Tigress Island #5 – Afraid of its own story

A sex traffic empire goes down in flames in Tigress Island #5 by Patrick Kindlon & EPHK, Image Comics.

TIGRESS ISLAND

Previously, I had personal concerns about Tigress Island as a story. More specifically about the story that it wanted to tell. So, here’s a quick recap. A bunch of ladies with questionable pasts and questionable decisions, go to Tokyo where they were kidnapped. Followed by trafficked to a private island, where women are used as sex slaves. When I say women, I’m not talking about a handful of women, or a dozen of women. No, I am talking about hundreds of women. Maybe enough to fill an entire town. From all over the world from all walks of life from all races, religions, and ethnic backgrounds. Being kept against their will on a private island so they could be exploited. Presumed to be mostly men. Men with power and resources. Basically, the kind of people that have a tight hand on the leverages of society. CEOs, politicians, business moguls, you know the deal. 

SORINAH THE PROVOST

   Another important character that we met in this series who plays a giant role in the story is Sorinah. The provost of the island and the first in command of this criminal enterprise. This is the lady that is in charge of the custody of all these women that are being held on this island against their will. I wouldn’t call her a madam or a pimp. Because those words don’t necessarily cover her entire role. Not only is she in charge of the health and welfare of the kidnapped women residing on the island. But she’s also responsible for the maintenance, or the upkeep of the specific aesthetics of these victims. So, they could be up to standard to suffice the needs of the patrons of this establishment. 

*SPOILERS FOR ISSUE #5*

SOLICITATION:

“The girls are loose on the island, but there’s an army on their tail. They’ve faced dangers up to now, but the stakes are about to go up in tragic and irreversible ways!”

LACKSUTER END

There’s not much to tell about the conclusion of this saga. As the ladies continue their march to freedom, many more of them meet a tragic end. The sponsors and owners of the island are presumably killed by one of their victims. So there’s some poetic justice in that I guess. But overall, it’s mostly an 80’s action movie type of ending. Very uninspired if you ask me. The one personal concern I have about this story started to come about halfway through the series.

FALLING SHORT

My concern was mostly about its messaging. More specifically, about the lack of a message from this story. I have said this in a previous review, but in a time like this when there is a huge shining light over The Epstein Island, the files and that entire criminal enterprise, Tigress Island. Yet has nothing to say. The creators of this series were so close to making a statement about a one-to-one parallel that we have in the real world. But they actively went out of their way to avoid being political or to avoid sharing a perspective. If you’ve been following the news, there’s been a lot of hearings, testimonies and coverage speculating on this case. But we are still in the stages of speculating on justice as one of the outcomes still in 2026.

NO JUSTICE

That maybe, the patrons, facilitators, enablers and the active participants of the Epstein Criminal Enterprise face some kind of justice. Speculating is all we got because as of today, nobody has been arrested. Nobody has been charged with anything. Tigress Island went out of the way to do a story about women getting kidnapped and going to a private island to be trafficked and sexually abused and held from society from civilization from friends and family against their will. And the main antagonist of the story that got a name and some real estate in the pages of this book was another woman. All the patrons, even the owner of the island who gets shouted out constantly is just another nameless faceless man.  

IT SHOULD MATTER

I found myself asking why? Why was that the choice here? Why was the decision to have this parallel one-to-one story to real life and also keep the patrons of this kind of crime anonymous. I think it matters in real life, and it should in fiction how we tell these stories. 

How about the art? 

If you’re a fan of overly sexualized and cartoonish female body figures, then this is definitely up your alley. I’m a straight male. I have nothing against sexualized characters. I think it can be done tastefully or justified. Depending on the execution and application to a story. I’m not against comic books being sexy every now and then. But your mileage may vary. 

Overall Grade: 4.5/10

Final thoughts

I understand that this review might be out of character for myself. I typically do not share overly negative thoughts when he comes to the media I like to consume. Because art is about perspective and the required knowledge to understand or interpret said art. Obviously, it’s not lost on me that I am judging this series by what it could have been versus what it is. Yet, I’m okay with the way I have passed judgment. Because this was a funny and sexy throwback to a foregone era; when action sequences, and explosions were the point. But that era of pointless entertainment is gone. And this was a wasted opportunity. 

Let us know your thoughts in the comments, and check out more reviews from Yancy.