Manifest Destiny, Vol. 5: Mnemophobia & Chronophobia

Manifest Destiny #25-30

by Chris Dingess, Matthew Roberts (Artist), Owen Gieni (Artist)

As winter begins, Lewis & Clark hunker the Corp of Discovery down in their new fort on the very frontier of civilization. All is calm... until old enemies emerge from the fog... and the real nightmare begins.
Collects MANIFEST DESTINY #25-30.

Genres: Comics, Graphic Novels, Horror, Fantasy, Historical Fiction, Fiction, Graphic Novels Comics

128 pages, Paperback

First published September 17, 2017

About the author

Chris Dingess is the writer and creator of Manifest Destiny published by the Skybound imprint of Image Comics. He also served as Executive Producer and writer for ABC's Agent Carter.

Reviews

[Matthew · Rating 4 out of 5]

I had to read through several parts of this one twice. Not sure why but sections just were not working for me the first time through. But after re-reading a majority of it a few weeks after finishing the first time, I ended up feeling like it was another good entry in the series.



Perhaps the need to reread comes from this volume having a different feel than the previous volumes. Each volume focused on the onslaught of one particular type of beast. In this one, the mystery is more of an existential crisis brought on by madness. Instead of the monster being a 20 foot tall sasquatch-cyclops (sas-clops?), the monster may be you!



The art continues in the same vein as earlier volumes. Since I have enjoyed it all along, I continue to enjoy it here. There is some really cool fantasy-horror imagery; some of which is worth looking at even if you don’t read the story.



Again, it’s another strong entry in the series. You may encounter some issues getting into parts of it like I did because of the slightly different feel. However, a second look goes a long way with this one!

[Craig · Rating 4 out of 5]

A strange fog manifests and suddenly, the Corps of Discovery is under attack, by every weird creature they've encountered in their journey so far! This was another great volume of this series, one of my favorites. The story does spin its wheels a bit for several issues, but ultimately, it's well-handled. Great combination of art and storytelling throughout. Impatient for the release of Vol. 6.

[Nancy · Rating 4 out of 5]

The reimaging of the Lewis and Clark expedition continues as history, colonization and government conspiracies are shaken up together into a unique tale about the Corps of Discovery.

In November of 1804, Fort Mandan was built in North Dakota so the corps could winter safely before continuing on their journey in the spring. As soon as the fort is finished, a dense fog rolls in and everyone begins to experience paranoia and delusions. All the creatures that the corps have encountered seem to come at them, and the past sins of the soldiers come back to haunt them. Thus the title of the book comes into focus, as the fear of memories and anxiety over the passage of time are shown. It is during this chaos that Sacagawea goes into labor while battling her own private demons. Little Jean Baptsite’s birth is tempered by the knowledge of the subterfuge Lewis and Clark are planning regarding the infant and Sacagawea’s strange acquiescence about it.

The art remains strong with layouts that are fresh and unique. The era is beautifully rendered with the clothing, guns, buildings and landscapes accurately drawn. Plus the creatures are freakishly awesome!

This review (plus volume 6) can also be found on my blog: https://graphicnovelty2.com/2018/10/1...

[Valéria. · Rating 3 out of 5]

It had nice moments, but I feel like the story itself is not moving anywhere, hope it will change with the next book.

[Arthur · Rating 3 out of 5]

this storyline has progressively become more and more bland

[Sara · Rating 3 out of 5]

I don't know....these seem to be experiencing a pacing problem. I'm just not as captivated as I was in the beginning.

[Scott Foley · Rating 5 out of 5]

Manifest Destiny is one of my favorite comic books running at the moment.  If you're unfamiliar with the concept, Lewis and Clark are still exploring the American wilderness west of St. Louis, but in this alternate history, they are not merely mapping out the landscape and marking rivers, they are also analyzing any potential preternatural threats to the American pioneer.  Guess what?  There are many, many strange plants and animals ready to kill them at every opportunity.

There is also a larger plot at play from one volume to the next.  They keeping coming across arches, much like the famed St. Louis Arch.  However, these arches are made of natural materials and developed organically ... or did they?  Whatever the case may be, they tend to serve as the epicenter of unusual, and deadly, occurrences.

In this fifth volume, Lewis, Clark, Sacagawea, and their band of soldiers and felons have founded a fort in order to survive the winter.  Soon, though, a strange fog rolls in, and this fog brings some of their past--and most horrific--threats with it.  

This is a high-concept book, but such industrious titles tend to burn out by the time they reach their twenty-fifth issue.  I'm happy to tell you that Manifest Destiny shows no signs of slowing down.  Dingess has found the perfect balance of horror, adventure, and characterization to keep this title engaging and interesting.  Honestly, I thought this particular volume would end up boring me.  After all, a fog doesn't sound terribly exciting, does it?  It became readily apparent that the fog wasn't the real threat--the men's fear, bias, and paranoia is the real threat, and those things burst free during their encounter with the fog.

Matthew Roberts also keeps this title driving forward.  His art appears historically accurate in terms of clothing, tools, weapons, boats, forts, and things like that.  He is also a master of anatomy and perspective.  There appears to be no animal, plant, or combination thereof that he cannot render perfectly.  But, even with that all being said, his most important quality is that he knows how to keep one panel moving into the next, and then into the next, and then into the next.  He realizes the importance of "sequence" in sequential art.  

There are only a few titles currently being published that I consider "must-read."  Manifest Destiny is one of them.  I hope you enjoy it as much as I do. 

[Jiro Dreams of Suchy · Rating 4 out of 5]

A psychological monster; a skinwalker of sorts. The fog causes madness and the cure is burning mysterious leaves… brother, I’ve been there. This was another great story, this whole run is extremely underrated. I am very happy to have found it!

Sacagawea having her child, the mission still being pretty mysterious and that little rat bastard all seem to point to an ending that is rather unpleasant. I expect some sort of eternal doom thing, a sacrifice. I hope Lewis and Clark (and Ms. Boniface) are ready to outsmart and beat whatever is down river.

[Zedsdead · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fear of Memory & Fear of Time

While wintering in a hastily erected fort somewhere in the Pacific northwest, the Lewis and Clark expedition comes under attack by a hallucination-inducing fog. It's up to Lewis to think the group to safety.

We do see a bit of Sacajawea's back story--her selection for some mysterious sacrifice and her training as a warrior--and another arch is found. But mostly this volume is just a competently-told action story that does little to advance the plot. I have no real complaints but I'm beyond ready to move things along.

[Tone · Rating 5 out of 5]

I don't talk about it much, but Manifest Destiny is one of the most consistently good comics out there.

[Václav · Rating 3 out of 5]

(4 of 5 for the fun with the hallucinations)
...which is not that much fun, actually. As this was a major volume about their winter stay in the fort they built, I would expect a rather series of minor adventures or something which creates the illusion of how much time passed. Thanks to a rather rushed intro and then jumping straight to the main arc, this makes me feel it's like just two weekends (and no, putting in info like "we're patrolling for a month and things are pretty dull" doesn't create the illusion of passed time.
And the "all hallucinating" trope didn't bring me much joy; it somehow felt weird and lacked coherence. One for many - I wonder how that full-scale skirmish could get just two (additional) casualties. The men are experienced fighters; if they weren't before the expedition, the horror of monsters definitely honed their skills.
Well, let's see what the next volume brings.

[Jakub Kvíz · Rating 3 out of 5]

Manifest Destiny uz paty book predvadi v podstate to same.

Expedice Lewise a Clarka opet narazi na dalsi hrozbu, kterou tentokrat nejsou dalsi monstra, ale halucinogeni mlha. Navic se blizi porod Sacagawey, takze je o zabavu postarano.

Za me asi nejslabsi book cely serie, tak uvidime, co cleny expedice ceka dal.

[Štěpán · Rating 3 out of 5]

The creature designs and overall aesthetics are awesome. I think I am intrigued to read it until the end; however, I do not care about any of the characters, and that really hinders the comicbook. It is mysterious, but when people die, it just happens.

[Dimitris Papastergiou · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great story once again!

Rec-Rec-Recommended!!!!!

Grab it. Read it. Be happy.

Can't wait for the next one.

[Doug Goodman · Rating 4 out of 5]

First of all, Manifest Destiny is the best horror western comic out there right now. Harrow County is also very good, but Manifest Destiny is more epic and grand in its scope. The horror is gruesome, the monsters are unforgettable, and the western side is treated with enough realism to get you through the story. The natives are written fairly, which is very much appreciated, and at least one of them, Sacagewea, is a major character.

For all its grandness, though, Vol. 5 is a tighter, more intimate story told about November 1804 when the Lewis and Clark expedition is getting ready for winter. They are near the Mandans. A strange fog sets in, and new terrors are unleashed upon the expeditionary forces. This book reminds me of the cold-winter horrors of The Shining or The Thing. It is a story of phobias: the fear of memories from the past, and fear of the future. While the books centers around the fear of the past, for the first time the books seems like their is an end to it. With a few light touches, Chris Dingess reminds you of what could be a very bad end coming to the party in future volumes.

[Imogene · Rating 4 out of 5]

As well written and drawn as this series is, and as clever as the concept is, part of me just can’t give it all of the stars. The storyline and the characters are just so depressing! Some dark books, or dark moments can give you all the feels without making you doubt humanity! However, reading this one AND Deadly Class in one week was probably a bad idea.

Still, a fascinating dark alternative history. Just...a little light at the end of the tunnel?

[Willie Krischke · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is the psychotic fog arc, and I didn't like it much. The idea of some kind of strange magic that makes everyone see their worst fear or most hated enemy, turning normal people into homicidal maniacs - it's played out. It's been done to death. It's even in Age of Ultron the movie. This comic is usually more original and interesting than this arc was.

[Chris Thompson · Rating 3 out of 5]

Definitely better than volume 4. At least this isn’t shuffling between two storylines. And yet this volume’s villain is probably the least compelling of the series so far, and that has me worried. Have the creators run out of ideas or are they holding onto their best cards for later? Let’s hope it’s the latter.

[Alex Sarll]

At this point in their strange expedition, it makes perfect sense that Lewis, Clark and co. should be haunted by their pasts - but this tale of a base under siege by an eerie fog and the horrors therein still feels slight and predictable next to earlier volumes.

[Santosh Thapa · Rating 2 out of 5]

My Rating: 4/10

The expedition has established a winter fort on the frontier, and the change of season brings a shift in atmosphere. The cold, the fog, the isolation—all of these elements could support a claustrophobic horror story in the tradition of The Thing or The Terror. Old enemies emerge from the mist, and the promise of a "real nightmare" suggests that the series might finally be returning to the genuine tension and dread that made the first two volumes so compelling.

Unfortunately, the execution fails to deliver on this promise. The "old enemies" in question are, without meaningful spoilers, antagonists we have encountered before, and their return feels less like a clever narrative choice and more like a recycling of concepts the series has already exhausted. Where previous volumes introduced new creatures, new environments, and new challenges, Mnemophobia & Chronophobia retreats into familiar territory, and the result is a story that feels stale rather than suspenseful.

The most significant problem is pacing, or rather the complete absence of it. The volume stretches what could have been a tight, tense 40-page story across 128 pages, padding the narrative with extended sequences of characters standing in the fog, having the same conversations about trust and survival that they have been having for five volumes now. The winter setting, which should create a sense of isolation and urgency, instead becomes an excuse for the plot to grind to a halt. Characters wander, argue, and stare meaningfully into the distance, but little of consequence actually occurs.

[Cale · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is the John Carpenter-inspired volume of the series - we get elements of The Thing, the Fog, and Assault on Precinct 13 among others, as a fog brings with it everyone's worst fears into the newly-built fort. The art is well done, with the fog feeling malevolent, and the creatures that come from it distressing in all their forms. Everyone is at their worst in this volume, although Lewis gets to save the day (after some distressing moments early on), and Sacagawea gets her moments to shine (and some of her back story revisited). One long-standing thread is resolved here as well, although it raises more questions than answers. This is still a fascinating and unique series that I enjoy each volume of.

[Dakota Morgan · Rating 4 out of 5]

After the fast-paced, backstory-heavy absurdity of the last volume, it's nice to return to just our present-time characters who must contend with only one foe: a mysterious fog that drives men mad.

Once the fog sets in, this fifth volume is relatively action-packed. Lewis must find a cure while fog-mad Clark battles Sacajawea. Because the fog causes visions, it allows some of our characters to reckon with what they've done (i.e., mostly murder). It also allows Lewis and Magdalene's bond to grow. Nice to finally see some of the characters get fleshed out, even if the "villain of the week" is slighter than in some previous volumes.

[47Time · Rating 4 out of 5]

The fort is ready for the winter. Lewis worries that it might prove to be a trap, rather than a safe haven. If up to now the animals were the enemy, it is the men's own morale that becomes a threat. One of the soldiers kills his two squadmates thinking they are infected by the zombie plants. He is put in prison for an investigation. Before that can be completed, an army of all the monsters they encountered so far attacks the fort.

Lewis and Boniface figure out that the men are experiencing hallucinations brought on by the fog. They scramble to acquire the herbs that seem to make Lewis immune to its effects. He resorts to burning down his workshop to get the men to breathe in the cure. One of the last to be reached is Sacagawea who goes into labor.

[Kay · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Lewis and Clark expedition are seeking a place to winter in this volume. A fort is built but it can't protect them from the mysterious fog where the members of the expedition have to face their worst fears. During this, Sacagawea's baby arrives. This volume is also notable for Clark's enslaved companion, York, getting a bigger than usual role. Also Clark and the widow they picked up in volume 1 seem to be getting along a bit better. My rating is 4 stars for this volume is a good summation as well as showing there are more 'demons' than just those they are encountering in their journey.

[Andy Hickman · Rating 4 out of 5]

Manifest Destiny Vol.5 – Mnemophobia & Chronophobias
Creepy mists come creeping in.

#25 – “We feel winter closing in, so we work fast, but remain careful in our construction.” – journal

#26 – “You have to believe me! I was protecting the fort! Those men were infected!” – Burton.

#27 – “Come! We must go to the lab before something catastrophic happens.” – Lewis

#28 – “The fog .. KOFF .. it’s everywhere.”

#29 – “As the men gathered their senses, I searched for two of the most senseless creatures I know.” – journal

#30 – “Remember.. One shot for a structure. Two if you come across any sort of creature.” - Clark

[Nate Reitz · Rating 4 out of 5]

Here is volume five of the series this is more of a return to form I feel like compared to the previous volume. The in previous volume we got some backstory for many characters and in this one it continues to build off of that. This book continues to flesh out Sacagawea as character. This book takes some cues from Stephen King's The Mist. All of the Corps of Discovery's skeletons come back to haunt them. Finally Sacagawea's baby is born amid all the chaos. The theme of sacrifice that was introduced in volume three at the arch comes back in this volume as well.

[Trike · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another excellent collection in a terrific series.

A mysterious fog causes the Corps of Discovery to turn on each other by causing them to hallucinate. Some see their greatest fears, some see their worst sins, but all are affected. Except for Lewis, who uses the scientific method to combat this insidious supernatural threat. Science v. Supernatural! Winner take all! I love stories like this, where characters are smart and resilient.

[Lisa Macklem · Rating 4 out of 5]

This volume felt both a bit more on track with the main story than the last volume and still somewhat of a standalone incident. So there were a lot of tie ins to past volumes, but not a lot of obvious movement forward in the plot. The final panel was a throwback to the previous volume but seemed to come out of nowhere. I really need to go back and re-read the entire series from the beginning now as I'm sure this volume is probably richer than I'm giving it credit for.

[Kyle Berk · Rating 5 out of 5]

Manifest Destiny volume 5 continues the plot as Lewis and Clark are holed up in a camp with their group for winter. When a mysterious fog roles in and tensions rise as the fog makes people see things.

That’s all I’ll say for the plot here because I really enjoys the ride. It was something I really needed at the time.

The art is great and I love the watching these characters on their journey.

If you’ve made it this far this is another good entry.

5 stars.

[Tom · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Corps of Discovery stops at a fort for the winter, unaware that one of those monster-spewing arches is invisible and nearby. And what comes out of there? A fog that causes everyone who breathes it in to see his greatest fear, enough to attack other members of the expedition. Only Captain Lewis seems to be immune. Can he figure out why before Clark and a very pregnant Sacajawea kill each other? More general fun from a very odd horror/adventure series.