The Invisibles, Vol. 3: Entropy in the U.K.
Story:
Art:

Written by Grant Morrison
Pencils by Phil Jimenez, Tommy Lee Edwards, Paul Johnson, Steve Yeowell & Mark Buckingham
Inks by John Stokes, Tommy Lee Edwards, Paul Johnson, Dick Giordano & Mark Pennington
Colors by Daniel Vozzo

Published by DC/Vertigo
Price: $19.95

Notes: Collects Vol. 1 of the series, issues 17-25.

My Verdict: More goodness.

In this installment of the saga, King Mob wages war in his own head, and Jack Frost comes into his own as the new incarnation of the Buddha. Plus, among other things, Jim Crow dealing in some serious bad mojo, and a fight with the King-of-All-Tears.

Unless you've been living in a cave, you already know this title rocks. And if you're a TPB collector, you've been waiting for them to fill the holes in Volume One of the series for a long time. Well, now it's over, and the conclusion absolutely...well, rocks. As a "TPB-only" reader of the series, it was mystifying to me that the other members of the Invisibles cell paid so much deference to Jack Frost, until I read this book. Now much of what was published in the Vol. 2 trades makes more sense.

The story is pure Invisibles: absolutely bent with a healthy injection of "out there." Despite the High Weirdness, Morrison makes the whole work hang together brilliantly, and brings several major issues to resolution to round out the events of volume one. Dane at last steps fully into his role as Jack Frost, and we see some interesting development of the supporting cast, particularly Mr. Six and Jim Crow.

Among the artists involved, Jimenez's pencils are as solid as ever, and the psychedelic color schemes of Vozzo in the "Gideon Stargrave" portions really add to the atmosphere of those worlds, drawing a clean distinction between the adventures of Stargrave and the plight of King Mob based on nothing more than the palette used.

Overall, the book completes the round of introductions of the cast members that occupies most of volume one, with the exception of Ragged Robin, who doesn't get the full treatment until volume two. It also provides a solid taste of the skewed, multi-layered reality that Morrison is working within, and the King-of-All-Tears gives readers a good, long look at the real depth of the faceless conspiracy against which the Invisibles struggle. As a little teaser and aside, Mister Quimper makes his entry to the scene in this book as well, foreshadowing his prominence in the various story arcs of volume two.

Quote:

OLD MAN: King Mob. King Mob. What mob's that? Gotta dreaming?
KING MOB: Scorpion. Got one tattooed on my arse.
OLD MAN: It's a smart whitefella knows his own dreaming. Smarter one knows his own arse.