The Invisibles - Grant Morrison - It has been a number of months since I read any of these comics. I probably shouldn't try to write about this series since it has been so long since I read any of it, but I can't help myself. At one point I was interspersing them with Sandman, but then Sandman came in all at once at the library so I finished it first. Also there are more Sandman books. Back to The Invisibles... Holy Hell. This is some freaky stuff! This comic is all drugs, sex, violence, and conspiracy theory (and time travel, etc). It's basically the Matrix, but in print before the Matrix ever began. There is a chosen one, he is reluctant (aren't they all), and there is an organization in place to help him to his destiny. Kind of. The Invisibles that we meet in the comic are but one cell of a larger group. It is a super-secret organization, and identities and motivations are not always clear. But here's a list anyway - King Mob (bald, pierced, leather-wearing, bad-ass leader), Lord Fanny (Brazilian transvestite sorceress), Ragged Robin (mysterious time traveller from the future), Jack Frost (foul mouthed reluctant member of the Invisibles, savior figure), Boy (African American woman, expert martial artist). caveat: although I was somewhat used to the violence from earlier comics (see here re: Sandman) - it gets pretty gross, so I can see that it might not be for everyone. But, if you can deal with some frankly freaky stuff you do get rewarded with an intricate storyline, visits from august (or notorious) personages in history such as Mary and Percy Shelley, Lord Byron, and the Marquis de Sade. I am not all the way through the series yet, but intend to finish once I can figure out what the last one I read was. Looking at this list, I think I only have the last one left to read:
Say You Want A Revolution
Bloody Hell in America
Counting To None
Kissing Mr. Quimper
Here's a much more pithy summation from the modern world:
Morrison's latest excursion into the surreal, this series lasted some 64 issues and formed a self-contained universe. It tells the story of warring secret societies, UFO infiltration, metaphysical excursions, sex and drugs as doors of perception, government conspiracies, a sentient and multidimensional London, and just about everything else he could think of, all brewed up into the tale of the Invisibles, a cabal of seditious revolutionaries trying to rewire reality. It's like the Illuminatus!trilogy mixed with Foucault's Pendulum with a shot of methedrine, gunpowder, and poetry. Influenced by J. L. Borges, H. P. Lovecraft, Michael Moorcock, Terrence McKenna, Timothy Leary, and others, The Invisibles is essentially an anarchist work that paints the Marquis de Sade as a hero and John Lennon as a god. This comic is not for anybody -- but is certainly one of the most rewarding on the market.
Say You Want A Revolution
Bloody Hell in America
Counting To None
Kissing Mr. Quimper
Here's a much more pithy summation from the modern world:
Morrison's latest excursion into the surreal, this series lasted some 64 issues and formed a self-contained universe. It tells the story of warring secret societies, UFO infiltration, metaphysical excursions, sex and drugs as doors of perception, government conspiracies, a sentient and multidimensional London, and just about everything else he could think of, all brewed up into the tale of the Invisibles, a cabal of seditious revolutionaries trying to rewire reality. It's like the Illuminatus!trilogy mixed with Foucault's Pendulum with a shot of methedrine, gunpowder, and poetry. Influenced by J. L. Borges, H. P. Lovecraft, Michael Moorcock, Terrence McKenna, Timothy Leary, and others, The Invisibles is essentially an anarchist work that paints the Marquis de Sade as a hero and John Lennon as a god. This comic is not for anybody -- but is certainly one of the most rewarding on the market.
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