Product Description

Dane McGowan is a young Liverpool thug, hardened by years of poverty and trouble. When he finds himself imprisoned in a correctional facility that is more than it seems, it looks like Dane's finally found some trouble that he can't handle. But he is rescued by a mysterious, outlandish killer, and left to the care of a tramp who may just be the planet's greatest magician, where he learns the truth: there's a war being fought, between those who want humanity to acheive ultimate freedom forever - and those who would crush us into mindless automata for all time. Welcome to the Invisibles...hang on to your head!

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #42403 in Books
• Published on: 1996-06-01
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 224 pages

Customer Reviews

Well, do you?
Grant Morrison is THE man when it comes to writing comics and The Invisibles are probably his finest creation to date. Taking in everything from conspiracy theories to chaos magick, the Illuminati, Discordianism, gnosticism, and saying, what if it were all true? By the end of the series Grant promises to explain why the universe exists. This collection of the first eight issues introduces the main characters of the first series, tearaway Dane and the mysterious Jack Frost, supercool King Mob, gorgeous transvestite Lord Fanny, ex-cop Boy and the flame-haired and magical Ragged Robin. The first half of the book consists of Dane's intitiation into the Invisibles, a group of freethinkers and anarchists pledged to overthrow the forces of Order that oppress the world. Unsure of who to trust and who to fear, Dane is taught by the strange beggar known only as Tom O'Bedlam, who lets him see the world through a pidgeons eyes and introduces him to terror. The second half of the book, 'Arcadia', sees the Invisibles cast back to revolutionary France as they seek to rescue an Invisible from the past, only to get caught up in an attack by the forces of Order and the works of the Marquis de Sade. If you want to see what comics can and should be about, look no further!

Why all the fuss?
My friends were very strongly divided about this series. I am surprised that any of them managed to get worked up about it either way. Dane McGowan, high-school drop-out from Liverpool, is recruited by the Invisibles, a motley group of eccentrics with super-powers working (presumably for the forces of Good) behind the scenes of world politics. There is a storyline set in a hidden London reminiscent of Neil Gaiman's Neverwhere. There is then another storyline set in the French Revolution with the Marquis de Sade playing a key role, but this got a bit self-indulgent and had a peculiar sub-plot involving Percy and Mary Shelley which didn't seem to fit in with the rest. Perhaps it is all revealed in subsequent volumes, but I won't rush to buy them.

Awesome counter culture graphic novel
Just an amazing piece of work - so many ideas, so many great thoughts, complex and fascinating throughout. Slow to start, but stick with it - the detail rewards all efforts.