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The Invisibles #1
The Invisibles, Volume 1: Say You Want a Revolution
Throughout history, a secret society called the Invisibles, who count among their number Lord Byron and Percy Shelley, work against the forces of order that seek to repress humanity's growth. In this first collection, the Invisibles' latest recruit, a teenage lout from the streets of London, must survive a bizarre, mind-altering training course before being projected into the past to help enlist the Marquis de Sade. Collects Volume 1, Issues #1-8
224 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1994
About the author
Grant Morrison
1,934 books4,248 followersGrant Morrison has been working with DC Comics for twenty five years, after beginning their American comics career with acclaimed runs on ANIMAL MAN and DOOM PATROL. Since then they have written such best-selling series as JLA, BATMAN and New X-Men, as well as such creator-owned works as THE INVISIBLES, SEAGUY, THE FILTH, WE3 and JOE THE BARBARIAN. In addition to expanding the DC Universe through titles ranging from the Eisner Award-winning SEVEN SOLDIERS and ALL-STAR SUPERMAN to the reality-shattering epic of FINAL CRISIS, they have also reinvented the worlds of the Dark Knight Detective in BATMAN AND ROBIN and BATMAN, INCORPORATED and the Man of Steel in The New 52 ACTION COMICS.
In their secret identity, Morrison is a "counterculture" spokesperson, a musician, an award-winning playwright and a chaos magician. They are also the author of the New York Times bestseller Supergods, a groundbreaking psycho-historic mapping of the superhero as a cultural organism. They divide their time between their homes in Los Angeles and Scotland.
In their secret identity, Morrison is a "counterculture" spokesperson, a musician, an award-winning playwright and a chaos magician. They are also the author of the New York Times bestseller Supergods, a groundbreaking psycho-historic mapping of the superhero as a cultural organism. They divide their time between their homes in Los Angeles and Scotland.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 458 reviews
November 29, 2018
What hath
Have you ever had those dreams where you start out doing something, get sidetracked as different events build on one another? You still desperately want to get back to point A, but try as you might, you find yourself lost in a nightmare with no reference point – mentally ragged and irritable.
If you have these types of dreams, you can appreciate this volume. Or not.
Dane McGowan, is a young punk from Liverpool who loves anarchy and rebellion.
And being from Liverpool gives Morrison the excuse to drag in poor John Lennon and some weird mix of arcane Beatle references and doggerel stuff.
Let’s give it a go:
Canapes sweeping like plasticine ties,
Through the bathroom window nuns chanting
By Rosemary and Time via the guru down the lane
Hey, that was fun!
Uh, okay…
Anyway, McGowan joins The Invisibles, leaves The Invisibles, hangs out with a mystical homeless dude…
…rejoins The Invisibles and time trips back to the French Revolution to hang with the Marquis de Sade.
There’s a variety of different story elements that go absolutely nowhere and are just thrown in to keep the reader of balance or just to amuse Morrison and yet, not surprisingly never seem to hang together. And don’t get me started on the more disturbing elements and imagery in this book.
Here’s some pseudo-something or other to wash your palette.
*sob*
Bottom Line: This was published in the ‘90’s when creators were trying to raise this medium to an art form. Still, it’s better than the Spider-Man Clone saga.
The word “legend” gets bandied about a lot on the cover of this book. I can appreciate Morrison’s attempts to separate himself from the super-hero pack, but his head seems to be up his rear end for the most part, but edgy people in the comix biz dug this kind of off-kilter storytelling and gave it legs. It’s like art critics legitimizing someone like Jackson Pollock and helping usher in abstract expressionism, which is also not my cuppa either.
There are plenty of reviews praising this series on Goodreads, but my tastes run more to the low brow, meat and potatoes comics.
Jeff, I think the word your searching for is “shallow”.
And for the record, I don’t hate Grant Morrison, just most of his attempts to meld comic book story telling with heavy opium use.
Oh, yeah, the alien abduction revelation via an acid trip.
And the puppet show in India….
Pass the hookah to the right!
June 25, 2014
This is the first volume of what many consider to be a classic series. The first half focuses on a young Jack Frost, a problem teenager, who is initiated into the Invisibles and thus gives the reader a look into this fantastic world. Jack goes to a boarding school that turns out to be a lot more and picks up a homeless mentor who teaches him about other worlds and the possibility of visiting them. The second part is about the Invisibles using a time travel ritual to visit and hire the Marquis de Sade whose warped views creates a nightmare world that the characters have to experience and escape from to get back to their own time. Meanwhile, an assassin in real time is looking for the group and you can guess what happens.
To some readers the latter half of this novel will seem confusing as the creators make references to all types of themes and subjects (though these are mentioned to a lesser extent in the first half, too): Aztec Mythology, Gnosticism, 80s pop culture references, alien abductions, emotional control, Biblical tales and characters, Byron, Shakespeare, BDSM and so much more. It is definitely not intended for young readers and might very well fall into "R" rated zone. That said, it's considered one of the classics and was said to have shaken up a stagnant period for comics/graphic novels. BBC started a TV series but it never saw the light of day. This series may have very well influenced movies like THE MATRIX and other such types.
ARTWORK: B minus; STORY/PLOTTING: B to B plus; CHARACTERS/DIALOGUE: B to B plus; THEMES/INNOVATION: A minus; WHEN READ: January 2012; OVERALL GRADE: B plus.
To some readers the latter half of this novel will seem confusing as the creators make references to all types of themes and subjects (though these are mentioned to a lesser extent in the first half, too): Aztec Mythology, Gnosticism, 80s pop culture references, alien abductions, emotional control, Biblical tales and characters, Byron, Shakespeare, BDSM and so much more. It is definitely not intended for young readers and might very well fall into "R" rated zone. That said, it's considered one of the classics and was said to have shaken up a stagnant period for comics/graphic novels. BBC started a TV series but it never saw the light of day. This series may have very well influenced movies like THE MATRIX and other such types.
ARTWORK: B minus; STORY/PLOTTING: B to B plus; CHARACTERS/DIALOGUE: B to B plus; THEMES/INNOVATION: A minus; WHEN READ: January 2012; OVERALL GRADE: B plus.
November 30, 2015
When I started to get into comics in college, it was the britwave authors who I found most appealing: Moore, Gaiman, Delano, Ellis, Ennis, Milligan, and Morrison. But when I tried to read Morrison's Magnum Opus, I found none of the careful structuring or intelligent dialogue which I was hoping for. In disappointment, I threw down Morrison's book and it was a long time before I gave him another chance.
But when I did, I read WE3 , Morrison's cleanest and least pretentious story. I still have trouble reconciling the author who penned that excellent little story with the one who produced this sprawling indulgence.
Determined to give Morrison another chance, I read The Filth, Seaguy, and Kill Your Boyfriend and, pleasantly surprised, decided I should give Invisibles another chance. Unfortunately, I have found it no more appealing the second time around.
But I'm hardly alone in failing to connect with it. Since my similar disappointment with Animal Man, I have been trying to conceptualize precisely why these stories are so different from the clever, well-structured writing of some of his other books; sometimes, the man is a great storyteller, but other times grows inflated and confused.
Perhaps it is a case like Neal Stephenson's, where the author strives for greater complexity, indulging in his passions, but failing to connect such disparate elements with competent pacing and larger ideas. Many authors, when writing a personal story, grow too close to the material, which prevents them from conscientious self-editing.
It is not hard to imagine that Morrison wishes he could be like Moore in this regard, since Moore ties together complex storylines and experimental plotting without losing the audience along the way, and makes it look easy. However, I feel I begin to agree with Moorcock's critique of Morrison as not quite skilled enough to reach his own lofty goals. Of course, Moorcock's critique of plagiarism grows a bit weaker in my eyes after comparing his Gloriana to the Titus Groan books.
I find Morrison's complexity outstrips his skill here, though I should note that he was working on scripting for five or six other books at the time, including the enjoyable Flex Mentallo and even better Kill Your Boyfriend.
The art of the early Invisibles was also of a lower quality, often simplified without being elegant and with various errors of foreshortening, perspective, and anatomy. Even compared to early Sandman or other books of the era, The Invisibles still seemed primitive. Perhaps the artists were as rushed as Morrison seems to have been; every other issue talks about some stress-related health problem.
I did feel somewhat bad for the man, especially after reading some of the drivel in the letters page of people who genuinely didn't understand what he was getting at. Unfortunately, even though I did have some comprehension of what he was getting at, it only helped me to see that he wasn't achieving it.
My Suggested Readings in Comics
But when I did, I read WE3 , Morrison's cleanest and least pretentious story. I still have trouble reconciling the author who penned that excellent little story with the one who produced this sprawling indulgence.
Determined to give Morrison another chance, I read The Filth, Seaguy, and Kill Your Boyfriend and, pleasantly surprised, decided I should give Invisibles another chance. Unfortunately, I have found it no more appealing the second time around.
But I'm hardly alone in failing to connect with it. Since my similar disappointment with Animal Man, I have been trying to conceptualize precisely why these stories are so different from the clever, well-structured writing of some of his other books; sometimes, the man is a great storyteller, but other times grows inflated and confused.
Perhaps it is a case like Neal Stephenson's, where the author strives for greater complexity, indulging in his passions, but failing to connect such disparate elements with competent pacing and larger ideas. Many authors, when writing a personal story, grow too close to the material, which prevents them from conscientious self-editing.
It is not hard to imagine that Morrison wishes he could be like Moore in this regard, since Moore ties together complex storylines and experimental plotting without losing the audience along the way, and makes it look easy. However, I feel I begin to agree with Moorcock's critique of Morrison as not quite skilled enough to reach his own lofty goals. Of course, Moorcock's critique of plagiarism grows a bit weaker in my eyes after comparing his Gloriana to the Titus Groan books.
I find Morrison's complexity outstrips his skill here, though I should note that he was working on scripting for five or six other books at the time, including the enjoyable Flex Mentallo and even better Kill Your Boyfriend.
The art of the early Invisibles was also of a lower quality, often simplified without being elegant and with various errors of foreshortening, perspective, and anatomy. Even compared to early Sandman or other books of the era, The Invisibles still seemed primitive. Perhaps the artists were as rushed as Morrison seems to have been; every other issue talks about some stress-related health problem.
I did feel somewhat bad for the man, especially after reading some of the drivel in the letters page of people who genuinely didn't understand what he was getting at. Unfortunately, even though I did have some comprehension of what he was getting at, it only helped me to see that he wasn't achieving it.
My Suggested Readings in Comics
November 28, 2018
"I'm one holy fucking terror."
I went into this expecting a superhero comic and got psychic warfare and psychedelic anarchy instead. Morrison at his most experimental and ambitious.
"There's a palace in your head, boy. Learn to live in it always."
I went into this expecting a superhero comic and got psychic warfare and psychedelic anarchy instead. Morrison at his most experimental and ambitious.
"There's a palace in your head, boy. Learn to live in it always."
January 14, 2014
I know, I know, I’m late to the party on this one! The first volume of The Invisibles came out 20 years ago and I’m just now getting around to reading it – all I can say is: Batman. But anyway, I’m here now and glad to have finally read such a talked-about book and discovering that it’s really good!
The first Invisibles book introduces us to our hero Dane McGowan, an angry working class teenager from Liverpool who spends his evenings vandalising property while his single mother entertains her latest boyfriend in their council flat. After an attempt at burning down his school, he’s sent to a re-education centre called Harmony House, a nightmarish facility which tries to reprogram Dane’s nonconformist behaviour through lobotomy and castration. That is until he’s rescued by King Mob, the leader of a group of magicians called The Invisibles, who inducts him into his ragtag team of rebels and tells him about their secret war against The Outer Church.
Usually with books you can look at the many elements that influenced it and say that this part is inspired by this and this other part is inspired by that and so on; with The Invisibles Volume 1, a comic that came out in the early 90s, you can do the opposite. There are numerous scenes that would be used a few years later in the 1999 film The Matrix and the general spirit of the book - nihilistic anarchy and anti-consumerist - could be seen as the foundation of another highly influential 1999 film, Fight Club.
As Morrison himself has said, a really good piece of art captures a mood, and The Invisibles captures the mood of the end of the 20th century – the fight for individuality, the value of identity, and the anticipation and desire of a new century bringing about a new world. In some ways, considering the time, The Invisibles could be a reaction to the excessive consumerism of the 80s, being the search for substance and meaning and casting aside the superficial dross that makes up modern society; looked at another way, it’s a great story – either way, it’s undeniably a really good piece of art!
One thing that struck me the most about this book is its massive impact it must’ve had on the Wachowskis when they were coming up with The Matrix. Dane is basically Neo, whose antisocial behaviour brings him to the attention of King Mob (Morpheus) and The Outer Church (the Agents of the Matrix). He’s given the choice of enlightenment from King Mob, of discovering the real world, or becoming another drone. King Mob sees in Dane the potential of someone powerful, someone who can greatly help their fight against The Outer Church. Later on, he’s told to open his mind by leaping off of a building – sound familiar? Then there’s the astral projection scene where their bodies stay in one place while their spirits go elsewhere, like plugging in to the Matrix.
The Invisibles’ influence goes beyond The Matrix though. Dane is rescued from the Harmony House authoritarian monsters by King Mob, a scene that would be replicated in China Mieville’s first novel, King Rat. The Harmony House terrors look like Charles Burns’ creations from X’Ed Out and The Hive, matching the tone of surreal paranoia as well.
But The Invisibles also incorporates a lot of popular elements into its story too. Dane’s abandoned on the streets of London by King Mob but is soon picked up by a seemingly raving mad homeless man called Tom O’Bedlam, the Obi-Wan to Dane’s Luke, who teaches him about the true reality. There are also some brilliant historical scenes like a young John Lennon and Stu Sutcliffe talking about Stu leaving the band, just before The Beatles became big; Lord Byron and Percy Shelley discussing their work and its purpose; and an entire storyline set during the French Revolution, all of which wouldn’t be out of place in Gaiman’s Sandman comics.
It wouldn’t be an influential comic if it weren’t a fun read and it absolutely is. The story starts off normally, albeit disturbingly, with Dane’s troubling life and slowly becomes weirder with Dane watching Lennon/Sutcliffe’s ghosts, to going to the nightmarish Harmony House, to meeting King Mob, it’s built up masterfully so that the reader becomes more and more interested in what the comic is and where it’s headed. The comic is sprinkled throughout with wonderful characters like Tom O’Bedlam, the murderous fox-hunting toffs, and of course the rest of the Invisibles.
It’s a comic that would go on to cement Morrison’s reputation for abstract, crazy comics, especially those scenes where Dane goes for a bike ride and apropos of nothing, sees a planet hovering above him, and the many references to sigils and chaos magik that Morrison himself practices. That said, it’s much more accessible than you think and though it’s a wild ride, it’s totally understandable (for the most part!).
But this idea of whacky Morrison stories is a bit too dismissive. Critics of Morrison’s work might say a book like The Invisibles talks a big game about big ideas and big plans for humanity and society but it doesn’t really offer anything substantial – it’s pseudo-intellectual at its core. To which I say its inspiring message of instilling in the reader a belief in change, of unrealised and boundless potential in everyone, an unrelenting, sometimes euphoric, hope is real.
Whatever things Morrison talks about in The Invisibles, mixing in spiritualism and magik, philosophy and art, the impression it leaves on the reader is undeniable and real. That’s the power of this book – not necessarily of specific ideas ( that we’ve heard before thanks to its proliferation through other works of art), but of the idea of the idea, is a remarkably powerful one. It urges you think about yourself and your world around you and through this direction lies its meaning. It sounds new-agey and as intellectually flimsy as a self-help book, but it’s far more complex as no self-help book is ever this engrossing or clever. There is something real here and its power on the reader and the culture at large is proof of that.
The reason it’s not a full five perfect read is that I felt the French Revolution story arc and the Tom O’Bedlam speechifying went on a bit too long. They were fine in themselves but felt a little stretched. A small issue but there it is.
The first volume of The Invisibles is a fast-paced fantasy thriller with a cast of eccentric, colourful characters with a story that spans space and time coated with layers and layers of mysterious sub-story. It’s exciting and enjoyable, fun and funny, and frequently tickles the brain as you’re reading it in a way few comics do. It’s as fresh as it must’ve seemed 20 years ago brimming with energy and hope – I really liked it and look forward to the rest of the series! If you’re a Morrison fan and you haven’t read it, definitely check it out today.
The first Invisibles book introduces us to our hero Dane McGowan, an angry working class teenager from Liverpool who spends his evenings vandalising property while his single mother entertains her latest boyfriend in their council flat. After an attempt at burning down his school, he’s sent to a re-education centre called Harmony House, a nightmarish facility which tries to reprogram Dane’s nonconformist behaviour through lobotomy and castration. That is until he’s rescued by King Mob, the leader of a group of magicians called The Invisibles, who inducts him into his ragtag team of rebels and tells him about their secret war against The Outer Church.
Usually with books you can look at the many elements that influenced it and say that this part is inspired by this and this other part is inspired by that and so on; with The Invisibles Volume 1, a comic that came out in the early 90s, you can do the opposite. There are numerous scenes that would be used a few years later in the 1999 film The Matrix and the general spirit of the book - nihilistic anarchy and anti-consumerist - could be seen as the foundation of another highly influential 1999 film, Fight Club.
As Morrison himself has said, a really good piece of art captures a mood, and The Invisibles captures the mood of the end of the 20th century – the fight for individuality, the value of identity, and the anticipation and desire of a new century bringing about a new world. In some ways, considering the time, The Invisibles could be a reaction to the excessive consumerism of the 80s, being the search for substance and meaning and casting aside the superficial dross that makes up modern society; looked at another way, it’s a great story – either way, it’s undeniably a really good piece of art!
One thing that struck me the most about this book is its massive impact it must’ve had on the Wachowskis when they were coming up with The Matrix. Dane is basically Neo, whose antisocial behaviour brings him to the attention of King Mob (Morpheus) and The Outer Church (the Agents of the Matrix). He’s given the choice of enlightenment from King Mob, of discovering the real world, or becoming another drone. King Mob sees in Dane the potential of someone powerful, someone who can greatly help their fight against The Outer Church. Later on, he’s told to open his mind by leaping off of a building – sound familiar? Then there’s the astral projection scene where their bodies stay in one place while their spirits go elsewhere, like plugging in to the Matrix.
The Invisibles’ influence goes beyond The Matrix though. Dane is rescued from the Harmony House authoritarian monsters by King Mob, a scene that would be replicated in China Mieville’s first novel, King Rat. The Harmony House terrors look like Charles Burns’ creations from X’Ed Out and The Hive, matching the tone of surreal paranoia as well.
But The Invisibles also incorporates a lot of popular elements into its story too. Dane’s abandoned on the streets of London by King Mob but is soon picked up by a seemingly raving mad homeless man called Tom O’Bedlam, the Obi-Wan to Dane’s Luke, who teaches him about the true reality. There are also some brilliant historical scenes like a young John Lennon and Stu Sutcliffe talking about Stu leaving the band, just before The Beatles became big; Lord Byron and Percy Shelley discussing their work and its purpose; and an entire storyline set during the French Revolution, all of which wouldn’t be out of place in Gaiman’s Sandman comics.
It wouldn’t be an influential comic if it weren’t a fun read and it absolutely is. The story starts off normally, albeit disturbingly, with Dane’s troubling life and slowly becomes weirder with Dane watching Lennon/Sutcliffe’s ghosts, to going to the nightmarish Harmony House, to meeting King Mob, it’s built up masterfully so that the reader becomes more and more interested in what the comic is and where it’s headed. The comic is sprinkled throughout with wonderful characters like Tom O’Bedlam, the murderous fox-hunting toffs, and of course the rest of the Invisibles.
It’s a comic that would go on to cement Morrison’s reputation for abstract, crazy comics, especially those scenes where Dane goes for a bike ride and apropos of nothing, sees a planet hovering above him, and the many references to sigils and chaos magik that Morrison himself practices. That said, it’s much more accessible than you think and though it’s a wild ride, it’s totally understandable (for the most part!).
But this idea of whacky Morrison stories is a bit too dismissive. Critics of Morrison’s work might say a book like The Invisibles talks a big game about big ideas and big plans for humanity and society but it doesn’t really offer anything substantial – it’s pseudo-intellectual at its core. To which I say its inspiring message of instilling in the reader a belief in change, of unrealised and boundless potential in everyone, an unrelenting, sometimes euphoric, hope is real.
Whatever things Morrison talks about in The Invisibles, mixing in spiritualism and magik, philosophy and art, the impression it leaves on the reader is undeniable and real. That’s the power of this book – not necessarily of specific ideas ( that we’ve heard before thanks to its proliferation through other works of art), but of the idea of the idea, is a remarkably powerful one. It urges you think about yourself and your world around you and through this direction lies its meaning. It sounds new-agey and as intellectually flimsy as a self-help book, but it’s far more complex as no self-help book is ever this engrossing or clever. There is something real here and its power on the reader and the culture at large is proof of that.
The reason it’s not a full five perfect read is that I felt the French Revolution story arc and the Tom O’Bedlam speechifying went on a bit too long. They were fine in themselves but felt a little stretched. A small issue but there it is.
The first volume of The Invisibles is a fast-paced fantasy thriller with a cast of eccentric, colourful characters with a story that spans space and time coated with layers and layers of mysterious sub-story. It’s exciting and enjoyable, fun and funny, and frequently tickles the brain as you’re reading it in a way few comics do. It’s as fresh as it must’ve seemed 20 years ago brimming with energy and hope – I really liked it and look forward to the rest of the series! If you’re a Morrison fan and you haven’t read it, definitely check it out today.
June 24, 2022
#ThrowbackThursday - Back in the '90s, I used to write comic book reviews for the website of a now-defunct comic book retailer called Rockem Sockem Comics. (Collect them all!)
From the February 1999 edition with a theme of "Weird Science Fantasy":
INTRODUCTION
Science fiction and fantasy just aren't the same anymore. As a matter of fact, as the following comics illustrate, science fiction and fantasy have gotten downright weird in these New Age Nineties, blurring into each other's domains until science seems like magic and magic has become a science.
Come join me in the Twilight Zone.
I WANT TO BELIEVE
THE INVISIBLES VOLUME ONE #1-25 (DC Comics/Vertigo)
THE INVISIBLES VOLUME TWO #1-22 (DC Comics/Vertigo)
Before he become the savior of DC's Justice League by scripting the JLA title, Grant Morrison was writing odd little stories -- very odd little stories, as anyone who read his revamped DOOM PATROL knows. While pulling in the filthy lucre writing the top-10 JLA, Morrison continues to exercise his penchant for the bizarre, the absurd, and the anti-mainstream in another team book about people with superpowers called THE INVISIBLES.
The Invisibles are a cabal of psychics, magicians, witches, and warriors who are fighting the conspiracies which threaten the liberty and freedom of us all.
Which conspiracies, you ask?
Why, all of them, of course.
In THE INVISIBLES all the conspiracies are true. Aliens? Definitely set on world conquest! Time travelers? Out to change history, they are! Scientists? Madmen all, with deadly toxins aplenty and fetishes for bursting the atom and twisting man's DNA! The Illuminati and the Templars? They've been lurking around for centuries polishing up their evil designs! Invaders from the Fifth Dimension? They're in here! The military establishment? Seconds away from a bloody overthrow of the civilian government, I tell you! The paranoia level in this books make Fox Mulder of "The X-Files" look like a rank amateur at the conspiracy game.
As always, the safety of mankind lies in the questionable hands of a motley crew of misfits. Leader King Mob is the deadliest man alive. He's a stone-cold killer and an expert with any weapon. Ragged Robin is a traveler from the future and a witch, and she always wears whiteface makeup. Lord Fanny is a trans woman from South America and a powerful shaman. Boy is a tough black woman from the streets of New York. Jack Frost is a rage-filled British adolescent in need of a major attitude adjustment if he is to be trusted with his powerful psychic abilities.
THE INVISIBLES is a writer's comic. The team crosses time, space, and dimensions to confront the forces of oppression, and, true to Morrison's form on DOOM PATROL, the menaces are truly bizarre -- almost absurd -- yet all the more chilling the more ridiculous they seem. If you think the plot twists and villains in JLA are weird, you've only scratched the surface of Morrison's imagination. His lyrical scripting acts as counterpoint to the harshly violent and dangerous world he has created. The dense plotting, fast pace and complex characters make for a challenging but eminently satisfying read.
Thanks to the roster of gifted artists with whom Morrison works, THE INVISIBLES is also very satisfying visually. The list of contributors includes Steve Yeowell, Jill Thompson, Chris Weston, John Ridgway, Steve Parkhouse, Paul Johnson, Phil Jimenez, John Stokes, Tommy Lee Edwards, Dick Giordano, Mark Buckingham, Mark Pennington, Michael Lark, Keith Aiken, Marc Hempel, Ray Kryssing, Ivan Reis, Sean Parsons, and Brian Bolland. Yeowell, Thompson, Jimenez, and Weston do the bulk of the pencilling, and they are all fine artists who appear frequently in my personal collection. I'm especially fond of the clean, detailed linework of Jimenez.
Again, be warned that THE INVISIBLES is intended for mature audiences not just because of the occasional sex scene and graphic violence. This is a book which must be read and reread to be fully appreciated. Pick up an issue at random, and you will be lost. Pick up several issues in a row, and you'll be hooked. The truth is out there, conspiracy buffs, but the goods are in here.
Grade: B+
From the February 1999 edition with a theme of "Weird Science Fantasy":
INTRODUCTION
Science fiction and fantasy just aren't the same anymore. As a matter of fact, as the following comics illustrate, science fiction and fantasy have gotten downright weird in these New Age Nineties, blurring into each other's domains until science seems like magic and magic has become a science.
Come join me in the Twilight Zone.
I WANT TO BELIEVE
THE INVISIBLES VOLUME ONE #1-25 (DC Comics/Vertigo)
THE INVISIBLES VOLUME TWO #1-22 (DC Comics/Vertigo)
Before he become the savior of DC's Justice League by scripting the JLA title, Grant Morrison was writing odd little stories -- very odd little stories, as anyone who read his revamped DOOM PATROL knows. While pulling in the filthy lucre writing the top-10 JLA, Morrison continues to exercise his penchant for the bizarre, the absurd, and the anti-mainstream in another team book about people with superpowers called THE INVISIBLES.
The Invisibles are a cabal of psychics, magicians, witches, and warriors who are fighting the conspiracies which threaten the liberty and freedom of us all.
Which conspiracies, you ask?
Why, all of them, of course.
In THE INVISIBLES all the conspiracies are true. Aliens? Definitely set on world conquest! Time travelers? Out to change history, they are! Scientists? Madmen all, with deadly toxins aplenty and fetishes for bursting the atom and twisting man's DNA! The Illuminati and the Templars? They've been lurking around for centuries polishing up their evil designs! Invaders from the Fifth Dimension? They're in here! The military establishment? Seconds away from a bloody overthrow of the civilian government, I tell you! The paranoia level in this books make Fox Mulder of "The X-Files" look like a rank amateur at the conspiracy game.
As always, the safety of mankind lies in the questionable hands of a motley crew of misfits. Leader King Mob is the deadliest man alive. He's a stone-cold killer and an expert with any weapon. Ragged Robin is a traveler from the future and a witch, and she always wears whiteface makeup. Lord Fanny is a trans woman from South America and a powerful shaman. Boy is a tough black woman from the streets of New York. Jack Frost is a rage-filled British adolescent in need of a major attitude adjustment if he is to be trusted with his powerful psychic abilities.
THE INVISIBLES is a writer's comic. The team crosses time, space, and dimensions to confront the forces of oppression, and, true to Morrison's form on DOOM PATROL, the menaces are truly bizarre -- almost absurd -- yet all the more chilling the more ridiculous they seem. If you think the plot twists and villains in JLA are weird, you've only scratched the surface of Morrison's imagination. His lyrical scripting acts as counterpoint to the harshly violent and dangerous world he has created. The dense plotting, fast pace and complex characters make for a challenging but eminently satisfying read.
Thanks to the roster of gifted artists with whom Morrison works, THE INVISIBLES is also very satisfying visually. The list of contributors includes Steve Yeowell, Jill Thompson, Chris Weston, John Ridgway, Steve Parkhouse, Paul Johnson, Phil Jimenez, John Stokes, Tommy Lee Edwards, Dick Giordano, Mark Buckingham, Mark Pennington, Michael Lark, Keith Aiken, Marc Hempel, Ray Kryssing, Ivan Reis, Sean Parsons, and Brian Bolland. Yeowell, Thompson, Jimenez, and Weston do the bulk of the pencilling, and they are all fine artists who appear frequently in my personal collection. I'm especially fond of the clean, detailed linework of Jimenez.
Again, be warned that THE INVISIBLES is intended for mature audiences not just because of the occasional sex scene and graphic violence. This is a book which must be read and reread to be fully appreciated. Pick up an issue at random, and you will be lost. Pick up several issues in a row, and you'll be hooked. The truth is out there, conspiracy buffs, but the goods are in here.
Grade: B+
June 24, 2022
1 1/2 Stars
I imagine Morrison sitting in a candlelit room flourishing a quill as he wrote this pretentious babble. Dude, get over yourself.
In the end I gave up, I just couldn't. That's right, I was so bored that I couldn't even bring myself to read the final 3 pages.
It seemed to me that Morrison was just throwing everything he could at it and calling it philosophy.
To me a good gauge of the quality of a comic is in the picture to word ratio. If you aren't relying on the artwork to move the story then you aren't using the proper medium, write a novel. Sure this comic did have a number of interesting and striking visuals, but it also had way way way too many panels depicting a person standing and talking, sometimes sitting and talking. Oh the talking....characters just droned on and on and on. If you have to constantly write philosophical monologues designed to beat the story's theme into your readers brain....you're doing it wrong.
Overall, I could not connect with this story or any of the characters. There was nothing genuine or organic about this story, I just felt like I was being force fed angst anarchist shite. Plus it absolutely reeked of the 90's oh-I'm-so-anti-establishment-and-grungy-and-alternative.
I imagine Morrison sitting in a candlelit room flourishing a quill as he wrote this pretentious babble. Dude, get over yourself.
In the end I gave up, I just couldn't. That's right, I was so bored that I couldn't even bring myself to read the final 3 pages.
It seemed to me that Morrison was just throwing everything he could at it and calling it philosophy.
To me a good gauge of the quality of a comic is in the picture to word ratio. If you aren't relying on the artwork to move the story then you aren't using the proper medium, write a novel. Sure this comic did have a number of interesting and striking visuals, but it also had way way way too many panels depicting a person standing and talking, sometimes sitting and talking. Oh the talking....characters just droned on and on and on. If you have to constantly write philosophical monologues designed to beat the story's theme into your readers brain....you're doing it wrong.
Overall, I could not connect with this story or any of the characters. There was nothing genuine or organic about this story, I just felt like I was being force fed angst anarchist shite. Plus it absolutely reeked of the 90's oh-I'm-so-anti-establishment-and-grungy-and-alternative.
June 26, 2012
Grant Morrison has said that he wrote The Invisibles as part of a magic ritual, and also that aliens told him part of the plot. Really. The Invisibles ends up being pretty much exactly what you'd expect, given that background. Let me also add that there's a great deal of ultra-paranoid conspiracy theory culture as well as the expected psychedelic gods and astral time travel and such. As for the plot... Well, there's an ill-defined secret conspiracy to rob humanity of free will and The Invisibles are trying to stop them. Somehow. Think Assassins Creed, with far less defined threats and goals.
April 8, 2008
This graphic novel is a spicy gumbo of astounding influences. Listing just a few: Illuminatus!, brain machines, psychedelics, chaos magick, conspiracy theory, mind control, The Prisoner, Michael Moorcock's The Cornelius Chronicles, material gnosticism, Dada, Situationism, violence/ ahimsa, time travel, secret societies... Author Grant Morrison never disappoints and serves as a reminder that much of the most advanced fiction of our times is turning up in comic books. Like Robert Anton Wilson before him, Morrison popularizes difficult concepts and serves them up in a tastily entertaining fashion. Life changing.
June 8, 2023
Pós-modernismo místico, magia do caos, tudo ao mesmo tempo, simbolismo, sadomasoquismo, crie seu deus e sacrifique-o no altar do seu próprio desejo, psicodelia e um tênue fio de enredo. Um enredo que por vezes empalidece, perde o vigor e a narrativa vai se assemelhando mais a um aglomerado de referências do que a uma história (crítica quase sempre válida para obras pós-modernas). Ao mesmo tempo as referências aqui me satisfazem e se lido como um exercício criativo sobre o caos cultural/espiritual com uma veia política idealista esse é um quadrinho interessante. Com Mary Shelley, Lorde Byron, John Lennon e Marquês de Sade como personagens secundários em uma trama de lógica hermética, a obra me cativou em alguns pontos, principalmente no seu primeiro arco, ainda assim é evidente que outros leitores podem ter dificuldade de se engajar em um universo estruturado de forma tão caótica.
Um incômodo na leitura, marcadamente no segundo arco, foi a proposição de um individualismo moral contra a ideia de revolução política conjunta, ponto de vista que não é tão original quanto Morrison parece acreditar. A redução da revolução francesa ao terror coletivo é tão cansada e presente na cultura pop ocidental quanto a demonização dos sistemas socialistas, e o teor enigmático dessa trama acaba por diminuir a contundência de qualquer crítica que o autor pretendesse. O resultado é um texto inegavelmente inventivo, mas intencionalmente difuso, como é próprio do misticismo de ontem e de hoje; Morrison alcança seu objetivo na criação de uma história que articula os conceitos da sua espiritualidade particular, mas é pouco convincente no subtexto político.
A arte é passável e não eleva nem diminui a obra, (não sou pessoalmente muito afeito ao estilo da Jill Thompson, li com menos gosto o arco com seu traço).
Feitas as ressalvas Os Invisíveis ainda retém um vigor criativo admirável no seu roteiro e vale a pena ser lido por qualquer um que se interesse por uma mistureba pós-moderna e esotérica.
Um incômodo na leitura, marcadamente no segundo arco, foi a proposição de um individualismo moral contra a ideia de revolução política conjunta, ponto de vista que não é tão original quanto Morrison parece acreditar. A redução da revolução francesa ao terror coletivo é tão cansada e presente na cultura pop ocidental quanto a demonização dos sistemas socialistas, e o teor enigmático dessa trama acaba por diminuir a contundência de qualquer crítica que o autor pretendesse. O resultado é um texto inegavelmente inventivo, mas intencionalmente difuso, como é próprio do misticismo de ontem e de hoje; Morrison alcança seu objetivo na criação de uma história que articula os conceitos da sua espiritualidade particular, mas é pouco convincente no subtexto político.
A arte é passável e não eleva nem diminui a obra, (não sou pessoalmente muito afeito ao estilo da Jill Thompson, li com menos gosto o arco com seu traço).
Feitas as ressalvas Os Invisíveis ainda retém um vigor criativo admirável no seu roteiro e vale a pena ser lido por qualquer um que se interesse por uma mistureba pós-moderna e esotérica.
December 16, 2015
Yeah, okay. As fellow reviewer William Thomas points out, the book suffers because of the art. Steve Yeowell & Jill Thompson, respectively illustrating the first and second arcs, don't exactly make the book stand out. I liked Yeowell's output better than Thompson's, though.
Story-wise, I'm aware [1] of the phenomenon that "The Invisibles" has become, [2] that it probably picks up in pace and what-not in subsequent volumes, and that [3] what I'm reading will most likely make more sense later - if not, I'm sure a second reading would clear things up, but at the same time I figure that the series cannot possibly be that dense, or else it would not be what it is/has become (reputation-wise).
Anyway.
I've got the whole The Invisibles omnibus to go through, so I will be reading the next volumes, but unless things pick up a little bit, I'll most likely be reading it a chapter (an issue) here & there, in between other books.
Story-wise, I'm aware [1] of the phenomenon that "The Invisibles" has become, [2] that it probably picks up in pace and what-not in subsequent volumes, and that [3] what I'm reading will most likely make more sense later - if not, I'm sure a second reading would clear things up, but at the same time I figure that the series cannot possibly be that dense, or else it would not be what it is/has become (reputation-wise).
Anyway.
I've got the whole The Invisibles omnibus to go through, so I will be reading the next volumes, but unless things pick up a little bit, I'll most likely be reading it a chapter (an issue) here & there, in between other books.
November 26, 2018
This was a lot of fun. It reminded me of early Hellblazer except it doesn't take itself quite as seriously.
If you don't know much about Grant Morrison, I would suggest doing a bit of homework before diving into this, as it deals with (and is a product of) some occult concepts important to Morrison. Knowing about this beforehand really helped me enjoy and understand it a bit more than I would have otherwise. I suggest checking out his disinfo.con lecture (which is what made me want to read this in the first place) or his documentary Talking with the Gods.
If you don't know much about Grant Morrison, I would suggest doing a bit of homework before diving into this, as it deals with (and is a product of) some occult concepts important to Morrison. Knowing about this beforehand really helped me enjoy and understand it a bit more than I would have otherwise. I suggest checking out his disinfo.con lecture (which is what made me want to read this in the first place) or his documentary Talking with the Gods.
September 26, 2007
Should be called, "Ohhhh my! Aren't we alternative!?!"
Read
September 22, 2010It's funny, but everything I liked and didn't like about the Doom Patrol book I read is everything I don't like and like about this book. Whereas I reveled in the "dada" aspect of the Doom Patrol, and was disappointed when all the nonsense began to have a pat logic to it, this book's nonsense struck me as too much free posturing, and I wanted desperately for some semblance of plot to exist to grab my attention on.
There is something to be said about Aristotle's old bit about a story needing a beginning, middle, and end, even in the most experimental of forms. This book began too far in the middle, and while I appreciate the riskiness of this maneuver, it caused the best to follow to formulate in my mind as free-jazz sludge. I couldn't get very interested in a world where I didn't know the parameters, what rules and laws it was to follow; everything weighed in at the same value, and thus nothing was of any value. I think I can see what Morrison is doing here, creating a story as loosely structured as the world his motley crew is trying to dream into existence, but if anything this failed experiment shows how trite and 20th century and 90's such undeveloped millennial radicalism is. It leads to some fun, and vicarious thrills and mental spills, but does not feed the head, nor the body or the spirit. But I suppose I would read more in this series if the trade paperbacks were to appear mysteriously in my room some day, just as I might watch the X-Files every now and then.
There is something to be said about Aristotle's old bit about a story needing a beginning, middle, and end, even in the most experimental of forms. This book began too far in the middle, and while I appreciate the riskiness of this maneuver, it caused the best to follow to formulate in my mind as free-jazz sludge. I couldn't get very interested in a world where I didn't know the parameters, what rules and laws it was to follow; everything weighed in at the same value, and thus nothing was of any value. I think I can see what Morrison is doing here, creating a story as loosely structured as the world his motley crew is trying to dream into existence, but if anything this failed experiment shows how trite and 20th century and 90's such undeveloped millennial radicalism is. It leads to some fun, and vicarious thrills and mental spills, but does not feed the head, nor the body or the spirit. But I suppose I would read more in this series if the trade paperbacks were to appear mysteriously in my room some day, just as I might watch the X-Files every now and then.
June 5, 2015
Lots of conspiracy theories thrown together for the hell of it.and none of it making a damn bit of sense.I found it all wildly inconsistent,boring and nothing in it at all made me want to read on except my own will power.
I am amazed this desperately hard to read tat gets such good reviews
yes its very different
,but it's not very good at all.
I am amazed this desperately hard to read tat gets such good reviews
yes its very different
,but it's not very good at all.
June 20, 2016
I realized today that I've never actually reviewed this book. I thought about reviewing it. Then I realized that I hate this book so much I can't even write about it.
So: I hate this book. I hate, hate, hate this book.
I hate it.
So: I hate this book. I hate, hate, hate this book.
I hate it.
Read
July 22, 2015That made only the slightest bit of sense.
November 28, 2011
Grant Morrison wants desperately to be Alan Moore, only hipper. The only problem is he doesn't have one tenth the talent or intelligence Moore has. So he writes boring, sophomoric drivel meant to show off his encyclopedic knowledge of counter-cultural esoterica but which in fact only demonstrates that he either didn't really pay attention to any of his source material, or he was just too thick to 'get it.' The art is ugly and the writing is crap. Sprawling in its scope yet conceptually shallow. Radical-chic of the highest (lowest?) order. And let's not forget the nauseatingly blatant Mary Sue character of King Mob. What kind of narcissistic phony anarchist poseur makes themselves the charismatic superhero leader of their own fictional revolutionary cell? Puke-o-rama.
January 15, 2014
This is a book that is British punk angry revolutionary political with sci fi and history and DeSade and the Beatles and by Grant Morrison... okay art, pseudo-psychedlelic to resurrect the sixties.... I dunno. Inner/outer revolution, sexual, musical.... but I didn't really get into it.
So today, in early January, I just read Sam Quixote's fine review of this book and have been influenced by my friend Matt Williamson to reconsider it, and to go deeper into it, since it gets better, and my wife's favorite movie of all time is The Matrix, so I am recommending it to her and will read it, darn it. Have not been a Morrison fan, really. But I will try it again…. thanks to SQ.
So today, in early January, I just read Sam Quixote's fine review of this book and have been influenced by my friend Matt Williamson to reconsider it, and to go deeper into it, since it gets better, and my wife's favorite movie of all time is The Matrix, so I am recommending it to her and will read it, darn it. Have not been a Morrison fan, really. But I will try it again…. thanks to SQ.
January 23, 2009
This is the best comic book series ever written. Best. Ever. Every single good idea in the Matrix trilogy was "borrowed" from The Invisibles. The Wachowskis are responsible for the bad ideas.
July 12, 2016
Es difícil describir esta colección a alguien que no ha leido nada de Morrison, es una colección que no nos lleva por un camino prefijado para que lleguemos a un final en el que todo cuadra, los invisibles te tiene que absorver, te tienes que zambullir en ella para buscar lo que significa para tí. Digamos para resumir que es un viaje lisérgico en busca de la libertad y la verdad que nos niegan aquellos que ejercen el poder, pero por el camino nos encontraremos muchas historias increibles, de nosotros depende elegir cómo interpretar las metáforas y hasta qué punto nos parece que Morrison está acertado en sus planteamientos o si simplemente tuvo un mal viaje y se limitó a poner todo lo que se le fue ocurriendo en el papel. Se dice que los hermanos wachoski tomaron muchas cosas de los invisibles para hacer matrix, aunque desde luego, no fueron tan atrevidos como Morrison.
"Originalmente, las culturas humanas eran homeostáticas. Existían en un equilibrio autosostenible. Sin las nociones de tiempo y progreso que tenemos ahora. Entonces, llegó el virus de la ciudad. Nadie sabe con certeza de dónde vino o quién nos lo trajo pero, como todos los organismos virales, su directiva principal es usar todos los recursos disponibles para producir copias de sí mismo. Más y más copias hasta que ya no queda materia prima y el cuerpo del huésped, abrumado, solo puede morir. Las ciudades quieren que nos convirtamos en buenos constructores. Con el tiempo, construiremos cohetes y llevaremos el virus a otros mundos"
Este primer tomo contiene los dos primeros arcos argumentales de la colección: en "sin blanca en el cielo y el infierno" se nos cuentan los primeros pasos de la historia de Dean McGowan un joven conflictivo que es internado en un centro de menores muy siniestro, de ahí lo rescata King Mob, uno de los invisibles (un grupo clandestino que participa en la guerra secreta entre el orden y el caos), que quiere reclutarle para su grupo, en principio Dane no querrá saber nada del tema, pero después se encontrará con Tom el Loco, un mendigo que le empezará a abrir los ojos a cómo es realmente el mundo; en "Arcadia" Dane (que ha cambiado su nombre por Jack Frost) viaja en el tiempo con King Mob y su grupo, para conseguir una forma de luchar contra un temible enemigo.
"Originalmente, las culturas humanas eran homeostáticas. Existían en un equilibrio autosostenible. Sin las nociones de tiempo y progreso que tenemos ahora. Entonces, llegó el virus de la ciudad. Nadie sabe con certeza de dónde vino o quién nos lo trajo pero, como todos los organismos virales, su directiva principal es usar todos los recursos disponibles para producir copias de sí mismo. Más y más copias hasta que ya no queda materia prima y el cuerpo del huésped, abrumado, solo puede morir. Las ciudades quieren que nos convirtamos en buenos constructores. Con el tiempo, construiremos cohetes y llevaremos el virus a otros mundos"
Este primer tomo contiene los dos primeros arcos argumentales de la colección: en "sin blanca en el cielo y el infierno" se nos cuentan los primeros pasos de la historia de Dean McGowan un joven conflictivo que es internado en un centro de menores muy siniestro, de ahí lo rescata King Mob, uno de los invisibles (un grupo clandestino que participa en la guerra secreta entre el orden y el caos), que quiere reclutarle para su grupo, en principio Dane no querrá saber nada del tema, pero después se encontrará con Tom el Loco, un mendigo que le empezará a abrir los ojos a cómo es realmente el mundo; en "Arcadia" Dane (que ha cambiado su nombre por Jack Frost) viaja en el tiempo con King Mob y su grupo, para conseguir una forma de luchar contra un temible enemigo.
July 22, 2016
Morrison's a fucking spaz. Is it too boneheaded to ask for a bit more action? He always has to have his characters--none of which I particularly care about--ramble on with long speeches that rope in historical perspective and introductory philosophy and grand-yet-hollow ideas for no real reason.
I often like where The Invisibles goes once it gets going. There are parts that are perfectly odd, and when Morrison can streamline a scene--usually with action instead of piles and piles of information--the story seems to be worth following.
While I like where he goes, where he comes from is what demotivates me. The Invisibles doesn't seem like it's reaching for anything. I get that there are references to the end of the world and Jack Frost is embarking on a hero's journey for whatever his role in the end of the world may be, but it feels like an empty narrative even this early in the game.
Plus, I fucking hate time travel. This "spiritual imprint" version of it wasn't overly offensive, but I didn't think about it too hard because I was conserving energy for the next time a shadowy being gave a longwinded speech.
I'm not going to continue reading this series. Morrison is creative, but his creativity isn't pointing at much aside from ideas about sophomoric anarchy and a quasi-intelligent acid trip ramble about perceived reality vs reality reality.
I often like where The Invisibles goes once it gets going. There are parts that are perfectly odd, and when Morrison can streamline a scene--usually with action instead of piles and piles of information--the story seems to be worth following.
While I like where he goes, where he comes from is what demotivates me. The Invisibles doesn't seem like it's reaching for anything. I get that there are references to the end of the world and Jack Frost is embarking on a hero's journey for whatever his role in the end of the world may be, but it feels like an empty narrative even this early in the game.
Plus, I fucking hate time travel. This "spiritual imprint" version of it wasn't overly offensive, but I didn't think about it too hard because I was conserving energy for the next time a shadowy being gave a longwinded speech.
I'm not going to continue reading this series. Morrison is creative, but his creativity isn't pointing at much aside from ideas about sophomoric anarchy and a quasi-intelligent acid trip ramble about perceived reality vs reality reality.
July 31, 2010
The first two thirds of this were arresting, but then it quickly irked me once time travel and the Marqui de Sade were involved.
A teenage trouble-making thug is sent to a reform school where parts of their brains and their testicles are removed, but he's saved by an Invisible and inducted into their cell after a long education on the streets with Tom Bedlam. See, there's a war on between the beings who want to rule the earth, the Invisibles, and the earth itself who wants humanity to move onto the next phase of existence and get off the planet. Yeah, and Lennon is a godhead (literally) oracle with psychedelic colors.
It is weird, violent, awesome for awhile, and quite difficult to follow as some of the transitions are blunt and confusing. The influence of The Watchmen and Sandman is evident, but not quite as involved as those (and not nearly as good as Sandman).
Sigh, de Sade. The mistake is always made to conflate his work with rebellion against repression, showing authority up for the nasty hypocrites they are. I think he's just the other side of the coin of violent authority, though: a reflection not a transgression.
A teenage trouble-making thug is sent to a reform school where parts of their brains and their testicles are removed, but he's saved by an Invisible and inducted into their cell after a long education on the streets with Tom Bedlam. See, there's a war on between the beings who want to rule the earth, the Invisibles, and the earth itself who wants humanity to move onto the next phase of existence and get off the planet. Yeah, and Lennon is a godhead (literally) oracle with psychedelic colors.
It is weird, violent, awesome for awhile, and quite difficult to follow as some of the transitions are blunt and confusing. The influence of The Watchmen and Sandman is evident, but not quite as involved as those (and not nearly as good as Sandman).
Sigh, de Sade. The mistake is always made to conflate his work with rebellion against repression, showing authority up for the nasty hypocrites they are. I think he's just the other side of the coin of violent authority, though: a reflection not a transgression.
November 27, 2012
Picked this one up at the LCS because of all the discussion surrounding the Omnibus release. I figured it was time to sample it.
I don't think I like it. I really struggled at first because Dane is so unlikable -- I just don't identify with that kind of rebellion. (I can see where he would speak to a lot of kids, though, especially back in the 90's.) Then I liked it with Mad Tom playing the Merlin/Wart, Way of the Peaceful Warrior Socrates, etc character for Dane. And then Arcadia felt pretentious and confusing and a bit "shocking for shock's sake"-- especially the de Sade castle scenes. It just climbs right up its own ass, and comics folks whose opinions I trust assure me it just gets weirder from here.
Add in inconsistent and sloppy artwork, and you've got a recipe for skippage. I fear that I may be too old for it. Or perhaps lazy, always running back to my Big Two superheroes comfort zone?
Or maybe it's just not for me.
I don't think I like it. I really struggled at first because Dane is so unlikable -- I just don't identify with that kind of rebellion. (I can see where he would speak to a lot of kids, though, especially back in the 90's.) Then I liked it with Mad Tom playing the Merlin/Wart, Way of the Peaceful Warrior Socrates, etc character for Dane. And then Arcadia felt pretentious and confusing and a bit "shocking for shock's sake"-- especially the de Sade castle scenes. It just climbs right up its own ass, and comics folks whose opinions I trust assure me it just gets weirder from here.
Add in inconsistent and sloppy artwork, and you've got a recipe for skippage. I fear that I may be too old for it. Or perhaps lazy, always running back to my Big Two superheroes comfort zone?
Or maybe it's just not for me.
June 3, 2015
I actually enjoyed this more than I thought. I gave it a good reading session over two nights and read the whole Vol 1.
I must admit, there is some 'weird as' and 'wtf' shit in there, at times, especially as I got tired I had no friggin idea about what was going on. But for a chill out comic session. It was better than I was expecting and that is a good result.
I must admit, there is some 'weird as' and 'wtf' shit in there, at times, especially as I got tired I had no friggin idea about what was going on. But for a chill out comic session. It was better than I was expecting and that is a good result.
September 7, 2021
Conocí esta obra gracias a las recomendaciones de varios amigos. Sin duda, una extensa novela gráfica que recoge un guion realmente rompedor, transgresor y violento. Donde la magia, la historia, la filosofía moderna y la violencia se mezcla como un cóctel psicotrópico que no te deja indiferente. Es innegable que bebe de muchas fuentes, pero también esta obra ha servido de inspiración para otras más recientes e igual de frescas.
Este tomo recopila todos los primeros números que se publicaron entre el 94-95. El dibujo, a cargo de Steve Yeowell, Jill Thompson y Dennis Cramer, ayuda a la historia y la enfatiza. Ojo, que Grant Morrison da rienda suelta a sus locuras y pone como protagonista a Dane McGowan, un adolescente rebelde, faltón, violento y que su irreverencia, muchas veces, da puto asco. Eso lo pondrá en el radar de Los Invisibles, una organización desconocida. Y veremos que la peligrosa historia que van a vivir les llevará a otros lugares y épocas, y conocer a personajes reales como el Marqués de Sade. Sus vidas irán en paralelo a las reflexiones de Lord Byron, Percy Shelley y otros.
Este tomo recopila todos los primeros números que se publicaron entre el 94-95. El dibujo, a cargo de Steve Yeowell, Jill Thompson y Dennis Cramer, ayuda a la historia y la enfatiza. Ojo, que Grant Morrison da rienda suelta a sus locuras y pone como protagonista a Dane McGowan, un adolescente rebelde, faltón, violento y que su irreverencia, muchas veces, da puto asco. Eso lo pondrá en el radar de Los Invisibles, una organización desconocida. Y veremos que la peligrosa historia que van a vivir les llevará a otros lugares y épocas, y conocer a personajes reales como el Marqués de Sade. Sus vidas irán en paralelo a las reflexiones de Lord Byron, Percy Shelley y otros.
January 18, 2017
Reprints The Invisibles (1) #1-8 (September 1994-April 1995). Dane McGowan doesn’t like authority, but Dane is about to join a group battling the ultimate authority. There is an invisible world around us, and the Invisibles are fighting to expose it. Recruiting Dane as “Jack Frost”, King Mob and his gang of Invisibles hopes to rock the world in a secret war that has been going on for countless years. As the Invisibles battle threats and jump through time, a revolution is coming that must not be stopped!
Written by Grant Morrison and illustrated by Steve Yeowell, Jill Thompson, and Dennis Cramer, The Invisibles Volume 1: Say You Want a Revolution was printed under DC Comics’ Vertigo imprint. The series was critically acclaimed and grew a cult following. The issues in this volume were also reprinted in The Invisibles Omnibus (which reprinted the entire series) and The Invisibles: Deluxe Edition—Book 1 (which reprints The Invisibles (1) #1-12).
Grant Morrison is a 70%—30% type of writer. 70% of Morrison’s stuff is good and 30% of his stuff doesn’t work. When Morrison works, it is generally very interesting…when it fails, it can fail badly. The Invisibles is one of Morrison’s greater works.
I will say this of The Invisibles: it isn’t for everyone. The series is both extreme and sometimes so twisted that it is almost nonsense. The series sometimes falls into techno-babble and becomes so convoluted that you aren’t sure what is going on. It takes a bit to settle into Morrison’s writing in this series so rereading this book is beneficial if you started out this series long before you finished it.
The series also pushed the ideas of moral decency. The series often suffered censorship (which frustrated Morrison) and this volume shows you why. The second half of the collection reprints the four issue “Arcadia” storyline which has the Invisibles going back in time to rescue the Marquis de Sade and the character end up reliving his controversial 120 Days of Sodom. While there was censorship in this novel it also ties into the series which questions things authority and things like why a 1904 novel was printable but not a modern telling of it.
The Invisibles 1: Say You Want a Revolution is a nice start to a good story. The series however in a way hasn’t aged well. Like Alan Moore’s V for Vendetta, The Invisibles ties heavily to terrorism and breaking control from the controlling governments. Both stories feel a little dangerous in today’s climate where terrorism has taken a worldwide threat, but they also could be seen as more important than ever when governments are cracking down on radical groups. The Invisibles 1: Say You Want a Revolution was followed by The Invisibles 2: Apocalipstick.
Written by Grant Morrison and illustrated by Steve Yeowell, Jill Thompson, and Dennis Cramer, The Invisibles Volume 1: Say You Want a Revolution was printed under DC Comics’ Vertigo imprint. The series was critically acclaimed and grew a cult following. The issues in this volume were also reprinted in The Invisibles Omnibus (which reprinted the entire series) and The Invisibles: Deluxe Edition—Book 1 (which reprints The Invisibles (1) #1-12).
Grant Morrison is a 70%—30% type of writer. 70% of Morrison’s stuff is good and 30% of his stuff doesn’t work. When Morrison works, it is generally very interesting…when it fails, it can fail badly. The Invisibles is one of Morrison’s greater works.
I will say this of The Invisibles: it isn’t for everyone. The series is both extreme and sometimes so twisted that it is almost nonsense. The series sometimes falls into techno-babble and becomes so convoluted that you aren’t sure what is going on. It takes a bit to settle into Morrison’s writing in this series so rereading this book is beneficial if you started out this series long before you finished it.
The series also pushed the ideas of moral decency. The series often suffered censorship (which frustrated Morrison) and this volume shows you why. The second half of the collection reprints the four issue “Arcadia” storyline which has the Invisibles going back in time to rescue the Marquis de Sade and the character end up reliving his controversial 120 Days of Sodom. While there was censorship in this novel it also ties into the series which questions things authority and things like why a 1904 novel was printable but not a modern telling of it.
The Invisibles 1: Say You Want a Revolution is a nice start to a good story. The series however in a way hasn’t aged well. Like Alan Moore’s V for Vendetta, The Invisibles ties heavily to terrorism and breaking control from the controlling governments. Both stories feel a little dangerous in today’s climate where terrorism has taken a worldwide threat, but they also could be seen as more important than ever when governments are cracking down on radical groups. The Invisibles 1: Say You Want a Revolution was followed by The Invisibles 2: Apocalipstick.
April 3, 2022
I've decided it's time to re-read The Invisibles, which I was obsessed with as a teenager in the early '00s. I read the whole thing out of chronological order based on library reservation timescales and have no memory of what the hell happened at the end. So it'll be interesting to see if I still love it and what I notice twenty years later. My teenage self adored how weird and metatextual it is, different to anything I'd read before.
The first volume follows Dane McGowan, a delinquent Liverpool teenage boy from a deprived background. He is recruited by the Invisibles, a small cell of resistance fighters. He has no idea what is going on and neither does the reader, so this volume works better as an introduction than I remembered. (I didn't realise because I initially read it after at least four other volumes.) Characters from different time periods who become more significant later pop up here and there, plus the two key characteristics of the antagonists are established. They are i) interdimensional monsters, ii) Tories. For the first half of the book an enigmatic tramp named Tom O'Bedlam mentors Dane while the two live on the streets of London(s). O'Bedlam introduces Dane to magic and alternate realities. This feels relatively slow in comparison with later events, while setting up several main characters and much strangeness to come.
In the second half, the plot gets going and there are some fantastic time travel sequences. How could I have forgotten that the Invisibles visit the height of the Terror to recruit the Marquis de Sade? I only recalled De Sade turning up later, so this was a lovely surprise. Byron, Shelley, and Mary Shelley also appear, discussing utopia. Given that at the age of 16 I was already fascinated by the French Revolution and utopian thought, is it any wonder I got into this series. There's also a fair amount of creepy supernatural shit, brutal violence, and BDSM (hardly surprising, given De Sade's presence).
Definitely still five stars two decades later. Although the art hasn't hit its stride yet, the plot and tone are fully compelling from the start. I have a real dilemma about what genre tags to use for this series, though. It deliberately mixes sci-fi, horror, supernatural, and fantasy elements and borrows from a huge range of literary, historical, mythological, and spiritual sources. What the hell, let's say sci-fi and supernatural even though there is so much more going on than that.
The first volume follows Dane McGowan, a delinquent Liverpool teenage boy from a deprived background. He is recruited by the Invisibles, a small cell of resistance fighters. He has no idea what is going on and neither does the reader, so this volume works better as an introduction than I remembered. (I didn't realise because I initially read it after at least four other volumes.) Characters from different time periods who become more significant later pop up here and there, plus the two key characteristics of the antagonists are established. They are i) interdimensional monsters, ii) Tories. For the first half of the book an enigmatic tramp named Tom O'Bedlam mentors Dane while the two live on the streets of London(s). O'Bedlam introduces Dane to magic and alternate realities. This feels relatively slow in comparison with later events, while setting up several main characters and much strangeness to come.
In the second half, the plot gets going and there are some fantastic time travel sequences. How could I have forgotten that the Invisibles visit the height of the Terror to recruit the Marquis de Sade? I only recalled De Sade turning up later, so this was a lovely surprise. Byron, Shelley, and Mary Shelley also appear, discussing utopia. Given that at the age of 16 I was already fascinated by the French Revolution and utopian thought, is it any wonder I got into this series. There's also a fair amount of creepy supernatural shit, brutal violence, and BDSM (hardly surprising, given De Sade's presence).
Definitely still five stars two decades later. Although the art hasn't hit its stride yet, the plot and tone are fully compelling from the start. I have a real dilemma about what genre tags to use for this series, though. It deliberately mixes sci-fi, horror, supernatural, and fantasy elements and borrows from a huge range of literary, historical, mythological, and spiritual sources. What the hell, let's say sci-fi and supernatural even though there is so much more going on than that.
April 24, 2020
After reading and not particularly enjoying Grant Morrison's short, simple comic We3, I've decided to give the acclaimed author another chance by reading The Invisibles, which is supposed to be one of his most complex and sophisticated works. This first volume of the series isn't as disappointing as We3, but it's not great either. It's flawed, but intriguing.
The art is frankly ugly. Not only does it not look good, but movement and action are drawn so poorly that it's sometimes hard to work out what's happening, and characters' faces change completely from one panel to the next. On top of this, so far none of the characters are particularly interesting or likable. In particular, I find the teenage protagonist kind of annoying. Another occasional issue is that some of what Morrison clearly thinks is cool or badass comes off as corny or juvenile – an issue I've never had with other "British invasion" comics of the '80s or '90s.
However, despite these problems, this comic has some really good bits. Morrison builds up a compelling mystery and intriguing world that keep me turning the pages. He also throws in some really interesting concepts, rich historical/literary references, and thought-provoking philosophizing. At its best, this volume has moments that feel reminiscent of Neil Gaiman's Sandman.
Overall, the volume shows promise and leaves me optimistic about the rest of the series. I know that subsequent volumes have different artists, and I hope that the characters will be fleshed out as the series continues – and that the teenage protagonist will grow up a bit. Even if not, I look forward to watching the plot unfold, learning more about the universe/backstory and seeing Morrison play with some more weird, interesting concepts.
The art is frankly ugly. Not only does it not look good, but movement and action are drawn so poorly that it's sometimes hard to work out what's happening, and characters' faces change completely from one panel to the next. On top of this, so far none of the characters are particularly interesting or likable. In particular, I find the teenage protagonist kind of annoying. Another occasional issue is that some of what Morrison clearly thinks is cool or badass comes off as corny or juvenile – an issue I've never had with other "British invasion" comics of the '80s or '90s.
However, despite these problems, this comic has some really good bits. Morrison builds up a compelling mystery and intriguing world that keep me turning the pages. He also throws in some really interesting concepts, rich historical/literary references, and thought-provoking philosophizing. At its best, this volume has moments that feel reminiscent of Neil Gaiman's Sandman.
Overall, the volume shows promise and leaves me optimistic about the rest of the series. I know that subsequent volumes have different artists, and I hope that the characters will be fleshed out as the series continues – and that the teenage protagonist will grow up a bit. Even if not, I look forward to watching the plot unfold, learning more about the universe/backstory and seeing Morrison play with some more weird, interesting concepts.
July 16, 2014
As with anything Grant Morrison-y, it's a tad difficult to describe why one enjoys so much what one is reading. His run on Batman, one of the best ongoing arcs in years that completely re-envisioned the comic, is superlative and stands as a staid lesson in how to reinvigorate characters and their realities the right way.
"The Invisibles" was one of Morrison's first major projects for DC. Originally touted by Morrison as part of an extraterrestial revelation given him by aliens, the comic later evolved in his paradigmatic thinking as more of an attempt to explain said alien abduction. Now, this is probably a more than ample preface to the comic itself.
What's it about? A punk kid (the snarkily named Dane McGowan a.k. Jack Frost) gets "inducted" as the newest member of the Invisible College, a group of trendy and transsexual and transcendental "superheroes" defending Earth against a shadowy alien menace. The Marquis de Sade shows up and there's some clubbing and rape and so on. A noble effort at upending the genre itself. At times confusing and clunky, overall it's smarmy and fuck-offyness makes it well worth the slog.
"The Invisibles" was one of Morrison's first major projects for DC. Originally touted by Morrison as part of an extraterrestial revelation given him by aliens, the comic later evolved in his paradigmatic thinking as more of an attempt to explain said alien abduction. Now, this is probably a more than ample preface to the comic itself.
What's it about? A punk kid (the snarkily named Dane McGowan a.k. Jack Frost) gets "inducted" as the newest member of the Invisible College, a group of trendy and transsexual and transcendental "superheroes" defending Earth against a shadowy alien menace. The Marquis de Sade shows up and there's some clubbing and rape and so on. A noble effort at upending the genre itself. At times confusing and clunky, overall it's smarmy and fuck-offyness makes it well worth the slog.
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