Customer Reviews

Anarchy for the Masses: An Underground Guide to 'The Invisibles'

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

...or almost.

Fact is, this very well-designed book is divided up in small chapters - one for each Invisibles issue. Every chapter is in its turn composed of small interviews (the bulk of them being with artist Jimenez), two separate fan-like comments from the curators and an occasional small quote from Grant Morrison himself.
Finally, in the sidebars of each page, there is a very detailed comment to each relevant panel or phrase. "Very detailed" meaning that the authors even go to the lenghts of reminding the reader that "Marylin Monroe was a big sex symbol in the late Fifties and onward..." etc etc.

I actually liked this "take nothing for granted" approach, but with it come a number of problems. First and foremost, there are no visual references, so you have to keep the orginal Invisibles book at hand to follow the notes. Then, this much detail means lots of text, which in turn had to be printed very small to fit on the sidebars - reading it might be tiring to many.

The final interview with Grant Morrison is priceless, altough it replicates much stuff that you can easily find on the sites devoted to The Invisibles.

So is this book worth the buying? My answer is maybe not if you're already heavily into fringe counterculture, as you'll already know about everything there's to know. In any other case, go for it as it can make your Invisibles reading experience much more layered and interesting.

I was hoping for a more "traditional" style dissection of the themes and events in 'The Invisibles'. Or at least some more in-depth interviews regarding the series. To be fair, the new Grant Morrison interview is pretty good, and it is nice to have the annotations in one volume (opposed to the online sources like Jaybabcock.com and Barbelith.com), but I guess I was expecting a more serious, perhaps even literary, view of the series.

This guide is better than no guide at all, given the (probably intentionally) confusing nature of many chapters within Grant Morrison's non-linear magnum opus. However, the page-by-page annotations are repetitive (I don't need *constantly* to be told that "Life as film is a recurring theme") and often assume the readers have spent their entire lives in a cave (I *know* who Ringo Starr and Richard Nixon are, thanks!). At the same time, missing from the annotations is any serious discussion (beyond brief mentions) of chaos magic, anarchist theory or other key themes and influences. The authors' one-paragraph reviews of each issue occasionally contain genuine insight, but more often focus on praising or nitpicking the artists' work, fanboy-style. Surely in such a profound work as *The Invisibles* it's the writing that's of primary importance?

This guide merits two extra stars: one for the helpful, editorially neutral issue-by-issue plot summaries which clear up many ambiguous moments in the series; and one for the engrossing Morrison interview at the end. Interested readers should consult the Invisibles section of Barbelith online and the Grant Morrison pages on Disinformation online; you'll find much more intelligent discussion than found in this guide.

What a fun book! Other series guides seem to be pompous, overly reverent affairs, but a cheeky tone (on the part of both the writers and their interviewees) make 'Anarchy for the Masses' a breath of fresh air. 'The Invisibles' is a series open to many interpretations, and wisely the authors shy from providing one, opting instead to provide tools for fans to make up their own minds. The interviews are good, tracking the creation of the comic book with a sometimes-unexpected honesty. If you're a Grant Morrison fan, you've got to read the huge interview here. The definitive look at 'The Invisibles!' If only these guys had written that ponderous 'Sandman' book...

i haven't finished reading this book yet, but it helps to tie up all the little things i didn't quite catch about the invisibles. also it includes a list of all the books that are referenced in the invisibles, which i think i'll have to read next.

I've been a great fan, since 4 ever, when it comes to Mr. Morrison's work. I've recently purchused The Ivisibles, so coming after the "Anarchy for the Masses" seemed like the right thing to do. It kind of gave me a new perspective, for the things i missed doing my first reading. If you are looking for a great insight job, this is the right book to feed your hunger.
Greetings.

A bit too shallow at times, but the amount of information in the book make it a definite must-read for anyone planning to crash-land into The Invisibles. The annotations are fabulous, the interview with Grant Morrison is a head trip and a half, and, generally, it's a delight of a book.

If you're a fan of THE INVISIBLES, you have to get this book! It really made sense of the maze that was the series. It's fun seeing the original creators comment on the entire series in the interviews. One of the better series guides I've seen.

"Anarchy For The Masses swims the living body junk brain universe of a chemical=anthropoid by Grant Morrison's era respiration-byte modem=cardiac. Grant Morrison ill-treats on the digital-chimpanzee's gene archive which was raped by this abolition world with the biocapturing mode." - Kenji Siratori, author of Blood Electric