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samyukta_24's review
3.0
Isola is a fantasy comic series centering around Olwyn, the Queen of Maar, who has been magically cursed into an unearthly tiger. Along with Rook, her Captain Guard, they both set off to the mysterious place known as Isola to find a cure, as a war between Maar and Palagrine Rock looms ahead fueled by the absence of the Queen.
The only thing that was consistently excellent in the 10 volumes was the unparalleled art. It gave off fantasy video game vibes and felt like it was straight out of a Makoto Shinkai film. I loved the settings, the character designs, as well as the bizarre and unique creatures that bridged the gap between fantasy and reality.
Coming to the things I didn’t like, it would have to be the fact that I was confused till volume 8 of anything that was happening. At the end of volume 10, which was released in 2020, there are still so many unanswered questions, but there is no news of any further volumes as of yet. There was a new plotline, place, or character introduced in every volume, which was illustrated beautifully, no doubt, but also started to make me lose interest due to lack of closure. Most of the story uptil now revolves around them traveling and experiencing confounding situations - and then just moving on with no further clarification.
With the last volume ending on another cliffhanger, hopefully it's a sign that the series will continue, providing more details on the rich history behind the places and characters while creating beautiful and iconic concept art as always.
The only thing that was consistently excellent in the 10 volumes was the unparalleled art. It gave off fantasy video game vibes and felt like it was straight out of a Makoto Shinkai film. I loved the settings, the character designs, as well as the bizarre and unique creatures that bridged the gap between fantasy and reality.
Coming to the things I didn’t like, it would have to be the fact that I was confused till volume 8 of anything that was happening. At the end of volume 10, which was released in 2020, there are still so many unanswered questions, but there is no news of any further volumes as of yet. There was a new plotline, place, or character introduced in every volume, which was illustrated beautifully, no doubt, but also started to make me lose interest due to lack of closure. Most of the story uptil now revolves around them traveling and experiencing confounding situations - and then just moving on with no further clarification.
With the last volume ending on another cliffhanger, hopefully it's a sign that the series will continue, providing more details on the rich history behind the places and characters while creating beautiful and iconic concept art as always.
susieliveshere's review
Disclaimer: Without the context of the other parts it's hard to give a good accurate rating. Take this review with a pinch of salt.
TL;DR: art is A+, really carries the story. The story is far too much in such a short page count, and the characters are inconsistant, and I'm not really sure what even happened.
TW Rape
The volume follows a queen newly restored to her body (she had been cursed into a tiger form) waking up the night after with her captain of the guard Rook. She reveals to rook that Rooks mother was killed by the queen's mother, Rook gets super angry, we get a flash back to the funeral of Rook's mother. Rook is forced by the suddenly cold queen to kneel and admit loyalty, even though the queen was lovey-dovey a page ago. Then a tiger attacks the queen and it's revealed that the queen was Malusa plus some dark shadow using the queen's body, like a host. So... Rook discovers she has been raped by Malusa and dark shadow monster.. but don't worry she gets over it in one panel. The real queen and Rook tell the imposter Malusa to go and do the queenly duties to avert the war by meeting with a travelling army/general population. ...Then they are all murdered by some mysterious dark shadow.
This all happens in less words than I wrote there! So much happens! Too much! I got whiplash! The characters are outraged then their revealing secret after secret. A village/army is introduced and destroyed. This format of short comic book does not lend itself to a story with so much happening. And don't get me started on how Rook doesn't seem to care she's been raped?? Her only reflection is to say "you tricked me, the things you made me do... I'll never love you." Cool bro. Cool. I'm missing a tonne of context for sure, I don't even know if they slept together, but it strongly implies they did. A lot of the story is strongly implied...
The art is sweet af. Super strong colour palette, great line work and character design, great atmosphere. Pacing on the smaller scale, panel to panel was really good, pacing in the overall story, my god, author never lifted their foot off the pedal! And the character had massive mood swings doing 180s constantly...
But again I don't even deserve to write a review having read this without the context of the previous installments, I picked it up for a pound... maybe this is the climax of the overarching story? And that's why everything is go-go-go. But doesn't excuse the character's inconsistency, and unbelievable behaviour.
I would give it 2 stars. But got rid of my official star rating so I don't affect the stats for the volume, because it's unfair as I haven't the full context.
TL;DR: art is A+, really carries the story. The story is far too much in such a short page count, and the characters are inconsistant, and I'm not really sure what even happened.
TW Rape
The volume follows a queen newly restored to her body (she had been cursed into a tiger form) waking up the night after with her captain of the guard Rook. She reveals to rook that Rooks mother was killed by the queen's mother, Rook gets super angry, we get a flash back to the funeral of Rook's mother. Rook is forced by the suddenly cold queen to kneel and admit loyalty, even though the queen was lovey-dovey a page ago. Then a tiger attacks the queen and it's revealed that the queen was Malusa plus some dark shadow using the queen's body, like a host. So... Rook discovers she has been raped by Malusa and dark shadow monster.. but don't worry she gets over it in one panel. The real queen and Rook tell the imposter Malusa to go and do the queenly duties to avert the war by meeting with a travelling army/general population. ...Then they are all murdered by some mysterious dark shadow.
This all happens in less words than I wrote there! So much happens! Too much! I got whiplash! The characters are outraged then their revealing secret after secret. A village/army is introduced and destroyed. This format of short comic book does not lend itself to a story with so much happening. And don't get me started on how Rook doesn't seem to care she's been raped?? Her only reflection is to say "you tricked me, the things you made me do... I'll never love you." Cool bro. Cool. I'm missing a tonne of context for sure, I don't even know if they slept together, but it strongly implies they did. A lot of the story is strongly implied...
The art is sweet af. Super strong colour palette, great line work and character design, great atmosphere. Pacing on the smaller scale, panel to panel was really good, pacing in the overall story, my god, author never lifted their foot off the pedal! And the character had massive mood swings doing 180s constantly...
But again I don't even deserve to write a review having read this without the context of the previous installments, I picked it up for a pound... maybe this is the climax of the overarching story? And that's why everything is go-go-go. But doesn't excuse the character's inconsistency, and unbelievable behaviour.
I would give it 2 stars. But got rid of my official star rating so I don't affect the stats for the volume, because it's unfair as I haven't the full context.
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