Skybound/Image Comics 2013
Created & Written by Chris Dingess
Penciled by Matthew Roberts
Inked by Tony Akins & Stefano Gaudiano
Coloured by Owen Gieni
Lettered by Pat Brosseau
Oh my goodness. Last issue we saw the last two men standing as they followed the ghost and met Navath. Yeah he’s some sort of demon and if this series weren’t already so off the wall with the cryptids we’ve seen then I might just pass this off as a shared hallucination. However I believe Chris has introduced an actual Demon into the series and why not the Native American population has their gods and beliefs so it isn’t beyond measure to have Navath wanting to roam Earth and use Helm to do it.
This series has consistently been an outside the box thinking alternate history tale that continues to engage readers minds and imaginations in ways that are both whimsical and shocking. Sometimes at the same time as well. This issue shows us both sides from different angles as the Sasquatch storyline continues as winter approaches and the crew needs a place to bed down for the time being. All the while we wonder when Helm will show up and tell the tale of the journey he’s taking and the messaged he’s supposed to deliver.
The characterisation here from Chris alongside the originality and uniqueness of the story is a joy to see. He’s delved into these characters in ways that make them come alive and seem like these are the only versions that history has to offer. That alone is a huge deal in my book as we all know that Lewis & Clark’s journey through the America’s was one of the most well documented events of its age.
Matthew’s work on the interiors is as equally as impressive as Chris’ storytelling. His attention to detail is beyond expectation and the use of backgrounds really go a long way in fleshing out this wilderness and world in ways that make you want to visit this landscape, creatures of nightmare’s and wonder included. Heck even Helm with the Colonel’s rotting talking head and his own continued look of raggedness and frailty this was something that visually captures the imagination and keeps the reader enrapt to the page.
That Lewis has to negotiate with the Teton tribe to build their winter settlement on their hunting grounds is a great touch. This would’ve had to have happened and while it’s in true American gumption that they have the right to do whatever they please the ceremonial aspect of it was nicely portrayed. Maybe something like a Sasquatch will come along that they can save the tribe from that will change their opinion of the group or maybe not we’ll see regardless Lewis and his people are in a most precarious situation and I can’t wait to see how that plays out.
The coming winter poses new situations for everyone. Sacajawea wants to go home though her pregnancy is something that keeps her with them and while they are stationary it will give a chance for things that roam the land to continually hunt and attack them. So for the first time they aren’t able to be on the move and with a hostile tribe nearby and things that most certainly go bump in the night this continues to break new ground in what Alternate History storytelling can and should be all about.