Customer Reviews

The Invisibles Vol. 4: Bloody Hell in America

5 star:		(10)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

After the release of issue #25 of the Invisibles (collected in Book 3: "Entropy in the UK"), DC/Vertigo halted publication of the series for a few months. During this hiatus, creator/writer Grant Morrison revised his approach to the series. Deciding that the previous volume had been "British" and that the new one would be "American," Morrison abandoned the methodical pace of Volume 1 and filled Volume 2 with nonstop action, sex, and ultraviolence. Some say this new approach was a "watered down" version of the Invisibles, but I say that's hogwash. The stories collected in this book are the cream of the crop, and fulfill all of the promise of the very first issues of the series.

Book 4 collects the first four issues of Volume 2, and the change is immediately noticeable. First and foremost is the return of artist supreme Phil Jimenez. Last seen in Book 3's "Entropy in the UK" arc, Jimenez is probably my favorite artist who ever worked on the series. His art is detailed, clean, precise, and beautifully rendered; everything you could ask for, really. Morrison scored a huge coup when he brought Jimenez on board as the regular artist, something the series never had before. Therefore, there are no drops in artwork quality in this collection, as there were in the previous three trade paperbacks.

Picking up a year after the events at the end of Book 3, Book 4 opens with the Invisibles (King Mob, Dane, Ragged Robin, Lord Fanny, Boy) recouping in upstate New York, residing in the colossal mansion of millionaire Invisible Mason Lang. Lang is an interesting character, a neurotic Bruce Wayne-type who obsesses over the "hidden meanings" of mainstream films. The events depicted at the end of Book 3 nearly killed our favorite Invisibles cell, but now King Mob thinks the team is ready for more action.

Sure enough, Jolly Roger shows up, looking for help. Roger, a lesbian commando who's as deadly as King Mob, is the leader of her own Invisibles cell, and she's the only one who survived an assault on a high-level military base in Arizona. Those expecting "Area 51" shenanigans with little gray aliens will be surprised, because Roger's cell wasn't searching for extraterrestrial life: they were after the cure for AIDS. The government has the cure, has had it for decades, and now Roger wants King Mob's cell to re-infiltrate the base with her and make off with it.

What follows is enough gory action, cross-dimensional warring, masturbation-induced spells, mind control, kinky sex, and redneck-baiting to satisfy even the most jaded of readers. Did I mention the gore? King Mob goes on a kill spree in this book; Morrison claimed he was approaching this "new look" for the Invisibles like a big-budget Hollywood action movie, and he delivers. But beyond the mayhem, there's also some great character development, particularly for Ragged Robin, previously a blank slate. Here we learn that there's more to her than meets the eye: born in 1988 (the story takes place in 1996), Robin is definitely not an 8 year-old, but she offers no answer to this riddle.

There are only two drawbacks to "Bloody Hell in America." One: DC/Vertigo failed to include the last page of issue #4 in the collection. This missing page isn't integral to book; instead, it introduces Takashi, a Japanese scientist who comes to the fore in Book 5, and who has just figured out how to travel in time. Still, it would've been nice to have that page in here.

And the second drawback: Book 4 is rather short. Previous and later paperback collections are much larger, collecting more issues. This book only features 4 issues; this is because DC published it early in Volume 2's run, to capitalize on the title's new look and feel. But that's only a minor drawback; Book 4 makes up for in slam-bang action and thought-provoking ideas what it lacks in size.

Morrison is arguably the best comics scribe around today, and thus far Invisibles is probably (still) his masterpiece.
Bloody Hell In America continues in the same vein as the previous story arcs, though this chapter is far more violent and "action packed" than anything we've seen before (as the title implies). These stories were of course written squarely in the Tarantino Era. In the midst of some blood-soaked & carnage-filled pages, even King Mob tells Jolly Roger that he is "beginning to question the already dubious morality of [his] actions". To call the violence "gratuitous" is missing the point.

And I wouldn't call this a good jumping-on point. If you're going to read Invisibles, start at the beginning.

The Invisibles' fourth volume begins their second major storyline in America, doing American things with American people.

Grant Morrison had just begun to write the JLA during this volume, and it affected the Invisibles to a major extent. The story becomes simpler; there are a ton of gun fights and the whole tone of the series changes. Morrison claims he did this on purpose, but it's unclear as to why he did it.

Regardless, Phil Jimenez really compliments the story's general feel, very Perez influenced and detailed, very American.

A necessary volume if you're reading the Invisibles and a very good starting point if you haven't started.

This short but sweet trade paperback colects the OTT beginings of the 2nd Volume of this wonderfull series.

This is a good introduction to the Invisibles, as this story reads like a highly entertaining, psychadelic blockbuster, making it more acessible than most of the other stories in this series, which can (at times) redifine the word "odd"...

Read it and, if you like it, check out the other trades... the series is really varied and is, literally, about EVERYTHING!

Sex, love, gnosticism, rebellion, music, art, death, friendship, drugs, science, magic, literature, meta-physics, ... its all in there somewhere...

Stories about sexy Anarchists dont get any better than this...

This collection is meant as a jumping-on point for new readers, and considering how esoteric, deep, and complex 'The Invisibles' usually is, this book is a nice change of pace. The amazing thing is that Morrison slows down the merry-go-round without derailing it. He *wants* you to get on, but he also wants people who've been on it for a while to stay -- no mean feat. He pulls is off very well, somehow. Check this out, then dive in to the rest of this amazing, brilliant series.

Somewhere along the line in "Bloody Hell in America," you realize you're in over your head, that whatever well-worn turns you may have been used to in comic book storytelling have been turned completely around, and this ride is jumping the tracks.

How writer Grant Morrison manages to spin the end of time, the crash at Roswell, the Hindu god Ganesh, Aztec magic, and Quentin Tarantino movies into one story is a secret he'll probably take to his grave. But it all works, and the threads crackle and hum so intensely with pop-zeitgeist electricity you'll love getting sucked into the web.

Translation: It's really, REALLY cool. And one hell of a mind ride.

And honestly, if you can't get past the "swearing and blood," you should stick to the JLA. Or Bil Keane's Family Circus.

The Invisibles might be dead but it could be the most important comic book series yet. Revolutionary Grant Morrison mixes pop culture, the anti-establishment, mind expansion, magic, sigils, linguistics, conspiracy theory, and disinformation into a complex of meaning known as The Invisibles.

It is becoming an abstraction, a symbol and map of the potential of the counterculture.

Douglas Rushkoff says, "counterculture...is no longer valid as a label...Because the War is Over. We've won. Period. They - whoever they are - have surrendered to us...It's hard to be in the so-called counterculture anymore cuz as soon as we've figured out something it's at the mall two weeks later."

But Grant Morrison not only thinks we won, but that we can still change the world.

IF you dont want violence or object to a little bad language or drug use, DONT READ THIS BOOK. If you want what is a great jumping on point to one of the best series comics has to offer, then put your petty language concerns away and read a book that may even change the way you think about the workd around you.

I think this is completely Jimenez illustrated trade. It is thin but it has pace other books missed. Lotsa violence, unnecesarry, though...

This is when The Invisibles enters the cream stage of its existence, smoothly entering the minds of the readers with the beautiful art of Phil Jimenez and action-filled experimental narrative set to make your mind trip. If you've never read the book, this might be the place to start since it's less literary than the first volume, and the first 25 issues can always be revisited if you like what you see here.