5 out of 5

IT JUST KEEPS GOING!  Manifest – through two arcs and a one-shot – has, thus far, continued to impress with stellar artwork from Matthew Roberts, engrossing colors from Owen Gieni, and an amazingly balanced script from Chris Dingess, who shows absolutely none of the negative hallmarks of writers new to the format; Dingess’ slick balance of exposition, plot and character evolvement, and even deeper pursuits in studying the human nature driving these characters is sincerely gobsmackingly perfectly pulled off.  Seasoned writers struggle to do this, much less with such a large cast.

If you’re playing catch up, MD details Lewis and Clark’s expedition… supposing that they’re clearing their trail-blazed path of literal monsters.  Thus far we’ve had minotaur types, some zombie flora, and giganto fish.  But more than just being a creature feature, there’s also an over-arcing mystery of, eh, arches that seem to tie these monsters together.  And more and more than that we have a compelling drama surrounding our leads and the soldiers and unsavory-types beneath them, as well as Sacajawea and her consort.  The best compliment toward the book’s construction is that it’s not just lulls between horrors; spending time with these characters is just as rewarding as any other sequence.  The book could survive without the monsters.  That’s fucking wacky.

And though, yes, arc three centers around another creature – a bird type thing – Dingess and crew manage to impress even further by rollercoastering us from something fairly humorous to a bleak, but incredibly human, conclusion.  It’s been a while since I’ve been truly affected by a comic, and I can’t say I was expecting it from Manifest Destiny… but it happened.

Art and colors continue to impress at every stage and, wisely, just when I noticed that Roberts’ inks started to feel a little loose, some assistance was brought on via Stefano Gaudiano & Tony Akins, who ink Roberts without missing a beat, fully slotting in with the artist’s style.

I’m trying to keep my expectations low, but it’s hard when the book manages to stay this good.