Manifest Destiny #43

Manifest Destiny #43

Skybound Entertainment/Image Comics 2013

Written by Chris Dingess

Illustrated by Matthew Roberts

Coloured by Owen Gieni

Lettered by Pat Brosseau

In 1803, Lewis and Clark were commissioned by President Thomas Jefferson to explore the uncharted United States westward. Not to mention kill every damn creature in their path.

Now, the Pacific Coast is within sight, and their long and terrifying journey is almost over. There is just the matter of resolving their bargain with a demon…

In 2013, CHRIS DINGESS and MATTHEW ROBERTS began their acclaimed historical adventure series…now, they begin their final adventure, and may God save our souls.

From the moment I picked up my first issue all the way through this one it has remained one of the absolute best series to be on stands. Sure they’ve had a few breaks in when the books came out but this is one of those series where that doesn’t matter because this is so well crafted and has such a wonderfully unique premise in something so utterly familiar. Alternate history at its finest as this is truly an undiscovered country full of fantastical creatures that I think only these guys could have dreamed up.

I love, love, love the way that this is being told. How we see the story & plot development through how the sequence of events unfold as well as how the reader learns information is presented exquisitely well. That we see this moving backward from the opening and what leads up to it is extremely well done. The character development is fantastic and how we see it through the dialogue, the character interaction and how they act and react to the situations and circumstances that they encounter is where most of this characterisation comes from. The pacing is incredible and as it takes us through the pages revealing more and more of the story, this world and the twists & turns along the way the reader is continually mesmerised by what we see.

I am impressed with how we see this being structured and how the layers within the story continue to grow, evolve and strengthen. These layers are where we see a lot of the drama, depth and complexity in the storytelling and it is so amazingly rendered. How we see everything working together to create the story’s ebb & flow as well as how it moves the story forward is perfectly achieved.

The interiors here are utterly fabulous! The linework we see is strong, clean and crisp and how the varying weights and techniques are being utilised to create this level of quality in the detail work is astonishing. The creativity and imagination is so far beyond expectations and how we see backgrounds in this just boggles the mind and imagination. How we see this in the composition within the panels bringing us the depth perception, sense of scale and the overall sense of size and scope to the story is stupendous. The utilisation of the page layouts and how we see the angles and perspective in the panels show such a masterful eye for storytelling. The colour work we see is fabulous! How we see the various hues and tones within the colours being utilised to create the shading, highlights and shadow work showcases the eye of a master colourist. Seriously how the depth and dimension we see thought just the colour work alone is absolutely stunning.

​

At this rate i’m beginning to wonder if any of these character will actually make it to the coast and even if they do how are they going to get back east? After all the middle of the continent is full of creatures of all shapes & sizes and all equally as deadly as the next. While this series is one that is coming to a close you can still read and reread this time and again and it never looses its appeal or its timelessness. Plus this is one of the best sweeping epic stories you are ever going to have the pleasure to read.