The Invisibles Vol. 7: The Invisible Kingdom [Englisch] [Taschenbuch]

Here it is, the final book of creator/writer Grant Morrison's Invisibles series. Books 1-3 collected Volume 1, Books 4-6 collected Volume 2, and Book 7 collects Volume 3 in its entirety. The previous two volumes had been over twenty issues each, but Volume 3 was only 12 issues, something which seems to spark much debate, these days.

I have seen many claims that Volume 3 was only 12 issues due to low sales, that DC/Vertigo requested Morrison to wrap up his series in half the time, to cut costs. This is simply not true. Volume 3 is Morrison's full vision; nothing was cut out due to editorial constraints. Here are Morrison's exact words, shortly before beginning Volume 3: "Volume 3 will appear as three four-part arcs-`Satanstorm'; `Karmageddon' and `The Invisible Kingdom'- in 1999. And then it's all done and I can go off and have my mid-life crisis in Tibet. There are some fears that this may not work and that `sales' will be dealt a permanent blow, but I prefer to have faith in all you wunnerful people out there who've stayed on the bus so far, and I'd like to think you'd rather see The Invisibles completed as intended than have me hack it out to meet a monthly deadline."

As it's the final book in the series, you might expect The Invisible Kingdom to answer questions and end the long journey. Unfortunately, you would be mistaken. In fact, most of Volume 3 doesn't even feel like the Invisibles we know and love. Where Volume 1 was slow-paced and focused on characterization, and Volume 2 was focused on action and metaphysics, Volume 3 seems like a totally different series. The main cause for this is that the Invisibles themselves are relegated to supporting-character status; Mr. Six and his Division X pals and archvillain Sir Miles Delacourt instead get the most "screen time," with King Mob, Jack, and Fanny reduced to small parts.

To make things worse, when Morrison DOES feature the Invisibles, instead of using the characters we already know, he instead tortures us with a new Invisible named Helga, who is probably the most annoying character in the series. Morrison obviously doesn't think so, however, as he gives Helga just about every "cool" line and "outrageous" action he can think of, in an attempt to make her cutting edge. Instead, she comes off as an annoyingly pretentious bore, and it doesn't help that Morrison fails to give her any sort of background or emotional makeup. What makes this all the more frustrating is that he uses this character so much, and totally ignores more interesting female Invisibles Ragged Robin and Boy. It's like Morrison ran out of ideas for the main characters, and had to come up with someone new to carry the plot; the problem is, he couldn't have chosen a worse lead character.

That being said, Book 7 picks up with Mr. Six and Division X, last seen in Book 3: "Entropy in the UK." They're still hot on the trail of Miles Delacourt and the monstrous "future king" of England. Meanwhile, Mr. Six strives to help his teammates remember that they're actually undercover Invisibles agents. In addition to this, Six and Helga attempt to deprogram Sir Miles. While this is going on, Jack Frost is in Africa with Jolly Roger, where he comes closer to realizing his Buddhahood. King Mob is mostly out of the picture, off meditating in India, trying to rid himself of the need to kill.

After laying to rest 99 year-old Invisible Edith, King Mob et al reunite for the final showdown with Miles Delacourt and the demonic Archons he serves. This culminates in a satanic crowning of the monstrous king on August 11, 1999, in a horrific ceremony which entails the butchering of children and homeless victims. Instead of an action scene as in Volume 2, the events play out more along the lines of the mystical denouement of Volume 1, with Jack Frost once again proving he is the most powerful human alive.

The above two paragraphs make the events of Volume 3 sound rather simplistic. This is not the case. As I mentioned, since this is the final volume of the series, one might expect Morrison to answer questions. Instead, he chooses to make Volume 3 as opaque and difficult as possible. Even the dialog doesn't help to sort things out; the characters don't talk to each other, they trade "I'm too cool" banter. What makes this all the more grating is that Morrison so obviously has taken his themes and plots from the works of Robert Anton Wilson and Terrence McKenna; but unlike those authors, who always guide the reader through their labyrinthine visions, Morrison instead tosses everything into a blender and hopes it all comes out "cool." Therefore, the chance for any emotional impact is pretty much lost.

Volume 3 is saved by the final story of the series, "Glitterdammerung." Fully illustrated by Frank Quitely, this is possibly the single best issue of the Invisibles. The previous 11 issues of Volume 3 wrapped up the series storyline, but it was up to "Glitterdammerung" to explain what the series itself was all about. Set in 2012 , the story operates more as a metaphysical look back at the series than as a linear tale. It does tie up several subplots, and also ends the series on a defiantly anarchic note, as Jack Frost frees himself from the confines of the comic itself. This story alone gives Book 7 a 4-star rating.

The secret revealed in Book 7 is this (avoid this paragraph if you hate spoilers, though if you know this, it probably wouldn't "spoil" anything, anyway!): the Invisibles is a game, one that is being played by someone (John A'Dreams? Jack Frost? YOU?). Toward the very end of the series, several characters begin to figure this out, most notably John A'Dreams, a white-suited former Invisible who disappeared before the events in Book 1: "Say You Want a Revolution." The idea is that the Invisibles is a reality-model experienced by those who wish to gain gnosis; hence the many, many times the phrase "Remember. It's just a game" was stated throughout Books 1-6. This entails the characters realizing they are not only works of fiction, but that each of them might even be the same person, only playing different characters, or "suits," as one enlightened character calls them. I've always felt this is Morrison's skewed way of interpreting the gnostic "all are one" belief, that all humans share one collective, unconscious soul - aka "God."

The art in Volume 3 is a mess. Volume 1 of the Invisibles was plagued with a succession of artists, some good, some terrible. Volume 2 corrected this in a big way. Unfortunately Volume 3 goes back to Volume 1 territory, only it's worse. Instead of different artists handling different story arcs, multiple artists work on the SAME story. This was a terrible idea on Morrison's part, and I think it backfired on him, as the art was so underwhelming in some places that DC/Vertigo had to have certain pages re-illustrated for this collection. Book 7 starts off promising enough, with Philip Bond and Warren Pleece's cartoonish art, but then it quickly falls to pieces when the "multiple artist" scenario rears its head. Quitely saves the day at the end however, and his art on "Glitterdammerung" is just as phenomenal as his work on Morrison's "Flex Mentallo." Special mention must also be made of Brian Bolland's cover art for this trade paperback. He's "remixed" the 12 original covers he did for Volume 3; one in particular, a "Sgt Pepper's" send-up, would make for a perfect poster.

Even though this review has been mostly negative, Book 7 is still required reading for all those who have made it this far. Morrison finishes the series in the fashion he intended from the start, and the character arcs are unique and inspiring. For example, what other work of fiction would feature a character like King Mob, who realizes over the course of the series that he's degenerating into a killer? Bruce Willis can kill umpteen terrorists in the "Die Hard" films and not once question if he himself is becoming as murderous as his enemies; King Mob instead gains enlightenment, and realizes that all life is precious. Of course, if something like this happened in a mainstream action film, audiences would write it off as tree-hugging schlock. But here it works, mostly because Morrison aimed for something higher with the Invisibles. And most of the time, he succeeded.

Don't listen to naysayers. The Invisibles ends with a logical progression from the rest of the series. One of the theories in the comic is that time speeds up as we approach the end of the world, so the hectic pace of this collection fits. You get bombarded with information and concepts and strange, messed up things. It demands multiple readings. Well I suggest reading the whole series again anyway. It's always different and you always see something you never saw before.

Neither significantly worse nor better than the other books in the series, this seventh and concluding volume of THE INVISIBLES is of a piece with the work as a whole. Throughout the series, Morrison's references to Gnosticism, Aliester Crowleyian occultism, William Burroughs-type language viruses, general pop culture, '60's psychedelia, drugs, chaos magic, Mexican mysticism, and your odd British politician threaten to weigh the story down through sheer preposterousness, like a really long novel by Thomas Pynchon or Robert Anton Wilson. But invariably the narrative pulls through and proceeds to get entertaining.

Fortunately, Morrison parcels the obfuscating seven-volume meta-story out to readers in digestible chunks, usually in four-chapter story snippets. INVISIBLE KINGDOM contains three such snippets, and a final chapter that shows the characters decades in the future (albeit in typically hallucinatory fashion).

My favorite stories from the series include the first 4 chapters of SAY YOU WANT A REVOLUTION (where Jack Frost is initiated into the Barbelo), the single-chapter story "Royal Monster" from APOCALIPSTICK (where the guy has to feed that creature behind the mirror), Lord Fanny's biography tale (also from APOCALIPSTICK), and the 3-part title sequence from ENTROPY IN THE U.K (which deals with King Mob's interrogation).

Several colorful characters, particularly King Mob, Lord Fanny, Jack Frost, foxy Ragged Robin, and repugnant little Mister Quimper, kept me reading through even the most annoyingly byzantine passages of the series. However, I could have done without the wearisome Marquis de Sade altogether. Also, I don't think the time travel aspect was necessary to the story: I would think the idea of Ragged Robin writing herself into a piece of fiction could have been handled without the time-warping aspects, which only added to the confusion. And I wasn't completely clear on the significance of Jack Frost's Messianic status, which is hinted at throughout the series but not resolved to my satisfaction in the final volume. Also, I've completely lost track of the significance of that green hand.

Of course, I can recommend this last volume only to those readers who have read the previous six; you really don't want to pick this story up at the end. I can certainly recommend the whole series, however. This sort of thing has been done in books before (Pynchon, R.A. Wilson, and Philip K. Dick being examples) but not, I think, in comics.