The Invisibles volume 2 issues 11 to 16

-- These issues are:

The Invisibles volume 2...

The arc-title of #11 and #12 and #13 is AMERICAN DEATH CAMP, #14 and #15 and #16 are an arc without an overall title.

-- Collected edition:

These are the last 3 issues of the fifth collected edition "Counting to None" and the first 3 issues of the sixth collected edition "Kissing Mr Quimper" - pictured.

(Bolland's cover for the sixth collected edition is again new to the series.)

ANALYSIS

-- Quote of the month:

"I'm an international freedom fighter and a photogenic witch, darling. I'm the most glamorous creature you'll ever meet." - Lord Fanny.

-- Panel of the month:

The Invisibles volume 2 issues 5 to 10

-- These issues are:

The Invisibles volume 2...

The issues #5 and #6 and #7 are an arc without an overall title and the arc-title of #8 and #9 and #10  is SENSITIVE CRIMINALS.

-- Collected edition:

These first six issues of the nine issues of the fifth collected edition "Counting to None" - pictured.

(Bolland's cover is new for this. It imagines the five of Ragged Robin's cell as some sort of pop group, like the Beatles or Queen, recalling those groups' imagery.)

ANALYSIS

-- Quote of the month:

"I believe in the modern world, Mr Skat. I believe in the automobile and the Charleston and the dry martini. I believe that nothing we know will ever be the same again" – Edith.

-- Panel of the month:

The Invisibles volume 2 issues 1 to 4

-- These issues are:

The Invisibles volume 2...

The arc-title is BLACK SCIENCE and the issue-titles are: Bangin' (#1), Kickin' (#2), Sorted (#3), Safe (#4).

-- Collected edition:

These four issues are all of the issues of the fourth collected edition "Bloody Hell in America" - pictured.

(Bolland's cover for volume 2 issue 1 of The Invisibles is re-used for this collected edition. The title of the collected edition isn't an issue-title or arc-tiltle re-used unlike the previous two books.)

ANALYSIS

-- Quote of the month:

"Elephant head. Elephant head. I WORSHIP A GOD WITH AN ELEPHANT HEAD!"

King Mob (volume 2, issue #2, page 2 and 3).


-- Panels of the month:

Volume 2, issue #1, page 6 – "What it's mean?" "Nothing really. I don't know. It just sounds good".

The Invisibles volume 1 issues 21 to 25

-- These issues are:

The Invisibles volume 1...

Liverpool (#21), House of Fun, The Last Temptation of Jack, Goodbye Baby Rabbits, (the three-issue arc without an overall title: #22, #23, #24), And a Half Dozen of the Other (#25).

-- Collected edition:

(SECOND HALF)

These issues are the last five (of the nine) of the third collected edition "Entropy in the U.K." -  pictured.


ANALYSIS

-- Quote of the month:

George Harper: "Who are the bloody 'INVISIBLES' anyway?"

Jack Flint: "A secret occult conspiracy, dedicated to destroying the world by opening the gates onto... I don't now... Armageddon, the return of the Great Old Ones, the Hopi Fifth World, Ragnarok, you name it."

Mr Six: "No one knows who they are. Perhaps you're one of them George. Perhaps we all are."

(Issue #25, page 15.)


-- Panel of the month:

Issue #25, page 1 - a creation myth (Zoroastrian).

The Invisibles volume 1 issues 17 to 20

-- These issues are:

The Invisibles volume 1...

ENTROPY IN THE U.K. (#17 and #18 and #19), How I Became Invisible (#20).

-- Collected edition:

(FIRST HALF)

These issues are the first four (of the nine) of the third collected edition "Entropy in the U.K." -  pictured.

(A note on the cover. Another wholly new Bolland cover not on any issue of the series. It's a curious cover as unlike the other “wholly new Bolland covers” it doesn't try to up the glamorous quotient.)


ANALYSIS


-- Quote of the month:

Elfayed: 'Things repeat themselves on all scales, from the smallest to the largest. "As above, so below." '

(Issue #17, page 9.)


-- Panel of the month:

Issue #17, page 19 – Genevieve and Gideon Stargrave.

The Invisibles volume 1 issues 11 to 16

-- These issues are:

The Invisibles volume 1...

Royal Monsters (#11), Best Man Fall (#12), the three-parter SHEMAN (#13, #14, #15) and London (#16).

-- Collected edition:

These six issues are the last six (of the eight) of the second collected edition "Apocalipstick" -  pictured.

(A note on the cover. While the first collected edition is currently being published, with a re-use of, oddly, Brian Bolland's cover for an issue of volume 2 of The Invisibles, this is a wholly new Bolland cover not on any issue of the series.

Another note - just announced - the omnibus edition will be published in August 2012!)


ANALYSIS

-- Quote of the month:

Edith, on Dane being “spirit” of the five elemental roles of the team...

 “Spirit? Oh well, it's dazzlingly obvious then. The spirit's role's always unpredictable, you know that. It exits to galvanize and revitalise the elements around it. Here's a boy whose hatred of authority is such that he even rebels against us, against the Invisibles. I think he's here to test you to your limits, Gideon. That's what I think. He's here to shake you to the core.

To get him back, you're going to have to enter the labyrinth and face the beast. You must brave the jaws of the dragon, dear.

Each of you in turn, I shouldn't wonder."

(Issue #13, page 20.)


-- Panels of the month:

Issue #13, page 2 - King Mob and Lord Fanny discuss the eschaton.

The Invisibles volume 1 issues 5 to 10

-- These issues are:

The Invisibles volume 1...

The four-parter ARCADIA (#5, #6, #7, #8, a time-travel adventure to the turn of the 19th Century and back) and 23: Things Fall Apart (#9, the escape from the windmill) and Season of Ghouls (#10, the character Jim Crow is introduced).

-- Collected edition:

These six issues are the second half of the first collected edition "Say You Want a Revolution" and the first two issues of "Apocalipstick" - both collected editions pictured.


ANALYSIS

-- Quote of the month:

King Mob - "Welcome to the revolution, Jack."


-- Panel of the month:

Issue #8, page 17 - the date of the apocalypse, the transformation: December 22nd, 2012.

The Invisibles volume 1 issues 1 to 4

-- These issues are:

The Invisibles volume 1...

Dead Beatles (#1, Dane meets King Mob with Lennon in the background) and the three-parter DOWN AND OUT IN HEAVEN AND HELL (#2, #3, #4 Dane is prepared by Tom O'Bedlam to join The Invisibles with a magickal mystery tour of London).

Welcome to "Counting to 2012"! There will be 12 blogposts across 2012, each published on the 22nd of each month. Each blogpost will cover 4 or 5 or 6 issues of the 59 issues of the 3 volumes of Grant Morrison's meisterwerk The Invisibles.

Originally published from 1994 to 2000, this "comic about everything" is being re-read in 2012: because that year is part of the fabric of the story; because 2012 is turning out to be a year of revolutions (also part of the fabric of the story); because it seems a fascinating exercise to re-read now that many of the ideas of The Invisibles are mainstream in 2012. I should say this will be for me a re-read for the first 30 issues, and I'll be reading the second half of the 59 for the first time.

These 12 blogposts with their 12 sections should be self explanatory - if you fancy reading along then note the sidebar which explains which collected editions will be read and talked about when.

-- Collected edition:

(FIRST HALF)

These four issues are the first half of the first collected edition "Say You Want a Revolution" - pictured.


ANALYSIS

-- Quote of the month:

King Mob - "You joined a long time ago. But if you don't want to come with us now, if you don't want to find out more about what this is all about, you're free to go your own way."

-- Panels of the month:

One of the two pages of the Lennon godhead (art by Steve Yeowell) of issue #1.