314 INVISIBLES, THE
in relation to his mother — are seemingly still haunting him. No matter how personal
his story may look, it remains paradoxically highly recognizable for the reader; espe-
cially readers of the same age as the author, who will enjoy the various references to the
popular culture of that decade (from television shows as Charlie’s Angels to the music of
Led Zeppelin or David Bowie).
Selected Bibliography: Grammel, Scott. “Chester Brown Interview.” Th e Comics
Journal 135 (April 1990); Hatfi eld, Charles. “Th e Autobiographical Stories in Yummy
Fur.” Th e Comics Journal 210 (February 1999): 67; Juno, Andrea. “Chester Brown.” In
Dangerous Drawings. Interviews with Comix & Graphic Artists. New York: Juno Books,
1997.
Pascal Lefèvre
INVISIBLES, THE. Th is ground-breaking series, which ran between 1994 and 2000,
was a literate and complex narrative that fi rmly established Grant Morrison as one
of the most interesting and thought-provoking writers working in comics. It featured
numerous artists, including Steve Yeowell, Sean Phillips, Chris Weston, John Ridgway,
Phil Jimenez, Philip Bond, and Frank Quitely. Th e series ran for 59 issues, which were
divided over three volumes, and has been reprinted in seven collected editions. Th e story
concerns a band of anarchist terrorists, known as the Invisibles, who are fi ghting against
the forces of order and conformity using magic and time travel, as the world hurtles
towards the apocalypse. Th is is portrayed as the intersection of our universe with a
fi ctional reality, one of Morrison’s recurring themes, with fi ction being viewed as a kind
of magical working which has the ability to unleash previously untapped potential.
Infl uences on Th e Invisibles include H. P. Lovecraft, Aleister Crowley, William S. Bur-
roughs, Jorge Luis Borges, Alan Moore, Philip K. Dick, William Gibson, Th e X-Files ,
and conspiracy theories, as well as Morrison’s own earlier work, Zenith.
Th e story begins with the rescue and recruitment of Dane McGowan (otherwise
known as Jack Frost), a foul-mouthed youth from Liverpool, England, who may be
on his way to being the new Buddha, a Messiah of the Age to come. When Dane is
incarcerated for criminal damage and assault he fi nds himself facing indoctrination
and torture by followers of the Outer Church who are attempting to enslave human-
ity. Dane is liberated by a cell of “Invisibles,” which consists of King Mob, an occult
assassin and a surrogate for Morrison himself; Ragged Robin, a girl from the future
who reads a book called Th e Invisibles and comes back in time to make it a reality;
Lord Fanny, a Brazilian transvestite shaman; and Boy, a female expert in martial arts.
Freed from the Outer Church, Dane encounters a being called Barbelith, an entity
that appears to Invisibles as they look beyond the veil we call “reality,” telling them to
“wake up” and to “remember.” Dane apparently escapes both the Outer Church and
the Invisibles and experiences homelessness on the streets of London. Here he is initi-
ated into the Invisible College by Tom O’Bedlam, who, posing as an elderly homeless
man, shows him how to unlock his potential.
