We really liked “Manifest Destiny” in the beginning, although “liked” is a weak word for a series that balanced post-colonial questions with Lovecraftian horror. But now that it’s reached the end of an arc, has this grim journey gotten where it was going?
Written by Chris Dingess
Illustrated by Matthew RobertsWith the flora infestation overrunning their outpost, can Lewis and Clark deliver frontier justice to a savage, savage world? The first chapter of their thrilling ongoing adventure ends here!
This series has walked a fine line between edgy and exploitative in its portrayal of Lewis and Clark’s westward journey. At the outset it felt as though the monstrous flora and fauna the explorers were encountering were extensions of, or metaphors for, their own attitudes about the world they were invading. But since the introduction of Sacagawea (and the rather caricatured Toussaint Charbonneau) in issue #4, the focus has shifted. While Lewis and Clarke are still portrayed as morally despicable, it’s the direness of their situation that drives the plot forward, motivating the majority of the action scenes. This has become a horror story that happens to take place over the course of Lewis and Clark’s journey; a valid premise in itself, but one that doesn’t engage with the historical source, and feels like a missed opportunity.
This isn’t to say that the interesting feeling of ambiguity that permeated the first few issues has left the story entirely; but it’s far in the background as the plant-parasite, in all its grotesque forms, becomes the focus of this issue. This is the most action-packed chapter so far, featuring an ill-fated battle with afflicted forest creatures, and it moves along quickly, bringing Lewis and Clark to revelatory experience by the end.
All the while, Matthew Roberts’ art keeps us engaged; the portrayal of the carnivorous plants is as impressive as ever, balancing gross-out detail with a feel for the beauty and eerieness of the phenomenon. The beats of the action are always clear, flowing along uncomplicated layouts that play differences in scale for additional thrills; and Owen Gieni’s colours are rich, maintaining a lushness and lustre that bolsters the energy of the art.
Things gets more interesting on a character level during the climactic scene, which has a hallucinatory emphasis, and sketches an important difference between the personalities of Lewis and Clark. Roberts’ keen portrayal of the explorers’ expressions is on display here, contrasting a state of ecstasy with a terrifying one and getting at the different kind of darkness in each of them. The fact that half the contents of the page are inverted is a nice touch, underscoring the disorientation of this moment; and the sentient plant-thing at the core of the encounter is no slouch either, dwarfing the characters as it sprawls across the page.
The nature of the vital difference between Lewis and Clark is our hook into the second arc, but it doesn’t make for the strongest of cliffhangers. Both Lewis and Clark have been portrayed disparagingly enough that the prospect of learning more about them feels more like a novelty than a necessity. Still, this gesture toward the inner workings of these two characters makes for a solid counterpoint to the action, even if it does feel a bit hurried; and a final nod at a rather difficult-to-read Sacagawea’s keeps us on our toes, casting a spotlight on a character we still know very little about.
While it’s still entertaining reading, and full of astounding art, this series has come up shallower than expected, only scratching the surface of its troubling premise. This might not always be the case; there’s plenty of story left to tell. But this arc has ended on a conventional note, emphasizing the exotic in its historical source rather than bringing its moral difficulty home.
Final Verdict: 7.0 – Browse
