply flawed and the world as a whole is quite unforgiving. However, I think this fits perfectly with the setting. There are no clear heroes here and the Americans are certainly not depicted in a favorable light.

I like this fresh perspective as most American education tends to romanticize the Lewis and Clark expedition. In reality, western expansion was nothing more than a harsh, brutal struggle between man and nature. Additionally, this time period is one of America’s most violent. I like that the author uses this narrative to emphasize the bloody trail of destruction that America often leaves behind in the interest of “freedom.”

Even though flawed characters tend to feel more realistic and three-dimensional, I do acknowledge that it can also be a detriment. Some readers may find the characters so unlikeable that they don’t care what happens to them. Consequently, you may not find the encounters as interesting as I did.

There are some moments of comedy that are subtly utilized to solve this issue. I particularly enjoy how the paneling and annotations from Lewis’ diary often are employed to emphasize the absurd situations the characters find themselves in. You can tell the authors have made full creative use of the medium of comics.

Apart from the unlikeable characters, there are a few confusing moments. In the second volume, we are introduced to a secondary expedition that took place three years before the current mission. This story is also delivered through narration in the form of a diary entry and runs parallel to Lewis’ journal entries. This makes it very easy to blend the two characters together. On my initial read, I was left wondering where these new characters came from and thought there could have been more visual distinction between the past and present day.

Apart from these minor detriments, I really don’t have much criticism for the first half. It’s exactly the kind of thing I look for in a comic filled with interesting characters and a creative world. The story arcs are unpredictable and often take unexpected turns that leave you interested on every page. Hopefully, the second half and final conclusion can be just as satisfying.

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Manifest Destiny

14.99

9

Score

9.0/10

Pros

• Creative monsters
• Interesting world
• Unpredictable narrative

Cons

• Characters can be unlikable