| rdfs:comment | - Possibly one of the best Comic Book series of the 1990s, Grant Morrison's The Invisibles is an electric mashup of James Bond movies, 1960s psychedelia, Cosmic Horror, Gnostic theory, The Prisoner, The Illuminatus Trilogy and the books of Philip K. Dick, with guest appearances by John Lennon, the Marquis de Sade, Lord Byron and Queen Elizabeth II. It's one of the best-regarded original titles from Vertigo Comics. Not EVER to be confused with Arthur and the Invisibles.
|
| abstract | - Possibly one of the best Comic Book series of the 1990s, Grant Morrison's The Invisibles is an electric mashup of James Bond movies, 1960s psychedelia, Cosmic Horror, Gnostic theory, The Prisoner, The Illuminatus Trilogy and the books of Philip K. Dick, with guest appearances by John Lennon, the Marquis de Sade, Lord Byron and Queen Elizabeth II. It's one of the best-regarded original titles from Vertigo Comics. It begins with young Dane MacGowan - a Liverpudlian tearaway with growing psychic power - who becomes a target for two sides of an ancient war: The Invisible College, fighting for chaos and limitless freedom, and The Outer Church, which wants to grind down all individuality and turn humans into mindless drones. He soon joins up with an Invisible cell comprising psychic assassin King Mob, transvestite shaman Lord Fanny, martial arts expert Boy and mysterious redhead Ragged Robin. Together they strike at The Outer Church and its Earthly representatives, trying to free the world of its sick grip. But neither side knows the true secret of the universe, or what is really coming at the end of time in December 2012... The comic has been equally lauded and criticised for its complicated, nigh-on-labyrinthine structure, which jumps backward and forward in time and - particularly at the end of the third volume - requires the reader to put in some effort to unravel what exactly is going on. It's also let down by art of varying quality, particularly in the 10th and 11th issues of the third volume which had a different artist every couple of pages. However, it remains Morrison's best-received non-superhero work and one of the high watermarks of 90s comic books. Many of its themes would be continued in Morrison's The Filth. Not EVER to be confused with Arthur and the Invisibles. Generally regarded as being one of the primary inspirations for The Matrix, alongside Ghost in the Shell. Morrison even said he felt he was plagiarised, but that it just meant the comic was working as intended.
|
