The Invisibles Semi-Exposed #1
Bob Kelly
The Invisibles Semi-Exposed: #1
The Meanderings and Thoughts of
Grant Morrison's The Invisibles
Published by DC/Vertigo
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"This is the comic I've wanted to write all my life -- a comic
about everything: action, philosophy, paranoia, sex, magic,
biography, travel, drugs, religion, UFOs...."
-- Grant Morrison, Invisible Ink, the Invisibles #1
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This is not meant to be an annotated Invisibles, but a
thought- and discussion-provoking tool to help us think
about Grant Morrison's work. Rumors, theories and
meanderings are welcome.
I will try to add everyone's input once per every couple of weeks.
Speculation is welcome, as long as it is brief.
For those of you who want to see my less-prestigious work
(along with Bill Sherman and John Bullough) on the Doom
Patrol, try the following web location:
<URL:http://www.rpi.edu/~bulloj/Doom_Patrol/DoomPatrol.html>
Also, you can check out
<URL:http://www.digimark.net/wraith/Bibliographies/HTML/Morrison-Grant.html>
Sincerely, Bob Kelly
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Dead Beatle$
Issue #1, Sep 94
Artist: Steve Yeowell
Letters Column: Before I begin, I want to quote
from Grant himself:
"DESTROY THIS COMIC! That's my advice. When you're
finished reading THE INVISIBLES #1, tear it up, burn
it, feed it to your lizards, lock it in the trunk of
a stolen car and push it off a bridge. You'll feel
good, believe me. It's only a comic, after all."
So, the sheer nature of "annotating" the Invisibles
is against the grain of what Morrison wants us to
do. So be it. I choose my own path and I am not
ready to give up my Invisibles. I do NOT place
them in plastic baggies, nor oogle over their
resale value. I like to READ comics, not admire
them from afar.
--
Page 1, Panel 2
Some ancient Egyptian Mythos has the sun being a
large ball rolled across the sky by a beetle. First
appearance of King Mob.
We immediately begin with a theme in the
Invisibles: Polytheism.
Page 2, Panel 1
Gee, meet Dane McGowan. He's such a witty guy.
Morrison has a child throwing a rock, a molotov
cocktail or a grenade at the establishment. He's
done this in: Doom Patrol #52, Kill Your Boyfriend,
anything else?
Page 3, Panel 4
Someone needs to explain to the editors and comic
artists that Molotov Cocktails don't explode like
that. It's sort of a running theme in this book.
Burning books: this is a standard revolutionary
tactic used to "re-write the pages of history" for
2000 years plus. Sometimes it works. Sometimes it
doesn't. Compare this activity to "DESTROY THIS
COMIC" statement: we can become trapped by that
what we think is "real." For example, the
revisionist history of Christopher Columbus as a
"hero" for America -- a history that is now a hot
bed of dispute.
Page 4, Panel 1
Dane's t-shirt: Carlsberg. It's a beer, aint it?
Page 4, Panel 2
"Bizzies" -- Police?
Page 4, Panel 4
"We are the Boys! We are the Boys! We are the Croxteth Po-SSE!"
Where is this from, folks?
First Appearance of King Mob's tag.
Page 5, Panel 4-5
"It's sort of like I've seen it before but I
haven't." Read the letters column in issue #11:
Could Dane be a Situationist International member
reborn?
Page 6, Panel 2
King Mob's first name is Gideon. He's also be
"unchanged" since 1924. Why doesn't he age? Why
does she?
Page 6, Panel 4
John-A-Dreams is mentioned for the first time. It
is later implied that he has converted over to the
enemy and is betraying the Invisibles.
Page 7, Panel 4-5
The Russian Anarchist theorist who denounced the
October Revolution? I haven't read Kropotkin, but
I think I'd like to now.
Page 8, Panel 5
"Only Nazis burn books." Except the religious
right, the PMRC, Gannett Syndicate, large
multinational corporations... even historians burn
books, metaphorically speaking.
Note that Dane's wearing the same shirt...
eeeewwww!
Page 9, Panel 3
Gee, Mom, can you put any more crud on you face?
Page 9, Panel 6
King Mob's really been following this guy.
Pages 10-12
Dane is watching John Lennon and Stu ?. The
foreshadowing Lennon's death is a little late.
Dane can see across time and watch (participate) in
events -- a precursor to how important he will
become later in the issue.
Page 13, Panel 2
First appearance of jack Front, Dane's alter-ego.
Page 13, Panel 3
"Erdische methode gut, starker besitscher."
"Seelisches land."
I'll be arsed if I'm going to look them up when
there's plenty of nice german-speaking people on
the internet that'll do it for me.
Page 14, Panel 1
"TDA" Is this the equivalent to juvenile home?
drunk driving?
Page 14-15
We see just how good of a car thief Dane is.
Page 17, Panel 3
Hey! You left your lights on!
Page 17, Panel 4
"I say we blow up the whole fucking school." To
quote the Comics Journal:
CJ: What's the best effect that the Invisibles
could have?
Grant: Just to inspire people to smash up their
school desks. [laughs]
Page 18-19
The evil influence of aggrandizing lsd to corrupt
the young and the innocent children of the world.
Fukin' A, folks, DO DRUGS! They're better than
television! Healthier for you too.
Grant says that these two pages were written on
acid. Yet another Dead Beatle, the Apple from the
record label... If someone wants a stab at these
pages, go right ahead.
Page 21, Panel 5
Dane isn't as stupid or crazy as he has been
pictured as.
Page 22, Panel 1
"Beyond the limits regarded as legitimate youthful
rebellion against authority." Those are
interesting words.
Page 23, Panel 2
Hmmmmm, like those glasses Ms. Dwyer. She belongs
to the enemy.
Page 23, Panel 4
Harmony House. Looks like Heritage School in
Provo, Utah or Bakkan (sp?) Control Training
Center. A lot of these schools have worse
treatment of the "students" than many prisons in
America.
Page 24, Panel 1
"Conformity" As ever, it's the age old nemesis
that Morrison like to pick on. Mr. Gelt is servant
of the evil ones.
Page 25, Panel 3
Hmmm, that looks like a fun card game. "I win!"
"No, you don't!" "Yes, I do!"
Page 26, Panel 1
ISXIS? Isis? Give me hints!
Page 26, Panel 2
Ragged Robin makes her appearance, and everyone in
the world assumes it's Crazy Jane. Yeah, that's
creative thought for you. K.M. and Robin discuss
the recruiting of Dane.
Page 28, Panel 2
Virtual Reality -- at least somebody has the right
idea about what it is all about.
Page 28, Panel 4
OK, Grant, We get the hint! Emotion is bad.
Strange celery-headed, vaginal-eyed creatures are
good. :)
Page 29
Yeah, it's atypical evil Morrison creature -- but I
*STILL* like it.
Page 32-33
OK, so they look like sex organ-ish, brain-ish
things. How do they scream? :)
"Smooth between the legs, smooth between the
ears..." No one but Morrison can make conformity
seem such a wonderful prospect.
Page 34, Panel 3
King Mob in full regalia! Note the way he hangs
his gun.
Page 37, Panel 2
the Secret Society Invisibles is first mentioned.
Page 38, Panel 4
Dane's luck is showing through - so much for Mr.
Gelt.
Letter Column
"I was also, to be brutally frank, shattered by the
response to DOOM PATROL which I loved as a parent
loves a gifted and misunderstood child, but which
was either relentlessly panned by critics or
completely ignored."
Well, I wrote MY first letter as a response to
issue #20, which god published in #25. I haven't
stopped since.
Grant outs himself as a "heterosexual (with possible
latent homosexual tendencies)" Personally, until I
notice that he's sharing a bed with me, I think the
speculation is something left for Tiger Beat magazine.
:)
--
-Bob Kelly-
< ThisIsTheMonaLisaSigVirus--CopyMeIntoYour.sigFileAndSmileEnigmatically >
<http://www.rt66.com/bobek/fore_thoughts.html--It'sNotAnAdventure,It'sAJob>
< RETROFLASHBACK-SIG: Time flies like an Arrow, Fruit flies like a banana >
Alexx Kay
allusive to the Alice books; seminal works of british surrealism ( :-) )
and fond of playing linguistic games. Whether this is Morrison's allusion,
Lennon's allusion, Morrison alluding to Lennon's allusion, just my own
addled inference, or some combination thereof, I know not...
Alexx
Al...@netcom.com
Nothing is as inevitable as a mistake whose time has come.
[Seen on a Nancy Button, na...@genie.slhs.udel.edu]
morph
> The Invisibles Semi-Exposed: #1
>Page 14, Panel 1
>"TDA" Is this the equivalent to juvenile home?
>drunk driving?
'Taking & Driving Away', I believe.
>Page 21, Panel 5
>Dane isn't as stupid or crazy as he has been
>pictured as.
...Which is something that we haven't really seen recently (IMHO). It
would be nice to see Dane use his brain a little more. Of course, this
being a Morrison book, he almost certainly will, sooner or later..
>Page 23, Panel 4
>Harmony House. Looks like Heritage School in
>Provo, Utah or Bakkan (sp?) Control Training
>Center. A lot of these schools have worse
>treatment of the "students" than many prisons in
>America.
Very Clockwork Orange, too. Grant is definitely a fan of that film- one
of the characters in Really & Truly spoke the dialect...
-Morph
Marc Singer
>
> The Invisibles Semi-Exposed: #1
>
>Issue #1, Sep 94
>
>King Mob's first name is Gideon. He's also be
>"unchanged" since 1924. Why doesn't he age? Why
>does she?
There is a very strong possibility -- I'm virtually certain of this --
that Edith is the young woman from the 1920s on page 15 of Invisibles #2.
The man, I'm pretty sure, is a much younger Tom O'Bedlam, his name "Freddie"
notwithstanding.
>Pages 10-12
>Dane is watching John Lennon and Stu ?. The
>foreshadowing Lennon's death is a little late.
>Dane can see across time and watch (participate) in
>events -- a precursor to how important he will
>become later in the issue.
Stu Sutcliff, the Beatles' first bassist (before Paul switched instruments),
a good friend of John's, and the first one to die. Thus, these are the
two "Dead Beatles."
>Page 13, Panel 3
>"Erdische methode gut, starker besitscher."
>"Seelisches land."
>I'll be arsed if I'm going to look them up when
>there's plenty of nice german-speaking people on
>the internet that'll do it for me.
I tried to look this up. I can't remember most of it -- "Earthly methods
are good, something something..." -- but "Seelisches land" is "psychics
land."
Page 16:
Much of the issue, and the car-theft/joyride scene in particular, reminds
me of "A Clockwork Orange." Morrison even calls himself "Your Humble Narrator
and, like, droog" in the lettercol.
>Page 18-19
>The evil influence of aggrandizing lsd to corrupt
>the young and the innocent children of the world.
>Fukin' A, folks, DO DRUGS! They're better than
>television! Healthier for you too.
>
>Grant says that these two pages were written on
>acid. Yet another Dead Beatle, the Apple from the
>record label... If someone wants a stab at these
>pages, go right ahead.
Page 18:
Panel 1: The albums (left to right, front to back): Revolver, Rubber Soul,
Sergeant Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band.
Panel 2: The number nine fascinated Lennon, and popped up in more than
one of his songs, most prominently, "Revolution 9."
Panel 3: The revolving/revolver/revolution double-entendres are inescapable.
Panel 4: "monks chanting the backwards static hum": Lennon wanted to
record "Tomorrow Never Knows" (last song on Revolver and one of the most
mind-blowing ever) by having a thousand monks chant it on a mountaintop.
That being impractical, they made lots of tape loops and played them in
the background, while doing strange studio tricks to Lennon's voice.
Also, the Lennon image looks a *lot* like Richard Avedon's famous,
psychedelic Lennon photograph.
Page 19:
Panel 1: "magical mystery maze" ref. to album/song "Magical Mystery Tour."
"looking glass language" is possibly a pun on "Glass Onion," which has the
line "looking through a glass onion," but it's more similar to a line in
"Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds" about "looking-glass ties." "MMM" and "LSD"
are two of the most heavily drug-oriented Beatles songs.
More revolver double-entendres, this one seeming to point to Lennon's
assassination as well.
Panel 2: "eggman" comes from the very weird "I Am the Walrus." "let me
take you down" is from "Strawberry Fields Forever." I should point out that
all of the songs referenced were done primarily by John, and involve some
amount of psychedelia, whether in subject or inspiration or execution.
Panel 3: "Say the word" is from "The Word." "It is not dying" is one of
the most haunting refrains from "Tomorrow Never Knows."
The wavy glasses come *exactly* from Avedon's photo, he put those weird
lines on Lennon's glasses.
Panel 4: "bonny jock lennon," etc., is written in a Joycean style.
"Beautiful Boy" was one of John's solo songs, about his son Sean. And that
"it is not dying" only gets more haunting with repetition. The apple, of
course, refers to the Beatles' Apple Records.
>Page 26, Panel 2
>Ragged Robin makes her appearance, and everyone in
>the world assumes it's Crazy Jane. Yeah, that's
>creative thought for you. K.M. and Robin discuss
>the recruiting of Dane.
Last summer, somebody pointed out that Yeowell blew it -- as seen in
ARKHAM ASYLUM, the Tarot card The Moon may have beetles on it...
And I love King Mob's comment about "a 60s spy series." Some of the best
parts of this series, including the logo, remind me so much of those loopy,
decadent TV shows. I think if THE INVISIBLES had an opening theme song,
it would have to be Pizzicato Five's "Twiggy vs. James Bond"...
Page 30, Panel 4: When lit from behind in red, those doors remind me of
the ominous skull-doors in DOOM PATROL #54... probably just me, though.
Page 36, Panel 5: "Goodbye Mr. Chips" was, of course, a book and then movie
about a much nicer English teacher. Perhaps Morrison is trying to say that
nice or not, all teachers lead to Gelt. Then again, perhaps Morrison is
just trying to give KM a cool line before he blows up lots of stuff. :)
Page 37, Panel 3: Possibly the most arcane Beatles ref Morrison has made --
so arcane, I'm not sure if it is one. :) But the line *really* reminds me
of the Monty-Pythonesque Beatles song, "You Know My Name, Look up My Number,"
which repeated "You Know My Name" quite a bit. I think this use of it is
deliberate.
Great start, Bob! A nice summer project. Thanks for the semi-exposure. :)
Marc