The Invisibles: The Deluxe Edition, Book Two

The Invisibles: Deluxe Edition

by Grant Morrison, Jill Thompson (Artist), Sean Phillips (Artist)

One of Grant Morrison's most controversial, trippiest and abstract comic books ever is back. This volume focuses Lord Fanny's past as a prostitute in Brazil, while King Mob leads the other Invisibles in a search for the missing Jack Frost. Then, King Mov is captured by his enemies and tortured mercilessly, while his past as a mod super-agent is revealed. Collects THE INVISIBLES #13-25 and a story from WINTER'S EDGE #1.

Genres: Comics, Graphic Novels, Fantasy, Fiction, Science Fiction, Comic Book, Graphic Novels Comics

352 pages, Kindle Edition

First published August 19, 2014

About the author

Grant 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.

Reviews

[Donovan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Talk about drugs and psychedelic absurdism.

Book Two continues the escalation of the psychic war, and shows how Boy, Lord Fanny, and King Mob all became Invisibles.

This especially details Lord Fanny's origin, a blend of child abuse, ancient Mexican supernaturalism, psychic magic, and complex sexuality. It's quite graphic, yet fascinating and well-written. But if transsexuality or cross dressing make you feel funny, skip this one.

We learn more of King Mob and his psychic warrior training, travels, identities, and abilities. To a lesser degree, we learn of Boy's origin as a police officer, her troubled family, and her introduction to government conspiracies and The Invisibles. We also get a heady look into the madness of Jack Frost, Jim Crow, and get introduced to Mr. Six. That's the tip of the iceberg as far as what happens in this book.

Reading this series, like all of Morrison's crazy shit, you just have to go with it. A lot of stuff doesn't make total sense and that's okay, it's more about the experience, how it makes you feel, and the great diversity of stories and ideas that are expressed here. The artwork really is quite good. Too many illustrators to list, but it's all solid stuff with great color, if sometimes a bit dated.

So onto book three!

[Keith · Rating 3 out of 5]

There's a section in the backmatter for this book in which Morrison includes his original pitch for The Invisibles that he submitted to DC in the early 90's, and I tell you what: this is a document I could have used a long time now, years even; all these long years that I have deeply, deeply hated The Invisibles and everything it stands for. Not just the comic itself -- which I have hated -- but its pomposity and hollowness and grandeur; its overt metatextuality that seeks to overpower the relative meaninglessness of the text itself.

The Invisibles, at its worst (which is pretty bad) is the lowest form of media: a media that seeks to mean without attempting to do; that needs deeply to stand on a mountain and shout something without having anything in particular to say. The central urge that drives The Invisibles is the same one that drives films like Magnolia, The Fountain, and Lady in the Water; is it the urge that drives unemployed single men to start online advice cults (or, at the very least, blogs). It is the almost-specifically-masculine drive to create a Kubrickian monolith without bothering to gather raw materials.

And I get it; I do. I have lived this heady mix of desire and ego and formlessness, and thank god I didn't amount to anything as a person for many years and therefore had no public platform to spew my empty nothingness until, at the very least, I began to acknowledge it for what it wasn't, but so many men just aren't so lucky. They swing with charm and verve and their substancelessness is ignored until it is too late, and someone has "taken a chance" on them, and by God they write Batman pretty good and all of a sudden you're a DC editor looking at the half-baked shit that is The Invisibles and saying OH GOD WHAT I HAVE ALLOWED TO COME TO BE.

But in Grant Morrison's original pitch for The Invisibles, he suggests that this wanko-conspiracy-theory-magickal-mysticism-hypercube of a comic book might not actually be what it seems -- that the titular heroes, the Invisibles (a group of sexy genderfluid shaman-ninjas led by Gideon Stargrave [honestly], who is clearly Grant Morrison with face piercings) might actually not be anarcho-freedom fighters fighting for anarchic freedom against bug-eyed aliens.

In fact, Morrison suggests, the Invisibles might just be a bunch of whackjobs fighting shadows, and the big reveal of The Invisibles could well end up being that there is no enemy, that the enemy is us.

Which, while certainly not a mind-bending premise by any means, would at least excuse the fact that I have read the first 25 issues of The Invisibles and I can't help but feel that I'm supposed to think the Invisibles are cool, but that they just come off as self-aggrandizing-hipster-fucks.

There are three or four major storylines in this particular volume, and of these one of them is at least very interesting and well-drawn by Jill Thompson, even if I'm not quite sure that it's actually good. In it, the Invisible named Lord Fanny, a Brazilian transvestite, relates the story of her upbringing as the first boy born to a family of witches, who took to life as a girl in order to inherit the family's witchliness. Of every story in the book, it's the one that's genuinely weird enough to earn its keep, rather than sort of just wiggling around sexily in the dark listening to Bauhaus and saying "looky looky, aren't we just-so-weeeird?"

Of the rest of this, some of it is extremely well-drawn (Phil Jiminez is at the top of his game, despite this being probably the earliest work I've ever seen from him) and some of it is horribly, like, not (Steve Yeowell seems like such an earnest guy in interviews, but Lord almighty literally do anything else besides draw this comic, please god). But mostly it's just sort of, like, dull and just not as interesting as almost anything else of Morrison's I've read. The Doom Patrol is weirder, All-Star Superman is both more pop and more inspired, and even Final Crisis sort of genuinely stares into God's eyes more deeply.

But Morrison, at least, feels that this book is important to Morrison, which I get. Schizopolis might not be...anyone's cup of tea, but Steven Soderbergh consistently refers to it as the film that helped him truly become a filmmaker. I think the difference is that, usually, with a work like this -- a work in which you see the artist deeply plumb their own depths -- the reward is at least a certain amount of chutzpah, an urgency, a sort of explosive nowness that supersedes the self-indulgence.

With The Invisibles, I just see a writer who wants, desperately, to be Important. To be Cool. OH GOD TO BE COOL.

I recently read this very forgiving article about the series, in which it was posited that The Invisibles's flaws need to be understood as the products of a young, ambitious writer, rather than allowing the book to be taken at face value. Admittedly, I have never in my life considered cutting Grant Morrison an ounce of this kind of slack. Who am I to cut slack to a man who genuinely believes himself to have superpowers? Who am I to forgive a man who thinks nothing of naming his character surrogate Gideon-fucking-Stargrave?

I have yet to finish The Invisibles, and I don't know if it's going to end up doing something interesting, or doing something Lady-in-the-Water. In his original pitch, Morrison says, "I think I've finally found a way to do a comic about everything."

I mean, or at least about one thing. One thing would have been great, my dude.

[A Fan of Comics · Rating 4 out of 5]

A steady second volume.

The only reason why I didn't give this volume a full 5 stars is because I'm still blown away with how fast and wild the first book is. This is a pretty great second though! We finally get to see Jack Frost peek and a deeper look into who King Mob is. I really enjoyed Fanny's story and how all that tied together. The wrap up wasn't bad either but the last issue that they have doesn't feel like the right end for the book. Good read regardless, Ready for book three already!

[Shannon Appelcline · Rating 5 out of 5]

She-Man (13-15). The story of Fanny's initiation is great not just for her backstory, but also for the way that Morrison plays with time and reality, showing off his esoteric beliefs better than almost anywhere else. Along the way, he also manages to advance the main story in an exciting way [9/10].

London (16). Nice to get more details on Jack's initiation, nicely linking in with the first arc; and good to see his continued evolution. Beyond that, a sort of slow story [6/10].

Entropy in the UK (17-19). A nice origin for King Mob that's particularly delightful because it's never obvious what's true and what's not. The Jerry Cornelius / Gideon Stargrave segments are particularly delightful (though I hear Moorcock wasn't that pleased by them). Overall, a great story that really pushes the main conflict in the series [7/10].

How I Became Invisible (20). Boy only gets a single issue, but it's an interesting issue that points out how she's different from the others in multiple ways [7/10].

Liverpool (21). Dane's return is pretty slow until the last few pages, but they really explode with his new potential. Once more it's also nice to see bits and pieces of his initiation, a real continuing thread in this stories [7/10].

Finale (22-24). I'm amazed that he Invisibles storyline is so decompressed while simultaneously being so action-packed, but here we are finishing up the story from 17-19. It's a pretty cool bit of action because it allows the band to get back together while simultaneously mixing the action of a big climax with esoterica that almost makes sense. [7+/10].

Mr. 6 (25). An interesting finale for its different view of an Invisible and its lead-in to the main plot lines.[7/10].

Overall, this is Invisibles at its height, with its careful interweaving of the main plot line and character backstories.

[Gabriel Llagostera · Rating 4 out of 5]

Este segundo tomo pretende cerrar un arco y brindar algunas respuestas de lo que está pasando. En ese sentido, creo que lo logra. De todas formas quedan cosas demasiado colgadas a tal punto que en varios tramos parece que estuviera leyendo un montón de cosas sin conexión ni claridad, por lo que me costó conectar con las situaciones y los dramas de los personajes.

Más allá de eso, el arco final del tomo es muy bueno, tal vez un poco estirado, pero muy disfrutable. Morrison hace gala ahí de su enorme inventiva y capacidad para aportar todo el tiempo ideas nuevas; por poner un ejemplo, el interrogatorio a King Mob y todo lo que se muestra de su "pasado".

Si tuviera que criticar algo es el baile de dibujantes, que para mí le hace perder una identidad gráfica que ayude a definir visualmente la serie.

Ahora pienso tomarme un descanso de la serie y picar con otras cosas antes de continuar.

[Lukas Sumper · Rating 4 out of 5]

Wonderfully weird, despite the first half being gross and kind of harder to get through then the rest, the second half becomes finally more focused. I don't know if I am wrong but it felt like Morrison just created half of that plot on the go, mainly because sometimes it feels really random.

Two thirds of this Volume are background stories s0 we finnally get to know and also start to like the team one by one, the police lady's I loved the most since it was the most grounded and is also really well written. The first and final act were weaker than the rest but in this case it still worked.
(Man those extras! - the original pitch in the deluxe edition is just awsome)

4.0 out of 5 stars

[Ty Kaz · Rating 1 out of 5]

I really really tried to like this book. I really did. Countless people keep telling me it’s one of the best books out there. There are some interesting parts (especially the De Sade stuff).

Im not afraid of books that make the reader do the work, but I feel the plot here (if you can even say there is one) is needlessly and arbitrarily complex. I know this is a known quality of Morrison but it just ridiculous here.

I’ve sloughed my way through the first collection and a little bit into the 2nd and Morrison may just not be for me. Maybe it’s because I’m reading this 20 years later but everything seems so contrived and cliche.

Overall, cool concept and ideas, poor execution.

Shoutout to his work in “Nameless”tho.

[Zack! Empire · Rating 2 out of 5]

Do I like this series? I can't really tell. Grant Morrison is a polarized figure to me. I loved his work on All Star Superman, but hated his New 52 Action Comics run. After finishing his Doom Patrol run, I wanted to finish this series. It's not really doing it for me. There are parts that I did like. Grant has this way though of showing you how clever he is at the expense of the clarity of his story. I don't need a story to be a straight A to B style plot, but there is a point where you're asking the reader to do too much work and making it unenjoyable for them. At this point, I've read half this series. Do I want to keep going and finish it? Ugh, I'm not really sure.

[Joni · Rating 4 out of 5]

Se me hizo cuesta arriba este tomo. Es todo tan abstracto y no lineal que muy seguido aparecen páginas salidas de la nada donde lo importante es un diálogo, una referencia.
Se agradece que además del flojo Yeowell acá sí hay excelentes dibujantes como Phil Jimenez quedeja la vida, Jill Thompson y varios más que dan un respiro a varios de los esbirros dibujados por el artista titular.
El tomo no es bueno. Es excelente pero asfixiante.

[Will Fenton · Rating 5 out of 5]

I get it, I get the hype. It lives up to it and surpasses it in many respects.

[Raymond · Rating 3 out of 5]

My second foray into the deluxe edition world of Grant Morrison’s The Invisibles was more of the same—only louder. The themes and crudeness are heightened to the point of outright discomfort for me, which is saying something. And while that discomfort might’ve been enough to warrant a lower score than its predecessor, I can’t help but think—especially given the clarified themes and aesthetics in Morrison’s prospectus—that that was the point.

I didn’t mention trigger warnings in my review of Deluxe Edition One, but now feels like the right time. We’re talking everything under the sun: rape, murder, incest, pedophilia (never explicitly stated, but unmistakable), and pretty much anything else worthy of the label. And given the anarchic nature of its characters and themes, as said before, that seems the point.

Once again, the counterculture-centric, crude nature of the series takes center stage, but nowhere more than in the origin story of Invisible member Lord Fanny, titled She-Man. Let me be clear: I have no issue with stories involving trans people—none whatsoever. But I nonetheless felt a certain way here. The story paints a portrait of a woman, born biologically male, coerced into identifying as female by her family and their legacy. There’s a moment where it seems okay—Hilde, Lord Fanny’s given name, likes dresses and feminine things—but the arc ultimately feels like someone forced into being someone else without the express opportunity to become who they might have been if given the chance. And given what terribly horrid things happen to them because of it, that feeling only deepens.

And here’s the thing: doesn’t that sort of spit in the face of what this series claims to stand for? The right to choose—to reject the Kool-Aid society prescribes to us. Lord Fanny was never given the Kool-Aid. The Kool-Aid was removed altogether. I don’t know if I’m missing the point with this particular story. It feels like I might be. But my head’s at where my head’s at. If you think I’m wrong—or right—let me know why in the comments. I’d genuinely appreciate a differential viewpoint on the matter.

As for the rest, I appreciated much of what we got here, even if it was mostly the same. Dane, aka Jack Frost, continues his path from little shite to deprogrammed counterculture soldier with an arc that felt just a tad less annoying than before. Boy’s origin story was interesting, if a bit barebones—I’ll need more to understand her motivations beyond the revenge angle if I’m to be completely won over. Jim Crow, the reveling voodoo-priest musician and fellow Invisible of an alternative cell, was a hoot and a half. His arc of revenge and assistance made me want to see more of him than anyone else I’ve followed in this series so far. And as mentioned, Morrison’s original prospectus tops off this edition, offering clarified insights into his reasoning and plans for the series overall. Unneeded, but much appreciated.

All in all, not a bad second outing. Not better. Maybe a tad worse. But not to a detrimental effect. I rarely encounter narratives that challenge me in such notably uncomfortable ways, especially ones I didn’t entirely dislike. Anything that falls under such a rare category—especially literarily—usually merits more admiration than I want to give it. So… here I am giving it.

[A Cask of Troutwine · Rating 2 out of 5]

So as I talked about in my last review, I've read the first chunk of this volume before in trade paperback. Surprisingly I'd read more of what's in this volume than I thought.

A lot of my criticism from that volume continues into this one. I still feel that the book overall drags pacing-wise. It's better than the comic was at the start, but getting through each issue still felt like a slog.

Conceptually I think the high point of the book is getting Lord Fanny's backstory as a transgender initiate into a family lineage of all female shamans in Brazil and Mexico. Morrison cuts between the lowest points in her life as a 'never ending initiation', as according to the comic all points in time exist simultaneously, with the physical object of the comic itself meaning this is in many literally true.

However, at this point in the series it's become apparent that any ideas towards depth have been replaced with sheer breadth. The comic throws so many ideas around that it just becomes a type of glossolalia. It just washes over the reader, and while it may focuses on a certain ideas at a time, a lot of the book just feels shallow, with Morrison throwing a lot of idea's at the reader over what's a pretty basic action movie plot.

The last part of the book is Grant Morrison's pitch document, which is really interesting. It lays out several planned story arcs, several of which made it into the comic practically unchanged. It also states Morrison's overall idea for what they wanted the comic to be and what it should do. The part that stuck out the most here was that Morrison wanted the book to change the reader, and open them up to a different world view. I don't think that that's a bad intention, and I've definitely had books do that to me before, but so far at least this book hasn't really messed with me in that way.

The other part of this pitch document that stuck out to me is that Morrison wanted the reader to be constantly second-guessing whether the Invisibles were actually the 'good' guys, or if they were secretly working for the forces of order and domination. However, if that remained Morrison's intention I think they did a poor job of it. I don't think the comic ever really presents them as anything but a very adolescent idea of cool. The closest I've felt to distrust about the group is that I feel most of the characters are very shallow, and trying very hard to come across as badass.

Still sticking through the series, but mostly at this point because I feel like I should see it through rather than because I'm fond of it.

Also, a side note. I love the Brian Bolland covers, but I noticed while reading this that the cover for this volume isn't actually a comic in this collection. In fact, it doesn't have any of the characters from this volume at all. I understand that they want a connected visual style for the books, but was there no way to get a cover that actually relates to the contents?

[David Raz · Rating 4 out of 5]

The second volume of The Invisibles is even better than the first. While in the first volume, the longer arcs were of lesser quality than the single issues, on the second volume the arcs excel.
It starts with the three volumes of "She-Man" (13-15), which is the story of Lord Fanny. Not only is it a strong and emotional story, but an excellent execution in a way only the graphic novel medium can deliver. At some point in the story there were five different story lines (three time lines for Lord Fanny, plus two stories for the rest of the team), intertwined in more or less one page. Try to do that in a movie or a book.
The next issue, "London" (16) brings us back to the story of Dane/Jack Frost. It is a nice continuation to the first volume, and a tie-in to the future. The continuation of this is "Liverpool" (21) which also introduces Mr. Six. While these stories stop the pace a little, they turn critical in the later story.
Then starts one master arc, the continuation of volume one, which ended with King Mob's capture and torture. That is the three issues of "Entropy in the U.K." (17-19), and later "House of Fun", "The Last Temptation of Jack" and "Good-Bye Baby Rabbits" (22-24). This one has it all, a strong story, a strong team, including much of Jim Crow which was introduced in volume one, great action and excellent execution. The story revolves around the team trying to rescue King Mob and Lord Fanny and on Dane finally coming to terms with his powers as Jack Frost. Everything before that comes together, starting with with excellent exposition of KM's past through a brilliant story element (Sir Miles trying to read his mind), combining with Lord Fanny's capabilities, Jim Crow and finally Jack Frost. The only ones not really shining are Boy and Ragged Robin, which at this point are still under developed.
One attempt to develop Boy a bit is "How I Become Invisible" (20) which is stuck in-between. I did not find it to contribute much, mainly because Boy does not have a major part in the story as of yet. As it stands, it provides a little rest from the action, but not much else. I did not really like the art on this one, not because it was bad, but because it does not tie in with the series.
The volume end with "And a Half Dozen of the Other", which introduces Division X at last, after they are mentioned quite a number of times through the volume, and ties in to the next story. Maybe I imagined the buildup for this, but it was anti-climactic. "And We're All Police Men" from Vertigo: Winter's Edge #1 is quite redundant. The volume ends with some behind the curtains, providing a spotlight on the process of starting such a series.
Overall, an excellent volume, setting the bar pretty high for the rest of the series. The single issues brought it down a bit, so 4.5 out of 5. I'll round down only because I keep the five stars for perfection, but it may as well be five stars.

[Dustin Steinacker]

Still enjoying the series, still finding it a little big for its britches. Interesting that Morrison disparages Sandman in his cocksure pitch for The Invisibles to DC (a pitch which is included at the end of this edition), as that series is a kissing cousin to this. But Gaiman uses Sandman's premise as a canvas to tell varied, involving and sometimes experimental stories; Morrison uses The Invisibles to air out his grab bag of postmodern pop occultism, with stories that can't pull their weight unless you're at least aware of, and hopefully invested in chaos magic[k] and what-have-you. That in itself lends it some charm. But take it too seriously and you'll start looking like the Tool fan who just discovered fractals and the Fibonacci sequence ​and tries to blow your mind in homeroom with the profound truths each conveys.

Not to say those ideas aren't often fun—Morrison has skimmed an awful lot of material and put together a platter of choice cuts. But he's generally exploring them for their own sake rather than as a springboard for storytelling, which he freely admits in the pitch with the promise that he'll try to make it interesting. And interesting it usually is, in that way gonzo fiction can be. Things move, despite the sometimes stilted captions and overwritten, over-cool dialogue. And I'm interested enough in the concept of comics-series-as-magic-spell that I'll probably read this one through to get the whole picture.

Morrison claims that torturing his badass author-insert protagonist made him sick in real life, and wanted The Invisibles to be a "hypersigil" that would rewrite its readers' brains and in turn society itself. As somebody who sees this outre, fringe stuff as escapism, if often terrifically fun escapism, I'm expecting more mundane effects. Fiction itself has a magic, after all, which "real" magic[k] can only labor in vain to elevate, but might dispel if taken literally.

[Tom · Rating 3 out of 5]

Continuing right along...again, it is nice to read these in print rather than as pdfs as I did my first time around.

Reading comic reissues, I am always struck with the advances in the drawing and layout over the past several decades. It is amazing how much everything has shifted so that even comics that had very nontraditional layouts at the time of release now seem rather ordinary looking.

The other issue that this volume raises is the treatment of transgender characters. I wish, in addition to some of the early plot layouts that Grant Morrison included, that there was coverage of early critical reactions and how well or poorly a character such as Fanny was received. For being 20 years ago, Morrison's treatment of the subject seems quite remarkable in sensitivity, at least to me. I am sure a more critical eye might spend much of this volume rolling. Morrison did mention a bit in Supergods: What Masked Vigilantes, Miraculous Mutants, and a Sun God from Smallville Can Teach Us About Being Human about his own wardrobe and gender experimentation.

[Nicholas Stonehouse · Rating 2 out of 5]

Before I started this series I read a couple reviews that said it all gets a bit too esoteric and convoluted. I thought I'd give it a shot anyway cause I like comics that aren't just BANG! POW! I liked the first book enough but this 2nd entry is where it really grinds.

First, I think it's disappointing to spend this much time with King Mob in a completely helpless state. I get that there are other stories happening in between. But every time we cut back to him he's just getting humiliated over and over again. This would be fine for an issue but it felt like the whole book.

I liked Fanny's backstory but this also took up a big chunk of the book. I don't know that it needed to be 3 chapters long.

My favorite part is probably the single How I Became Invisible. This told a complete beginning, middle, and end and didn't rely on ancient mythology. Don't get me wrong, I like ancient mythology. I actually know a whole lot from reading up when I was young. But the ones referenced here are all completely unknown to me. Almost as if on purpose. Like he's going out of his way to make references to things you won't get so you're impressed. I'd be more impressed by just telling a story on its own accord.

[Dustyloup · Rating 3 out of 5]

!!Don't skip the fax at the end of this edition with Morrison's pitch for the series. In fact it should just pop up at some point in the first 20-100 pages of volume one when people are going what the quack is this all about because this whole series is such a mind f...
Anyway, just started watching the TV series, The Boys, based on the comic by Garth Ennis. Would make an awesome paired reading. This one being the underside of everything, particularly institutions such as government and religion, media, sex... The Boys being a critique of media corporations, fandom, and the Disneymarveland we're living in.
One thing that struck me reading the Invisibles is how very late 20th century it is while being prescient about the chaotic 21st century. For some reason, it made me think of that Billy Joel song, "We didn't start the fire", but for young boomers/older Gen X and rather "We are the f'ing fire and it's all burning!"

I'd have to agree with everyone else that Fanny's story is the best of the bunch.
PPS- Somebody made an Invisibles playlist on Spotify, I highly recommend! Just search Invisibles comic

[Bill Coffin · Rating 1 out of 5]

For those wondering what all the fuss is about on this book, this four-volume deluxe edition is a terrific way to get acquainted with Grant Morrison’s epic end-of-the-millennium story that feels like an extended version of one of those insane conversations people get into at 3am when they have had way too many recreational chemicals. Unhinged, grotesque and gratuitous at every turn, The Invisibles could be forgiven for being all of those things if it was not also so insufferably self-important. Reading Morrison’s pitches for the series reveals a writer who is so keen on saying everything that he ends up saying nothing, convinced that loading every thought he ever had and blasting them onto the page is the kind of brilliance the world deserves. Morrison would go on to produce some fantastic work, but by the powers, The Invisibles isn’t it. It’s that sophomoric orgy of excess some writers go through when they have found success but wish to be seen as Important, and be;icee too much of their own press. At least it’s over.

[Wombo Combo · Rating 3 out of 5]

Didn't like this one as much as the first. It feels like the plot got too crazy too fast and so after the first five or six issues, I was pretty confused about a good chunk of what was happening. There were some really cool moments for sure, but a lot of it just felt confusing, like Morrison was distracted while writing it. There's a nine page story at the very end that is wild and very confusing, and i think thats supposed to be the point, but nevertheless it was still frustrating to read. Morrison's original series pitch is at the end of this and i think it explains why a lot of this doesnt make a whole ton of sense; Morrison wanted this series to be about everything in the whole world. But the probablem is that the whole world is to much to condense down into a 22 page issue. He seems to be more focused on writing about things instead of writing the things themselves, if that makes sense. I liked book one a lot but this was a disappointment for sure.

[Sean · Rating 4 out of 5]

I would say I enjoyed this book better than Book One of the Deluxe Edition series. Being familiar with the characters and concepts made it easier to digest, although there's still a lot going on. I especially enjoyed the notes at the back from Grant Morrison's first ideas of the Invisibles. The context of what he is trying to do with the series helps to put the actual storylines into perspective. However, you're really just going to have to accept that not everything is going to make sense, and that there are things going on behind the scenes that you're not meant to really know about just yet. If you can get past that, and try to come up with your own interpretation of the stories, I think you'll enjoy this more than if you try to figure everything out and actually understand the overarching plot.

[Zardoz · Rating 3 out of 5]

Originally published in 1995 this graphic novel is way ahead of it’s time. The main focus is on two characters Lord Fanny (a trans woman shaman and Dane basically a chosen one) though we do get some background on boy and another cell of invisibles.
Crazy ideas drop in and out and there is an actual plot, but the story shifts around to much hence the three star review.
If you decide to give this a try you should start with volume one or you will be completely lost from the get go. The basic premise is that every conspiracy theory you ever hear (Luckily it was 1995) is actually true and are part of a secret war for control of our universe. Oh, Our universe was created by a being that wanted to trap another being and it worked. So, this second being is trying to destroy everything so it can break out.

[Keen Reader · Rating 4 out of 5]

“What you see depends entirely upon the words you have to describe what you see.”

This second instalment of the deluxe edition series, more than delivers and I eagerly await the next one. I would say that this doesn’t quite possess the same oomph! as it’s magnificent predecessor, but boy does it still pack a hefty punch. The continuing story develops along unpredictable and non-linear lines, with plenty of horror, mystery and journeys within journeys within journeys.

The action can be quite intense and the snappy dialogue helps to keep it belting along at quite a thrilling pace. Again the art work is really well done, and although the colouring could be vivid and powerful, I don’t think it quite contained the same depth as in Book One.

[Nate]

The Invisibles is simply too esoteric for me to truly enjoy. I imagine that’s the case for most people. I like the characters, and Morrison’s writing is generally strong, with some fantastic passages here and there. And I can get behind what he’s saying with this series: the importance of imagination, freeing your mind from oppression, etc. But there are lots of things I’m not getting and the storytelling is obtuse more often than not. It's like Morrison is trying to outsmart even himself with this book. I will say that Morrison's original pitch (included in back matter to this volume) was very useful, and something I wish I read before volume one. If you have the first two books at hand, I recommend reading that before plunging into the madness.

[Dan Ray · Rating 3 out of 5]

Just so 90's.

When I was in highschool I spent my days hanging out with druggies, freaks and weirdos (as one does) and it now seems to me that they must have been reading a lot of Grant Morrison mixed in with their Robert Anton Wilson.

The sort of clumsy, early "woke" of the 90's where the author and characters are trying to show how open and accepting they are but fumbling it a bit. The idea that true enlightenment is just around the corner but you have to tear yourself down to get there. Usually via drugs.

The cyberpunk ideas mixed in with spirituality, envisioning cyberspace as a new place for our avatars to exist de-coupled from bodies has turned out a lot more like an off-the-cuff comment at the finale party; "it's all silicone chips, this is the new stone age."

[Idriss Jellyfish · Rating 5 out of 5]

Pretty wild throughout, Morrison the Wizard and his team get better as the stories come along. There is a great deal of clever in how our heroes manage to thwart the evil powers that be; enough that the solutions are not distracting but not too much that the cosmic forces that would herald in an apocalyptic dystopia are rendered anodyne. In fact, a big strength of the story is how much agency it puts on the characters (and humanity/society) and does not neglect having the protagonists examine their motivations. The new art direction feels purposefully grimier with sharper features and phantasmagoric centerpieces intricately detailed-this is a nice evolution. The crew's depiction of 2012 is absolutely hilarious.

[Char Lee Sea · Rating 5 out of 5]

After book 1, I was a little apprehensive to continue. It was totally confusing with 20 different plots(?) going on. It seemed overly ambitious. Then I read book 2 and saw the genius everyone talks about. All the disjointed craziness comes together. I'm in the middle of book 3, and I will say The Invisibles may be the best comic I've ever read! Definitely up there with Alan Moore and Frank Miller. But it is definitely not for everybody. It has far deeper subject matter than your typical Marvel superhero comics.

[dr_set · Rating 5 out of 5]

In the second part, Grant’s character takes the center of the stage and becomes the main protagonist of the story.

The series reads exactly like the Ego Trip pitched to Schwarzenegger’s character in Total Recall. Grant takes a myriad real episodes from vacations of his real life and he spices them up by writing himself as a secret agent, a top assassin under deep cover on the most important mission to save all of reality from interdimensional beings and their human puppets. He partners with the most beautiful exotic girl and kick lots of ass.

What more can you ask?

[Henry Blackwood · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was much easier to stomach and felt a lot more coherent than the first collection. That’s not to say that it wasn’t dense and confusing but I felt that it was really coming together in this trade. It’s nice. This trade or Omni was definitely nearer to a five star than a 4. If I read this again I’ll most likely change the rating.

I don’t know if I love this or not yet but I’m still interested to get to the finish line with this.

[Daniel Molina · Rating 4 out of 5]

Book two provides issues dedicated to the individual members of the core group, which adds emotional depth. As tension rises between the Invisibles and the Outer Church, the line between reality and fiction is blurred. We meet members from the Invisibles operating on different levels of consciousness, we see how deep the Outer Church has infiltrated itself in society and the Invisibles undergo conflict that strengthens the team.

[Amanda Lett · Rating 4 out of 5]

Definitely more intense and more engaging than Deluxe Vol. 1, Vol. 2 really gets into more of the theory behind Morrison's beliefs. While some of the terminology surrounding the main Trans character is dated, the book still treats her as a multidimensional, fully rounded person. Bonus points for a "Father Ted" reference!