Writers: Steven Shea, Matthew Zunich, Jaanelle Yee, Naomi Brett Rourke, Dr. Terry Cronin, Gavin Hignight
Artists: Logan Van Der Wolf, Chickenz, Zia Izzy, Elly Karipides, Alan Villaflor
Publishers: Abyssmal Entertainment, June 2026
Isla Monstro Anthology #1 is exactly the kind of comic that seems to have been created after somebody asked that very unique question, “What if we turned a radioactive military disaster into a tropical resort and filled it with mutated monsters?” And rather than interrogating the premise, everyone involved apparently decided to run with it.
The comic expands on the bizarre world of Isla Monstro, a place where a Cold War-era DARPA experiment called Project Starfish left its human test subjects horribly mutated. The resulting disaster was covered up, and the remains of Fort Montana eventually became a resort. Naturally, this means the island is now populated by various mutants, monsters, tourists, and other assorted weirdos.
The anthology uses that eccentric platform to tell a collection of relatively short stories, with the results ranging from genuinely funny to deliberately grotesque.
One of the more memorable stories is “Iris” by Steven Shea and Logan Van Der Wolf. It follows a newly formed slime mutant who develops an understanding of love, only for that newfound existence to come to a rather unfortunate end. It’s a surprisingly effective little story because there’s an actual sense of tragedy underneath the joke.
“Love Isla Monstro Style” goes in a somewhat different direction, focusing on Moon, a lonely jellyfish mutant, and Chad, a gym-bro type who happens to have been spliced with a clownfish. Chad’s claim that he’s immune to poison naturally turns out to be less reliable than he’d like. The story plays its bizarre romance for laughs, but it also gives the characters engaging personality.
Then there’s “UzuMonstro,” which pushes the comic’s body-horror elements considerably further. Natalie becomes obsessed with Dr. Oculus’ D Wing laboratory, eventually finding herself transformed through a recombinant DNA synthesizer. It’s the kind of story where the increasingly ridiculous premise is matched by increasingly strange imagery.
The shorter pieces help flesh out the setting. “Shark Week,” “Pink Eye,” and “Pandora Square Cubed” all take the opportunity to explore different corners of the Isla Monstro premise, whether that means arguing about television programming in a video store, or dealing with radioactive ghost crabs inside a sunken Soviet submarine while trying to obtain eye drops. Yes, that last one is pretty much as ridiculous as it sounds.
The rotating lineup of artists all bring their own styles to the material, which helps each story feel distinct. Some of the artwork is more cartoonish and exaggerated, while other sections lean more heavily into grotesque monster designs and body horror. Given how strange and disjointed the setting is, the variety feels appropriate.
The biggest strength of Isla Monstro Anthology #1 is that it understands exactly what kind of comic it wants to be. This isn’t trying to present its mutants and military conspiracies as serious science fiction. It’s a collection of weird, occasionally disgusting, and often funny stories built around an intentionally ridiculous premise.
If you’ve got an appetite for mutant monsters, bizarre humor, body horror, and the sort of storytelling that seems determined to see just how far it can take its own premise, Isla Monstro Anthology #1 is worth checking out. You can buy it here: https://www.islamonstro.com/product-page/isla-monstro-comic-book-1-a-cover