The Invisibles 1: Say You Want a Revolution

Comic Info

The Invisibles (1) #1

Reprints The Invisibles (1) #1-8 (September 1994-April 1995).  Dane McGowan doesn’t like authority, but Dane is about to join a group battling the ultimate authority.  There is an invisible world around us, and the Invisibles are fighting to expose it.  Recruiting Dane as “Jack Frost”, King Mob and his gang of Invisibles hopes to rock the world in a secret war that has been going on for countless years.  As the Invisibles battle threats and jump through time, a revolution is coming that must not be stopped!

Written by Grant Morrison and illustrated by Steve Yeowell, Jill Thompson, and Dennis Cramer, The Invisibles Volume 1:  Say You Want a Revolution was printed under DC Comics’ Vertigo imprint.  The series was critically acclaimed and grew a cult following.  The issues in this volume were also reprinted in The Invisibles Omnibus (which reprinted the entire series) and The Invisibles:  Deluxe Edition—Book 1 (which reprints The Invisibles (1) #1-12).

Grant Morrison is a 70%—30% type of writer.  70% of Morrison’s stuff is good and 30% of his stuff doesn’t work.  When Morrison works, it is generally very interesting…when it fails, it can fail badly.  The Invisibles is one of Morrison’s greater works.

The Invisibles (1) #6

I will say this of The Invisibles:  it isn’t for everyone.  The series is both extreme and sometimes so twisted that it is almost nonsense.  The series sometimes falls into techno-babble and becomes so convoluted that you aren’t sure what is going on.  It takes a bit to settle into Morrison’s writing in this series so rereading this book is beneficial if you started out this series long before you finished it.

The series also pushed the ideas of moral decency.  The series often suffered censorship (which frustrated Morrison) and this volume shows you why.  The second half of the collection reprints the four issue “Arcadia” storyline which has the Invisibles going back in time to rescue the Marquis de Sade and the character end up reliving his controversial 120 Days of Sodom.  While there was censorship in this novel it also ties into the series which questions things authority and things like why a 1904 novel was printable but not a modern telling of it.

The Invisibles 1:  Say You Want a Revolution is a nice start to a good story.  The series however in a way hasn’t aged well.  Like Alan Moore’s V for Vendetta, The Invisibles ties heavily to terrorism and breaking control from the controlling governments.  Both stories feel a little dangerous in today’s climate where terrorism has taken a worldwide threat, but they also could be seen as more important than ever when governments are cracking down on radical groups.  The Invisibles 1:  Say You Want a Revolution was followed by The Invisibles 2:  Apocalipstick.