A story about the surveillance state in the near future that doesn't have much to say. This is really generic. It's the near future and there's a 19 year old girl working with some insurgents in some city that are going to do something. She gets caught and picked up but it's by some other mysterious group. Meanwhile her brother and father are looking for her and her brother joins the police in order to look for her.

The story seems to be going way out of the way to keep this as vague as possible. I didn't realize this was supposed to be in London until reading the blurb on the back. I assumed it was somewhere in France. There is a ton of dialogue that doesn't go anywhere. Everything is so vague that I'm not at all interested in continuing even though the art was good.

My thanks to Europe Comics for a review copy of ‘The Kingdom of the Blind 1. The Invisibles’ - script by Olivier Jouvray and art by Frédérik Salsedo. It was translated from the French by Jeremy Melloul.

Unfortunately I failed to download this graphic novel before it was archived. However, I eventually purchased a copy so that I could review.

This is the first of three volumes and is set in the near future where the proliferation of cameras and social media has resulted in an oppressive surveillance state.

Nineteen-year-old Laurette has joined with a group of like-minded rebels who are planning an attack upon a data centre. Things go wrong and Laurette is abducted. Her brother, Adil, feels that the police are not taking her abduction seriously and begins his own investigation.

‘The Kingdom of the Blind’ is a dark, gritty tale and given the trajectory of society, an all too plausible future. Its artwork reflects this bleakness. The colour palette utilised is dull and coupled with the stark style evokes an atmosphere of gloom.

Will I continue with ‘The Kingdom of the Blind’ series? I was certainly interested in seeing where the various threads of the conspiracy lead. So if I see them on sale I probably will buy.

3.5 stars rounded up to 4.

This was an interesting graphic novel. For the most part, I enjoyed it, the artwork wasn't my favorite style but that's a me thing not that the artwork was necessarily bad. I don't think that I'll be continuing this series though.

I unfortunately was unable to read this book before it was archived. But I look forward to grabbing a copy.

Dystopian fiction on a timely topic. In a future London, Laurette, the daughter of a retired cop joins a band of resistance fighters. Their goal: to end the pervasive and constant surveillance that has come to be the status quo and return some form of privacy to citizens. But it all goes horribly wrong on her first mission, and she's captured by a band of fighters that claim to be on her side... though their motives are suspect.

Thank you to NetGalley for the advance digital copy of this book.

Dark, gritty, political. Clandestine societies, near future dystopias, cops vs criminals, figuring out which is which...

The art of Kingdom of the Blind is rough and dirty, effectively communicating the feeling of the world in which we find ourselves. The people are not beautiful, neither is the city or the situations the people are in.

The themes and execution, while not overly graphic, are decidedly mature. Older teens and adults looking for a modern cop/crime/political drama will find interest in this.

The execution of the story is good, and someone in the market for this type of tale will enjoy the telling. I was attempting to read outside of my comfort zone and my score of 2 stars reflects that.

Grain of Salt.

I think this story was entertaining, however the storyline lacked some originality. I am undecided as to whether to continue with the series as it was not bad by any means, however I felt like I had read the story before. The artwork was interesting and it was a nice light entertaining read that did keep me entertained while reading.

Kingdom of the Blind Volume 1: The Invisibles
Written by Olivier Jouvray
Illustrated by Frederik Salsedo
Colored by Greg Salsedo
Europe Comics

When we first meet Laurette, she’s a feisty teen with an oppositional approach to just about everything in her life, though particularly her father and brother. The particular point of contention between them is her new friends, who her family think are bad influences. Typical coming of age stuff, but in Kingdom of the Blind, Laurette’s new friends are a ragtag group of political activists who are planning to take down the government’s surveillance system in protest of the escalating lack of privacy. But plans don’t always pan out as you expect, and Laurette finds herself on a clandestine journey beyond her radical ranks and into a world that she didn’t even suspect existed.

One of the charms of Kingdom of the Blind is its insistence on refusing the affectations of modern suspense story-telling in the comics form, rejecting kinetic art styles, complicated layouts, snappy dialogue, and stylized characters in favor of something more low-key. The story unfolds in a precise and calm manner that reminds me of British comics of the 1970s, and in that way, it’s old fashioned.

Rather than focusing on fast-paced adventure with outrageous action scenes, Jouvray and Salsedo are more interested in the interaction of the characters that are coming together, preferring to explore the connections between the different sides being introduced. This furthers the concept of conspiracies and espionage as something that happens between people and includes factors such as cluelessness and awkwardness in what unfolds. If you prefer suspense that grabs you by the collar and drags you along at breakneck pace, this probably isn’t for you. But if you like stories that take a moment and survey the lay of the land before moving along, this might make a satisfying first chapter to check out.

"The Kingdom of the Blind" is a timely graphic novel. The artwork is well done and I thoroughly enjoyed the story.

*I received an ARC via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. Thanks for the free comic!*

I liked this dystopian graphic novel about mass surveillance and resistance in the near future. As it's only Volume I, I was quite sad that the story ended mid-way, but it cannot be helped.

Panels are well drawn, I like the dialogues and the dark touch everything has.

I thought out 19 y.o. protagonist was a bit annoying and naive though.

Four stars as it was entertaining!

One incident is all it takes to divide a family. In this hyper-surveilled state, full of computers scanning each and every person so that the rich can get richer as a result of what they know about all the rest of us, one young woman is intent on breaking the system down. Her brother and father are anxious she's fallen in with the wrong crowd – but know little more than that. Such as, what happens if her attack on 'the system' ends up a failure? What happens when there's an even wronger crowd that nobody knows about yet? And who's to say any of the crowds are exactly wrong?

The book contrives to get the family completely split, in ways that seemed a little childish at times, but I think it just about gets away with it. Clearly a book one of a larger series, there's a fair bit of promise here – things move along swiftly, the scenes play out nicely visually, and I'd certainly be on board to see the whole conspiracy being hinted at with the conclusion here. I fail to see why this had to be set in London, but on the whole this is worth consideration.

This was an interesting story to read. Plot was interesting and it ended with a cliffhanger. I will definitely pick up the next volume.

The Kingdom of the Blind surely felt realistic and something we should be afraid of. It's set in the near future, where surveillance is the word of the day. I kind of see that this could happen, like no privacy and the oddly hollow fear of "big brother" knowing about every move you make and the price for those moves too. Laurette lives in London with her dad and brother. She belongs to an activist group that plans an attack against a government data center. The attack doesn't go as planned as the girl gets abducted, but by whom really? Now her bother tries to find her, since their dad's hands are tied, since he's a former cop. The setting is quite delicious, but 66 pages isn't enough to get the wheels in motion and this would've needed better groundwork. The comic is deliciously slow and for that reason it would've needed more pages.

The art looks somewhat crude and by no means does Laurette look like a 19-year-old. Everyone looks old and the art makes this look like a hard boiled detective story. The font isn't all that fitting either, since it makes the speech bubbles too tight. The cover is great though and the idea is awesome! I do like the realistic color world, but the lacking backgrounds make the comic slightly naked in a sense. Still, I want to know what happens, since the plot is everything.

Not my cup of tea. I like the concept but couldn't get into the story. It is a bit disjointed and lacking tension and momentum - we're told it is a surveillance state without it looking or feeling like one.

I really didn't get on with this near future political thriller at all. The art is weak and the story confused me.

As technology becomes more pervasive, it is no surprise to me that post-1984, Big Brother-state thrillers are coming back into vogue. It’s clearly a topic on the collective consciousness, and that’s going to flow out into our fiction. The Kingdom of the Blind falls into that subgenre, and I was curious to get a non-Anglophone take on it.
Laurette has some strongly-held concerns about the surveillance used in her country, and joins a group of people hoping to overthrow the current zeitgeist. However, when a mission goes awry, she finds herself captured. Hearing nothing from his sister, Adil sets out to find Laurette no matter what it takes. Conspiracies abound as the plot against the surveillance-state becomes more and more complex.
This story wasn’t bad, but it didn’t really seem to add anything new to the genre. The characters are engaging, while the plot sometimes seems a little disjointed and overwrought. There is potential here for growth in later volumes, but I don’t know that there was enough here to pull me back for round two. Recommended for fans of political thrillers.
Review will be available at provided link on May 23, 2019.

'The Kingdom of the Blind: 1. The Invisibles' by Olivier Jouvray with art by Frederik Salsedo is a graphic novel about a group of people fighting against the persistent rise of the surveillance state.

In a future not too far away, a young woman named Laurette is fed up with all the surveillance going on. She plans an attack on a data center with some friends, but things go wrong. Laurette is taken by what at first seems to be police, but turns out not to be. They torture her and try to get her to talk. When she won't, they make her a deal. Meanwhile, Laurette's brother, Adil, goes looking for her.

The plot is interesting and has some nice twists and turns. The topic seems relevant and shows both sides of the debate. The art was intriguing and I liked the somewhat futuristic look of everything.

I received a review copy of this graphic novel from Europe Comics and NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Thank you for allowing me to review this graphic novel.

In a future where privacy is nonexistent, everyone is being watched all the time, and the powerful prey on the poor, a group of rebels is trying to bring the system down...

My opinion:

😱 What. I. Just. READ? I think I witnessed the beginning of what will become one of my all time favorite series.

The Kingdom of the Blind is a sci-fi graphic novel full of intrigue, police procedural, shady angsty characters and twists and turns.

I can’t wait to read more and I’ll be eagerly waiting for Volume 2.

Highly recommended.

Final rating: 5/5 stars

I have a few comments, but overall I'm interested and will be waiting for Vol. 2!

I have a few comments, but overall I'm interested and will be waiting for Vol. 2!

The Kingdom of the Blind is a sci-fi graphic novel, (my first for about 40 years!) Set in the future, where cameras are everywhere and there is no privacy at all.
It is has interesting characters, a lot of intrigue various plot twists. Love the illustrations.
A window into the future, but not sure how far away all this actually is though

Also on Goodreads link below
https://www.goodreads.com/review/edit/45836000-the-kingdom-of-the-blind---volume-1---the-invisibles