The Graphic Library
  • Home
  • Reviews
    • Review List by Author
  • Terminology
  • Info Postings
  • About Me
  • Other Resources
    • Research

Ronin Island Vol 1 by Greg Pak

2/25/2020

0 Comments

 
Cover of Ronin Island vol 1
Illustrated by Giannis Milonogiannis
​
This story begins on a peaceful island off the coast of Japan, where two young people vie against each other to be stronger, faster, better.  One is the Kenichi, the son of a great samurai, and the other is Hana, a Korean refugee and outcast.  Then, a strange Shogun lands on their shores and demands fealty in return for protecting the island from the oncoming horrors.  The villagers try to refuse, but it becomes clear that the horrors are forces that they are not prepared to face.  Someone has released a mutation that causes soldiers to become zombie-like creatures bent on destroying the living.  At the end of volume 1, Hana and Kenichi take different paths to combating the mutants, so it will be interesting to see where the journey takes each of them.

​The setting and conflict of this story have intrigued me, and I am anticipating volume 2's publication later this year.  I need to know what happens on the two different paths, but I also have so many questions still about the world Hana and Kenichi live in.  As with most volume 1s, not all of the world is completely built-out, especially about the past before this story takes place.  There are a few characters without much backstory in volume 1 that I would love to see explored.  The one negative I would have about this title is some of the narrative jumps that happen.  At one point, everyone gets in row boats to travel across a body of water to help fight these mutant soldiers, but I'm not exactly sure if that was supposed to be the main island of Japan or not.  The artistic style is reminiscent of Batman: The Animated Series but grittier, and the coloring is absolutely beautiful.

BOOM! Studios doesn't seem to rate their titles, but I would place this in the Teen category because of the violence.  There isn't a ton of blood on the page, but there is violence against the mutant soldiers, including decapitation.

As an added bonus, since the threat of COVID-19 is such a hot topic at the moment, this story could become another lens through which to look at spread of infection.  In this case, the spread creates mutants, but there could be interesting parallels drawn between the hysteria of this mutation compared to the hysteria of COVID-19.

Sara's Rating: 7/10
Suitability level: Grades 9-12


Download a preview here.

Tags: Rating: 7/10, Suitability: High School, 
Comicbooks, Historical Fiction, Horror

Never miss a review! Subscribe and get the best delivered to your inbox.

* indicates required
0 Comments



Leave a Reply.

    About Me

    I've been reading manga and comicbooks for years. Now, I write reviews and other helpful things for School Librarians, teachers, parents, and students.

    Read More

    Search this site


    Picture
    Ko-fi icon

    Never miss a review! Subscribe and get the best delivered to your inbox.

    * indicates required

    Ratings, Audience, and Subject Tags

    All
    Abrams ComicsArts
    Action Adventure
    Adaptations
    Animals
    Autobiography
    Biography
    BOOM! Studios
    Comicbooks
    CSLA 2021
    Culinary
    Dark Horse
    DC Comics
    Dead Reckoning
    Del Rey
    Demons
    Disabilities
    Dungeon
    Dystopian
    Ecchi
    Family
    Fantasy
    Farming
    First Second
    Folklore
    Friendship
    Graphic Fiction
    Graphic Nonfiction
    Graphic Universe
    Greenwillow Books
    Grief
    HarperAlley
    Hill And Wang
    Historical Fiction
    History
    Horror
    Humanoids
    Humor
    IDW
    Image Comics
    Isekai
    Iyashikei
    J Novel Club
    J-Novel Club
    Kodansha
    LGBTQ+
    Mad Cave
    Magic
    Magical Girl
    Manga
    Manhwa
    Marvel
    Mecha
    Megascope
    Memoir
    Mental Health
    Music
    Mystery
    Mythology
    Native American
    OEL Manga
    One Peace Books
    Oni Press
    Paranormal
    Penguin
    Race Relations
    Rating: 10/10
    Rating: 3/10
    Rating: 4/10
    Rating: 5/10
    Rating: 6/10
    Rating: 7/10
    Rating: 8/10
    Rating: 9/10
    Realistic Fiction
    RH Graphic
    Romance
    Saturday AM
    School Life
    Science
    Science Fiction
    SelfMadeHero
    Seven Seas
    Skybound Comet
    Slice Of Life
    Sports
    Square Enix
    Steampunk
    Suitability: Adult
    Suitability: Elementary School
    Suitability: High School
    Suitability: Middle School
    Superheroes
    Supernatural
    Surrealism
    Survival
    Suspense
    Ten Speed Press
    Theater
    TokyoPop
    Top Shelf
    Udon Entertainment
    Video Games
    VIZ Media
    War
    Western
    Yen Press

    Archives

    February 2023
    January 2023
    December 2022
    November 2022
    October 2022
    September 2022
    August 2022
    July 2022
    June 2022
    May 2022
    April 2022
    March 2022
    February 2022
    January 2022
    December 2021
    November 2021
    October 2021
    September 2021
    August 2021
    July 2021
    June 2021
    May 2021
    April 2021
    March 2021
    February 2021
    January 2021
    December 2020
    November 2020
    October 2020
    September 2020
    August 2020
    July 2020
    June 2020
    May 2020
    April 2020
    March 2020
    February 2020
    January 2020
    December 2019
    October 2019
    September 2019
    August 2019
    July 2019
    June 2019
    May 2019
    April 2019
    March 2019
    January 2019
    December 2018
    November 2018
    October 2018
    September 2018

Picture

​© 2022 Sara Smith

Picture
  • Home
  • Reviews
    • Review List by Author
  • Terminology
  • Info Postings
  • About Me
  • Other Resources
    • Research