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One day, gravity on Earth suddenly became a fraction of what it is now. Twenty years later, humanity has adapted to its new low-gravity reality. And to Willa Fowler, a woman born just after G-day, it's...well, it's pretty awesome, actually. You can fly through the air! I mean, sure, you can also die if you jump too high. So you just don't jump too high. And maybe don't get mixed up in your Dad's secret plan to bring gravity back that could get you killed...

SKYWARD HC collects all 15 issues of the Eisner Award nominated series from writer JOE HENDERSON (showrunner of Netflix's LUCIFER) and artist LEE GARBETT (LUCIFER, LOKI: AGENT OF ASGARD).

416 pages, Hardcover

First published March 23, 2021

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417 people want to read

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Joe Henderson

25 books60 followers

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5 stars
162 (29%)
4 stars
213 (39%)
3 stars
128 (23%)
2 stars
38 (6%)
1 star
3 (<1%)
Displaying 1 - 30 of 82 reviews
Profile Image for Lukasz.
1,849 reviews481 followers
August 24, 2021
2.5

The art is stunning, Willa is likable (when she's not infuriating) but the writing is so-so and character development is lacking. Worth a shot for the art and cool world-building, not necessarily for the clever plot.
Profile Image for Federico.
116 reviews110 followers
August 4, 2022
The sky is falling! Well, actually it isn't, this isn't Chicken Little. Quite the opposite indeed: the Earth has lost its gravity and there is a struggle between those who profited from this fact and those who want to restore the planet as it once was.

This comic series lacks a bit of character development, and for some things it's quite predictable, but generally speaking it's an interesting reading on a topic that I think it was never explored before.

WARNINGS: violence, death, freaking big insects

STYLING: ⭐⭐
ORIGINALITY: ⭐⭐⭐⭐
CHARACTER DEV.: ⭐⭐⭐
PLOT DEV.: ⭐⭐⭐
IMPORTANCE: ⭐⭐
Profile Image for Chris Thompson.
812 reviews14 followers
November 10, 2021
This has a great concept, but unfortunately a bland story and characters. The story is further ruined by some late plot twists that make earlier events make no sense. At the start of the story, Willa’s mom is caught outside when gravity stops working. We assume she dies. Plot twist #1: she’s alive. But why didn’t she return to Willa and Willa’s father right away? There was nothing preventing her from returning home. If I were Willa, I’d be pissed. The whole thing messed her dad up.

At another early point, Willa’s father claims to know how to fix things, assuming how to turn gravity back on. The way this is written is incredibly deceptive. It turns out that her dad had created an underground city to prevent people from floating out of the Earth’s atmosphere, and this is what he meant when he said he could fix things. Why not just tell Willa about the city? This misunderstanding is what sets in motion the plot’s main conflict with Roger Barrow, and a lot of bad things that happen would not have had Willa’s father just been forthright.

Minus these major issues, the story is still not great, but this is the kind of writing that can make a decent series bad.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
Profile Image for Isabel Hinen.
248 reviews4 followers
June 8, 2022
Age: 17+
Genre: sci-fi, dystopian, doomsday
Content includes: mild violence/blood, death, giant bugs
Suggestive material: some innuendos, kissing
Language: fairly clean

Review: I really liked this! I was excited to find the series all in one book; it was easier than trying to find all the different volumes at my library. However it is a HEFTY book for sure. I felt like this was much more of an adult graphic novel. Not because it was *graphic* or gorey, but just because of the art style and plotline. There's nothing wrong with that, just it's geared more towards an adult audience in my opinion. I did like the fact that it was pretty clean, too, since graphic novels are notorious for being sexually and lingually explicit. I would definitely recommend this as a good read! All the twists in the novel were very engaging and I could never have expected a lot of the turn of events!
Profile Image for Angela Kravcevich.
197 reviews
September 27, 2023
Some of the full art pages where very creative. Lots of creativity went into the comic. The story however was only so-so, however it made up for it with its lightheartedness and silly humour.
Profile Image for Doreen.
176 reviews
December 27, 2021
Cool concept, awesome artwork, average story-telling. Read for Popsugar 2021 prompt #35: format you don’t normally read (graphic novel).
Profile Image for Michael Sorbello.
Author 1 book317 followers
April 19, 2021
This is a review of the entire series.

One day, a tragic incident known as G-Day causes gravity on Earth to become a fraction of what it once was. Without warning, millions of people are sucked into the sky and die from lack of oxygen. Destroyed property, carcasses and absurd weather phenomenon float hauntingly throughout the atmosphere. Spheres of debris and natural disaster suck in anyone that get too close. At first, the aftermath is absolutely horrific. After twenty years of adjusting to the new world, however, humanity adapts surprisingly well. New methods of travel are invented and young folks find plenty of new ways to cause trouble and have fun. People learn to fly without machines, even the physically disabled have found ways to move from place to place without much hassle.

Willa Fowler was born without knowing what it was like to live in a world where people walked on the ground, so when she learns that her traumatized father who lost his wife on G-Day is hatching a plan to 'save' the world by bringing gravity back, the idea doesn't strike her as particularly desirable. Swept up in a conspiracy that reveals how rich and evil organizations are profiting off of a world without gravity, Willa begins to realize that things aren't as simple as they seem.

This short series started off strong, even though the pacing was choppy and rushed from the get-go, the concept was solid, the opening is emotional and Willa is a very likable protagonist. The first volume while having messy pacing and a laughably one-dimensional villain is still a solid standalone story with a touching conclusion. As soon as volume 2 begins, the entire story falls apart unfortunately. The already messy pacing speeds up to the point of feeling like 20 chapters worth of material are constantly getting crammed into 25 pages making everything feel empty, undeserved and unrewarding. A problem will begin only for it to be resolved 3 pages later. A character will swap motivations and undergo multiple personality changes every single chapter making it hard to care about anyone or anything that's going on.

The romance is forced, the true villain has no time to properly develop, the amount of tired cliches crammed into volumes 2 and 3 are just plain bad. It ends with a lot of plot holes and a rushed ending that leaves a lot to be desired. I think this series could've had a lot of potential if it took the time to develop... literally everything instead of jumping from one unfinished plot point to the next 5 times per chapter. It's a shame I ended up not liking the story or the delivery much because I really would've liked to have seen more from WIlla. Volume 1 is fairly solid, but I didn't like the rest at all.
Profile Image for Laya.
91 reviews13 followers
July 2, 2021
I liked it well enough. The concept is killer and they did a really great job creating the low gravity world, illustrating what it would mean, and theorizing how humanity might cope.

I was going to say that Willa’s skin color felt tacked on, but I realized that none of these characters is particularly fleshed out. People do things, things happen, but nothing has any emotional heft behind it. So Willa’s race, Edison’s disability, the queer characters - they almost never carry any real weight. And when they do it’s a momentary thing and has very little impact on the overall story.

It was cute, though. I was into the art and I enjoyed the story. 3.5 ⭐️
Profile Image for Amir Mahdi.
97 reviews
February 20, 2025
این کمیک ها مدت ها در لیستم بود که بخونمش و بالاخره فرصت شد تا اینکار رو بکنم اگه بخوام نظرم رو به صورت خلاصه بگم این کمیک نمونه بارز پتانسیل های از دست رفته است ولی اجازه بدید به صورت مفصل بهش بپردازیم

داستان
داستان درمورد دنیایی هست که جاذبه در اون از بین میره و حالا ما زندگی دختری رو دنبال میکنیم که در همچین دنیایی بزرگ شده. حداقل برای من این خلاصه ترغیب کننده بود تا به خوندنش بنشینم اما چیزی که اول از همه تو ذوقم زد عدم تلاش نویسنده برای آوردن دلیل منطقی برای از بین رفتن جاذبه بود چون مطمغنا سوالی که برای هر خواننده ای پیش میاد این هست مه چه اتفاقی برای جاذبه افتاده که نویسنده حتی بهش اشاره هم نمیکنه، مشکل دیگه ای که از نظر داستانی با این کمیک داشتم این بود که نویسنده تصمیم گرفته که به موضوعات زیادی از جمله نجات جهان ، روابط خانوادگی ، اختلاف طبقاتی ، دنیای پس از جاذبه و بسیاری از موضوعات دیگه بپردازه که متاسفانه 15 شماره برای این حجم از موضوعات خیلی کمه و بسیاری از این مطالب بسیار سطحی بهشون پرداخته میشه.

شخصیت ها
شخصیت ها همون شخصیت های نرمالی هستن که در بسیاری از آثار مختلف میبینیم و این اصلا موضوع بدی نیست و حتی چیزی که بسیار از اون خوشم اومد زیاد از حد رو مخ نبودن شخصیت اصلی بود که معمولا در آثاری با شخصیت نوجوان دختر با یک فرد با تصمیمات رو مخ مواجه هستیم که خوشبختانه نویسنده از همچین موضوعی دوری کرده اما یکی از مشکلات من با شخصیت پردازی مادر شخصیت اصلی هست که به طرز احمقانه ای فاقد هرگونه احساسات به تصویر کشیده میشه و متاسفانه نویسنده شخصیت پردازی رو فدای پیشبرد داستان کرده

دنیاسازی
در کل دنیاسازی اثر خوبه البته دوست داشتم بیشتر به نحوه مواجه شهر با نبود جاذبه بپردازه یا حتی بیشتر درمورد بثیه جهان بعد از جاذبه صحبت بشه که البته واقعا 15 شماره همچین فرصتی رو نویسنده نمیده

نویسندگی
قلم نویسنده بسیار روون بود و نیاز به دانش گسترده ای در زمینه زبان انگلیسی نداره و در نوشتن از جمله بندی های ساده استفاده کرده که به خوبی به حفظ تمپوی بالای اثر کمک کرده

سرعت داستان
صحبت از تمپوی اثر شد باید بگم من کل اثر رو در دو پارت یک ربعی خوندم و واقغا از این لحاظ تجربه لذتبخشی بود

طراحی
طراحی های این اثر چشم نوازه و یکی از موضوعاتی که من رو ترغیب به خوندن این اثر کرد همین طراحی ها بوده

رنگ آمیزی
انتخاب رنگ ها به خوبی انجام شده شاید به طرز عجیبی چشم نواز نباشه اما کار رو در میاره

پایان بندی
به نظرم حداقل دو سه شماره دیگه این اثر نیاز داشت تا به صورتکامل داستان رو ببنده اما به طور کلی به خوبی تونست جمع کنه اما به خاطر مشکلاتی که از همون ابتدا در اثر وجود داشت شاید این پایان بندی یکم هول هولکی بنظر برسه.

در پایان باید بگم که این اثر یه کمیک با تمپوی بالا و مناسب چیل کردن و گذروندن زمان هست

Profile Image for Brendan.
1,277 reviews53 followers
August 6, 2025
🅡🅔🅥🅘🅔🅦

Skyward
2018
Graphic Novel
Rating: 3.5/5

Skyward is an inventive and high-concept sci-fi premise that draws you into a world where gravity has suddenly diminished, reshaping everyday life in profound and unexpected ways. This twist on physics sets the stage for a fast-paced and emotionally coming-of-age story. The comic manages to blend action, wonder, and heartfelt moments, largely due to its compelling protagonist, Willa Fowler, who is as daring and hopeful as the world she’s trying to navigate.

The story’s emotional core, centred on Willa’s relationship with her reclusive father and his mysterious backstory, the catastrophic event that altered gravity, adds depth beyond the action. Joe Henderson does a good job weaving personal stakes into a broader conspiracy, exploring themes of loss, courage, and societal adaptation. Willa’s optimism and rebellious spirit are on point, though at times her youthful impulsiveness feels a bit predictable.

The artwork is a standout element and adds a lot of depth. The imaginative designs make the low-gravity world feel beautiful and threatening. The way characters float through cities suspended in midair is visually striking, and the action sequences are exhilarating. Combined with vibrant colouring, the comic maintains a bright, and energetic tone.

The story isn’t without its limitations. Some of the world-building is glossed over in favour of fast-paced plot advancement, and secondary characters can occasionally feel underdeveloped. Certain narrative beats fall into familiar tropes, especially regarding villains and corporate conspiracy, but the momentum of the story and the unique setting help compensate for these elements.

Skyward is an entertaining and visually engaging comic that delivers a fresh spin on the sci-fi adventure genre. Its mix of emotional storytelling, creative world-building, and cinematic art makes it well worth the read, especially for the sci-fi community, with its character-driven action. While it may not completely escape genre conventions, its heart and imagination elevate it.

#skyward#joehenderson#imagecomics#dupreewenttothemovies
Profile Image for Raphael Maiffre.
8 reviews
December 31, 2022
Minha primeira leitura do #DiaDoQuadrinhoGrátis foi "Skyward" de Joe Henderson.

A belíssima capa de Lee Garbett (que também cuida da ilustração desse quadrinho junto com Simon Bowland), foi o que me chamou atenção para adquirir esse gibi no dia.

Esse quadrinho introdutório tem uma trama um pouco desordenada, mas pega você pela curiosidade.

Na história somos apresentados a Willa Fowler, uma humana que sobreviveu ao "Dia G". O dia que a gravidade da Terra se torna uma fração do que ela é.

20 anos depois do ocorrido, tudo passa a mudar em nosso planeta e todo mundo consegue voar! Embora com um "passo" em falso você pode ser jogado para fora da Terra ou acabar sendo esmagado por algum objeto.

E é basicamente isso que é contado e mostrado nesse gibi introdutório. O desenrolar do porque a Terra está dessa maneira só deve ser contado nas próximas edições. E parece que o pai da nossa protagonista sabe de alguma coisa.

Traço firme e bem bonito e cores que ajudam a trazer uma atmosfera que soa como pos-apocalipse, mas que também não é. Porque é o tipo de futuro onde a humanidade não foi dizimada por alguma coisa ou tomada por Zumbis. É um meio termo.

Quero ler mais!
Profile Image for Anton Babkin.
21 reviews2 followers
May 16, 2023
When I was reading this comic I had a strong felling that the writer started working at it absolutely sober, then he had a couple of beers, and more, and more. And finally he had gotten completely drunk. The story is falling apart, the ideas and motivation of heroes are getting more and more dumb. And at the end it’s just a complete mess. That’s what we have. It’s like Disney cartoon for 10 years old pretending to be a serious young adult novel. But it’s still naive, stupid and predictable. All villains look like “Ah, we are nasty villains, look how bad we are!” Mother just jumped her daughter for twenty years without reasons and when they finally met, the daughter didn’t even ask “Where the hell have you been all this time?” Just “Ah, mama, I love you so much!”. The scientist that could fix everything, actually couldn’t. But have plan B for many years and just waited for… nobody knows for what. Including the creator of this piece of garbage. The only good thing about this comic is art. Yes, most people all look the same but otherwise it’s a good art. Clear, bold, imaginative. That’s why 2 stars. Otherwise it would be minus 2.
Profile Image for Sebastian Lauterbach.
242 reviews4 followers
July 16, 2024
The artwork is amazing, but the story is more important to me in a graphic novel and it just sucks.

The biggest problem:
This concept is amazing, turn off gravity and see what happens. And yet the book fumbles and trips at every corner. Where is the explanation about this phenomenon? How did the world adapt (countries, government, internet, etc.). Instead there's one city (are there more? who knows?) whose people know NOTHING that's going on outside, not even what food people are eating?

Aside from that, the antagonist is a clown and the protagonist is an invincible and perfect girl, adapting to every situation with ease. Then there's the reveal in the third act, which undermines most of what happened in the first act.

On the other side, the book looks amazing, both interiors and the fantastic covers. I could imagine hanging the covers for issues 1-3 & 9 on my wall.

So all in all, if you prefer the artwork over the story, go for it! Otherwise, not so much.
Profile Image for Jibug.
211 reviews2 followers
May 2, 2021
Humanity learns to adapt to their new reality of low-gravity. Willa can jump and fly to her destination. Edison no longer requires a wheelchair to get around. Guns are obsolete. Rainstorms are beautiful but terrifying bodies of water that float in the air. Yet there are some people who fear this reality. Corporations feed off of that fear with mag shoes that allow people to walk on the ground as if nothing has happened to the world. There is fear in drifting skyward to death, but there is also the thrill of soaring through the sky. Reality is scary but it also hold moments of awe which is comminuted through the gorgeous art. There were many times where I just had to stop and take my time just looking at the art. The concept of this comic is so unique. I enjoyed every minute of the story. I think the plot was a bit rushed, but I still had fun with it. I highly recommend giving it a try.
Profile Image for Britt.
741 reviews
July 31, 2021
Skyward is an amazing graphic novel about Willa, a young woman in a world where gravity has gone. Or at least there is still some low gravity. The world has adapted to this and the world-building is wonderfully explored through the issues. Willa is fearless but her father is afraid of going outside.

I loved Willa and Edison. They were great characters and there was some great dialogue about what gravity would mean for a person with a disability. Willa's father was also an interesting character.

Overall, the graphic novel has great dialogues and world-building. I really recommend if you are looking for a graphic novel series that is complete. With only 15 issues Skyward is a fun bingeread.
Profile Image for Chaos0x57.
12 reviews
August 30, 2023
It starts really good, but changes the tone and falls off towards the ending.

The book is entertaining, but its interpretation of physics is inconsistent with itself, which bothered me a whole lot. At first it seems as if gravity is negative, but later it seems gravity is just very very small. Being the whole premise of the story, I expected the author to be way more rigid with the physics.

Also, I think I can see three different "phases" of the book. At first the story is really good and takes itself seriously, but as it goes on it starts changing the tone. There was one point in the later half where I thought "hmmm, I think the book is trying to make a joke here". The ending was not bad, but not great either.

Overall, it was entertaining and I had fun.
Profile Image for Sean.
4,221 reviews25 followers
October 30, 2024
This was extremely fun. Joe Henderson, whom I'm unfamiliar with, tells the story of a world where gravity disappears. 20 year old Willa knows nothing but this gravityless world but she wants to see the world. What she encounters are wild. This world created is inventive, fun, and scary. The cast is very strong and Willa is unbelievably likeable. There were some solid antagonists but at times they were a little too over the top. The art by another newcomer to me, Antonio Fabela was super solid. I really enjoyed this. Overall, a great world built that only had a few minor issues that thoroughly entertained.
Profile Image for Jonathan Crabb.
Author 1 book13 followers
April 14, 2025
Very long graphic novel which spans the entire series. The art was the standout attraction to this graphic novel, done in bright colors and really well done with the sense of weightlessness. There was one challenge with the GN which I am docking it two whole stars for. There were pages where something important was supposed to happen and it felt like the author just completely skipped two or three pages. You then have to figure out what the heck happened. I thought it was a misprint issue with the graphic novel but the same thing happened 3 or 4 more times. Very annoying and quite distracting from the broader story.
Profile Image for Henry Fosdike.
673 reviews
June 26, 2025
Three stars for the story and an extra star for the art. I enjoyed the first third so much but it lost me a bit in the middle and was silly by the end (though the epilogue got me).

The concept is great - what if gravity suddenly got a lot less strong? - and I enjoyed following Willa’s journey with her father and love interest. Even so, it lost me with a few more of its ideas (though rain all in one giant blob was cool) and ultimately jumped the shark by the end, which was a shame. The art is hugely impressive though with an astonishing sense of weightlessness and movement throughout. Definitely worth looking into.
Profile Image for Matt DiGennaro.
90 reviews1 follower
May 20, 2021
So many things about this story make no sense. For example, it’s made pretty clear that young people have no concept of what life was like before low gravity. It’s as if no pictures, videos, or documents survived from 20 years earlier. The low-G is also conveniently inconsistent (sometimes people can float in place, other times they lift into space). The artwork is great and the concept is cool. There is a lot to like but also a LOT to nitpick. Just depends on how you want to approach this fun little adventure.
Profile Image for James.
777 reviews37 followers
August 11, 2021
Terrific, imaginative, beautiful. Also terrifying and sometimes sad.

The concept of a very low gravity earth is incredibly appealing...and also a concept that an actual book would have to work pretty hard to live up to. Skyward definitely does that. The character building, intricate plotting (for a graphic novel), and the artwork all live to the idea.

Enjoyed that it was effortlessly diverse and LGBTQ-friendly.

TBH, the book is heavy enough to kill a person with and would probably read better in another format.

Overall, really enjoyed it and would recommend.
1 review
October 18, 2023
I will agree with others that have reviewed this series, overall it's okay. The art is great and it started off with a great premise. The first 3rd of the series I felt had a lot of promise and I was excited to see where it was going.

I feel that the middle section took an odd turn.

Then the last 3rd of the series feels very rushed, forced, and overall disappointing. It just took a lot of the potential it setup at the beginning and tossed it aside.

Overall, I'd say it was a decent read, and one that I'd recommend to someone to read at least once, but I won't revisit it.
Profile Image for Cat.
47 reviews
May 28, 2021
Skyward was a really great series :) I enjoyed the art and the storyline. I did have to ignore some of the incorrect science but meh it's a comic book.

Profile Image for Monie .
235 reviews5 followers
January 13, 2023
I loved the idea of this. I just wish it done better. The characters??? So strange. I honestly think the main character should have been younger than she is because then her decisions and behavior would make more sense.

The plot twist??
No sense but also very predictable.

The art and the idea / concept / possibilities of the story is why I liked it and why I have it 3 stars. Everything else? Nah.
Profile Image for Tiliqua.
28 reviews
April 26, 2023
The art was pleasant but the story and characters fall flat really quickly, and then keeps going to the point of destroying them. All side characters are either forgotten or completely inconsequential.

Sci fi disaster scenarios are nice, and the first two chapters as standalone works are great. The research the author/artist did here and the suspense they manage to keep show that it could have been altogether great.
Profile Image for Sadiel Giron.
144 reviews
March 4, 2024
Just finished reading this one in one sitting. The story was good, i really enjoyed the concept of the story and the world building. The art is amazing. There's a few things that I disliked; There really was no character development and the tone changed midway into the story. Characters started telling jokes and kind of was off-putting. The ending I would say is satisfactory but could have been better. Overall it was entertaining and the art alone was great to flip through.
Profile Image for RiJo RaghvaN.
64 reviews2 followers
December 6, 2025
Like many other reviews have already said, this starts off with a very strong concept and premise and it honestly couldve gotten better and explored some interesting themes BUT unfortunately after that strong start it just devolves into some standard slop. Some of the later dialogues also felt so cringy and immature. Overall a disappointing read, some fairly good artwork and creative premise but other than that, this one missed the mark hard.
Profile Image for Tigertemprr.
29 reviews4 followers
April 28, 2021
80-85%. Loved the "Earth suddenly loses gravity" premise/concept and all the world-building details/ramifications, fun adventures, and unexpected twists leading up to an ending that felt a little rushed/square/saccharine. Very easy/fast read. Paced like a TV show. Too short—world has so much potential.
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