Invisibles 1,17
From Barbelith
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Credits
Grant Morrison (Writer) Phil Jiminez (Pencils) John Stokes (Inks) Daniel Vozzo (Colors) Ellie Deville (Letters) Julie Rottenberg (Asst. Editor) Stuart Moore (Editor)
The Invisibles created by Grant Morrison
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Summary
King Mob is being interrogated by Sir Miles. His mind is filled with what might be memories or fantasies of Gideon Stargrave's life on a variety of parallel worlds, his work as a writer called Kirk Morrison and other aspects of his life. Meanwhile Fanny has been locked up in a cell. Sir Miles attempts to get some information out of her about King Mob, but to no avail. Sir Miles is reporting to Miss Dwyer and The King-of-all-Tears who are waiting in the next room.
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Characters
King Mob Sir Miles Delacourt ElFayed Lord Fanny Miss Dwyer King of all Tears Boy Ragged Robin George Harper
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Analysis
Moorcock, Michael Prisoner, The
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Annotations
The story arc's title is a play on "Anarchy in the UK," the Sex Pistols' tune. The second law of thermodynamics, explained on page 1, panel 4 is the basic definition of entropy [CE]
Also, one of Moorcock's Jerry Cornelius books is called "Entropy Tango." [RL]
Note: Check out Bard Sinister's notes on Gideon Stargrave's first appearance in "Near Myths."
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PAGE 1
Panel 1 "Post-Syd" refers to Syd Barrett, a member of Pink Floyd who left, and became something of a recluse, turning his back on celebrity [JBU] Panel 2 "Hope I Die Before I Get Old": from My Generation, by The Who [BSI] I have no idea what a "Dux" is in this sense, nor if Evelyn Cruikshank is a 'real' person [JBU] Panel 3 "Wizard Prang, old bean!": "Prang" is WW2 fighter pilot slang for "crash." "Wizard" is slang for "ace" or "brilliant." [L] Panel 4 Mr. Fish is (or was) a real boutique, according to Grant in the Lettercol for Invisibles 1,20 [BSI] I have no idea Shelly's shoes is a real shop. BTW, Marks and Spencers was still selling Paisley underwear in the '80s? Who was buying it ??? [JBU]
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Panel 1 The chapter headings and short chapters are another nice reminder of Michael Moorcock's Jerry Cornelius books [JBU] Panel 4 This seems to be another appearance of Barbelith [JBU] "...sets the controls for the heart of the sun.": "Set the Controls for the Heart of the Sun" is a song on the 1968 (Syd-Barrett era) Pink Floyd album, "Saucerful of Secrets." [JB] ** This song is, apparently, based on a Mike Moorcock book, probably called the Fireclown (although it was renamed in the US/UK) [MSW]
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Panel 3 Krousher's "Physical Interrogation Techniques" is a real book: ISBN 0-915179-23-7 [CE]
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Panel 1 Biggles was a character in a series of books for children by Captain WE Johns who was a fighter pilot [JBU] The change in styles of chapter titles is another nod to the Cornelius Chronicles. [BSI] Panel 2 "Baby's in Black" is on the Beatles album "Beatles for Sale" [CE]
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Panel 6 I guess the atom bomb is exploding in the alternative London, destroying the hive [JBU]
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Panel 2 Elfayed is another of King Mob's instructors from the monastery (cf. Invisibles 1,19, page 8) [JBU] Panel 3 Of course, we've already seen a caterpillar devour a leaf and then metamorphose into a butterfly in Invisibles 1,13, page 1 [JB] "As above, so below" is also a transmission from Barbelith to Dane in Invisibles 1,21, page 23, panel 5 [JB] Panels 3-4 Elfayed's ideas on things repeating themselves on all scales is an idea echoed in much of modern science, particularly since the invention of chaos mathematics and the idea of self similarity. In addition, "as above, so below" is a major mystical tenet [JBU] It's from Hermes Trismegistus' teachings. Here is a translation of The Emerald Tablet from whence this text came: "The Emerald Tablet Truly, without Deceit, certainly and absolutelyÑ That which is Below corresponds to that which is Above, and that which is Above corresponds to that which is Below, in the accomplishment of the Miracle of One Thing. And just as all things have come from One, through the Mediation of One, so all things follow from this One Thing in the same way. Its Father is the Sun. Its Mother is the Moon. The Wind has carried it in his Belly. Its Nourishment is the Earth. It is the Father of every completed Thing in the whole World. Its Strength is intact if it is turned towards the Earth. Separate the Earth by Fire: the fine from the gross, gently, and with great skill. It rises from Earth to Heaven, and then it descends again to the Earth, and receives Power from Above and from Below. Thus you will have the Glory of the whole World. All Obscurity will be clear to you. This is the strong Power of all Power because it overcomes everything fine and penetrates everything solid. In this way was the World created. From this there will be amazing Applications, because this is the Pattern. Therefore am I called Thrice Greatest Hermes, having the three parts of the Wisdom of the whole World. Herein have I completely explained the Operation of the Sun." [??]
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Panel 5 Fanny and King Mob seem to have an organized routine for capture, based upon their real-life cover. Hopefully we'll see more of this; Boy is an ex-cop, Dane a runaway criminal and Ragged Robin is actually a time traveler. So how would these three deal with such an interrogation, considering they will have little in the way of cover? [JBU] Panel 6 It is at this point Fanny steals Sir Miles' handkerchief [JBU]
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Panel 3 Jerry Cornelius, acknowledged as the inspiration for Gideon Stargrave, was one aspect of the eternal champion, who was used to tie all of Michael Moorcock's books into a single universe. As an aside, apparently Michael Moorcock sued Grant Morrison for plagiarism; anyone have more details? [JBU] Jerry Cornelius, like Gideon Stargrave, continually jumped between identities and realities. Another Cornelius- Invisibles correlation: both series deal heavily with the Harlequinade, although I haven't been able to find any direct connection between the two series versions (yet). As far as the lawsuit goes, I have no idea. [BSI] In the latest issue of Michael Moorcock's Multiverse comic from Helix (issue 10), the lettercol has a paragraph on the influence of the Cornelius stories on comics and names Hellblazer and Transmetropolitan as examples, as well as naming Alan Moore, Neil Gaiman, and Warren Ellis as examples of comics writers influenced by these stories. The fact that Grant and Invisibles are so conspicuously not mentioned, when the Gideon Stargrave stories, and really a lot of the regular Invisibles storyline (the Harlequinade, chaos vs. control, pop music/culture references, etc.) are actually much more strongly influenced by the Cornelius stuff, suggests to me that there really might be a lawsuit, or at least Moorcock is not happy with the homage. By the way, Jerry Cornelius and the Harliquinade are both in the Multiverse comic [CH] "Occam's razor" is a philosophical rule invented by a medieval monk, which states that you should not multiply entities beyond necessity (or, the simplest explanation is probably the correct one). It is arguable that he was a major influence on Western philosophy [JBU/JB] William of Occam (c.1285-1349) was an English philosopher and exponent of Scholasticism. According to encyclopedia.com, "Occam is remembered for his use of the principle of parsimony, formulated as Occam's razor, which enjoined economy in explanation with the axiom 'It is vain to do with more what can be done with less.'" [CVU] Panel 5 Another link to KM's deal with the scorpion Loa, which was mentioned first in Invisibles 1,10. Scorpions seem to hold a special relevance to KM's life. Perhaps because Morrison is a scorpion? (he was born in January) You can see the similarities between KM and GM [JBU] If Morrison were a "scorpion", assuming you mean scorpio, he'd have to be born between October 24-November 22. January births fall under Capricorn and Aquarius... according to Mark Millar in Invisibles 1,22's lettercol, "Gideon Stargrave is Grant Morrison with a girlfriend, cool clothes and no stammer." [CE]
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PAGE13
Panel 2 "The direction that cannot be pointed at" seems reminiscent of the weird non-Euclidean geometry which Lovecraft refused to describe in his books. Maybe there is a similar origin for the Archons (see Invisibles 2,6 for more info) [JBU]
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Does anyone else think the benign tumor story is familiar? I could've sworn that I had heard it as "Casper, the Friendly Growth" somewhere. Any other attributions? [CE] Panel 3 Ragged Robin's jacket has a number 6 on the lapel- is this another Prisoner reference? [JBU] I certainly read the 6 as a Prisoner reference. [BSI] Robin is reading a copy of "Time Out," which is a magazine which tells literally everything which is happening in the greater London area during the week, from clubs to movies to concerts to theater and so on. If you look on the cover of the magazine, it reads "Which side are you on?" [CG]
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Panel 4 "and I go see a band." The band would be Root Doctaz - Robin is going to contact Jim Crow [RM] Panel 5 "Deja Vu"? What does this refer to? It seems to foreshadow something that has yet to happen, possibly an event when KM visits the future, and Robin is 15 [JBU] In Invisibles 1,23, page 20 panel 4, Robin cradles KM's head in her lap and says, "That's so weird, I've done this before." Not the source of her deja vu, but connected no doubt [CE]
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This is the second Division X recruitment. One more to go... [JBU]
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Panel 4 In his book (novel?) Chariot of the Gods, Erich von Daniken discusses mummification, suggesting links to the aliens which landed on earth in our pre-history. It's a seriously weird book, and raises some interesting questions. The main problem people had was when von Daniken began to answer them [JBU]
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First caption: "Ultra-violence" comes from Anthony Burgess' "A Clockwork Orange," a book about a group of rebel teenagers who don't give a damn about authority. See also Invisibles 1,1, page 35, panel 4 annotation [CG/JB] Panel 1 The events in this reality seem to echo the plots mentioned in "Royal Monsters" (Invisibles 1,11), where the English throne is to be given to an 'alien' [JBU] Gideon's pose here is nearly identical to young Gideon's pose on p.22 [CE] Panel 2 left to right: Ronald Reagan, airplane schematics, the Invisible College?, Margaret Thatcher, a sports utility vehicle, the planet earth, and Duran Duran's album "Decade." [CE] "The ballad of John and Yoko ends with murder" refers both to the Beatles song "The Ballad of John and Yoko" and the 1980 murder of John Lennon by Mark David Chapman, who yelled "Mr. Lennon" before shooting him. Dane yells "Mr Lennon" in Invisibles 1,1 page 12 panel 2, right in the middle of Stu and John having a discussion about life and death [CE] Panel 3 "Thatcher wants to have (Prince) Charles burned in a wicker man this summer. She reckons it'll bring down inflation." In many variants of magickal and Satanic practice, a wicker man is used as a focus point for ritual energies. The wicker man becomes a conduit through which a minor action can ripple outward and affect the entire planet. Various satanic serial killers in the US in the 1970s used the motif of the wicker man to channel their murders into world-changing events, in an attempt to forge a satanic kingdom on Earth. See the book Secret Societies and Psychological Warfare by Michael Hoffman III [JH] The Wicker Man dates form approx. 3rd Century BC. A Celtic (Druidic) ritual of burning huge effigies of Gods. Most accounts say that these were crammed with dozens of human sacrifices, but there is a likelihood that some were not. There is an excellent (Hammer?) film called The Wicker Man starring Christopher Lee and Edward Woodward where a modern day village has continued the ritual (1973). There is also a story by Clive Barker called In The Hills, The Cities (I think) in the Books of Blood which describes the building of a two similar giants. [AD] Panel 4 Incest is yet another Jerry Cornelius correlation [BSI] panel 5 Among the guitar bands listed are "The Mixers", Grant Morrison's own band; and "The 5", KM's band (Invisibles 1,19, page 3, panel 1) [RL]
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panel 1 "I'm cutting me own throat here." Cut-me-own-throat Dibbler is the shadiest wheeler-dealer in Ankh-Morpork, in Terry Pratchett's Discworld books [L]
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Panels 1-3 The dialogue is directly quoted from the normal opening credits of The Prisoner. Also, the white circle of Rover is echoed several times on the next 3 pages: pg 22, panels 2&3, pg23, panel 3, and the last panel of pg. 24. Is this supposed to evoke some sort of 'anti-barbelith', one used by the enemy? [BSI] Not just the dialogue is quoted from The Prisoner. King Mob is dressed as the Prisoner running on the beach (a scene in the opening credits) and Sir Miles is dressed as the Prisoner's nemesis Number Two. He even seems to be sitting in Number Two's "space age" spherical chair [RM] Panel 4 We have yet to meet Dr. Cohen properly, but the time machine does appear to be the one used in the "Arcadia" (Invisibles 1,5-Invisibles 1,8) arc. Is this an alternate reality or not? [JBU]
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PAGE 23
Panel 1 Room 101 is a reference to the ultimate torture room in George Orwell's "1984." [JBU/JB]
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