A complex, narrative-weaving historical fiction and study in human nature and depravity, Bourbon Island 1730 was a lovely surprise for me. I will admit that despite my love for Usagi Yojimbo and affection for the work of Jason, I still shrink back from the idea that a comic featuring zoomorphs in the place of humans will likely be either serious or good. Bourbon Island 1730 of course punctures my prejudices by being both. It features top-notch storytelling as well as top-notch illustration.

The story is historical fiction that explores through side-stories the collapse of pirate-era on the Isle of Réunion (then Bourbon) through amnesty and the execution of Olivier Levasseur. I knew none of the book was actual history until reading the notes at the end. I just thought it was a good adventure story that took a moment of consider the moral and philosophical implications of the whole thing.

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