Next time, make sure you are invited before you enter someone else’s home … if there is a next time!
Creative Staff:
Writer: Joe Tyler
Artwork: Carlos Granda
What They Say:
For decades the U.S. Government has covered up the existence of dozens of species of dangerous creatures that have been captured over the years. After building a small, secretive city on a remote island in the Pacific, these monsters were transported there to be studied.
In 2012, disaster struck and the island was evacuated. Now the inmates have taken over, and different species fight for control within the city walls. However, something extremely valuable was left behind on the island and the only way to recover it is to send an elite mercenary unit into the most dangerous place in the world … Monster Island.
Content (please note that portions of a review may contain spoilers):
As Merrick and his band of mercenaries escort Dr. Bennett deeper into the confines of Monster Island, they soon realise that this is not the same place she left five years ago. The inhabitants have taken over the entire area and have broken it down into their own respective territories. Each species will defend their homes from whatever they deem hostile, whether it be for hunger, territory or boredom. This land is now theirs and they are not willing to let the humans do any more experiments on them, no matter the cost. These pitiful people will have to fight their way to the goal and it will not be an easy battle. Let them come, the surprises are plentiful and the enemies are willing to do whatever it takes to impede their progress.
However, as Kelsey leads the group ever further into the interior to retrieve her research, she relates her story that everything was not as simple when the government is involved. Her superiors wanted results and they did not care what had to be done to the test subjects; all they saw before they were experimental objects, non-humans, and they treated them as such. These creatures did not deserve to be managed with kindness, the General wanted results, and he wanted them fast. So no more coddling them or giving them names as she was wont to do, it only humanised the monsters and made the work less efficient; they were to do whatever it takes to give him what he wanted: cures for untreatable diseases, new weapon technologies and methods of controlling others. Unfortunately, it was this cruelty which leads to the downfall of the laboratories, for these monstrosities were intelligent and they knew that they outnumbered their captors.
It is only after her return in which Dr. Bennett recognises that something or someone has been busy since their jailors left. The entirety of the compound has been razed and all of her work has been confiscated or destroyed. And it now appears that the humanoid prisoners have taken over and are now in control. What do these people want now that they rule the area? Is there any way to negotiate with them or will they only answer to brute force? With guns at the ready, the soldiers can only do one thing – press forward and let them make the first move … but will they survive the wrath of the inmates?
In Summary:
While this issue might be explanatory to disclose the back story of the Island, it still feels a bit lacking. Writer Joe Tyler may have intended this lack of action to draw sympathy from the readers as to the plight of the creatures, but it feels a bit too preachy; people use comic books to escape from the tedium of life into a fantasy world they could never explore in real life, not to read a docudrama. True, we may have needed to understand why they are doing what will happen in the future, but it could have been done through flashbacks, not occupy the entirety with long-winded speeches with fights between the time lapses. When one of the characters pokes fun of the story, that is not usually a good thing.
Another lacklustre issue of the narrative is Tyler’s method of not naming the secondary characters. It is understandable that they know each other and don’t need to communicate to get their attention across, but the only time I have seen this is when they are not expected to live; it reminds me of that old adage from classic Star Trek that the unnamed crewman in the red shirt never comes back from the away mission alive! Is this the writer’s intention? So far, he has only addressed the team’s leader Merrick, the good Dr. Kelsey Bennett and her hulking companion Xorn directly by name on a regular basis. I know it is a small discrepancy, but why create attitudes for them if you don’t intend to keep them?
Due to this uninspired narrative, Carlos Granda’s talents have been wasted to illustrating a rather muted story. Though there are moments where he can show off his skills by bombarding us with exciting moments against incredibly fearsome creatures, the majority of the time we are lulled into complacency – that is until Granda dazzles us with sparks of brilliance. This ebb and flow of the story break up the suspense and as such, the effectiveness of his line work is subdued; we have highlights where the team is fighting for survival against giant spiders and werewolves, then we come crashing down with doldrums of panels with nothing but industrial landscapes and experiments. To have to restart the tension after each lull is not a potent method of delivering his talent, it just waters everything down.
While the story is progressing, the manner by which it is proceeding makes it take a back seat to the action. Readers want to be engrossed in a tale, not put to sleep by it, which is what is happening in this second issue. Tyler and Granda started with a promising premise, but it is slowly starting to devolve into something which is making us lose interest. Hopefully, it turn back into a cliffhanger and not something which you read children to lull them to dreamland.
Grade: C+
Rating: 16+
Released By: Zenescope
Release Date: March 16th, 2016
MSRP: $3.99
