Written by Chris Dingess
Art by Matthew Roberts
Colored by Owen Gieni
Published by Image Comics
One great thing about Manifest Destiny #7 is that it assumes new readers will be picking it up. Using the device of Meriwether Lewis’ diary, it introduces the various members of the Lewis and Clark expedition and some of the people they’ve picked up along the way. However, the comic isn’t all exposition and describing characters. There is some beautiful art from Matthew Roberts and Owen Gieni, who show how strange the American West would have been to explorers in the early 19th century. Roberts’ facial work is a little inconsistent with some character seeming like caricature, and others more like actual humans. But Dingess’ script is tight and easy to follow with some bits of humor and moral ambiguity to keep the journey interesting.
After the events of the previous arc in which the entire Lewis and Clark expedition was almost devoured by plant monsters, they and the survivors of the village of La Charrette are back on their way to the Pacific coast. The first part of Dingess’ plot moves rather slowly as he re-establishes the characters of Lewis and Clark while also highlighting the characteristics of the people from La Charrette. Roberts’ art helps with the characterization as Le Sieur is a happy man gleefully catching fish whereas Madame Boniface is perceived as suspicious with an almost permanent smirk on her face. She plays a big role in this issue’s plot and is the source of the internal conflict, which is occasionally more interesting than the obstacles and monsters the explorers run into. Some of the best scenes are the debates between Lewis and Clark over which direction they should go in their journey and also ethical decisions. They are definitely not interchangeable clones, and Dingess gives both Lewis and Clark a different manner of speaking as characters.
In the last arc, Matthew Roberts showed his ability to show the grotesque as the Lewis and Clark expedition faced indescribable horrors, including a minotaur-bison hybrid and the previously mentioned zombie-like plant beings. He gets to draw a few monsters in Manifest Destiny #7, including a stunning one page splash of Sacagawea fighting a giant ladybug early in the issue. However, most of his art in this issue is establishing characters and setting. He does a pretty good job with both. Some of his side characters’ figures look like caricatures, but he uses shadow to a good effect in Lewis and Clark’s clandestine meeting about some secret things that could impact the expedition. He and colorist Owen Gieni also give the American frontier a wild and lush atmosphere. Gieni especially excels in a full page underwater sequence where he mixes greens and blues to show what a river might actually look like.
Manifest Destiny #7 takes its time describing and developing its cast members, and the plot isn’t particularly fast moving or suspenseful until the third half. (The first obstacle isn’t that impressive, but lets Roberts and Gieni draw some great scenery.) However, it is a great jumping on point for new readers and portrays its protagonists, Merriwether Lewis and William Clark, as capable leaders, who may also be morally flawed. For fans of American history, monster fiction, or just general adventure stories, Manifest Destiny #7 is worth picking up.