Four local artists teamed up for what we think is a valiant effort at producing a high quality Jamaican-produced comic book.  Issue 1 of I-land Chronicles contains four introductory comics: Maroon Blood, After dark, Knock Knock and Track Star and Children of Insurrection.

Maroon Black written by Racquel Reid-Grandison with artwork by Henry Grandison sees the main character, Daniel battling the Three Finger Jack in Half Way Tree, using the strength of the powers in his maroon blood. Bringing the Jamaican childhood myth of the Three Finger Jack is a stroke of genius on the part of the creators. It sparks interest, as TEENS definitely want to see if the artists’ interpretation of their childhood monster is anything like they imagined. Even though, the characters are well-developed artistically, they action drawings seem rigid in this comic.

After Dark by Stephen McLeod takes its cue from Batman, with the hero, After Dark, being CEO of a major corporation by day, but fights crime by night. The action drawings are on point in this one, however, more dialogue and less captions would make it a winner.

Knock Knock and Track Star by Patrick Allen will appeal to the younger teenage demographic. The introduction story for two boys who found a secret chest and granted super strength and super speed is told. We brace for more in future publications.

Meanwhile, Stephen Roper introduces the main characters in his high school comic, Children of Insurrection. This comic contains some of the most true-to-life graphics in the entire book. Not much action occurs in the first one. But “someone from another world comes”, does a good job at suspense.

The first issue of I-land chronicles is worth picking up, as the graphics are good as well as the story concepts. We await Issue 2 to see if its writers are able to create sufficient entertaining developments to hold the TEEN audience. The comic book is available at Bookophilia in Kingston.