As all good card-carrying comic-book fans know, their sheer passion will never overcome narrow-minded critics and their baying cries of derision. There is far more to this perpetually underrated medium than a mix of art and prose. With this indispensable, spellbinding tome, writer/artist Scott McCloud rises to the challenge of dissecting what remains the most enigmatic of art forms. After all, says McCloud, "No other art form gives so much to its audience while asking so much from them as well". Over the course of 215 impeccably formed pages, McCloud joyously exposes and deconstructs a hidden world of icons in a most literate and valid manner. His charming guidance finds a place where Time and Space is effortlessly malleable and the reader is both a willing accomplice and necessary vessel for comics' singular magic. Cunningly presented in comic form, McCloud (or his comic equivalent) conducts a journey that spans thousands of years, taking in art from Prehistoric Man to the Egyptians to Van Gogh to Jack Kirby. Never has psychological and cultural analysis been so understandably clear, beautifully aided by clever visuals and his truly infectious love for the medium. By the end of this funny, charming, rare and exciting book, you'll not doubt the notion that a comic book "...is a vacuum into which our identity and awareness are pulled ... an empty shell that we inhabit which enables us to travel to another realm". A fine exchange for a little faith and a world of imagination. --Danny Graydon

A Brilliant Look at the Psychology, Physiology, and Effectiveness of Comic Strips and Books, 24 Jun 2008
This is an important book that everyone should read. I would give it twenty stars if I could.

I've long been interested in both art and comic books (I have collected them for over 50 years). While the library shelves are full of wonderful books that explain what traditional artists are trying to do and why they succeed, I've often found the books to be pretty boring. In recent years, such books have gotten bogged down into abstruse language that is much less appealing than the art which is the subject.

But in those years, I've never seen anything that was very helpful in discussing the rules of comic art, except some books about pop art when that was popular that examined how the pop art was different from comic art. Naturally, I was blown away when I found that Understanding Comics is a far more comprehensive, thoughtful, and accessible book about interaction with art than I have ever read. Although the subject is ostensibly comic strips and comic books, it's clear to me that that Mr. McCloud has a deep and powerful understanding of all art. Some of his conceptual displays of where different forms of art fall in different dimensions of choice (degree of realism, abstraction, and message) are unbelievably powerful.

I hope that some art historian will stumble on this book and recast the history of art to explain and relate different styles to one another using this book's methods. There would be a lot more art lovers if that were the case.

Ultimately, the book's main benefit is to help the reader appreciate that comic art can be a higher and more effective form of art than either pure images or written words by requiring a mastery of more elements . . . elements that are more powerful in grabbing attention and conveying meaning.

Yet the book stays in humble form, a comic book. The powerful ideas sneak up on you as Mr. McCloud deconstructs the elements of comic art expression into chapters on defining what kind of art comics are ("sequential art" for short); explaining where various comics fall on the spectrum of reality, story, and abstraction; the way we fill in the spaces around the lines and between panels with our minds, allowing us to participate in creating the story and the experience; how time is expressed in various ways; the role of lines in creating our understanding and responses; how words and images can interact; a conceptual look at creating comic art; the effect of color; and a synthesis of the book in historical and conceptual terms.

If you want to enjoy both traditional art and comic art more, read this book. It's the Rosetta stone for non-artists in appreciating the images, stories, and messages that artists want to share with us through these media. You'll never be the same . . . and the change will be good for you!

Bravo, Mr. McCloud!


Eye-opening, 26 Sep 2004
A colleague who produces comics recommended this book to me as the definitive guide to the subject, and he was right. McCloud uses comic-strip techniques as elegant proof of the fact that comics really can get a message across to their audience. Apart from its obvious how-to value, this book is also a handy defence against the intellectual snobs who deride the medium (yes, that was me, once upon a time) because of its thoroughly researched and - dare I say it - scholarly approach. It's a surprising, enjoyable and educational guide by someone who clearly loves his work. I'll never see comics the same way again.

Eye-opening, 19 May 2004
There are precious few books around that really treat the comics medium seriously, or fully explore what is and may be possible in that medium. Scott McCloud's "Understanding Comics" is one of the few and - for me - is the best of the bunch.

This book has tonnes of things going for it: McCloud's enjoyable and accessible cartoon-style delivery, which is itself a brilliant demonstration of how powerful a communication tool comics can be ... the infectious passion he has for his subject ... the bountiful results of his serious research and scrutinization ... I could go on.

Perhaps the best thing about "Understanding Comics", though, is McCloud's sheer imagination. When it comes to comics, he has a way of thinking and seeing that is almost completely uninhibited by any preconceptions. The result: he's constantly chucking ideas at you that surprise you and make you re-think about comics, writing, art and perception. You might not agree with everything he says, but the point is you're thinking about something you'd never have considered before. It's a truly eye-opening piece of work.

For readers and writers of comics alike, "Understanding Comics" is invaluable in helping you to appreciate 'sequential art'. For those who have never considered comics worth bothering about ... I urge you to get this book and read it. I guarantee it will make you think again, about comics in particular and art in general.

One final note: as I'm sure Scott McCloud himself would say, don't stop here. Check out other works such as "Comics and Sequential Art" by Will Eisner, or Alan Moore's essay "Writing for Comics". And any sequential art you can lay your hands on!

A must-have for serious cartoonists, 01 Dec 2002
This is one of the true necessities for anyone serious about cartooning and what Eisner calls "sequential art". It is NOT a how-to-draw book. Rather, it discusses the nature of drawing and cartooning, and how concepts are depicted through the pen - all with a very personal touch, the author speaking directly to you through the medium of cartooning. McCloud also examines the evolution of true comics from basic drawing, and how the "language" of cartooning has come to differ in different cultures. This book will make you think long and hard about the subject and what you do in it yourself.

Comics shed a light on shoe-string animation, 10 Jul 2002
This books on undestanding comics is a must read for anyone involved with visual and textual communications of any sort.

History, constructs, and the means of communicating beyond the constraints of a medium, such as two-dimensional paper, in this case, provides ample ammunition for lateral thought.

Personally I found this book not only informative and inspiring, but also thought provoking. The impact has been such, that the ideas will be adapted to a shoe-string animation project.

A Brilliant Look at the Psychology, Physiology, and Effectiveness of Comic Strips and Books, 24 Jun 2008
This is an important book that everyone should read. I would give it twenty stars if I could.

I've long been interested in both art and comic books (I have collected them for over 50 years). While the library shelves are full of wonderful books that explain what traditional artists are trying to do and why they succeed, I've often found the books to be pretty boring. In recent years, such books have gotten bogged down into abstruse language that is much less appealing than the art which is the subject.

But in those years, I've never seen anything that was very helpful in discussing the rules of comic art, except some books about pop art when that was popular that examined how the pop art was different from comic art. Naturally, I was blown away when I found that Understanding Comics is a far more comprehensive, thoughtful, and accessible book about interaction with art than I have ever read. Although the subject is ostensibly comic strips and comic books, it's clear to me that that Mr. McCloud has a deep and powerful understanding of all art. Some of his conceptual displays of where different forms of art fall in different dimensions of choice (degree of realism, abstraction, and message) are unbelievably powerful.

I hope that some art historian will stumble on this book and recast the history of art to explain and relate different styles to one another using this book's methods. There would be a lot more art lovers if that were the case.

Ultimately, the book's main benefit is to help the reader appreciate that comic art can be a higher and more effective form of art than either pure images or written words by requiring a mastery of more elements . . . elements that are more powerful in grabbing attention and conveying meaning.

Yet the book stays in humble form, a comic book. The powerful ideas sneak up on you as Mr. McCloud deconstructs the elements of comic art expression into chapters on defining what kind of art comics are ("sequential art" for short); explaining where various comics fall on the spectrum of reality, story, and abstraction; the way we fill in the spaces around the lines and between panels with our minds, allowing us to participate in creating the story and the experience; how time is expressed in various ways; the role of lines in creating our understanding and responses; how words and images can interact; a conceptual look at creating comic art; the effect of color; and a synthesis of the book in historical and conceptual terms.

If you want to enjoy both traditional art and comic art more, read this book. It's the Rosetta stone for non-artists in appreciating the images, stories, and messages that artists want to share with us through these media. You'll never be the same . . . and the change will be good for you!

Bravo, Mr. McCloud!


Eye-opening, 26 Sep 2004
A colleague who produces comics recommended this book to me as the definitive guide to the subject, and he was right. McCloud uses comic-strip techniques as elegant proof of the fact that comics really can get a message across to their audience. Apart from its obvious how-to value, this book is also a handy defence against the intellectual snobs who deride the medium (yes, that was me, once upon a time) because of its thoroughly researched and - dare I say it - scholarly approach. It's a surprising, enjoyable and educational guide by someone who clearly loves his work. I'll never see comics the same way again.

Eye-opening, 19 May 2004
There are precious few books around that really treat the comics medium seriously, or fully explore what is and may be possible in that medium. Scott McCloud's "Understanding Comics" is one of the few and - for me - is the best of the bunch.

This book has tonnes of things going for it: McCloud's enjoyable and accessible cartoon-style delivery, which is itself a brilliant demonstration of how powerful a communication tool comics can be ... the infectious passion he has for his subject ... the bountiful results of his serious research and scrutinization ... I could go on.

Perhaps the best thing about "Understanding Comics", though, is McCloud's sheer imagination. When it comes to comics, he has a way of thinking and seeing that is almost completely uninhibited by any preconceptions. The result: he's constantly chucking ideas at you that surprise you and make you re-think about comics, writing, art and perception. You might not agree with everything he says, but the point is you're thinking about something you'd never have considered before. It's a truly eye-opening piece of work.

For readers and writers of comics alike, "Understanding Comics" is invaluable in helping you to appreciate 'sequential art'. For those who have never considered comics worth bothering about ... I urge you to get this book and read it. I guarantee it will make you think again, about comics in particular and art in general.

One final note: as I'm sure Scott McCloud himself would say, don't stop here. Check out other works such as "Comics and Sequential Art" by Will Eisner, or Alan Moore's essay "Writing for Comics". And any sequential art you can lay your hands on!

A must-have for serious cartoonists, 01 Dec 2002
This is one of the true necessities for anyone serious about cartooning and what Eisner calls "sequential art". It is NOT a how-to-draw book. Rather, it discusses the nature of drawing and cartooning, and how concepts are depicted through the pen - all with a very personal touch, the author speaking directly to you through the medium of cartooning. McCloud also examines the evolution of true comics from basic drawing, and how the "language" of cartooning has come to differ in different cultures. This book will make you think long and hard about the subject and what you do in it yourself.

Comics shed a light on shoe-string animation, 10 Jul 2002
This books on undestanding comics is a must read for anyone involved with visual and textual communications of any sort.

History, constructs, and the means of communicating beyond the constraints of a medium, such as two-dimensional paper, in this case, provides ample ammunition for lateral thought.

Personally I found this book not only informative and inspiring, but also thought provoking. The impact has been such, that the ideas will be adapted to a shoe-string animation project.

Why all the fuss?, 19 Feb 2007
My friends were very strongly divided about this series. I am surprised that any of them managed to get worked up about it either way. Dane McGowan, high-school drop-out from Liverpool, is recruited by the Invisibles, a motley group of eccentrics with super-powers working (presumably for the forces of Good) behind the scenes of world politics. There is a storyline set in a hidden London reminiscent of Neil Gaiman's Neverwhere. There is then another storyline set in the French Revolution with the Marquis de Sade playing a key role, but this got a bit self-indulgent and had a peculiar sub-plot involving Percy and Mary Shelley which didn't seem to fit in with the rest. Perhaps it is all revealed in subsequent volumes, but I won't rush to buy them.

Awesome counter culture graphic novel, 22 Feb 2000
Just an amazing piece of work - so many ideas, so many great thoughts, complex and fascinating throughout. Slow to start, but stick with it - the detail rewards all efforts.

typically brilliant and cryptic,, 06 Dec 1999
counting to the mock millennium, read Morrison for the unreality of the world we don t live in...

Well, do you?, 06 Jul 1999
Grant Morrison is THE man when it comes to writing comics and The Invisibles are probably his finest creation to date. Taking in everything from conspiracy theories to chaos magick, the Illuminati, Discordianism, gnosticism, and saying, what if it were all true? By the end of the series Grant promises to explain why the universe exists. This collection of the first eight issues introduces the main characters of the first series, tearaway Dane and the mysterious Jack Frost, supercool King Mob, gorgeous transvestite Lord Fanny, ex-cop Boy and the flame-haired and magical Ragged Robin. The first half of the book consists of Dane's intitiation into the Invisibles, a group of freethinkers and anarchists pledged to overthrow the forces of Order that oppress the world. Unsure of who to trust and who to fear, Dane is taught by the strange beggar known only as Tom O'Bedlam, who lets him see the world through a pidgeons eyes and introduces him to terror. The second half of the book, 'Arcadia', sees the Invisibles cast back to revolutionary France as they seek to rescue an Invisible from the past, only to get caught up in an attack by the forces of Order and the works of the Marquis de Sade. If you want to see what comics can and should be about, look no further!

A Brilliant Look at the Psychology, Physiology, and Effectiveness of Comic Strips and Books, 24 Jun 2008
This is an important book that everyone should read. I would give it twenty stars if I could.

I've long been interested in both art and comic books (I have collected them for over 50 years). While the library shelves are full of wonderful books that explain what traditional artists are trying to do and why they succeed, I've often found the books to be pretty boring. In recent years, such books have gotten bogged down into abstruse language that is much less appealing than the art which is the subject.

But in those years, I've never seen anything that was very helpful in discussing the rules of comic art, except some books about pop art when that was popular that examined how the pop art was different from comic art. Naturally, I was blown away when I found that Understanding Comics is a far more comprehensive, thoughtful, and accessible book about interaction with art than I have ever read. Although the subject is ostensibly comic strips and comic books, it's clear to me that that Mr. McCloud has a deep and powerful understanding of all art. Some of his conceptual displays of where different forms of art fall in different dimensions of choice (degree of realism, abstraction, and message) are unbelievably powerful.

I hope that some art historian will stumble on this book and recast the history of art to explain and relate different styles to one another using this book's methods. There would be a lot more art lovers if that were the case.

Ultimately, the book's main benefit is to help the reader appreciate that comic art can be a higher and more effective form of art than either pure images or written words by requiring a mastery of more elements . . . elements that are more powerful in grabbing attention and conveying meaning.

Yet the book stays in humble form, a comic book. The powerful ideas sneak up on you as Mr. McCloud deconstructs the elements of comic art expression into chapters on defining what kind of art comics are ("sequential art" for short); explaining where various comics fall on the spectrum of reality, story, and abstraction; the way we fill in the spaces around the lines and between panels with our minds, allowing us to participate in creating the story and the experience; how time is expressed in various ways; the role of lines in creating our understanding and responses; how words and images can interact; a conceptual look at creating comic art; the effect of color; and a synthesis of the book in historical and conceptual terms.

If you want to enjoy both traditional art and comic art more, read this book. It's the Rosetta stone for non-artists in appreciating the images, stories, and messages that artists want to share with us through these media. You'll never be the same . . . and the change will be good for you!

Bravo, Mr. McCloud!


Eye-opening, 26 Sep 2004
A colleague who produces comics recommended this book to me as the definitive guide to the subject, and he was right. McCloud uses comic-strip techniques as elegant proof of the fact that comics really can get a message across to their audience. Apart from its obvious how-to value, this book is also a handy defence against the intellectual snobs who deride the medium (yes, that was me, once upon a time) because of its thoroughly researched and - dare I say it - scholarly approach. It's a surprising, enjoyable and educational guide by someone who clearly loves his work. I'll never see comics the same way again.

Eye-opening, 19 May 2004
There are precious few books around that really treat the comics medium seriously, or fully explore what is and may be possible in that medium. Scott McCloud's "Understanding Comics" is one of the few and - for me - is the best of the bunch.

This book has tonnes of things going for it: McCloud's enjoyable and accessible cartoon-style delivery, which is itself a brilliant demonstration of how powerful a communication tool comics can be ... the infectious passion he has for his subject ... the bountiful results of his serious research and scrutinization ... I could go on.

Perhaps the best thing about "Understanding Comics", though, is McCloud's sheer imagination. When it comes to comics, he has a way of thinking and seeing that is almost completely uninhibited by any preconceptions. The result: he's constantly chucking ideas at you that surprise you and make you re-think about comics, writing, art and perception. You might not agree with everything he says, but the point is you're thinking about something you'd never have considered before. It's a truly eye-opening piece of work.

For readers and writers of comics alike, "Understanding Comics" is invaluable in helping you to appreciate 'sequential art'. For those who have never considered comics worth bothering about ... I urge you to get this book and read it. I guarantee it will make you think again, about comics in particular and art in general.

One final note: as I'm sure Scott McCloud himself would say, don't stop here. Check out other works such as "Comics and Sequential Art" by Will Eisner, or Alan Moore's essay "Writing for Comics". And any sequential art you can lay your hands on!

A must-have for serious cartoonists, 01 Dec 2002
This is one of the true necessities for anyone serious about cartooning and what Eisner calls "sequential art". It is NOT a how-to-draw book. Rather, it discusses the nature of drawing and cartooning, and how concepts are depicted through the pen - all with a very personal touch, the author speaking directly to you through the medium of cartooning. McCloud also examines the evolution of true comics from basic drawing, and how the "language" of cartooning has come to differ in different cultures. This book will make you think long and hard about the subject and what you do in it yourself.

Comics shed a light on shoe-string animation, 10 Jul 2002
This books on undestanding comics is a must read for anyone involved with visual and textual communications of any sort.

History, constructs, and the means of communicating beyond the constraints of a medium, such as two-dimensional paper, in this case, provides ample ammunition for lateral thought.

Personally I found this book not only informative and inspiring, but also thought provoking. The impact has been such, that the ideas will be adapted to a shoe-string animation project.

Why all the fuss?, 19 Feb 2007
My friends were very strongly divided about this series. I am surprised that any of them managed to get worked up about it either way. Dane McGowan, high-school drop-out from Liverpool, is recruited by the Invisibles, a motley group of eccentrics with super-powers working (presumably for the forces of Good) behind the scenes of world politics. There is a storyline set in a hidden London reminiscent of Neil Gaiman's Neverwhere. There is then another storyline set in the French Revolution with the Marquis de Sade playing a key role, but this got a bit self-indulgent and had a peculiar sub-plot involving Percy and Mary Shelley which didn't seem to fit in with the rest. Perhaps it is all revealed in subsequent volumes, but I won't rush to buy them.

Awesome counter culture graphic novel, 22 Feb 2000
Just an amazing piece of work - so many ideas, so many great thoughts, complex and fascinating throughout. Slow to start, but stick with it - the detail rewards all efforts.

typically brilliant and cryptic,, 06 Dec 1999
counting to the mock millennium, read Morrison for the unreality of the world we don t live in...

Well, do you?, 06 Jul 1999
Grant Morrison is THE man when it comes to writing comics and The Invisibles are probably his finest creation to date. Taking in everything from conspiracy theories to chaos magick, the Illuminati, Discordianism, gnosticism, and saying, what if it were all true? By the end of the series Grant promises to explain why the universe exists. This collection of the first eight issues introduces the main characters of the first series, tearaway Dane and the mysterious Jack Frost, supercool King Mob, gorgeous transvestite Lord Fanny, ex-cop Boy and the flame-haired and magical Ragged Robin. The first half of the book consists of Dane's intitiation into the Invisibles, a group of freethinkers and anarchists pledged to overthrow the forces of Order that oppress the world. Unsure of who to trust and who to fear, Dane is taught by the strange beggar known only as Tom O'Bedlam, who lets him see the world through a pidgeons eyes and introduces him to terror. The second half of the book, 'Arcadia', sees the Invisibles cast back to revolutionary France as they seek to rescue an Invisible from the past, only to get caught up in an attack by the forces of Order and the works of the Marquis de Sade. If you want to see what comics can and should be about, look no further!

Existentialism for the LSD Generation, 26 May 2001
The Invisibles oscillate between material reality and the worlds of thought and idea; a group of existential freedom fighters with crazy code names like Jack frost, Boy (who's a girl) Queen Mob and a transvestite shaman from Brazil called Lord Fanny, who's origin is revealed in this volume.

Together the secret cell of The Invisibles: violent, bloody, weird and just plain strange fight for freedom again otherworld beings who seek to quash the imagination and turn the many into the one!

The writer loves dialogue and each character is delieniated by the way he or she speaks, together they are trying to both express their own freedom and yet hold reality together as it slips and slides through their minds like a kalidoscope dream. Time travel, sexual innuendo and magical symbolisim bleed together into a whole reading experience that resonantes with a meaning that is meaningful, but somehow, never quite understandable. This makes it a book worth reading again and again. Go for it, once read you'll be hooked.

This is just to make money, 09 Apr 2001
This book though a collection of one of the finest modern series is just not up to it. There is no narrative, which is not really anything to complain about, but the stories themselves are rubbish. I believe this book was released in order that people who buy comic books will buy it, why is this industry becoming so commercial, putting so many books out that just further lower people's expectations. Please don't get me wrong I'm not some kind of comic book purist, but sorry, DC/Vertigo its all your fault.

Part 2 of volume 1 of the best comic book of the Nineties, 10 Mar 2001
This book contains issues 9-16 of the Invisibles volume 1, Morrisson's seminal comic book/spell. After a shaky start to the series, sales were down and DC comics were threatening to cancel. Morrisson urged his readers to join in an occult experiment involving sigil magic and something that teenage boys do a lot of.... This experiment may have worked (the book ran for another 47 issues) or it could be that the readership began to understand the multilayered plot that was unfolding in the stories contained in this collection.

The Invisibles are an activist cell that appear to use magic and all other kinds of subversion to battle the forces of total control and submission. Five members; two men, two women and a transexual, this collection concentrates on the magickal initiation of Lord Fanny (born male, but raised a witch in Brasil)which started as a child, but (s)he has yet to complete. If she fails, then the Invisibles are finished.

Also contains valuble background stories illuminating the Ultimate Conspiracy. Essential reading, you won't be able to wait for the series finale.

A Brilliant Look at the Psychology, Physiology, and Effectiveness of Comic Strips and Books, 24 Jun 2008
This is an important book that everyone should read. I would give it twenty stars if I could.

I've long been interested in both art and comic books (I have collected them for over 50 years). While the library shelves are full of wonderful books that explain what traditional artists are trying to do and why they succeed, I've often found the books to be pretty boring. In recent years, such books have gotten bogged down into abstruse language that is much less appealing than the art which is the subject.

But in those years, I've never seen anything that was very helpful in discussing the rules of comic art, except some books about pop art when that was popular that examined how the pop art was different from comic art. Naturally, I was blown away when I found that Understanding Comics is a far more comprehensive, thoughtful, and accessible book about interaction with art than I have ever read. Although the subject is ostensibly comic strips and comic books, it's clear to me that that Mr. McCloud has a deep and powerful understanding of all art. Some of his conceptual displays of where different forms of art fall in different dimensions of choice (degree of realism, abstraction, and message) are unbelievably powerful.

I hope that some art historian will stumble on this book and recast the history of art to explain and relate different styles to one another using this book's methods. There would be a lot more art lovers if that were the case.

Ultimately, the book's main benefit is to help the reader appreciate that comic art can be a higher and more effective form of art than either pure images or written words by requiring a mastery of more elements . . . elements that are more powerful in grabbing attention and conveying meaning.

Yet the book stays in humble form, a comic book. The powerful ideas sneak up on you as Mr. McCloud deconstructs the elements of comic art expression into chapters on defining what kind of art comics are ("sequential art" for short); explaining where various comics fall on the spectrum of reality, story, and abstraction; the way we fill in the spaces around the lines and between panels with our minds, allowing us to participate in creating the story and the experience; how time is expressed in various ways; the role of lines in creating our understanding and responses; how words and images can interact; a conceptual look at creating comic art; the effect of color; and a synthesis of the book in historical and conceptual terms.

If you want to enjoy both traditional art and comic art more, read this book. It's the Rosetta stone for non-artists in appreciating the images, stories, and messages that artists want to share with us through these media. You'll never be the same . . . and the change will be good for you!

Bravo, Mr. McCloud!


Eye-opening, 26 Sep 2004
A colleague who produces comics recommended this book to me as the definitive guide to the subject, and he was right. McCloud uses comic-strip techniques as elegant proof of the fact that comics really can get a message across to their audience. Apart from its obvious how-to value, this book is also a handy defence against the intellectual snobs who deride the medium (yes, that was me, once upon a time) because of its thoroughly researched and - dare I say it - scholarly approach. It's a surprising, enjoyable and educational guide by someone who clearly loves his work. I'll never see comics the same way again.

Eye-opening, 19 May 2004
There are precious few books around that really treat the comics medium seriously, or fully explore what is and may be possible in that medium. Scott McCloud's "Understanding Comics" is one of the few and - for me - is the best of the bunch.

This book has tonnes of things going for it: McCloud's enjoyable and accessible cartoon-style delivery, which is itself a brilliant demonstration of how powerful a communication tool comics can be ... the infectious passion he has for his subject ... the bountiful results of his serious research and scrutinization ... I could go on.

Perhaps the best thing about "Understanding Comics", though, is McCloud's sheer imagination. When it comes to comics, he has a way of thinking and seeing that is almost completely uninhibited by any preconceptions. The result: he's constantly chucking ideas at you that surprise you and make you re-think about comics, writing, art and perception. You might not agree with everything he says, but the point is you're thinking about something you'd never have considered before. It's a truly eye-opening piece of work.

For readers and writers of comics alike, "Understanding Comics" is invaluable in helping you to appreciate 'sequential art'. For those who have never considered comics worth bothering about ... I urge you to get this book and read it. I guarantee it will make you think again, about comics in particular and art in general.

One final note: as I'm sure Scott McCloud himself would say, don't stop here. Check out other works such as "Comics and Sequential Art" by Will Eisner, or Alan Moore's essay "Writing for Comics". And any sequential art you can lay your hands on!

A must-have for serious cartoonists, 01 Dec 2002
This is one of the true necessities for anyone serious about cartooning and what Eisner calls "sequential art". It is NOT a how-to-draw book. Rather, it discusses the nature of drawing and cartooning, and how concepts are depicted through the pen - all with a very personal touch, the author speaking directly to you through the medium of cartooning. McCloud also examines the evolution of true comics from basic drawing, and how the "language" of cartooning has come to differ in different cultures. This book will make you think long and hard about the subject and what you do in it yourself.

Comics shed a light on shoe-string animation, 10 Jul 2002
This books on undestanding comics is a must read for anyone involved with visual and textual communications of any sort.

History, constructs, and the means of communicating beyond the constraints of a medium, such as two-dimensional paper, in this case, provides ample ammunition for lateral thought.

Personally I found this book not only informative and inspiring, but also thought provoking. The impact has been such, that the ideas will be adapted to a shoe-string animation project.

Why all the fuss?, 19 Feb 2007
My friends were very strongly divided about this series. I am surprised that any of them managed to get worked up about it either way. Dane McGowan, high-school drop-out from Liverpool, is recruited by the Invisibles, a motley group of eccentrics with super-powers working (presumably for the forces of Good) behind the scenes of world politics. There is a storyline set in a hidden London reminiscent of Neil Gaiman's Neverwhere. There is then another storyline set in the French Revolution with the Marquis de Sade playing a key role, but this got a bit self-indulgent and had a peculiar sub-plot involving Percy and Mary Shelley which didn't seem to fit in with the rest. Perhaps it is all revealed in subsequent volumes, but I won't rush to buy them.

Awesome counter culture graphic novel, 22 Feb 2000
Just an amazing piece of work - so many ideas, so many great thoughts, complex and fascinating throughout. Slow to start, but stick with it - the detail rewards all efforts.

typically brilliant and cryptic,, 06 Dec 1999
counting to the mock millennium, read Morrison for the unreality of the world we don t live in...

Well, do you?, 06 Jul 1999
Grant Morrison is THE man when it comes to writing comics and The Invisibles are probably his finest creation to date. Taking in everything from conspiracy theories to chaos magick, the Illuminati, Discordianism, gnosticism, and saying, what if it were all true? By the end of the series Grant promises to explain why the universe exists. This collection of the first eight issues introduces the main characters of the first series, tearaway Dane and the mysterious Jack Frost, supercool King Mob, gorgeous transvestite Lord Fanny, ex-cop Boy and the flame-haired and magical Ragged Robin. The first half of the book consists of Dane's intitiation into the Invisibles, a group of freethinkers and anarchists pledged to overthrow the forces of Order that oppress the world. Unsure of who to trust and who to fear, Dane is taught by the strange beggar known only as Tom O'Bedlam, who lets him see the world through a pidgeons eyes and introduces him to terror. The second half of the book, 'Arcadia', sees the Invisibles cast back to revolutionary France as they seek to rescue an Invisible from the past, only to get caught up in an attack by the forces of Order and the works of the Marquis de Sade. If you want to see what comics can and should be about, look no further!

Existentialism for the LSD Generation, 26 May 2001
The Invisibles oscillate between material reality and the worlds of thought and idea; a group of existential freedom fighters with crazy code names like Jack frost, Boy (who's a girl) Queen Mob and a transvestite shaman from Brazil called Lord Fanny, who's origin is revealed in this volume.

Together the secret cell of The Invisibles: violent, bloody, weird and just plain strange fight for freedom again otherworld beings who seek to quash the imagination and turn the many into the one!

The writer loves dialogue and each character is delieniated by the way he or she speaks, together they are trying to both express their own freedom and yet hold reality together as it slips and slides through their minds like a kalidoscope dream. Time travel, sexual innuendo and magical symbolisim bleed together into a whole reading experience that resonantes with a meaning that is meaningful, but somehow, never quite understandable. This makes it a book worth reading again and again. Go for it, once read you'll be hooked.

This is just to make money, 09 Apr 2001
This book though a collection of one of the finest modern series is just not up to it. There is no narrative, which is not really anything to complain about, but the stories themselves are rubbish. I believe this book was released in order that people who buy comic books will buy it, why is this industry becoming so commercial, putting so many books out that just further lower people's expectations. Please don't get me wrong I'm not some kind of comic book purist, but sorry, DC/Vertigo its all your fault.

Part 2 of volume 1 of the best comic book of the Nineties, 10 Mar 2001
This book contains issues 9-16 of the Invisibles volume 1, Morrisson's seminal comic book/spell. After a shaky start to the series, sales were down and DC comics were threatening to cancel. Morrisson urged his readers to join in an occult experiment involving sigil magic and something that teenage boys do a lot of.... This experiment may have worked (the book ran for another 47 issues) or it could be that the readership began to understand the multilayered plot that was unfolding in the stories contained in this collection.

The Invisibles are an activist cell that appear to use magic and all other kinds of subversion to battle the forces of total control and submission. Five members; two men, two women and a transexual, this collection concentrates on the magickal initiation of Lord Fanny (born male, but raised a witch in Brasil)which started as a child, but (s)he has yet to complete. If she fails, then the Invisibles are finished.

Also contains valuble background stories illuminating the Ultimate Conspiracy. Essential reading, you won't be able to wait for the series finale.

Second hand kisses, 03 Nov 2001
I got this because it was recommended in the Michael Moorcock section. All I have to say --
King Mob included -- nobody does it better than Moorcock. Give me the orginal full strength Jerry Cornelius (with Mal Dean drawings) any old day. Sorry, this was a disappointment. Second hand stew.

Everyone you want to sh** is reading Entropy in the UK, 22 Jul 2001
In the third book of the Sex-a-delic Spypunk saga, The Invisibles, Ultra Mod Assassin King Mob finds his past lives flashing before him in the sinister surgeries of the House of Fun! With the odds stacked against them, it's up to Voodoo rap star Jim Crow to haul the team's quaquaversal arse out of the fire- but even that might not be enough when reality beings to bleed like an infected wound! "If The Invisibles were a person, I'd tie it up and do mad s*** to it!" says pierced and tattoed Ninja Amazon. It's sex, death, and religion in an interesting nighttime telly sort of way in ENTROPY IN THE UK!

Grant Morrison's Invisibles is the ultimate conspiracy epic, tying together every urban myth and every Illuminati-inspired wacko plot, into the story Naomi Klein was too scared and/or uninspired to tell you. And as if that's not enough, it's not just a story; Morrison's intent was that it would act as a kind of magical virus, reprogramming the mind of anyone who read it by stripping out all the false assumptions they've been fed from birth. The strangest thing is, he succeeded. The Invisibles has been collected into seven books, of which The Invisible Kingdom is the conclusion; in other words, it's not a good starting point. For that, there's the secret history of London in Say You Want a Revolution, or the Matrix-inspiring wire-fu lunacy of Bloody Hell in America. But this is where it all comes together. This is where, having learned about the Invisible Order fighting to free the world from their Conspiracy enemies, it becomes apparent that everything wasn't that simple.

Oscillating between a 1970s cop show pastiche, the low-key story of an old woman saying her last farewells and a Lovecraft-in-Hollywood showdown with the extradimensional King of All Tears, The Invisible Kingdom contains more ideas on any given page than you'll find in the average book. As the head of the Technoccult corp says while preparing to unleash new product The Invisibles: "It's a thriller, it's a romance; it's a tragedy; it's a porno; it's neo-modernist kitchen sink science fiction that you catch, like a cold." With the flawed art from the original serial corrected The Invisible Kingdom is an essential purchase for anyone interested in what lurks in the world's shadows--and what hides in plain sight. --Alex Sarll

A Brilliant Look at the Psychology, Physiology, and Effectiveness of Comic Strips and Books, 24 Jun 2008
This is an important book that everyone should read. I would give it twenty stars if I could.

I've long been interested in both art and comic books (I have collected them for over 50 years). While the library shelves are full of wonderful books that explain what traditional artists are trying to do and why they succeed, I've often found the books to be pretty boring. In recent years, such books have gotten bogged down into abstruse language that is much less appealing than the art which is the subject.

But in those years, I've never seen anything that was very helpful in discussing the rules of comic art, except some books about pop art when that was popular that examined how the pop art was different from comic art. Naturally, I was blown away when I found that Understanding Comics is a far more comprehensive, thoughtful, and accessible book about interaction with art than I have ever read. Although the subject is ostensibly comic strips and comic books, it's clear to me that that Mr. McCloud has a deep and powerful understanding of all art. Some of his conceptual displays of where different forms of art fall in different dimensions of choice (degree of realism, abstraction, and message) are unbelievably powerful.

I hope that some art historian will stumble on this book and recast the history of art to explain and relate different styles to one another using this book's methods. There would be a lot more art lovers if that were the case.

Ultimately, the book's main benefit is to help the reader appreciate that comic art can be a higher and more effective form of art than either pure images or written words by requiring a mastery of more elements . . . elements that are more powerful in grabbing attention and conveying meaning.

Yet the book stays in humble form, a comic book. The powerful ideas sneak up on you as Mr. McCloud deconstructs the elements of comic art expression into chapters on defining what kind of art comics are ("sequential art" for short); explaining where various comics fall on the spectrum of reality, story, and abstraction; the way we fill in the spaces around the lines and between panels with our minds, allowing us to participate in creating the story and the experience; how time is expressed in various ways; the role of lines in creating our understanding and responses; how words and images can interact; a conceptual look at creating comic art; the effect of color; and a synthesis of the book in historical and conceptual terms.

If you want to enjoy both traditional art and comic art more, read this book. It's the Rosetta stone for non-artists in appreciating the images, stories, and messages that artists want to share with us through these media. You'll never be the same . . . and the change will be good for you!

Bravo, Mr. McCloud!


Eye-opening, 26 Sep 2004
A colleague who produces comics recommended this book to me as the definitive guide to the subject, and he was right. McCloud uses comic-strip techniques as elegant proof of the fact that comics really can get a message across to their audience. Apart from its obvious how-to value, this book is also a handy defence against the intellectual snobs who deride the medium (yes, that was me, once upon a time) because of its thoroughly researched and - dare I say it - scholarly approach. It's a surprising, enjoyable and educational guide by someone who clearly loves his work. I'll never see comics the same way again.

Eye-opening, 19 May 2004
There are precious few books around that really treat the comics medium seriously, or fully explore what is and may be possible in that medium. Scott McCloud's "Understanding Comics" is one of the few and - for me - is the best of the bunch.

This book has tonnes of things going for it: McCloud's enjoyable and accessible cartoon-style delivery, which is itself a brilliant demonstration of how powerful a communication tool comics can be ... the infectious passion he has for his subject ... the bountiful results of his serious research and scrutinization ... I could go on.

Perhaps the best thing about "Understanding Comics", though, is McCloud's sheer imagination. When it comes to comics, he has a way of thinking and seeing that is almost completely uninhibited by any preconceptions. The result: he's constantly chucking ideas at you that surprise you and make you re-think about comics, writing, art and perception. You might not agree with everything he says, but the point is you're thinking about something you'd never have considered before. It's a truly eye-opening piece of work.

For readers and writers of comics alike, "Understanding Comics" is invaluable in helping you to appreciate 'sequential art'. For those who have never considered comics worth bothering about ... I urge you to get this book and read it. I guarantee it will make you think again, about comics in particular and art in general.

One final note: as I'm sure Scott McCloud himself would say, don't stop here. Check out other works such as "Comics and Sequential Art" by Will Eisner, or Alan Moore's essay "Writing for Comics". And any sequential art you can lay your hands on!

A must-have for serious cartoonists, 01 Dec 2002
This is one of the true necessities for anyone serious about cartooning and what Eisner calls "sequential art". It is NOT a how-to-draw book. Rather, it discusses the nature of drawing and cartooning, and how concepts are depicted through the pen - all with a very personal touch, the author speaking directly to you through the medium of cartooning. McCloud also examines the evolution of true comics from basic drawing, and how the "language" of cartooning has come to differ in different cultures. This book will make you think long and hard about the subject and what you do in it yourself.

Comics shed a light on shoe-string animation, 10 Jul 2002
This books on undestanding comics is a must read for anyone involved with visual and textual communications of any sort.

History, constructs, and the means of communicating beyond the constraints of a medium, such as two-dimensional paper, in this case, provides ample ammunition for lateral thought.

Personally I found this book not only informative and inspiring, but also thought provoking. The impact has been such, that the ideas will be adapted to a shoe-string animation project.

Why all the fuss?, 19 Feb 2007
My friends were very strongly divided about this series. I am surprised that any of them managed to get worked up about it either way. Dane McGowan, high-school drop-out from Liverpool, is recruited by the Invisibles, a motley group of eccentrics with super-powers working (presumably for the forces of Good) behind the scenes of world politics. There is a storyline set in a hidden London reminiscent of Neil Gaiman's Neverwhere. There is then another storyline set in the French Revolution with the Marquis de Sade playing a key role, but this got a bit self-indulgent and had a peculiar sub-plot involving Percy and Mary Shelley which didn't seem to fit in with the rest. Perhaps it is all revealed in subsequent volumes, but I won't rush to buy them.

Awesome counter culture graphic novel, 22 Feb 2000
Just an amazing piece of work - so many ideas, so many great thoughts, complex and fascinating throughout. Slow to start, but stick with it - the detail rewards all efforts.

typically brilliant and cryptic,, 06 Dec 1999
counting to the mock millennium, read Morrison for the unreality of the world we don t live in...

Well, do you?, 06 Jul 1999
Grant Morrison is THE man when it comes to writing comics and The Invisibles are probably his finest creation to date. Taking in everything from conspiracy theories to chaos magick, the Illuminati, Discordianism, gnosticism, and saying, what if it were all true? By the end of the series Grant promises to explain why the universe exists. This collection of the first eight issues introduces the main characters of the first series, tearaway Dane and the mysterious Jack Frost, supercool King Mob, gorgeous transvestite Lord Fanny, ex-cop Boy and the flame-haired and magical Ragged Robin. The first half of the book consists of Dane's intitiation into the Invisibles, a group of freethinkers and anarchists pledged to overthrow the forces of Order that oppress the world. Unsure of who to trust and who to fear, Dane is taught by the strange beggar known only as Tom O'Bedlam, who lets him see the world through a pidgeons eyes and introduces him to terror. The second half of the book, 'Arcadia', sees the Invisibles cast back to revolutionary France as they seek to rescue an Invisible from the past, only to get caught up in an attack by the forces of Order and the works of the Marquis de Sade. If you want to see what comics can and should be about, look no further!

Existentialism for the LSD Generation, 26 May 2001
The Invisibles oscillate between material reality and the worlds of thought and idea; a group of existential freedom fighters with crazy code names like Jack frost, Boy (who's a girl) Queen Mob and a transvestite shaman from Brazil called Lord Fanny, who's origin is revealed in this volume.

Together the secret cell of The Invisibles: violent, bloody, weird and just plain strange fight for freedom again otherworld beings who seek to quash the imagination and turn the many into the one!

The writer loves dialogue and each character is delieniated by the way he or she speaks, together they are trying to both express their own freedom and yet hold reality together as it slips and slides through their minds like a kalidoscope dream. Time travel, sexual innuendo and magical symbolisim bleed together into a whole reading experience that resonantes with a meaning that is meaningful, but somehow, never quite understandable. This makes it a book worth reading again and again. Go for it, once read you'll be hooked.

This is just to make money, 09 Apr 2001
This book though a collection of one of the finest modern series is just not up to it. There is no narrative, which is not really anything to complain about, but the stories themselves are rubbish. I believe this book was released in order that people who buy comic books will buy it, why is this industry becoming so commercial, putting so many books out that just further lower people's expectations. Please don't get me wrong I'm not some kind of comic book purist, but sorry, DC/Vertigo its all your fault.

Part 2 of volume 1 of the best comic book of the Nineties, 10 Mar 2001
This book contains issues 9-16 of the Invisibles volume 1, Morrisson's seminal comic book/spell. After a shaky start to the series, sales were down and DC comics were threatening to cancel. Morrisson urged his readers to join in an occult experiment involving sigil magic and something that teenage boys do a lot of.... This experiment may have worked (the book ran for another 47 issues) or it could be that the readership began to understand the multilayered plot that was unfolding in the stories contained in this collection.

The Invisibles are an activist cell that appear to use magic and all other kinds of subversion to battle the forces of total control and submission. Five members; two men, two women and a transexual, this collection concentrates on the magickal initiation of Lord Fanny (born male, but raised a witch in Brasil)which started as a child, but (s)he has yet to complete. If she fails, then the Invisibles are finished.

Also contains valuble background stories illuminating the Ultimate Conspiracy. Essential reading, you won't be able to wait for the series finale.

Second hand kisses, 03 Nov 2001
I got this because it was recommended in the Michael Moorcock section. All I have to say --
King Mob included -- nobody does it better than Moorcock. Give me the orginal full strength Jerry Cornelius (with Mal Dean drawings) any old day. Sorry, this was a disappointment. Second hand stew.

Everyone you want to sh** is reading Entropy in the UK, 22 Jul 2001
In the third book of the Sex-a-delic Spypunk saga, The Invisibles, Ultra Mod Assassin King Mob finds his past lives flashing before him in the sinister surgeries of the House of Fun! With the odds stacked against them, it's up to Voodoo rap star Jim Crow to haul the team's quaquaversal arse out of the fire- but even that might not be enough when reality beings to bleed like an infected wound! "If The Invisibles were a person, I'd tie it up and do mad s*** to it!" says pierced and tattoed Ninja Amazon. It's sex, death, and religion in an interesting nighttime telly sort of way in ENTROPY IN THE UK!

The end of a brilliant series fail to deliver, 23 May 2008
As the final chapter in the up until now brilliant "The Invisibles" series, this book is a big disappointment. The writer seems to have made so many story arcs that is impossible to conclude in a coherently manner. He seems to have written himself out on a limb, and then to be able to finish, he cuts of the limb he sits on. I have really loved the series up until this last book. And I had such great expectations. But for me it failed completely to deliver. The use of some illustrators that are quite frankly not good enough for this kind of work also pulls the result down.

Ladies and Gentlemen, We Are All Invisible!, 15 Jan 2003
The long awaited conclusion to the Invisibles series is now out in graphic novel format, and is as brain-stunning as anticipated. I decided to re-read all of the comics prior to digesting "The Invisible Kingdom", and I am still trying to piece my head back together.

How do I love thee, let me count the ways. Dangerous, anarchic, disorienting, trippy, ultra-violent, touching, sexy, intelligent and wholly wonderful - "The Invisible Kingdom" is my ideal for how all books should be.

Grant Morrison's Gotterdamerung..., 15 Jan 2003
‘Thus ends the eternal work’ commented Wagner at the completion of Der Ring des Nibelungen. And so ends ‘The Invisibles’, Grant Morrison’s inventive and irreverent comic book saga.

Morrison has been quoted as stating that he wanted to take his readers to different places and challenge them, maybe even changing their lives on the way. He’s certainly succeeded throughout the series. He’s got endorsements from a host of illuminaries on the back cover to add (commercial and artistic) credibility, including chaos mage Phil Hine.

Herein, pop occultism segues with conspiracy theory, ultraviolence, Lovecraftian entities, aliens, theories about reality and the Universe/Multiverse, Karma, sex, drugs, good and bad pop music, 70’s cop shows, 60’s kid’s TV, design, fast cars, body piercing, and lots of self-referentially clever postmodern, situationist (whatever) theorising that would keep a fortunate Phd student in grants for several years trying to unravel it all.

The story jumps you from one reality to another, sometimes seamlessly, sometimes jarringly, but invariably entertainingly. ‘The Invisibles’ was never going to be easy to resolve in its final arc anyway – in essence, it can never end (or begin) given the theories of time it espouses. Garth Ellis similarly found the difficulty of seeking a final resolution in ‘Preacher’, whose ending annoys as many as it satisfies. Neil Gaiman managed the trick satisfyingly in ‘Sandman’, leaving innumerable spin-off opportunities for DC to keep the franchise evolving and generating profits, some good, some atrocious beyond words.

At times Morrison seems to be trying to be too clever for his own good. Sure, it’s thought provoking and enlightening, needing a hyperlinked commentary to help make sense of it and encourage the reader to follow up avenues of interest .... If you have an open mind, and want to learn more about the world, how language both liberates and imprisons us, views on politics and reality, and the very essence of things, The Invisibles is a great place to set off from. Its also a brilliant place to play 'spot the reference', and there's plenty of that here, including The Wicker Man, The Seventh Seal, Glastonbury, The Matrix etc. etc.

But at times the giddy edifice seems near to collapse under its own weight and ever increasing complexity, very much like our contemporary reality, the intersection of two universes, one healthy, one diseased, as postulated in Morrison’s cosmology. Maybe that's intentional, the entropy inherent in the system?

The artwork in the first story arc, Satanstorm, is poor and undermines the quality of the narrative, which concerns a psychic and psychological coup against Sir Miles Delacourt of the Outer Church (the chief bad guy). Phil Jiminez’s superb artwork in earlier arcs conveyed the right kind of warped realism necessary for many of us to buy into the epic.

The idea of using several different artists for each 2 page spread of the apocalyptic finale, set in Westminster Abbey (shades of ‘The Medusa Touch’) is a nice idea in practice but doesn’t actually seem to follow the logic of the story terribly well. Once again, some of the art is superb, some incredibly scrappy (Ms. Thompson, you have done much better in earlier Invisibles, Sandman etc.).

Still, it’s nice to be introduced to our favourite characters again, King Mob, Fanny, Jolly Roger, Orlando the fleshless, face-eating demon, the Division X guys etc. It’s also fun to meet the Marquis de Sade once more. He’s now a ghost, btw, or more accurately, a self-generated thought form (or Tulpa in Tibetan occultism), who sustains himself on crystal water and communion wafers. This is suitably decadent for a libertine trying to free mankind from its self-imposed slavery and restrictions, only in order to plunge them into an erotic dictatorship of his own devising (in which subversive practitioners of conventional sexuality will have their ‘deviancies’ logged, whilst be allowed to continue).

There are nice digs at the British establishment and class system, consumerism, the Monarchy, the (current) government, and some good running gags to test our knowledge of occultism, pop culture etc. As time moves on, these references will give The Invisibles a period feel, just as the series lovingly parodies earlier eras. So the saga has a nice, trippy surreal nature, and in the end, we all end up liberated, within the supercontext of all times and realities. Our sentence is up… for now.

If you've never read The Invisibles series, its high time that you did. It's infuriating at times, it can be difficult to follow its tortuous logic and never-ending cast of characters, and you may need to read it several times to 'get it'. But it is unlike anything else, in comics or literature, and takes you on a real odyssey of discovery, as well as entertainment. If you are a suburban curtain twitcher who trusts the authorities to act in your interests as you bovinely allow yourself to be indoctrinated by the ads on the TV and the editorial in the media, you probably need to read this more than anyone else!

A Brilliant Look at the Psychology, Physiology, and Effectiveness of Comic Strips and Books, 24 Jun 2008
This is an important book that everyone should read. I would give it twenty stars if I could.

I've long been interested in both art and comic books (I have collected them for over 50 years). While the library shelves are full of wonderful books that explain what traditional artists are trying to do and why they succeed, I've often found the books to be pretty boring. In recent years, such books have gotten bogged down into abstruse language that is much less appealing than the art which is the subject.

But in those years, I've never seen anything that was very helpful in discussing the rules of comic art, except some books about pop art when that was popular that examined how the pop art was different from comic art. Naturally, I was blown away when I found that Understanding Comics is a far more comprehensive, thoughtful, and accessible book about interaction with art than I have ever read. Although the subject is ostensibly comic strips and comic books, it's clear to me that that Mr. McCloud has a deep and powerful understanding of all art. Some of his conceptual displays of where different forms of art fall in different dimensions of choice (degree of realism, abstraction, and message) are unbelievably powerful.

I hope that some art historian will stumble on this book and recast the history of art to explain and relate different styles to one another using this book's methods. There would be a lot more art lovers if that were the case.

Ultimately, the book's main benefit is to help the reader appreciate that comic art can be a higher and more effective form of art than either pure images or written words by requiring a mastery of more elements . . . elements that are more powerful in grabbing attention and conveying meaning.

Yet the book stays in humble form, a comic book. The powerful ideas sneak up on you as Mr. McCloud deconstructs the elements of comic art expression into chapters on defining what kind of art comics are ("sequential art" for short); explaining where various comics fall on the spectrum of reality, story, and abstraction; the way we fill in the spaces around the lines and between panels with our minds, allowing us to participate in creating the story and the experience; how time is expressed in various ways; the role of lines in creating our understanding and responses; how words and images can interact; a conceptual look at creating comic art; the effect of color; and a synthesis of the book in historical and conceptual terms.

If you want to enjoy both traditional art and comic art more, read this book. It's the Rosetta stone for non-artists in appreciating the images, stories, and messages that artists want to share with us through these media. You'll never be the same . . . and the change will be good for you!

Bravo, Mr. McCloud!


Eye-opening, 26 Sep 2004
A colleague who produces comics recommended this book to me as the definitive guide to the subject, and he was right. McCloud uses comic-strip techniques as elegant proof of the fact that comics really can get a message across to their audience. Apart from its obvious how-to value, this book is also a handy defence against the intellectual snobs who deride the medium (yes, that was me, once upon a time) because of its thoroughly researched and - dare I say it - scholarly approach. It's a surprising, enjoyable and educational guide by someone who clearly loves his work. I'll never see comics the same way again.

Eye-opening, 19 May 2004
There are precious few books around that really treat the comics medium seriously, or fully explore what is and may be possible in that medium. Scott McCloud's "Understanding Comics" is one of the few and - for me - is the best of the bunch.

This book has tonnes of things going for it: McCloud's enjoyable and accessible cartoon-style delivery, which is itself a brilliant demonstration of how powerful a communication tool comics can be ... the infectious passion he has for his subject ... the bountiful results of his serious research and scrutinization ... I could go on.

Perhaps the best thing about "Understanding Comics", though, is McCloud's sheer imagination. When it comes to comics, he has a way of thinking and seeing that is almost completely uninhibited by any preconceptions. The result: he's constantly chucking ideas at you that surprise you and make you re-think about comics, writing, art and perception. You might not agree with everything he says, but the point is you're thinking about something you'd never have considered before. It's a truly eye-opening piece of work.

For readers and writers of comics alike, "Understanding Comics" is invaluable in helping you to appreciate 'sequential art'. For those who have never considered comics worth bothering about ... I urge you to get this book and read it. I guarantee it will make you think again, about comics in particular and art in general.

One final note: as I'm sure Scott McCloud himself would say, don't stop here. Check out other works such as "Comics and Sequential Art" by Will Eisner, or Alan Moore's essay "Writing for Comics". And any sequential art you can lay your hands on!

A must-have for serious cartoonists, 01 Dec 2002
This is one of the true necessities for anyone serious about cartooning and what Eisner calls "sequential art". It is NOT a how-to-draw book. Rather, it discusses the nature of drawing and cartooning, and how concepts are depicted through the pen - all with a very personal touch, the author speaking directly to you through the medium of cartooning. McCloud also examines the evolution of true comics from basic drawing, and how the "language" of cartooning has come to differ in different cultures. This book will make you think long and hard about the subject and what you do in it yourself.

Comics shed a light on shoe-string animation, 10 Jul 2002
This books on undestanding comics is a must read for anyone involved with visual and textual communications of any sort.

History, constructs, and the means of communicating beyond the constraints of a medium, such as two-dimensional paper, in this case, provides ample ammunition for lateral thought.

Personally I found this book not only informative and inspiring, but also thought provoking. The impact has been such, that the ideas will be adapted to a shoe-string animation project.

Why all the fuss?, 19 Feb 2007
My friends were very strongly divided about this series. I am surprised that any of them managed to get worked up about it either way. Dane McGowan, high-school drop-out from Liverpool, is recruited by the Invisibles, a motley group of eccentrics with super-powers working (presumably for the forces of Good) behind the scenes of world politics. There is a storyline set in a hidden London reminiscent of Neil Gaiman's Neverwhere. There is then another storyline set in the French Revolution with the Marquis de Sade playing a key role, but this got a bit self-indulgent and had a peculiar sub-plot involving Percy and Mary Shelley which didn't seem to fit in with the rest. Perhaps it is all revealed in subsequent volumes, but I won't rush to buy them.

Awesome counter culture graphic novel, 22 Feb 2000
Just an amazing piece of work - so many ideas, so many great thoughts, complex and fascinating throughout. Slow to start, but stick with it - the detail rewards all efforts.

typically brilliant and cryptic,, 06 Dec 1999
counting to the mock millennium, read Morrison for the unreality of the world we don t live in...

Well, do you?, 06 Jul 1999
Grant Morrison is THE man when it comes to writing comics and The Invisibles are probably his finest creation to date. Taking in everything from conspiracy theories to chaos magick, the Illuminati, Discordianism, gnosticism, and saying, what if it were all true? By the end of the series Grant promises to explain why the universe exists. This collection of the first eight issues introduces the main characters of the first series, tearaway Dane and the mysterious Jack Frost, supercool King Mob, gorgeous transvestite Lord Fanny, ex-cop Boy and the flame-haired and magical Ragged Robin. The first half of the book consists of Dane's intitiation into the Invisibles, a group of freethinkers and anarchists pledged to overthrow the forces of Order that oppress the world. Unsure of who to trust and who to fear, Dane is taught by the strange beggar known only as Tom O'Bedlam, who lets him see the world through a pidgeons eyes and introduces him to terror. The second half of the book, 'Arcadia', sees the Invisibles cast back to revolutionary France as they seek to rescue an Invisible from the past, only to get caught up in an attack by the forces of Order and the works of the Marquis de Sade. If you want to see what comics can and should be about, look no further!

Existentialism for the LSD Generation, 26 May 2001
The Invisibles oscillate between material reality and the worlds of thought and idea; a group of existential freedom fighters with crazy code names like Jack frost, Boy (who's a girl) Queen Mob and a transvestite shaman from Brazil called Lord Fanny, who's origin is revealed in this volume.

Together the secret cell of The Invisibles: violent, bloody, weird and just plain strange fight for freedom again otherworld beings who seek to quash the imagination and turn the many into the one!

The writer loves dialogue and each character is delieniated by the way he or she speaks, together they are trying to both express their own freedom and yet hold reality together as it slips and slides through their minds like a kalidoscope dream. Time travel, sexual innuendo and magical symbolisim bleed together into a whole reading experience that resonantes with a meaning that is meaningful, but somehow, never quite understandable. This makes it a book worth reading again and again. Go for it, once read you'll be hooked.

This is just to make money, 09 Apr 2001
This book though a collection of one of the finest modern series is just not up to it. There is no narrative, which is not really anything to complain about, but the stories themselves are rubbish. I believe this book was released in order that people who buy comic books will buy it, why is this industry becoming so commercial, putting so many books out that just further lower people's expectations. Please don't get me wrong I'm not some kind of comic book purist, but sorry, DC/Vertigo its all your fault.

Part 2 of volume 1 of the best comic book of the Nineties, 10 Mar 2001
This book contains issues 9-16 of the Invisibles volume 1, Morrisson's seminal comic book/spell. After a shaky start to the series, sales were down and DC comics were threatening to cancel. Morrisson urged his readers to join in an occult experiment involving sigil magic and something that teenage boys do a lot of.... This experiment may have worked (the book ran for another 47 issues) or it could be that the readership began to understand the multilayered plot that was unfolding in the stories contained in this collection.

The Invisibles are an activist cell that appear to use magic and all other kinds of subversion to battle the forces of total control and submission. Five members; two men, two women and a transexual, this collection concentrates on the magickal initiation of Lord Fanny (born male, but raised a witch in Brasil)which started as a child, but (s)he has yet to complete. If she fails, then the Invisibles are finished.

Also contains valuble background stories illuminating the Ultimate Conspiracy. Essential reading, you won't be able to wait for the series finale.

Second hand kisses, 03 Nov 2001
I got this because it was recommended in the Michael Moorcock section. All I have to say --
King Mob included -- nobody does it better than Moorcock. Give me the orginal full strength Jerry Cornelius (with Mal Dean drawings) any old day. Sorry, this was a disappointment. Second hand stew.

Everyone you want to sh** is reading Entropy in the UK, 22 Jul 2001
In the third book of the Sex-a-delic Spypunk saga, The Invisibles, Ultra Mod Assassin King Mob finds his past lives flashing before him in the sinister surgeries of the House of Fun! With the odds stacked against them, it's up to Voodoo rap star Jim Crow to haul the team's quaquaversal arse out of the fire- but even that might not be enough when reality beings to bleed like an infected wound! "If The Invisibles were a person, I'd tie it up and do mad s*** to it!" says pierced and tattoed Ninja Amazon. It's sex, death, and religion in an interesting nighttime telly sort of way in ENTROPY IN THE UK!

The end of a brilliant series fail to deliver, 23 May 2008
As the final chapter in the up until now brilliant "The Invisibles" series, this book is a big disappointment. The writer seems to have made so many story arcs that is impossible to conclude in a coherently manner. He seems to have written himself out on a limb, and then to be able to finish, he cuts of the limb he sits on. I have really loved the series up until this last book. And I had such great expectations. But for me it failed completely to deliver. The use of some illustrators that are quite frankly not good enough for this kind of work also pulls the result down.

Ladies and Gentlemen, We Are All Invisible!, 15 Jan 2003
The long awaited conclusion to the Invisibles series is now out in graphic novel format, and is as brain-stunning as anticipated. I decided to re-read all of the comics prior to digesting "The Invisible Kingdom", and I am still trying to piece my head back together.

How do I love thee, let me count the ways. Dangerous, anarchic, disorienting, trippy, ultra-violent, touching, sexy, intelligent and wholly wonderful - "The Invisible Kingdom" is my ideal for how all books should be.

Grant Morrison's Gotterdamerung..., 15 Jan 2003
‘Thus ends the eternal work’ commented Wagner at the completion of Der Ring des Nibelungen. And so ends ‘The Invisibles’, Grant Morrison’s inventive and irreverent comic book saga.

Morrison has been quoted as stating that he wanted to take his readers to different places and challenge them, maybe even changing their lives on the way. He’s certainly succeeded throughout the series. He’s got endorsements from a host of illuminaries on the back cover to add (commercial and artistic) credibility, including chaos mage Phil Hine.

Herein, pop occultism segues with conspiracy theory, ultraviolence, Lovecraftian entities, aliens, theories about reality and the Universe/Multiverse, Karma, sex, drugs, good and bad pop music, 70’s cop shows, 60’s kid’s TV, design, fast cars, body piercing, and lots of self-referentially clever postmodern, situationist (whatever) theorising that would keep a fortunate Phd student in grants for several years trying to unravel it all.

The story jumps you from one reality to another, sometimes seamlessly, sometimes jarringly, but invariably entertainingly. ‘The Invisibles’ was never going to be easy to resolve in its final arc anyway – in essence, it can never end (or begin) given the theories of time it espouses. Garth Ellis similarly found the difficulty of seeking a final resolution in ‘Preacher’, whose ending annoys as many as it satisfies. Neil Gaiman managed the trick satisfyingly in ‘Sandman’, leaving innumerable spin-off opportunities for DC to keep the franchise evolving and generating profits, some good, some atrocious beyond words.

At times Morrison seems to be trying to be too clever for his own good. Sure, it’s thought provoking and enlightening, needing a hyperlinked commentary to help make sense of it and encourage the reader to follow up avenues of interest .... If you have an open mind, and want to learn more about the world, how language both liberates and imprisons us, views on politics and reality, and the very essence of things, The Invisibles is a great place to set off from. Its also a brilliant place to play 'spot the reference', and there's plenty of that here, including The Wicker Man, The Seventh Seal, Glastonbury, The Matrix etc. etc.

But at times the giddy edifice seems near to collapse under its own weight and ever increasing complexity, very much like our contemporary reality, the intersection of two universes, one healthy, one diseased, as postulated in Morrison’s cosmology. Maybe that's intentional, the entropy inherent in the system?

The artwork in the first story arc, Satanstorm, is poor and undermines the quality of the narrative, which concerns a psychic and psychological coup against Sir Miles Delacourt of the Outer Church (the chief bad guy). Phil Jiminez’s superb artwork in earlier arcs conveyed the right kind of warped realism necessary for many of us to buy into the epic.

The idea of using several different artists for each 2 page spread of the apocalyptic finale, set in Westminster Abbey (shades of ‘The Medusa Touch’) is a nice idea in practice but doesn’t actually seem to follow the logic of the story terribly well. Once again, some of the art is superb, some incredibly scrappy (Ms. Thompson, you have done much better in earlier Invisibles, Sandman etc.).

Still, it’s nice to be introduced to our favourite characters again, King Mob, Fanny, Jolly Roger, Orlando the fleshless, face-eating demon, the Division X guys etc. It’s also fun to meet the Marquis de Sade once more. He’s now a ghost, btw, or more accurately, a self-generated thought form (or Tulpa in Tibetan occultism), who sustains himself on crystal water and communion wafers. This is suitably decadent for a libertine trying to free mankind from its self-imposed slavery and restrictions, only in order to plunge them into an erotic dictatorship of his own devising (in which subversive practitioners of conventional sexuality will have their ‘deviancies’ logged, whilst be allowed to continue).

There are nice digs at the British establishment and class system, consumerism, the Monarchy, the (current) government, and some good running gags to test our knowledge of occultism, pop culture etc. As time moves on, these references will give The Invisibles a period feel, just as the series lovingly parodies earlier eras. So the saga has a nice, trippy surreal nature, and in the end, we all end up liberated, within the supercontext of all times and realities. Our sentence is up… for now.

If you've never read The Invisibles series, its high time that you did. It's infuriating at times, it can be difficult to follow its tortuous logic and never-ending cast of characters, and you may need to read it several times to 'get it'. But it is unlike anything else, in comics or literature, and takes you on a real odyssey of discovery, as well as entertainment. If you are a suburban curtain twitcher who trusts the authorities to act in your interests as you bovinely allow yourself to be indoctrinated by the ads on the TV and the editorial in the media, you probably need to read this more than anyone else!

Gotta Love it, Gotta Have it!, 29 Oct 2000
Grant Morrison is still working for the forces of conspiracy encouraging false revolutionary praxis and making revolt another product to consume. There is nothing you can do. Buy the product, be the rebel.

RADICAL SUPER-NARRATIVE BITES DOG, 17 Jul 2000
The Invisibles Volume One was brilliant, but almost claustrophobically dense in places. Right at the end, it accelerated to what I like to call "The Speed Of Woo". This, the beginning of Vol. Two, picks up where that left off, and the only words are : Oh My God. Comics story-telling at it's most intelligent and exciting.

Kind of an action-movie version of the series, but cool., 08 May 1999
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.

The Comic Book for the End of the Millennium, 19 Apr 1999
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.

Bloody, Gory Hell in Foul Mouthed Mature America, 19 Feb 1999
If Bloody Hell in America is, as the back cover proclaims, "the perfect introduction" to Grant Morris's series The Invisibles, I don't think I'll be sticking around for the ride. Under the premise of an ultra-hip secret group's attempt at securing the possible cure for AIDs from a heavilly guarded military base in New Mexico, Bloody Hell in America quickly reduces itself to just what its title implies: bloody. Soon after the introductory first issue is done with, the story becomes little more than an all out gore fest of bullets, blood, and various body parts, all captured in painstaking, ultra-real close up. I don't know what type of gun King Mob uses, but acid must play some part in the bullet's make-up, judging from the results. And never mind that the group's mission seems to take a comfortable back seat to all of this.

In addition, Morris's story relies too much on swearing. Constant swearing. I understand that a bit of swearing can go a long way (it can build a character, set the mood, or it can even be funny at times), but you know there's problem when for almost every single thing said an explicitive simply has to be thrown in. This must be where the "mature" part kicks in. A questionable maturity indeed, when a story must rely on heavy, unrealistic doses of gore and blatant abuse of the four letter word to entertain its readers. A pity, really. The Invisibles are a great concept, and Phil Jimenez's art is truly wonderful. If only the story were set to match.

A Brilliant Look at the Psychology, Physiology, and Effectiveness of Comic Strips and Books, 24 Jun 2008
This is an important book that everyone should read. I would give it twenty stars if I could.

I've long been interested in both art and comic books (I have collected them for over 50 years). While the library shelves are full of wonderful books that explain what traditional artists are trying to do and why they succeed, I've often found the books to be pretty boring. In recent years, such books have gotten bogged down into abstruse language that is much less appealing than the art which is the subject.

But in those years, I've never seen anything that was very helpful in discussing the rules of comic art, except some books about pop art when that was popular that examined how the pop art was different from comic art. Naturally, I was blown away when I found that Understanding Comics is a far more comprehensive, thoughtful, and accessible book about interaction with art than I have ever read. Although the subject is ostensibly comic strips and comic books, it's clear to me that that Mr. McCloud has a deep and powerful understanding of all art. Some of his conceptual displays of where different forms of art fall in different dimensions of choice (degree of realism, abstraction, and message) are unbelievably powerful.

I hope that some art historian will stumble on this book and recast the history of art to explain and relate different styles to one another using this book's methods. There would be a lot more art lovers if that were the case.

Ultimately, the book's main benefit is to help the reader appreciate that comic art can be a higher and more effective form of art than either pure images or written words by requiring a mastery of more elements . . . elements that are more powerful in grabbing attention and conveying meaning.

Yet the book stays in humble form, a comic book. The powerful ideas sneak up on you as Mr. McCloud deconstructs the elements of comic art expression into chapters on defining what kind of art comics are ("sequential art" for short); explaining where various comics fall on the spectrum of reality, story, and abstraction; the way we fill in the spaces around the lines and between panels with our minds, allowing us to participate in creating the story and the experience; how time is expressed in various ways; the role of lines in creating our understanding and responses; how words and images can interact; a conceptual look at creating comic art; the effect of color; and a synthesis of the book in historical and conceptual terms.

If you want to enjoy both traditional art and comic art more, read this book. It's the Rosetta stone for non-artists in appreciating the images, stories, and messages that artists want to share with us through these media. You'll never be the same . . . and the change will be good for you!

Bravo, Mr. McCloud!


Eye-opening, 26 Sep 2004
A colleague who produces comics recommended this book to me as the definitive guide to the subject, and he was right. McCloud uses comic-strip techniques as elegant proof of the fact that comics really can get a message across to their audience. Apart from its obvious how-to value, this book is also a handy defence against the intellectual snobs who deride the medium (yes, that was me, once upon a time) because of its thoroughly researched and - dare I say it - scholarly approach. It's a surprising, enjoyable and educational guide by someone who clearly loves his work. I'll never see comics the same way again.

Eye-opening, 19 May 2004
There are precious few books around that really treat the comics medium seriously, or fully explore what is and may be possible in that medium. Scott McCloud's "Understanding Comics" is one of the few and - for me - is the best of the bunch.

This book has tonnes of things going for it: McCloud's enjoyable and accessible cartoon-style delivery, which is itself a brilliant demonstration of how powerful a communication tool comics can be ... the infectious passion he has for his subject ... the bountiful results of his serious research and scrutinization ... I could go on.

Perhaps the best thing about "Understanding Comics", though, is McCloud's sheer imagination. When it comes to comics, he has a way of thinking and seeing that is almost completely uninhibited by any preconceptions. The result: he's constantly chucking ideas at you that surprise you and make you re-think about comics, writing, art and perception. You might not agree with everything he says, but the point is you're thinking about something you'd never have considered before. It's a truly eye-opening piece of work.

For readers and writers of comics alike, "Understanding Comics" is invaluable in helping you to appreciate 'sequential art'. For those who have never considered comics worth bothering about ... I urge you to get this book and read it. I guarantee it will make you think again, about comics in particular and art in general.

One final note: as I'm sure Scott McCloud himself would say, don't stop here. Check out other works such as "Comics and Sequential Art" by Will Eisner, or Alan Moore's essay "Writing for Comics". And any sequential art you can lay your hands on!

A must-have for serious cartoonists, 01 Dec 2002
This is one of the true necessities for anyone serious about cartooning and what Eisner calls "sequential art". It is NOT a how-to-draw book. Rather, it discusses the nature of drawing and cartooning, and how concepts are depicted through the pen - all with a very personal touch, the author speaking directly to you through the medium of cartooning. McCloud also examines the evolution of true comics from basic drawing, and how the "language" of cartooning has come to differ in different cultures. This book will make you think long and hard about the subject and what you do in it yourself.

Comics shed a light on shoe-string animation, 10 Jul 2002
This books on undestanding comics is a must read for anyone involved with visual and textual communications of any sort.

History, constructs, and the means of communicating beyond the constraints of a medium, such as two-dimensional paper, in this case, provides ample ammunition for lateral thought.

Personally I found this book not only informative and inspiring, but also thought provoking. The impact has been such, that the ideas will be adapted to a shoe-string animation project.

Why all the fuss?, 19 Feb 2007
My friends were very strongly divided about this series. I am surprised that any of them managed to get worked up about it either way. Dane McGowan, high-school drop-out from Liverpool, is recruited by the Invisibles, a motley group of eccentrics with super-powers working (presumably for the forces of Good) behind the scenes of world politics. There is a storyline set in a hidden London reminiscent of Neil Gaiman's Neverwhere. There is then another storyline set in the French Revolution with the Marquis de Sade playing a key role, but this got a bit self-indulgent and had a peculiar sub-plot involving Percy and Mary Shelley which didn't seem to fit in with the rest. Perhaps it is all revealed in subsequent volumes, but I won't rush to buy them.

Awesome counter culture graphic novel, 22 Feb 2000
Just an amazing piece of work - so many ideas, so many great thoughts, complex and fascinating throughout. Slow to start, but stick with it - the detail rewards all efforts.

typically brilliant and cryptic,, 06 Dec 1999
counting to the mock millennium, read Morrison for the unreality of the world we don t live in...

Well, do you?, 06 Jul 1999
Grant Morrison is THE man when it comes to writing comics and The Invisibles are probably his finest creation to date. Taking in everything from conspiracy theories to chaos magick, the Illuminati, Discordianism, gnosticism, and saying, what if it were all true? By the end of the series Grant promises to explain why the universe exists. This collection of the first eight issues introduces the main characters of the first series, tearaway Dane and the mysterious Jack Frost, supercool King Mob, gorgeous transvestite Lord Fanny, ex-cop Boy and the flame-haired and magical Ragged Robin. The first half of the book consists of Dane's intitiation into the Invisibles, a group of freethinkers and anarchists pledged to overthrow the forces of Order that oppress the world. Unsure of who to trust and who to fear, Dane is taught by the strange beggar known only as Tom O'Bedlam, who lets him see the world through a pidgeons eyes and introduces him to terror. The second half of the book, 'Arcadia', sees the Invisibles cast back to revolutionary France as they seek to rescue an Invisible from the past, only to get caught up in an attack by the forces of Order and the works of the Marquis de Sade. If you want to see what comics can and should be about, look no further!

Existentialism for the LSD Generation, 26 May 2001
The Invisibles oscillate between material reality and the worlds of thought and idea; a group of existential freedom fighters with crazy code names like Jack frost, Boy (who's a girl) Queen Mob and a transvestite shaman from Brazil called Lord Fanny, who's origin is revealed in this volume.

Together the secret cell of The Invisibles: violent, bloody, weird and just plain strange fight for freedom again otherworld beings who seek to quash the imagination and turn the many into the one!

The writer loves dialogue and each character is delieniated by the way he or she speaks, together they are trying to both express their own freedom and yet hold reality together as it slips and slides through their minds like a kalidoscope dream. Time travel, sexual innuendo and magical symbolisim bleed together into a whole reading experience that resonantes with a meaning that is meaningful, but somehow, never quite understandable. This makes it a book worth reading again and again. Go for it, once read you'll be hooked.

This is just to make money, 09 Apr 2001
This book though a collection of one of the finest modern series is just not up to it. There is no narrative, which is not really anything to complain about, but the stories themselves are rubbish. I believe this book was released in order that people who buy comic books will buy it, why is this industry becoming so commercial, putting so many books out that just further lower people's expectations. Please don't get me wrong I'm not