Thorgal Book 11: The Invisible Fortress

Thorgal Book 11: The Invisible Fortress, by Jean Van Hamme & Grzegorz Rosinski, Cinebook

FOLLOWING ON from the previous volume, Thorgal is still travelling, grudgingly, with the she-warrior that is Kriss of Valnor. However, while this is pretty much a standalone tale in and of itself, yet by its conclusion looks set to take the Viking hero in a new direction.

Attacked by river folk, Kriss shoots an arrow in the back of one of them and in escaping the pair go separate ways for a time. For Thorgal that means walking into the night until he is greeted in the night with the words “Welcome child of the stars”. The ancient elfin, Alayin, then tells him a tale of a twilight of the gods wherein they abandoned Earth to live in Asgard but sent a valkyrie on a mission to an invisible fortress, and that should Thorgal find that place and erase his name from a rock then the gods will no longer remember him and so not test his mettle; in other words he will be free to return safely to his family.

So far so good but things do not proceed in a direct manner; magic is at work, the fisher folk at large and there is always Kriss to contend with.

Some of the happenings are predictable but allow for some neat cameos by assorted villains in what becomes a psychological to and fro; and I wonder to what degree Rosinski’s art is intended to reflect that for it seems a little rushed and with less detailed backgrounds in some places but it retains its edge. Not brilliant, but good, and it will be intriguing to follow where the storyline goes next.

For more about Thorgal in English visit Cinebook.

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