Preview Review - X-Isle #2

Another preview copy from Boom! Studios reviewed here, and another comic that I haven't had any exposure to thus far.

X-ISLE #2

I gather from the opening sequence that a group of scientists hired a couple of mercenaries to sail to a "lost island" of sorts, only to have their ship sink, and now they're, um, shipwrecked.

The only catch is that apparently there are giant Tremors-like worms with teeth and tentacles on the island, and God knows what else.

(Actually, having read this issue, I can tell you EXACTLY what else in two words: "People-Smooshin' Trees". It's tres coolamente.)

What I do know is that the magic formula of Lost Island + Monsters + Band Of Intrepid Heroes And Antiheroes is pretty much already set up for 75% success, and Andrew Cosby and Michael Alan Nelson don't do anything to screw that up.

(Darn, that sounded like faint praise, didn't it?)

In fact, Cosby and Nelson's dialogue rings true in a B-movie-afternoon-serial kind of way, which is exactly what this comic book felt like. And that's just fine by me.

X-Isle #2 also has nice art thanks to Greg Scott in the Pablo Raimondi/Dennis Calero kind of vibe (and I REALLY like that style, so maybe I'm biased), but there's a single complaint I have (and this is directed to every single comic book artist working today).

Note to Comic Artists: I have reliable information that indicates there are more Black actors in Hollywood than Samuel L. Jackson. Feel free to use any of them for photoreferencing instead. I'm sure they won't mind.

There. That said, Scott's art does a great job setting the atmosphere of the jungle and the facial expressions really drive home the immediacy of the situation.

NOTE: This comic is on the shelves as of 8/30.

Best Moment: People-Smooshin' Trees! Can you dig it?

Worst Moment: Really, folks, would it kill you to use, say, Morgan Freeman? Denzel? Omar Epps? Taye Diggs? ANYONE?

Comic Book Goodness: 3/5. Appropriately horrific, action-packed, ooky, and has that "group dynamic eating itself" vibe throughout. It's a little bit Jurassic Park, a little bit King Kong, a little bit Forbidden Planet. I'm not sure there's anything radically different than anything we've seen before, but I'll be picking this (and issue #1) up for at least a couple more issues.