Broken Frontier

The survivors of a cataclysmic shipwreck have found their way onto a mysterious island. Just when you thought it was safe to get out of the water…

At first glance some might think this series is trying to cash in on the success of the Emmy winning television show, Lost. A large and varied cast of characters fall victim to tragic circumstance and eventually find themselves stranded on a mysterious island; there’s no way to contact the outside world and pull together a rescue; and the island harbors dangerous and lethal inhabitants. It is hard to look past those similarities, but where Lost quickly settled into an "everything is connected" mythology, X Isle splits off a little into more of an unsettling Jurassic Park or King Kong (Skull Island) mode. There are no veiled threats on this island--they’re pretty much in-your-face monstrosities that could be waiting around the next corner to eat you alive.

There is little mystery to this story other than the "What’s with this island?" one, but Cosby and Nelson choose to downplay it a bit in favor of action and showing the characters reacting to the confusion and chaos in their own ways. The desperation of being lost and not knowing your way home is an upsetting notion that many can share, but when carnivorous giant sea worms and vegetation are added to the mix…well, that tends to raise the stakes a bit. And the writers wisely show the added desperation that everyone is feeling, and desperation often breeds dangerous situations.

The art on this book was never really what I’d consider "lighthearted," but as the situations of the plot turn desperate and bizarre, Scott and Raj favor an even darker, grittier tone while maintaining a clear and powerful sequencing dynamic. Sometimes this darker tone makes for a little confusion among characters (for instance, I had to reread a death scene to be sure who kicked it), but overall it is a perfect depiction of a horrifying setting.

X Isle may look like it is treading on familiar--even hallowed--ground, thematically. With that said, the book is ultimately magnetic reading for any classic horror/science fiction fan purely because of the way the characters react to their situation. With the surprising events of this issue the reader has to see that nobody is safe and that almost anything could happen. That makes for a compelling read.