"Manifest Destiny Vol 1: Flora & Fauna" puts a new twist on Lewis & Clark's American expedition

If only the real journey of the two famous 19th century explorers was this much fun when it really took place.   Starting in year 1804, Captain Meriwether Lewis and Second Lieutenant William Clark set out to explore the unexplored American frontier, and in the hands of writer Chris Dingess and artist/illustrator Matthew Roberts, their journey is both fantastical and horrifying.  More than just a Wild West adventure, Manifest Destiny Volume 1: Flora & Fauna is a delightful treat for eyes and the ears for all comic book lovers the world over.

Accompanied by the Lemhi Shoshone Native American woman, Sacagawea, the journey of Lewis and Clark in this comic book series incorporates an updated twist on the historical journey of these non-fictional, historical people.  Imagine if the real explorers of the aforementioned quest ran into Minotaurs who possessed a taste for the human flesh, and who were large and threatening and intimidating in stature, with a buffalo head on top of their bodies instead of a bull's one?  Or how about an infected group of zombie like former humans, whose bodies have been taken over by plants and roots, and who are capable of turning anyone they come into contact with into one of them?

In addition, Dingess and Roberts' version of Sacagawea is a bad-ass warrior, capable of slaying the said Minotaurs with ease, and putting down any undead threat without difficulty.  She's sort of a Lara Croft of the American wilderness, a woman whose toughness here exceeds her legend, and rightfully so.  Combined with the ambition of Lewis and Clark, this trio is bound to re-write the history of the American exploration with some serious bang and panache.  Manifest Destiny: Flora and Fauna may not be historically accurate, but that's not what it's trying to be to begin with.  Interpreted purely as a comic that's meant to entertain - and do so with a particular kick to the readers' senses - it's an imaginative work of exceptional ambition.  In a sea of science-fiction themed comics from Image, Destiny infuses history, originality and unbridled excitement in the most impressive way yet.
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