Invisibles 1,5
From Barbelith
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Credits
Grant Morrison (Writer) Jill Thompson (Pencils) Dennis Cramer (Inks) Daniel Vozzo (Colors) Clem Robins (Letters) Julie Rottenberg (Asst. Editor) Stuart Moore (Editor)
The Invisibles created by Grant Morrison
Summary
The cell has discovered that Orlando is in London, but they also have orders to time-travel to relocate one of their agents. They travel to the Windmill Time-Machine and find themselves back in the middle of the French Revolution.
Characters
King Mob George Byron Percy Shelley Jack Frost Boy Orlando Ragged Robin Lord Fanny
Analysis
Marquis de Sade
Annotations
A brief outline by James Burt of "Holy Blood, Holy Grail," a book very important to understanding some of the references in this story: Berenger Sauniere (BS) renovated the church at Rennes le Chateau (RlC) and somehow came into money at the same time. There is a lot of debate as to what the treasure at RlC is, but there is the idea that it is related to the head which the Templars worshipped. The order of the Knights Templar were later suppressed due to their heresy and worshipping of graven idols. The painter Nicholas Poussin (who painted King Mob's postcard) enters the story as he made a hint in a letter about a great treasure. He was later imprisoned, and held incommunicado. Louis XIV then hunted down the original of the painting 'Les Bergers d'Arcadie' and when he found it hung it in his private quarters. The tomb shown in the picture, reading IN ARCADIA EGO, was found in the early 1970s in...Rennes le Chateau. The story leads to the discovery of the 'Prieure de Sion,' an ancient conspiracy who guard the bloodline of Christ, ready to reveal it when the conditions are right [the model for the Grail in Preacher- yes, all the UK comics writers rip off the same sources :-) ] There is a lot of rubbish in the book, but it proved very popular, and seems to answer a number of questions about certain historical mysteries. However, the authors relied on too many ancient texts which later 'disappeared', if they ever existed at all. The Annotations
PAGE 1
The dalang (the puppeteer) is telling a story very similar to the basic idea running through all the Invisibles issues: there are two (apparently) opposing forces fighting to control or to free the humanity. But the true meaning of the story is that the two forces are maybe only one--two sides of the same coin.
PAGE 2
The text shown in this page is from "Julian and Maddalo" by Shelley, a suggestive picture of himself in comparison to Byron's portrayal.
PAGE 3
Panel 4 Poussin, Nicolas (Les Andelys, France 1594 - Rome, Italy 1665). From Benet's: "French painter. The great master of the classical school, Poussin worked chiefly at the studio he established in Rome. In his rational, clearly composed paintings of mythological, historical and religious scenes, he imitated the measured gestures of antique sculpture and the clean draftsmanship and effortless order of Raphael. His work exerted an enormous influence on the course of art..." The painting referred to here is at the Louvre.
PAGE 6
Panel 3 Ganesh, the Hindu god "who breaks down obstacles." We'll see another reference to King Mob's god in Invisibles 2,3. Ganesh is invoked in Invisibles 2,2 as well.
Panel 5 The "shortpath" is a reference to KM's ability to shift between universes (more on it in Invisibles 2,6).
PAGE 8
Boy says "something happened to one of our members." She's referring to John-A-Dreams. See Invisibles 1,1, page 6, panel 4 for first reference to him; also see Invisibles 1,9, pages 1-3, for his first appearance.
PAGE 9
Panel 5 Who's the pianist? I may be mistaken, but I believe this whole sequence with Byron and Shelley visiting the asylum is all accounted in the poem "Julian and Maddalo" including the guy playing the piano. The poem is supposed to be based on actual conversations and events. I'm not sure who this real person was. I'm not sure if this is correct.
PAGE 11
Panel 3 Boy's speech here becomes far more significant in the light of Invisibles 2,11.
PAGE 12-13
Uh... Where/when is this scene taking place?
PAGE 16
Panel 2 Ragged Robin gives further proof of her psychic ability, foreseeing the exact moment of KM's arrival. Well... later on in "Entropy in the UK" [1.17-1.19], Robin has to call in Jim Crow to find KM, as he is normally totally "psi-invisible." Therefore, just to be picky, the issue 5 bit is either a) a boo-boo by Grant or b) Robin trying to impress the others with her psychic mastery although she just saw him in the window or something.
PAGE 17
Panel 1 We'll learn more about Jim Crow in Invisibles 1,10.
PAGE 19
Here's the actual postcard pictured in panel 2...
The Invisibles seem to have encountered Orlando before yet he does not know that Fanny is a trannie. Or did they only know of Orlando from Fanny telling them all what she saw when she was initiated (1.13-15)?
PAGE 20
Panel 4 The windmill-time machine is a reference to the Gideon Stargrave character (for more info see Invisibles 1,17, page 21, panel 4).
PAGE 24
Panel 1 The executee is reciting Psalm 23, a common one for those who are dying or dead.
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