Isola 1

by Brenden Fletcher, Karl Kerschl & Msassyk
collects Isola #1-5
volume reviews one | two

**Isola is my 100th review! Huzzah!!!!! **

Isola is a fantasy tale that Image recommends to fans of Hayao Miyazaki and Studio Ghibli’s films, and for good reason. First and foremost Isola is simply gorgeous. Artist Karl Kerschl and colorist Msassyk create lush nature landscapes with ethereal, bold color palettes that are just wonderful to look at – I already want it in hardcover.

The humans in Isola’s world have a sophisticated look to them with just a hint of anime, like a grown up Titan AE (if we’re going to continue the obscure 2000’s animation reference, Rook has serious Akima vibes), and the focus on weird magic and expressive/slightly grotesque animals are beautifully drawn, definitely with a Miyazaki, Princess Mononoke atmosphere. Reading Isola takes longer than usual because there are several moments in each issue, particularly those with less dialogue, where you’ll just have to stop and appreciate it.

The story: first of all, the less you know the better. Rook is captain of the queen’s guard. She is on a secret quest accompanied by a tiger. That is about all you should know heading in, and maybe then that’s too much.

Isola starts off very slow, not knowing much about the characters or the world itself and filled with vague, intentionally confusing dialogue. We expect this in fantasy world building (Monstress and Saga are good examples), particularly what may become an epic, long series – it’s less about understanding everything (which would result in copious amounts of exposition) and feeling like you’re in the world, all the while being aware as more answers come your way.

Fletcher and Kerschl also build moments of silence throughout the book that are reminiscent of both Miyazaki and the Samurai Jack series. The silent tiger who can’t directly communicate with Rook is so brilliantly expressive, thanks to Kershl and Msassyk, adding both to the story and the beautiful artwork.

Just like most first chapters to a fantasy book, how much you enjoy Isola’s story largely depends on your patience. Unlike Monstress’ Maika and Saga’s Alana, Isola’s leading woman Rook is much more reserved – she’s a dedicated warrior and protector, and we randomly learn her dad was a farmer. I think Fletcher did as much character work as he could with Rook, balancing other characters and world building, but midway through when more is revealed, Rook’s less than strong personality meant less payoff in those “aha” moments.

A fantasy book can be confusing, as long as it’s grounded in character, or to a lesser extent, a grounded love of the world. There’s an atmosphere of both, but because it wasn’t stronger than that, the final ‘conflict’ was a bit of a letdown. While the first half of the book was slow and enigmatic, the second half suddenly picks up the pace and introduces us to a lot of characters and more than one reveal by way of flashback – not my favorite way to provide answers in a fantasy book. I would have preferred a more even pacing, and waiting on some of those reveals for at least another book – but thankfully not everything has been answered and who knows how epic a story Fletcher and Kerschl plan to tell.

The story’s pacing may have been off, but at least it’s very, very pretty.

SPOILERS. Lots of fantasy tropes – and usual portrayals of gender in fantasy – are completely turned on their heads in this first arc of Isola. Olwyn is Queen even though she has a brother, a woman is the captain of her guard – oh, and they are definitely in love with each other! But for the little we get from Rook, we see even less from Olwyn. A queer relationship can’t be solely defined by its queerness, and I’m sure we’ll see more of their relationship in the next volume – and on that note it will be interesting to see how much of a patriarchy this world lives in, too.

Finally, why does every fantasy story feel the need to recreate some new language that is close enough to ours to just be annoying?  Isola’s “frek” is just trying to be Batman Beyond’s “schway.” Stop trying to make frek happen.

Isola has the potential to become one of my favorite ongoing series – and an immediate hardcover buy too. Lots of stories have a rough season one – here’s hoping season two is better.

I’m going to end with some love for Akima. Titan A.E. was A GREAT MOVIE, OKAY. Even if the main character was literally named KALE.