Invisible Reality: A Discussion of Reality Contructs in Grant Morrison’s The Invisibles
Disguised as a tale of good versus evil, Grant Morrison’s The Invisibles is rich with philosophy. Throughout its course, numerous theories and ideas regarding the very nature of reality are presented. Of the seven volumes, the last, The Invisible Kingdom, is most dense with these ontological, philosophical and ideological themes. So dense, in fact, that the various ideas contradict one another. Using deconstruction, we can examine these contradictions and explore their implications on the reality of The Invisible. This exploration reveals implications of several conflicting settings, each of which is an equally probable scenario for the story.
Taken at face value, The Invisibles tells of a struggle between eternal domination and freedom. One side, the Invisible College, wishes for everyone to have their ideal reality, even the enemy. Opposing them is the Archon’s Outer Church, who strive to create a hierarchy based in fear, misinformation and domination. The two sides face off across both time and space, the eventual winner set to decide the course humanity follows when the Supercontext arrives on December 22, 2012, the date the world is slated to end, according to the writings of Terence McKenna and the ancient Mayan calendar (Cowe-Spigai and Neighly 248).
In his novel VALIS, author Philip K. Dick suggests that this conflict, and the very presence of evil in the world, is the result of a flawed creation and the subsequent attempts to fix this flaw. “The plan of the One was that both twins would emerge into being (wasness) simultaneously; however, motivated by a desire to be (which the One had implanted in both twins), the counterclockwise twin broke through the sac and separated prematurely; i.e. before full term. This was the dark or Yin twin. Therefore it was defective. At full term, the wiser twin emerged. […] The two sources were to intermingle equally in maintaining our universe, but Form II continued to languish toward illness, madness and disorder. These aspects she projected into our universe. […] This is the origin of entropy, undeserved suffering, chaos and death,” Dick explains in his two source cosmogony (237). “Two realms there are, upper and lower. The upper, derived from hyperuniverse 1 or Yang, is sentient and volitional. The lower realm, or Yin, Form II of Parmenides, is mechanical, driven by blind, efficient cause, deterministic and without intelligence, since it emanates from a dead source (239).”
Dick’s explanation of a sick and dying universe as the source of evil is repeatedly acknowledged throughout The Invisibles. “The Archon’s Outer Church lies on the periphery of the infected metauniverse. The healthy metauniverse is trying to save us before it disengages from its dying twin and spacetime collapses,” Morrison explains using the character of King Mob (Counting 52). Through this, he uses the differences between the two metauniverses to define the two – the sick metauniverse is not healthy and the healthy metauniverse is not sick.
This is not the only idea shared between VALIS and The Invisibles. Both use an orbiting satellite of extra-terrestrial origin to distribute information and recruit agents for the healing process. Known as VALIS, short for Vast Active Living Intelligence System, in VALIS, this object is referred to as Barbelith in The Invisibles. This allows us to more easily describe the conflict of The Invisibles as a battle between those who are aware of this knowledge, classifying one as a member of the Invisible College if they carry the knowledge of Barbelith and those who do not as members of the Outer Church. This mindset of “if not y, then x” indicates that the very reality of The Invisibles is defined by binary opposition.
Proof of this mindset is not hard to come by. The Invisibles logo located on the cover of the text is actually empty, defined not by shape or color but rather the absence thereof. Morrison points out that the badge worn by each member of the Invisible College appears blank only because of the world surrounding them (Kingdom 209). Without chaos it would be impossible to define order, the concept of a healthy metauniverse unable to be properly defined without the presence of an unhealthy one. Were there not two sides to a conflict, the conflict would cease to be. In fact, McCloud points out that the entire medium of comic books relies upon the opposition inherent in sequential art, specifically the differences between panels, to indicate action and movement (69).
More evidence of a binary reality appears in the penultimate moments of the story in The Invisible Kingdom. Holding a vial one in each hand, John A Dreams references a binary reality. “In my right hand, magic mirror, condensed space-time. In my left, anti-matter. Perfect. Each mutually opposed. But put them together and they generate holographic complexity using a simple binary iteration (Morrison 249).”
While discussing the conflict between the Invisible College and Outer Church, Morrison states “only the concept of division divides us (Kingdom 178).” To remove that concept is to end the conflict between the Invisible College and the Outer Church, but that requires becoming one with the opposition.
In other words, by becoming the enemy, you eliminate them. An ideal solution would be to transcend the entire situation in the first place, using the conflict as a method of explaining this concept, which is exactly what the Invisible College, and by proxy, Morrison, does. It was previously stated that the Invisible College wishes for everyone to have their ideal reality, even their enemies. By including the desires of their enemies in their objectives, the goals of the Outer Church now contribute to those of the Invisible College, and thus, they become allies. The conflict perpetuated by the Outer Church and the resulting fallout now serve to further, but not complete, the cause of the Invisible College.
This concept is reinforced by Morrison through the dialog of various Invisibles in the text. “I use the en-eh-mee (272 ).” “The ‘Outer Church’ you fear and serve and the ‘Invisible College’ you want to destroy? Same address (179).” “We are the Invisibles! We are the Conspiracy (72).”
But it only takes two statements, made by Morrison, to suggest that the interpretation of a binary reality in The Invisible Kingdom may not be entirely accurate. “Everything is real,” he states, reinforcing the theme that the events depicted within the text occur exactly as they appear (70). But his later statement of “try to remember, it’s just a game,” makes reference to the recurring, contradictory theme that nothing is as it appears to be (271). Similar instances can be found on the cover of the text, which reads “none of it’s real” in one location and “it’s all real” in another. Though these statements appear to be binary opposites, they both presuppose the existence of an “it.” If something exists, “it” is therefore real in some form, the above statements are no longer contradictory, and thus the concept of a binary universe is destroyed. But what is “it”?
One clue can be found in the one of the two statements that brought us here, “It’s just a game (Morrison 271 “Kingdom”).” Towards the final moments of the series, one of Morrison’s characters begins to play the latest, most advanced game released to date. More than virtual reality than a video game, the software is experienced through the inhalation of liquid software, which then directly interfaces with the brain. “It lasts for a day and feels like eternity,” he writes. “It’s ragged at the edges but you can play any of 300 characters, some more involving than others. It’s a thriller, it’s a romance, it’s a tragedy, it’s a porno, it’s a neo-modernist kitchen sink science fiction that you catch, like a cold. You can play a can five times. It’s different every time. (Kingdom 271, 272).” Though this appeared in a conversation regarding the game, the same description can be successfully applied to the text of The Invisibles. The final line, “it’s different every time,” brings to mind Derrida’s concept of differance.
Scattered throughout the text is further evidences that reinforces the notion that The Invisibles is nothing more than this game. Scattered throughout the text is further evidence that reinforces that The Invisibles is nothing more than this game. “You are playing a game disguised as everything,” Morrison hints (Kingdom 184). “Spacetime is the game board,” he continues (Kingdom 197). He even explains the character’s inabilities to perceive their experiences as a game, revealing “‘The Invisibles” is an immune program, triggered by the Barbelith buoy when the game crashed and embedded the player. Rise and shine (Kingdom 207).” This statement coincides with the utterings of “wake up” by various characters throughout the text. We now understand these characters to be under the influence of Barbelith, who is working to free the reader’s mind from the illusion they have fallen victim to. But at the same time, a rogue element, the cause of the crash, is working to keep us from realizing the truth, reinforcing Morrison’s claim that, “we have to steal back the hallucination (Kingdom 38).” This also brings forth the idea of logocentrism, the presence of an objective or central being at some point.
Another prevalent theme that repeatedly appears suggests The Invisibles is a story being written by a character within the text, who then later experiences her own writings as reality. Following this through its logical conclusion, that the written word is a form of language, which itself information, we can conclude that the very basis of reality is information. An example of information defining reality was discussed earlier in this paper, as the knowledge transmitted by Barbelith creates a distinction between the informed and the unaware.
Dick offers further explanation of this concept in VALIS: “All creation is a language and nothing but a language (234).” “We hypostatize information into objects. Rearrangement of objects is change in the content of the information; the message has changed. This is a language which we have lost the ability to read. We ourselves are part of this language; changes in us are changes in the content of the information. We ourselves are information-rich; information enters us, is processed and is then projected outward once more, now in an altered form. We are not aware that we are doing this, that in face this is all we are doing (233).”
This idea is most clearly supported in The Invisible Kingdom by the existence of Key 23, “the word-drug (Morrison 245).””Key 23 is a synthetic mind-control agent. Under the influence of this drug, written words appear to be what they describe,” Morrison elaborates (148). The use of Key 23 literally transforms words into reality, the combination of these elements instrumental in the victory of the Invisible College over the Archons of Outer Church. Unable to craft a gun of measurable power to destroy the Archon’s King-of-All-Tears, King Mob defeats the beast by injecting him with Key 64, an enhanced version of Key 23, and then displaying the word “pop.” Despite his physical prowess, the King-of-All-Tears explodes, unable to fight his recognition of the concept.
Dick theorizes that if reality is nothing more than information, then time and space are simply an illusion (230). If we are to perceive our own writings as information, then we can assume the written word then allows us to manipulate space, time and matter in such a way that we create and control whole universes. And, indeed, through writing, we can create and express increments of time, describe distance and shape. Any concept can be expressed through writing, even the paradox of an indescribable object can be simply solved by using the word “indescribable.” Our language is not static by any definition, meanings are constantly shifting, new words and phrases invented daily as they are needed. And, as demonstrated by the final page of The Invisible Kingdom, it’s possible for the written word to influence our reality.
Morrison concludes The Invisible Kingdom with the declaration “See! Now! Our sentence is up (286).” The second-to-last panel focuses on the period marking the end of the sentence, highlighting the concept of language as reality. As the sentence concludes, so does the comic, the final panel completely blank. A closing set of quotation marks never appear to indicate the end of the statement, “signifying the transition from the fictional world of The Invisibles to our own.” It is at this point that the series extends into reality, the reader shifting from passive receptor to active participant (Cowe-Spigai and Neighly 217). Now somewhat familiar with the concepts presented within The Invisibles and freed from their “sentence”, it is now up to the individual reader to decide, what, if any, effects the ideas will have on their existence.
This indicates that, as a whole, The Invisibles is meant for more than entertainment. The series is, in a sense, a training program created to recruit and educate Invisibles, to spread the information and ideas presented within. Morrison himself admits as much, agreeing with an interview’s statement that, “The Invisibles is a spell to create Invisibles (Cowe-Spigai and Neighly 235).” This calls to mind Rushkoff’s concept of a media virus, in this case, using the medium of comics to spread values and ideas, disguised as entertainment (10), an idea also discussed by Attridge in Deconstructions (107). Morrison even goes so far as to propose an enhanced version of The Invisibles within the text, the previously discussed video game, which, once examined, operates in the same function as his text.
“It’s all about what’s not there. The spaces in between. The stuff you can’t see, even when it’s right in front of your nose. The invisible,” Morrison writes (Kingdom 43). The Invisibles is a series packed with philosophy, conspiracy theories, theology, ideology, and ontology, among others, and this paper barely examines one-seventh of what it presents. As a whole, it bears a striking resemblance to the concept of Schrodinger’s cat, whereupon “a cat and a phial of poison are placed in a closed room or box, with radioactive material placed in the phial. In the everyday world, there is a fifty-fifty chance that the cat will be killed, and without looking inside the box, we can say, quite happily, that the cat inside is either alive or dead. But until we look inside the box, it is impossible to determine which of the two fates befell the cat (Gribbin 2).” Much in the same way, there is no conclusive method of determining which, if any, of the ideas Morrison presents are accurate. It is up to the reader to define their interpretations of the series, their own reality.
Attridge, Derek. Deconstruction: A User’s Guide. Ed. Nicholas Royle. Great Britian: PALGRAVE, 2000. 107.
Cowe-Spigai, Kereth , and Patrick Neighly. Anarchy For The Masses. New York: The Disinformation Company, 2003. 217-248.
Dick, Philip K. VALIS. New York: Random House Inc, 1991. 230-239.
Gribbin, John R. In Search of Schrodinger’s Cat: Quantum Physics And Reality. United States of America: Bantam Books, 1994. 2.
McCloud, Scott. Understanding Comics: The Invisible Art. Canada: Paradox P, 2000. 69.
Morrison, Grant. The Invisibles: Counting to None. Canada: DC Comics, 1999. 52.
Morrison, Grant. The Invisibles: The Invisible Kingdom. Canada: DC Comics, 2002. 38-286.
Rushkoff, Douglas. Media Virus! Hidden Agendas in Popular Culture. New York: Ballantine Books, 1994. 10.
May 3rd, 2005 at 7:55 pm
if you haven’t already, I think you’d really like a relatively new series called the Dresden Files, by Jim Butcher. I was prompted to recommend it by reading the way you seem to thoroughly take in and digest stories.
May 3rd, 2005 at 9:16 pm
“too orange”
May 4th, 2005 at 8:28 am
Thanks - I checked up on the first book over at Amazon.com, read a few pages. I’ll definitely pick that up in the near future.