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  1.  (1705.21)
    shawnclark:

    I didn't get that, the first read-through.

    Then I did.

    Then I cried.
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      CommentAuthormadmatt213
    • CommentTimeApr 8th 2008
     (1705.22)
    Coincidentally (or not) I finished reading the Invisibles for the very first time about three hours ago. It has taken me a few months to read through all seven trades, only because I've been checking them out of the library, but I will certainly be buying them right away, and possibly reading through them all again, once I put a dent in my big read pile. Up next on my "MUST BUY" list will be the Filth.

    As for what I thought, it will take me a while to fully wrap my head around it, but even purely on a narrative level, I enjoyed it immensely, certainly one of my favorite collected works of fiction.
  3.  (1705.23)
    @Admiral Neck: Actually I don't really know much about how to do that - I've been experiencing weird shit since I was a small child, so I've never really had to formulate a skillset to induce synchronicity. I have noticed the old saw about "when you gaze into the abyss, the abyss gazes into you" works pretty well all round.

    @Corey Waits: I get what you say about not worshipping in the Church of Grant, but I wouldn't bin him just 'cos he bullshitted a journo!

    @AlephNought: re. influences/filters - perfectly put. And Audrey Murray's tale always makes me cry.

    @Brendan: it's probably a good time to throw out the old quote, "we Discordians must stick apart".
    Though having a shared mythos in a group is very handy for focussed working (and maintaining clear comms, vital in any kind of activist/magickal team), there is a tendency for the mythos to swamp the intent. That's one of the strengths of the post-Chaos style Grant uses, the ability to pick 'n' mix from various styles. (And it's an irony that this is precisely the trap that IOT and other early Chaos groups fell into.)
    Nonetheless I would be curious as to what you all think a group of Blank Badges should be up to these days...

    @madmatt213:
    There are no coincidences.
    Except when there are, of course.
    I hope you dig The Filth - it's kind of the anti-Invisibles in a way. It also helps if you've experienced any of the Chris Morris surreal comedy shows, especially Jam (or the earlier radio version, Blue Jam).
    • CommentAuthorDracko
    • CommentTimeApr 8th 2008 edited
     (1705.24)
    I'm having a time out until I can learn some manners.
    <em>Flex Mentallo</em> should also be an essential read, though good luck finding the single issues, as it's never been collected. Personally, it reminds me a lot of Dennis Potter's <em>The Singing Detective</em>, except here instead of playing with musical numbers, debilitating diseases and detective pulp fiction, it follows comics and the evolution of the superhero genre in particular. And suicidal drug tips.

    Morrison considers it a spiritual precursor to <em>The Invisibles</em> and <em>The Filth</em>, and it's all drawn by Frank Quitely which should be argument enough.

    Don't be afraid to "rent" it with that in mind, I'd say. The odds of finding it otherwise are pretty damn slim.

    Anyway chaps, I'm not really all that knowledgeable about this magick stuff, and Burroughs and P-Orridge aren't exactly that big an assistance. How does one get into and experiment with such things? I admit that most of your chatter in that regard is lost on me. What is it exactly that you do?
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      CommentAuthorthecat17
    • CommentTimeApr 8th 2008
     (1705.25)
    Nothing wrong at all with "hey, I like these guys", but to slavishly follow them as some manner of cult seems to be exactly what they're designed against encouraging.


    Exactly.

    I always thought of it like, "the characters lived through all that mess already, and though following in their footsteps to the letter would give you the deeper understanding that you obviously need, the narrative doesn't grow unless you're picking up where they left off."

    @Dracko: If this tickles your fancy, then I'll happily recommend further instruction. :)
  6.  (1705.26)
    @Draco - think of it as reality hacking by messing with our own head, hopefully in a way that affects external consensus reality. I'd start with RA Wilson's 'Cosmic Trigger 1', and perhaps add Promethea to your comic list. There's a thread around here about occult tome recommendations, so check that out too.

    @thecat17: bearing in mind Grant's serious (in fact near fatal) health troubles while writing Invisibles, which almost mirrored the damage King Mob took, I second not following the footsteps too close.
    • CommentAuthordtfischer
    • CommentTimeApr 8th 2008
     (1705.27)
    Years ago, I intended to bring a volume of the Invisibles to read on the flight to Iceland, but did not. Without knowing ahead of time, Grant Morrison was also visiting and I was able to speak with him directly instead. So be careful!
  8.  (1705.28)
    ack.
  9.  (1705.29)
    the invisibles was a clever marketing tool utilizing neuro-linguistic programming and post hypnotic suggestion to sell itself. (seriously think about it...how many times have you told someone to "buy the invisibles!"??) grant's sense of humor is incredibly dark and refreshing, as he scams the true believers into inadvertently joining an "anarchist cult" where the leader (morrison himself) tells you (the reader,disciple) how to see the world, what's right and wrong, and cuts you off from reality itself to sell you a newer fresher one where you are at the center of a timeless struggle between polar opposites...and eternal life and pure understanding are the stakes!

    thank god he's got more of a sense of humor than old L. Ron.

    Living the "Invisible" lifestyle leads you to increasingly see the world in a dualistic viewpoint that is generally not at all different from the fundamental beliefs of the mainstream religious community at large. (good job seeing through the "illusion",dude)

    the first volume indoctrinates you into the philosophy.
    the second plants all the anchors.
    the third makes you notice the anchors and remove them, but only if you carefully read ONLY THE WORDS and don't pay attention to the story so much.

    by the end you're left with grant's staggering "truth" that both sides are exactly the same and that you've sold yourself the idea of conflict in order to define your own sense of self.

    no offense guys, but i could just eat some mushrooms and notice all of this shit without spending a tenth of the money it would to read the entire series.

    then again, KM finally told it like it was in the last volume...it was a "rescue mission" (to rescue the reader from all this us vs. them bullshit) in the final issue he cues the marks in and says "couple of the kids who tested it could cure themselves of "the invisibles" in five minutes. by the end, if you don't get it the first time, you have to keep running it...it's different every time."

    i don't pity those who are still running "the invisibles", because i realize it will be all the easier to sell them products in the future using the exact same techniques.

    i drank a bottle of vodka with grant and discussed all of this while he laughed his ass off and said "see, it FAHCKiN WAERKS!!!"

    to chaos indeed!
    •  
      CommentAuthormadmatt213
    • CommentTimeApr 8th 2008
     (1705.30)
    @Cat Vincent
    Speaking of which, a friend of mine was kind enough to make a few DVDs worth of Chris Morris shows for me that I never watched...maybe it's time to dig those out a watch them before commencing with the Filth.

    @Dracko
    I've often meant to "rent" Flex Mentallo, knowing it was the first part of Morrison's themed "trilogy." Do I need any knowledge of Doom Patrol, or does the Flex miniseries stand completely on its own? Not to see I'm opposed to reading Doom Patrol, too, since I do plan to that, as well, someday.

    @Lawrence
    Quite an interesting take, indeed. I definitely got that idea of what you are talking about in the final issue, concerning the video game.
    • CommentAuthorDracko
    • CommentTimeApr 9th 2008
     (1705.31)
    I'm having a time out until I can learn some manners.
    I have yet to read <em>Doom Patrol</em> myself, and <em>Flex Mentallo</em> caused me no trouble. It's completely self-contained, I think.

    I'd love it if some lunatic tried to write <em>The Invisibles</em> as an interactive fiction piece. With all the 300 playable characters and all.
    •  
      CommentAuthorOsmosis
    • CommentTimeApr 10th 2008
     (1705.32)
    Not particularly on topic, but I couldn't think of anything but the Invisibles when I saw this on Boingboing.
    •  
      CommentAuthormojojoseph
    • CommentTimeApr 10th 2008
     (1705.33)
    zomg, Cthulu, secret Master of Americas....actually explains a lot.
  14.  (1705.34)
    Fro -- mostly meet some interesting people with cool nicknames and keep our eyes open for synchronicity and weirdness. And of course, bomb police stations.

    Lawrence is right about the eradication of dualism. But does the cycle in the first issue "And so we start and begin again," scarab beetle, "Say you want a revolution," etc. represent a cycle broken in the course of the program, or simply the inevitable re-entry point of rendering the conflict ultimately moot because the different parties are the same? That is, once you've beaten the game, you have to set up the board to play again?

    The Matrix, to its credit, tried to preserve that element of false dichotomy when it did the same thing and/or stole from Morrison. To its fault, it couldn't show the pointlessness of the war without making its battles meaningless. It didn't have that upper element of change to fall back on; the brokered peace wasn't strong enough to buy most viewers' satisfaction. It gave you what it was promising, but it didn't whip out what you'd really been promised all along the way Invisibles did it.

    I bought Bloody Hell in America and Kissing Mister Quimper for my introduction to the books, and couldn't quite get into them. Then I did an internship at DC the next summer, and when Vertigo was going to trash its backstock, raided all their comic drawers. Among other titles, I pulled nearly whole runs of Preacher, Hellblazer, Minx, Invisibles and even a bunch of copies of Flex Mentallo #s 2-4 that were bound for the trash. I remember amid that greedy trove hitting the streak of Invisibles, and suddenly it all clicked, and nothing else half-compared except Flex. I think I fell in love with Grant Morrison that July.

    Yeah...good times.
    •  
      CommentAuthorthecat17
    • CommentTimeApr 11th 2008
     (1705.35)
    i don't pity those who are still running "the invisibles", because i realize it will be all the easier to sell them products in the future using the exact same techniques.
    And what will you be selling us, sir?
  16.  (1705.36)
    And what will you be selling us, sir?


    anything i can attach feelings of irrational desire and/or fear to.
    in short, everything.
  17.  (1705.37)
    I've always had a very physical reaction to the invisibles every time I read it through; and while I have been tempted to pick up anarchy for the masses, and really try to dig into the ideas that are buried there, in the end I'm more than happy with how that book has helped me already. I maybe love Flex Mentallo more, and I should really re-read The Filth, but in all of those works, it's the take on the individual, and just the characters that make me love those books.

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