Invisible Kingdom, Vol. 1

Set in a solar system with four main planets and an array of alien life, Invisible Kingdom’s first volume: Walking the Path is a great blend of science fiction, adventure, emotion and faith.

Faith is an important theme that runs throughout the story. Primarily there is Vess and her belief in walking the path to the Invisible Kingdom. Rather than a real place (so far as I know at this point) the Invisible Kingdom is more akin to enlightenment. Willow-Wilson described it as: “faith in what you can’t see, loyalty of friendship” as well as believing in the truth of one’s cause and being open to the possibility of change. From a storytelling point-of-view I appreciated that Vess and Grix’s plotlines paralleled each other – with belief in a ‘higher’ powerful organisation – but after both women have that belief tested they are forced to decide what the right path truly is.

What first struck me about Invisible Kingdom was how it used colour to tell the story. Grix and her crew spend much of this volume in outer space. In these scenes we are treated to an array of vibrant and swirling psychedelic colours which represent space. In direct contrast, Vess is surrounded by neutral brown tones and muted, more natural, shades of green and blue during her time at the Renunciation. With themes of calm versus chaos, these two distinctive colour palettes highlight the different journeys taken by the two central characters.

I do not often delve into the world of graphic novels but Invisible Kingdom definitely made me want to explore this narrative type more. As a science fiction fan I would recommend this series for those looking for a character driven adventure. For me Invisible Kingdom finds the right blend of character, plot, action and imagery.