Island 731 #1

Credits:
Written: Jeremy Robinson/Kane Gilmour
Artist: Jeff Zornow
Letters: Marshall Dillon
 
This caught my eye because of the cover.  This series comes to us from American Gothic Press and has me hooked from the first issue.

I cannot, however, explain a whole lot about what happens in this issue and here is why:

This story is clearly going to be similar to the TV series LOST.  Now, in that show we watched an hour episode each week, had about fifty questions that we wanted answers to and, in each episode, we got maybe one or two answers and about ten more questions.  Each episode was the epitome of a cliffhanger multiplied by a hundred.

This comic book seems like it is going to be the same way.  While the issue kept me reading and I immediately got online and ordered the next issue, there really isn’t that much to the story…yet.

I have a feeling that this will unfold to be an exciting tale of crash survivors who have landed on a mysterious island and encounter evil they could never have even dreamed of.

So, here’s a short synopsis of what I’ve read so far:

There is a research vessel, The Magellan, that is studying (get this) The Great Pacific Garbage Patch.  Now don’t laugh too hard because such a thing actually does exist…and it’s nasty looking.  It’s basically an anomaly where the currents of the ocean and the abhorrent amount of refuse in the water come together to create an actual island of trash.  (Look it up, I swear it’s real.  I saw it featured in a tv show on the Discovery Channel, yes, I’m a nerd.  I like to learn.  So, moving on…)

These researchers are studying the effects of the trash heap in the ocean on the oceanic ecosystem.

During their voyage, they get bounced around in a storm and eventually decide to take refuge on an island, their ship in poor condition after the storm.

On this island they find evidence that other people have been there before they arrived.  Some clues are things like footprints in the sand, an extremely recent form of proof and then there are things like hieroglyphic type writing on huge rocks.

We also learn very quickly that there are lifeforms of a “monster-like” nature, things that, here in the regular world, we wouldn’t think exist.

THE END

I didn’t get too detailed in this because it’s just one of those stories that you are gonna have to read to get the full appreciation of it.  The artwork is great and the depictions of the monsters, so far, are very imaginative.  This was a real page turner for me and since it is from 2016, the remaining issues shouldn’t be too hard to find or too expensive.

If you can’t stand cliffhangers and not having a conclusion at the end of each issue then, this is definitely not for you.  If you wanted to, you could try to find a TPB with all the issues in it or get all of them before you started reading but, that’s one of the novel things about comic books, they carry over into the next issue each time.
Overall, my first impression of this comic book is that I am going to really enjoy this.  I have the second issue already on the way. 

RATINGS
Overall 4/5
Story 4/5
Artwork 4/5