Skyward Volume 1 by Joe Henderson – A Review

Skyward Volume 1 by Joe Henderson
Art by Lee Garbett and Antonio Fabela
Comic Books | Sci-Fi
Goodreads
Published by Image Comics
Released September 25, 2018
Purchase: Amazon
Rating:

I would like to preface this review by mentioning Hoopla, a website that allows you to check out all sorts of books, comics, films and television shows, and audiobooks using your library card. I use it exclusively to read non-Marvel comic books (I use Marvel Unlimited to read those), and I’ve been so impressed by their selection. I noticed this book there and the premise caught my eye.

Skyward is a comic series about Willa Fowler, a woman living on Earth after gravity has gone haywire. In volume one, we don’t learn what caused G-day to happen, just that it was caused in part by her father. We watch as Willa discovers that one of the richest men in the world, Roger Barrow, used to work with her father. She reaches out to him to try to help her father, who has become a recluse. Mr. Barrow isn’t quite what she was expecting, however, and she finds herself trying to save both her and her father’s life instead.

As I mentioned already, I really enjoyed the premise of this series, although I have many questions that I hope will get answered in future issues. Questions such as what happened to large bodies of water when gravity stopped working? How are birds doing with this change? Stuff like that.

The art was beautiful in this series and the coloring perfect. I’ve found that the color palette of a comic book has just as much power as the art itself on setting the tone of the story.

The story was well-paced and I enjoyed the number of panels that focused on the world of the people living “above.” The only gripe I had with Skyward was that some of the side characters seemed very one-dimensional and that Willa was the only one who felt fully fleshed out. Hopefully, that changes with the later issues/volume two.

I definitely recommend Skyward for people looking for a unique new comic series to get hooked on. I’m looking forward to reading volume two.