Manifest Destiny #39 Explores Dual Horrors
by Tony Thornley
Manifest Destiny long ago gave up the pretense of being a familiar story with a twist. Though some elements of the story are familiar, the team has made sure that we never know what’s next, and the most shocking twist of the series may come at the end of Manifest Destiny #39.
Chris Dingess, Matthew Roberts, Owen Gieni, and Pat Brousseau deliver a twisty new wrinkle to the story.
Lewis and Clark are coming apart at the seams. Their long journey has taken its toll on them, and they are drawing apart, aided by Maldonado, the ghost of serving the evil they’re travelling west to face. However, when they discover another arch, they have the most unexpected encounter of their journey so far.
Dingess does a great job at showing the two leads drawing apart. The dual journal narrative is clever but ends too soon, pushing back to Lewis’s much too familiar narration after just a few pages. However, the twist at the end of the issue delivers, completely subverting longtime readers’ expectations, while adding an interesting new element to the series.
Roberts and Gieni continue their great work. Roberts’ creature design is without peer, and he does some great character work in the second act of the story adding a few layers of emotional investment to the events of the story. Gieni’s colors are lush and give the story a natural feel, with a painted style that also grounds it in its time period.
This issue shows why this is a story that more people should be reading. Pick it up today!
Manifest Destiny #39 is available now from Image Comics.
