The INVISIBLES: What to Know Before You Read

[@peterlinfield]

Fantastic primer! Thank you for putting so much effort into this deep dive. I'm really excited to re-read the series with you!

[@ImperiusRex]

Thanks Pete! Glad to have you on-board!

[@stefanmegchelsen7420]

An excellent start to the semester. I'm excited to hear more from Professor Walker as the course progresses.

[@ImperiusRex]

Great to hear! I definitely want to balance the amount of Education/Entertainment dichotomy with this series. Luckily Professor Walker is a terrific and knowledgable speaker, so I don't think Troy and Neil should be falling asleep in class.

[@jaksilb]

What-ho - this is certainly serendipitous! I just ordered my copy of Luda last night; I've read The Invisibles twice (first digitally, including the letter columns, then in omnibus format in tandem with Our Sentence is up); I've read Flex Mentallo twice and watched Talking with Gods twice, so I feel totally stoked about this project of yours and somewhat confident that perhaps I'll finally figure out what the fuck is going on in this comic book. Or maybe it's just clown juice-induced optimism. Either way, I'm on board and can't wait for the next class. And thanks for the effort, btw.

[@ScaryGarrySG1]

Nice! I really think everyone should do a read thru of the issues with the letter columns as well as a read through on tpb, or digital or however they prefer to read in this modern age. The letter columns really are another part of the story.

[@begjon13]

Okay . . . I'm going to bookend the following treatise with this TL; DR: Cody Walker is misrepresenting some pretty important concepts in the Invisibles, and I feel compelled to address that First, I'm going to challenge the way he's characterized The Invisible College & the Outer Church. More importantly [to me personally] he's defined the concept of the Fiction Suit in terms that are virtually the opposite of the concept as defined by Morrison themselves. I choose to believe that this is the result of simple confusion among different Magickal prsctices Morrison has repeatedly discussed throuhh the course of their career, and not some sort of malicious effort at misinformation (Cody seems like too well-intentioned a guy for me to want to believe that). 1. The Invisible College and the Outer Church are not merely states of mind, nor do I believe Morrison would posit them as such. It is wise and correct of Mr. Walker to suggest that most faiths/philosophies/cosmologies have a representation of each. However, these they are ALSO considered by most of those faiths/philosophies/cosmologies as VERY real places we could encounter if we had the necessary sensory input and data processing tools to engage with them beyond what the human body is general equipped with at the start of our material (or some might say, mortal) existence. Equivalent examples might include the angelic forces of Heaven and demonic forces of Hell in most Christian cosmologies may be the most familiar example to the majority of people participating in the book club/College at the moment of this posting. I feel confident that all of us have met at least one person I'm our lives who believe these to be very, very real things. Personally, I lean towards the Sephirot and Qlippoth dichotomy of Kabbalah when it comes to this type of thing because I see it as more nuanced and precise than the Manichaeistic* binary-construct many people will assume when it comes to a heaven vs hell idea. (*Looking up Manichaeism at, at least the wikipedia level will probably help just about any reader of the Invisibles. I recommend it.) 2. The Invisible College is committed to progress, consciousness ascent & expansion, and individual liberation. The Outer Church is committed to maintaining a hierarchal status quo that provides a stabilizing and protective social/economic/cultural architecture. It commodifies everything it touches and provides such structure at the cost merciless exploitation and abuse of those for those entities and environments that are under its power. In extending the Sephirot & Qlippoth analogy for those with an interest and/or understanding of that framework, the Outer Church is Qlippoth-like insofar as it is hollow itself and must constantly take from those who fall into it's power (physically, spiritually, emotionally, etc . . . creatively most of all) to sustain itself. I recognize that there are many, many ways we may characterize or describe the Invisible College and the Outer Church respectively, but I also believe that, as I'm seeing many first time readers acknowledge, each side brings benefits and problems to the table, and I feel the way I've characterized that above acknowledges this. 3. Fiction suits are NOT putting oneself in a mindset for success, nor adopting costume or fetish objects or talismans to affect that outcome. Don't get me wrong, there's a lot of merit to those practices. They have a strong presence in many shamanic and magickal traditions (including the Christian practice of communion). These rituals absolutely can help one to channel or manifest and engage with higher level consciousness entities, or put one in a better frame of mind for performing magickal actitions (I find this works quite well for me). Morrison directly says as much in Supergods (pp. 255-256, "King Mob - My Life As A Superhero", 1st paperback edition, Spiegel & Grau, Random House, 2012). By infusing the task with additional meaning, they can abet the practitioner's will if consciously applied. Morrison empowered themselves into the "Super-Hero-Secret-Agent" version of themselves they wanted to be at that time their lives, by adopting the fashion sense and attitudes that would become King Mob's. But the costume adopted for this purpose (e.g. Mr. Walker's Batman socks and hoodie cape) aren't fiction suits. Quite the opposite, in fact. 4. So if costume, and fetish isn't a fiction suit, just what IS a fiction suit? Morrison themselves defines the concept in [again] Supergods as, ". . . a way of 'descending,' as I saw it, into the 2-D world, where I could interact directly with the inhabitants of the DC Universe on their own terms, in the form of a drawing" (Supergods, p. 254, "King Mob - My Life As A Superhero", 1st paperback edition, Spiegel & Grau, Random House, 2012). In other words it is a tool to allow a person to explore a fictional environment, just as a SCUBA suit allows a person to explore underwater environments, a space suit allows a person to explore an extraterrestrial environment, etc. It is not unreasonable to describe the fiction suit as, essentially, a self-insert character. Howevwr, unlike the so-called, "Mary Sue," self-insert, the fiction suit's intent is not mere self-representation and aggrandizement within the narrative work. Instead, the intent of the fiction suit is as a magickal tool which can enable actual, interdimensional, conscious engagement with the world of the story. Morrison's fiction suit as, "The Writer," in Animal Man was their first intentional effort at this. King Mob is their most well-known example, and such was Morrison's level of engagement with the Invisibles through King Mob**, that it resulted in a feedback loop where experiences to which they subjected the King Mob character began to affect them in their material existence resulting in physical illness. Essentially, they brought this back with them the way a SCUBA diver might come back with the bends. It should be understood and remembered that Morrison adopted the style of King Mob BEFORE King Mob and the Invisibles were conveived during their attendance of the 1993 50 Years of LSD festival in San Francisco. This can help in maintaining a sense of distinction between Morrison's shamanic work in altering the Grant they had been into the person they hoped to become. ** It is worth noting that Fanny and Dane/Jack also are Morrison self-inserts to some extent, especially Fanny as a representation of the drag persona expression of themselves they adopted in the early '90s. And so we return and begin again . . . I bookend the preceeding treatise with this TL; DR: Cody Walker is misrepresenting some pretty important concepts in the Invisibles, and I feel compelled to address that.

[@nephilim0may0cry]

Nice take on making a different type of sigil.

[@chriscueva1866]

I been watching you guys for like six years and it truly is a crime you don’t have more subscribers. Can’t wait for this new series of videos covering one of the best comics of all time by THE GREATEST comics writer of all time. Keep up the great work.

[@Ryan-the-Rocketeer]

Just finished vol 1 last week a in prep for this. Now all i gotta do is find some blue wall mold to smoke and im sure all this will start making way more sense. In the meantime, thanks for the enlightening insight and fun videos. Im digging into vol 2 now. Cant wait see how this plays out. keep up the good work.

[@ImperiusRex]

Love it! Smoke that mold!

[@Ryan-the-Rocketeer]

@@ImperiusRex i fixed a typo and it auto removes the lil heart ❤ .bummer but i guess i get why youtube does it that way. Damn my dyslexia, i need to get better at proofreading. Oh Well live and learn.

[@cernunnos_lives]

Watching this (knowing what has transpired a year later), it looks like our world is snapping back to what it was when i was a kid (during the 80s). I'm hoping for good music.

[@francozambrano4980]

I am probable going to watch this 10 times

[@sergiorivera1656]

My brother bought me the absolute edition yesterday. Been looking forward to reading this since I first discovered this channel. Can't wait to read more and learn. Thanks for the video guys!!!

[@petrbaros5508]

Today I was wondering if it worth to buy this book, then i open youtube and i saw this video. Thank u guys.

[@ImperiusRex]

Follow the signs of the universe...

[@jearl75290]

Chick-fil-A being a part of the Outer Church confirmed!

[@ImperiusRex]

It is written.

[@FoKisx]

Really excited for this. People can also read Anarchy for the masses the disinformation guide to invisibles. I had my second read through with it and it completely changed my opinion about the book. Cheers for doing this in depth analysis. ❤

[@bujilou]

I ain't gay or nothin but GhostHunterDaves washboard abs have been amazing me for years now

[@PRAGMAGICK]

You ever think that somewhere...in the neither/neither, there's a high-falootin tyrannosaurus with posh wigs and powdered cheeks that yells "NAMOR!" before jumping into battle?

[@vinoneil]

I love the editing in this vid

[@ImperiusRex]

Thank you Vincent- it's always a tightrope for me to decide how much time is too much time to spend on little details like that- I was pretty happy with the overall aesthetic of this one!

[@BarbelithInitiative]

It is y/our pleasure/honour to have you/us engaging in this exercise/practice so as to help open/heal more minds/eyes/hearts Keep in mind, it is important/vital to remember. Remember Everything.

[@ImperiusRex]

There you have it folks. The path to enlightenment. See, it's not that hard...

[@JamesHaney]

Get your Blank Badges ready! Remember: It's just a Game. 🖖♾⚪

[@Hailtheall]

Alan Moore has Promethea, Grant Morrison has The Invisibles. Btw Flex Mentallo is the sort of comic u need to read more than just one time to understand it, I mean almost all the books by Grant Morrison needs second time reading. And be open-mind to suddenly understand what Grant Morrison is trying to tell u.

[@Twunga]

Where is your shirt

[@MightyThorngren]

When I was searching for a deep dive video on this series, I didn't think it would be hosted by a really cute guy crossdressing. Woowza!

[@eyeseer1]

The Matrix denounces this introduction.

[@precise213]

Bout time the fellas start thirst trapping

[@chelseagarcia2511]

I more or less need a shirtless man to talk comics to me all day