By Sam King

Issue #2 of Isola picks up where #1 left off, Rook traveling with the Queen in tiger form. The art is slightly less awe-inspiring this issue since a lot of the story takes place in more ruins and rocky areas than wilderness. We get to know more about Rook’s history and meet some new people.

The issue begins with Rook leaving the Queen alone to go towards ruins of a town. The tiger Queen seems to be getting visions, marked by pinkish panels that starkly contrast the rest of the panels they are near. The tiger collapses and Rook decides it would be best to try and find some supplies in a largely destroyed town that is within view. In the town Rook comes across Bendix, a man who used to be in the circle. That was the watch group that Rook used to be part of before becoming a guard of the queen. We find out that it is said the queen is missing, and Bendix believes that Rook had a hand in circumstances involving murder. Just before this, we get to hear a bit about Rook’s parents. We also meet a girl that doesn’t seem completely human, and she doesn’t talk or have a name at this point. For now, we will call her wolf girl, but who knows if she will appear again in the future. The weird shaman-like guy, Moro, comes across the Queen and leads her away somewhere else, speaking in your standard weird, wise man hermit style sentences. That’s where I will leave things because I don’t want to give away too much.

The story is progressing along and right now we still have more questions than answers. This seems like the kind of story that could go on for a while, so we will have to see how the pacing goes over the next couple issues. We are still getting small glimpses here and there into the world and the drama that is happening within it. How Olwyn the Queen became a tiger we still don’t know, nor do we know where any of the antagonists from the online previews are. I still don’t quite know where Rook is taking Olwyn, but that path definitely seems to be changing now.

The art isn’t nearly as breathtaking as it was in the first issue. We spend a lot of time in old buildings and rocky terrain, so there is not as much mysticism and nature in this issue. The cover is gorgeous though! That in of itself should be a purchasable print or a poster being sold.  

A few things happened in this issue, but not enough to get a very broad idea of where the story is headed. There is still a lot of mystery and intrigue. There will probably be a good bit of action in the next issue too, considering where this one leaves off. I hope that is worthwhile and not just two pages of generic fighting. I’d like to see a little more dragged out conflict. What we got here passed by quick, so there was no chance to be alarmed for Rook’s safety or the success of whatever mission is being undertaken here. I’m hoping for a bit more awesome art like we had in issue #1 next time and that the dial gets turned up. That or it would be great to learn more about how we got to the point we are in, or what the spastic visions are that Queen Olwyn the tiger is starting to have. I definitely need more than what this issue gave, but it still has me intrigued enough to stick around and find out.  

Score: 3/5

Isola #2
Image Comics