Comic Review: Wandering Island Volume 2 TPB (Dark Horse)

You’re a young Japanese woman, a teen really. You’re flying a light plane over the ocean, looking for an island. Welcome to Wandering Island, Volume 2, from Dark Horse.

Writer and artist Kenji Tsuruta brings us this story of intrigue, poetically presented in this collected manga volume. The original stories were published intermittently as manga chapters in the massive Afternoon anthology, during 2012, and 2014 through 2017. Consisting of 15 separate parts, Wandering Island Vol 2 is available in English here for the first time. It’s printed small, i.e.: not normal comic size, so 5.75″ x 8.25″.

Mikura Amelia, our young Japanese pilot, is trying to deliver a parcel to Ms. Amelia. But the island address, while clearly written on the parcel, is not a fixed position; apparently the island actually DOES ‘wander’, up to 300 miles a day! What a wonder!

It’s a wonderful journey, as we accompany Mikura on her trek. When she finally does locate the island, in mid-ocean, she doesn’t exactly receive a warm reception; it’s like wandering around the Italian island of Capri when it is completely deserted. Picturesque and puzzling. The inhabitants finally do make their presence known, or rather ‘unknown’, we could say.

I can’t say enough about the black and white renderings throughout Wandering Island; the delicately fine line ink drawings of Mikura, her flights, her flights of fancy, and the plain but fascinating surroundings. It’s poetic, for sure. Very very little dialogue, long silences, and lots of walking, bikini-clad swimming and exploring. It can be a quick read with plenty of full-page drawings to flip past or a thought-provoking travel through time zones and poetic exploration.

Dark Horse Manga, Wandering Island Volume 2, $14.99 for 204 pages of content. Rated: 16 Years of age