Morrison Books

The stories in this volume are about as good as you could get with this era's DC heroes. DC had some goofy stuff going on then. Superman no longer had a mullet, now he was electric blue and looked ridiculous. Green Lantern was a manga fan who made goofy rock-em sock-em robots with his ring. Speedy was Green Arrow, and so much more. That I don't blame on JLA, that's what DC was up to with these previously iconic characters.

So, take a bunch of characters that were being seriously screwed up and put them in a pretty decent couple of story lines and that is what you have here. If you're a JLA fan and need this to complete your set, then buy it. If you are wanting to dabble into some good DC stories... well... there are a lot better ones than this to do it with.

So I can basically separate this volume into three different stories. The first starts off with the recruitment of a new member to the JLA and centers on new member Tomorrow Woman. It's an OK self contained story, but doesn't have any huge impact on the series or characters.

The next story is 2 parter, Heaven on Earth, which introduces us to a new character Zauriel, an angel made mortal who is being pursued by Asmodel a king angel and his army of heaven. It's a pretty epic story and Zauuriel is a cool character but that's about it.

The final 2 part story features the return of The Key. This is by far the best story, mostly because its the only one that features Batman and it gives us a cool elseworld look at Batman in the future. We also get to see the new Green Arrow in action.

It is better than Vol. 1, but I still feel this series could be better. Hopefully Morrison is just warming up and leading to something much bigger. The artwork by Porter is fine, but by the time Jimenez takes over on the final story, I much prefer it.

This isn't my favorite Grant Morrison JLA collection, (check out World War III, Earth-2, and JLA One Million for the best) but there's a lot in here a I enjoyed. There's an excellent stand-alone story at the beginning, and I love what Morrison does with Zaurial and the young Green Arrow. Entertaining read, as usual. And yeah, Superman is blue, but you don't have to know anything about that story to enjoy this collection.

I've been collecting the TPB series for JLA for a while now. This is just one more notch to add to that belt. Thanks for a great addition to my collection.

A collection of stories as the recruiting of Zauriel has brought down the wrath of a really big rogue angel and monster upon them.

Professor Ivo is still plotting, and this lands them with the android Tomorrow Woman. The worst part is likely the return of the Key, though, as far as the league is concerned.

A collection from early on in the Legends of the Dark Knight series.


A bunch of mob bosses realise someone is murdering them one by one. The person who is doing it is someone they killed 20 years before. Calling Batman for help, he basically says sit on it and rotate, until he realises who the killer is, and it gets personal.

It also gets a bit horror movie.


3.5 out of 5

no question, the worst batman ever. He throws one punch and one kick. the former misses the latter is blocked. He falls off a roof in an absurdly stupid misstep. The story itself is simply far beyond any believability, the villian has no depth and the ending is predictable from page 5.

I've been reading a lot of the Legends of the Dark Knight collected trades as it's cool to read about Batman pre-sidekicks. This was the second story from that series. A lot of Batman books have reputations and you sort of know what you're getting into it before you crack it open but I didn't know anything about Gothic before going into it which is usually how I prefer it. Well, like I said, this is an early tale, so no familiar villain here. It starts out reminding me of Year 2/MOTP as mobster bosses are being killed off one after another and Batman is trying to track the killer. As it turns out, Bruce had a history with the killer as a kid and eventually uncovers his secret.

It's not one of my favorite Bat stories. I think the villain's origin is interesting, but his motivation is not. I enjoyed the scenes in the cave between Bruce and Alfred. His quips and sarcasm were very much in character. However most of it was not very memorable for me. There are a few good lines here and there but otherwise, there were only a few good moments of development. I can't say any of it was overy ground breaking or has had any lasting impact on the characters and mythology. It wasn't long, but he should have been able to pack more story into 5 issues.

For completist's like me, I don't mind adding it to my collection, but I would not reccomend this to anyone who is not a Batman fan. And even if you are, there are so many better choices.

And long live Grant Morrisson....Although this is not his best- there's something old fashioned about this story , a detective story which takes the hero to an exotic location...Nice and old school

Comic visionary Grant Morrison (The Filth, JLA, New X-Men; c'mon already, you know the list) came up with this Batman tale, taking place in Bruce Wayne's early part of his career as Batman. Gothic follows Batman investigating just who is picking off mobsters in Gotham City, one of which claims that it's a man who won't stay dead. What this spells for Batman is locked in his own past, as he has nightmares about his father with his lips sewn shut, trying to warn him of something purely evil. While not nearly as visionary or defining as many of Morrison's other superhero tales, Gothic is an often gripping and even shocking tale of the Dark Knight that doesn't fail to impress. Frequent Frank Miller and John Romita Jr. partner Klaus Janson provides the artwork, which leaves a little something to be desired, but it serves its purpose regardless. All in all, Gothic is a more than worthwhile Batman tale, and definitely worth checking out for fans of both Batman and Morrison alike.

Short book by Tony Morrison based on her university lectures are three part mediatations on matters of race in americal literature. Morrison explores what is takes to be black. She looks at the literature from two points of view: reader - someone who absorbs what someone else has to say and writer - creator of stories that writes about their observations about the world and has influence over the reader in a manner of perception of truth. In addition to addressing race, she talks about gender too. It is subtly brought to our attention that in today's world it is much harder to be black woman than a black man. Black woman is more vulnerable to the cruelties of the world. Shades of her skin can either include her or exclude her from the black society, while the white society is tenfold more cruel as there is no acceptance of the "colored" folks but only hostility. In the literary world that Morrison critiques, black woman is considered an object with no emotion, attachment, dignity, susceptible to sexual trade or exploitation, as there are no consequences to such treatment. In another words, black woman is considered dispensable by the society. Black ordinary man on the other hand, while treated as a second class citizen -- can manage fine in a society for as long as he can draw a distance between himself and the white society. The detachment is assurance to the white society of freedom of "pollution" of any kind: spiritual, sexual and social. Black man who does not realize a need for such detachment can get beat up, whipped or vebrally abused. Unlike women, they end up short of rape. Finally, the political consequences of race is the last part of the book that inevitably blends into meditation on women and their role in the society as nurses, mothers and comforters of sorts. Although the preface to the book is written in 1992, this book gives very interesting insight to the state of the racial tension that is so obvious in the election year where race, gender, class and social standing are fearlessly fighting for power. This book, considered literary criticism is very relevant to our world of today. Morrison wisely teaches us to recognise what black is vs. what others want you to think, thru literary fiction, what black is.

It's not surprising that a black feminist author would want to trash the "dead white guys" who made American literature. What is interesting is the phony way Toni Morrison wants to hang racism solely on white men, never on white women. She spends page after page trying to dig up dirt on masculine writers like Mark Twain and Ernest Hemingway, while entirely ignoring the far more poisonous racism of white women like Margaret Mitchell and Edith Wharton.

Toni Morrison feels threatened by Huck Finn -- enough to trash him good -- and not at all threatened by Scarlett O'Hara. This is interesting. After all, Huck Finn risks his life to set a black man free, while Scarlett is an unrepentant slaveowner who feeds off black suffering like a parasite. So why is it that Scarlett gets a pass while Huck gets jumped on like a white jogger in Central Park?

Perhaps the problem is that Mark Twain isn't really attacking racism so much as he's attacking respectability. Twain suggests that it's the hunger for wealth, status, comfort, and respectability that causes people to mistreat others -- and that well-bred Widow Douglas is no better than white trash Pap Finn.

What Morrison resents is not that Twain is too tough on Nigger Jim, but that he's too tough on the Widow Douglas. It seems clear that Morrison doesn't want to be free in the sense that runaway Jim is free -- that is, to be able to come and go as she pleases and think her own thoughts. Secretly, she wants to be "free" in the way that Widow Douglas and Scarlett O'hara are free. She wants the life of luxury and privilege that the white ladies she secretly admires have always had. She'd rather pal around with rich white "ladies" like Mary Gordon (who is under the Barnard veneer the worst sort of shanty Irish bigot) than with trash like the black men now serving in Iraq. And she's perfectly willing to sell the trash down the river to do it, be they white or black.

If Morrison is playing in the dark, then indeed there are those who are angry in the light, so to give a negative reduction of what morrison was clearly stating about how blacks are viewed speaks in high volume, besides i dont know of many japanese who pinpointed out black ppl to enslave them............. even if they did have three eyes, two mouths, or whatever else. lol Another prime example that denial always ends with a bad term......... More emotional baggage disguised as constructive critism..........yawn....................

The reviewer below who said "More Heat Than Light" got it partly right. This book is SO badly written you have to wonder if the author's other works were written by the same person. Not only is it sophomoric, it is gibberish. Had its author been unknown, she would surely have had to pay for the book's publication. Incredibly bad, it may at least serve as a source of hope for struggling writers who believe that only the best works are accepted by publishers.

Toni Morrison is excellent in these three lectures. She analyzes some white American novels brilliantly and shows how the whole structure and meaning can be re-read from the presence of what she calls Africanism at the back of the mind of the author and at times in the novel itself. Her approach is far-reaching and does not only take into consideration the presence of a black person, but also the deeply metaphorical presence of a dark side in the author's imagination and novels, a dark side that informs the whole work and structures the plot and the story. She tries to explain this presence of this dark side by showing how the Europeans who fled Europe to come to America for a new start arrived with no real model to imitate, and that they had to structure their own personalities from scratch. This could only be done by finding an alter ego that will embody the « other » any person needs to build their personalities. This « other », she says, is naturally the African slave that brings together several differences that make him perfectly easy to become the object of this ego-building : social alienation (slaves), cultural and linguistic alienation (they have been torn away from their cultures and languages) and racial alienation (blacks). The last alienation makes the other two absolutely irreversible because it cannot in any way be changed or hidden. This explains the structuring power of race or rather blackness in this society whose hierarchical structure is never denied or even questioned. Yet I remain slightly unsatisfied in the absolutely uniqueness of this experience. The Europeans when they arrived found the Indians and they tried to make them subservient and even slaves. They could not do it because these Indians did not survive very long in such a position and the most enterprising ones, Cherokees, Iroquois, Seminoles, etc, learned very fast and easily conquered their autonomy and developed a viable economic system. So the Europeans turned to Africans who were rather easily turned into slaves, with no pangs of conscience for the Europeans because they were not natives, so the land was not theirs, and they were black, hence absolutely different by embodying century old fantasms and fears among Europeans who discarded black as being devilish, satanic, dirty, etc. Here we have to insist on one element that Toni Morrison discards too fast : the Europeans had to exterminate the un-enslavable Indians to get their land and then bring the Blacks to America. The Indian genocide is the primary condition for the enslavement of the Blacks. The second element is that she seems to consider the European Enlightenment justified this enslavement of the Blacks. Here I have to disagree because Monstesquieu, for one, and quite many others like Rousseau, Diderot, it is true mainly French people, rejected this approach that pretended Blacks were not human and even had no souls. This French Enlightenment actually produced the abolition of slavery by the French Revolution, even if Napoleon reinstated it later on. That would have enabled Toni Morrison to answer a question she does not ask because she has no answer : where did the abolitionists come from, where did abolitionism come from, if what she describes is the only connection with Europe ? But there is even another question. What she describes is in perfect agreement with the logic and dialectic of the « subject » as advocated by Lacan. Since she quotes Marie Cardinal she should have found out about Lacan. In absolutely any society so far (no developed class-less society has ever existed on the planet) when a subject rejects the « Authority » pole of his personality, authority that is embodied in someone else, in the « social other », that person is dominated by his impulses, positive and negative, and he becomes his only master. Then he has to rebuild this pole of his personality, and the « other » becomes the one he is going to reject. In all our societies there has been an « other ». She hints at social alienation and evokes cultural and linguistic alienation. But our societies have always found a scapegoat that became that « other » they could easily reject, enslave or even massacre : the Jews, the protestants or the catholics, the moslems, Arabs, gypsies, or even women as for that, and for some today in our lay societies priests and believers of any denomination, and our societies can even use one category of the past to build up the rejected group : fascists, nazis, stalinists, maoists, etc. The only point she has is the over-determination that color adds to this phenomenon, though Arabs or Moslems in Europe today, and for centuries in the past, qualify for that kind of racist attitude, and we all know about agism, sexism, homophobic attitudes and many others. She though has an enormous point when she says that invisibility does not solve the problem because the Blacks may be invisible in language, literature, and other politically correct discourses, but they remain visible and at times hauntingly overvisible in the minds of people. One cannot decree the end of racism with a law or a couple of anti-racist classes in school. I think that Ralph Ellison saw more and farther when he said « we have to be one and many at the same time », or when he defended democratic diversity in society and in each social or racial group of this society.

Dr Jacques COULARDEAU

This is a very appropriate book on African-American studies. In an age when affirmative action has been dismantled and African-Americans relegated to the position of secondary citzenry, this book revives our faith in the potential of academia to offer solutions to problems facing the people of color in society. All scholars should learn from Kim.

There was a march for immigration over the weekend in Los Angeles and there were over 500,000 people there. As I marched, I realized how important this book was. It all came together for me -- how Toni Morrison's BELOVED proved to be African-American scripture. I came to think about how the march may be something similar to that for the Mexican community. We Mexicans are creating a type of scripture. Now, I appreciate Prof. Kim's book more. I am eager to read it again with the new insight.

There is an anti-black bias in academia -- particularly in the study of religion. If you see the recent hirings by Religion Departments in American universities, you can see that blacks were looked over and instead "other minorities" such as white women or a white Jew was chosen as a professor. Minority is a word that is used to disenfranchise blacks and other people of color and give power to white Jews and white women at the expense of the people of color. In such a climate in Religion Deapartments of American universities, this book is important. It shows that black voice in literature should be celebrated. I commend Kim for his contribution to raising awareness of the value of black scholarship.

This is a great book on African-American studies. I was moved by Prof. Kim's article and study on Toni Morrison, a premier African-American thinker of our time. I understand that Prof. Kim is doing further research on Toni Morrison and is working on a major academic monograph on the subject. I look forward to this book!

This is a very impressive book by a Lady Davis Fellow. Lady Davis was a wealthy noble Jewish lady from Britain who funded many charities and philanthropic enterprises. Lady Davis Fellowship still stands as the most prestigious fellowship an academic can hold in the State of Israel. I applaud Prof. Kim to utilizing his research from Israel to produce such creative scholarship to be shared with the whole world. He is like a candle unto the nations.

Let's start this review with some reality. If you read the buying info carefully you will note the book is only 36 pages! So you are not going to get a college course in all of the Simpsons methods!...This book only gives you info on the Simpsons core family...Bart,Lisa,Maggie,Marge and (My Fav) Homer! Just learning to draw his stubby fat fingers is a riot! And yes,....you do learn secrets! You learn the secrets to the scale and balance of these characters....that Marge's hair is about 2 bowling balls high, bart's hair has 9 points, Lisa's hair has 8 points, you learn how many eyelashes each character has and how to place them, how the eyeballs should be placed on the head in comparison to the nose, how each characters hands and feet details should be drawn..... True, it is only 36 pages but it does give you all you need to start drawing the Simpsons family. What did I not like about this book? I really wanted tips on Mr. Burns, Moe, Smithers, Krusty.. Who is this book for? This book might be for a beginner but I doubt it. Want to learn how to draw? Look elsewhere. Someone with some skill or ability who wants to learn how to draw the Simpsons? Yes! On the side for extra cash do you street sketch, air brush at the local mall, do cartoons, do charicatures? Well, then get this book and use it to expand your portfolio. Are you just a kid (8 yrs to 88yrs old) who loves the Simpsons and wants to be able to look cool with your friends by drawing them?Get this book, live your life, be happy and have fun!

Okay, what is the deal with these silly complaints that this book doesn't reveal any "secrets." What secrets? If anyone believes he or she will be able to instantly draw cartoons well after simply reading this or any other book, they need to get in touch with reality. The bottom line is: the secret of doing ANYTHING well -- and that includes cartooning -- is to PRACTICE. A LOT. That said, this is a great little book. It's written with a generous dose of humor, and it tells you exactly how to draw the Simpsons in certain poses. In other words, it's a good basic cartooning book if you are interested in drawing these specific characters and are willing to do the practice necessary to learn to draw them well. Once you're familiar with the construction of those little yellow bodies, then you can start making them do what you want them to do. (PRACTICE, remember?) If you have talent and imagination, it may also help get you started on drawing your own characters. No magic, no secrets, just a good book on how to draw the Simpsons.

This is just great! I'm sure every Simpsons fan has wondered if they could draw America's favorite family, and I'm sure plenty of you have got it down-packed. But if you just can't draw Bart's head, or Marge's body, I strongly suggest you buy this book (and afterwords, if you STILL can't draw them right, trace, hee hee). The book teaches you how to draw Homer, Marge, Bart, Lisa and Maggie's anatomy, and the best thing about the book is if you look at a picture of another character (for example, Apu), you can use Homer's anatomy (not making him so fat, mind you) and draw Apu from there. It's a great guide, so if you're a Simpsons fan and love to draw...buy it. Buy it now!

I am an illustrator, animator, AND I work at Fox. My copy of this book has gotten so much use over the 7-odd years I've had this, it should be falling apart. This is why this is such a great book:

1) IT'EASY AND IT'S FUN. Many "how-to" aniimation and cartooning books purportedly cater to children, yet the drawing level is way beyond most entry-level artists; the Simpsons, by Groening's own admission started out as lame doodles. Everything is made up of circles and squiggles - perfect!

2) IT'S WELL ORGANIZED AND VERSATILE. There are many poses and expressions to try drawing, which set you into the whole "vocabulary" of the Simpsons.

3) IT'S FUNNY, AND REALLY EDUCATIONAL. Tips like "Bend those elbows!" and "Marge's hair hides two bowling balls," not only get a laugh, but really give you an insight on how to contruct a solid animated figure.

I refer to this book all the time, even for my own drawings. For the money, this has been one of the most useful pieces of reference I have. Get it for your favorite starving artist, or doodling kid.

OK. I do not understand what some of the people hear have posted. They say they were lied to and it was supposed to unlock the secrets of how to draw The Simpsons?

All it says on the book is "Study basic construction methods!", "Discover the techniques of bulgy-eyed characterization!", "Uncover the mysteries of Simpsonian anatomy!" and "Learn the secrets of the overbite!".

Could someone please tell me where it says it unlocks the secrets of the Simpsons? No you can not. What is to know? They are just circles and squares that have been down sized.

I people get so worked up over a drawing book, what is next?

The book is a good tool for kids and adults alike. It shows many different facial features and different scenes so you would be emersed for hours.

A Good Choice.

Have A NiCE LiFE!

Ryan

I read this graphic novel when it originally appeared in the mid90s as a monthly comic series...I recently rediscovered the series as trade paperbacks, and it's still one of the most intellectually challenging, underrated and undiscovered comics to be published in the past two decades.

As the final chapter in Grant Morrison's magnum opus, this book delivers the goods with outstanding art by Bond (and others) and a head-scratching ending, that makes you wish there was a coda published later... unless you go back and re-read the entire tale and you'll see that Morrison wove the story all back together.

Definitely worth the money and the time spent reading.

"The Invisible Kingdom" is one of the best maxi-series I can think of. It is the 12-issue conclusion to Grant Morrison's magnum opus, The Invisibles, and like the issues that preceded it, it is extremely cryptic and not recommended for the casual reader.

That said, I will give you the pros and cons of the volume in my not-so-humble opinion. Oh yeah, SPOILER WARNING and all that.

PROS:

-Jack Frost is my favorite character in The Invisibles and this volume has some great Jack moments. His training under Elfayed is brilliant and his assertion to King Mob that he will continue to be an Invisible even if King Mob leaves are great. The last issue, where he fulfills the prophecy that got him into the whole mess, is equally brilliant.

-King Mob, my second favorite character, also has some great moments, like when he is rescued from certain death by Audrey Murray (the wife of a man he killed early in the series).

-Seeing more of Mr. Six is always a treat. He's almost as cool as King Mob!

-The first arc, "Satanstorm", was great. Phillip Bond is an amazing artist--check out his work in Vimamarama, another Grant Morrison collaboration.

-The last arc, before the final issue, "The Invisible Kingdom", is also good, despite the varied artwork (I have this wish that one day I will become rich enough to pay Phil Jiminez to redraw the first 11 issues, including this arc of this volume as a special gift).

-The final issue, "Glitterdammerung!", was one of the best in the whole series. It was confusing as hell, but then again so is the whole series so it didn't really matter. "Our sentence is up." is another great line from Jack Frost.

CONS:

-The second story arc, "Karmageddon", though well written, didn't fit with the story and took attention away from the plot (as well as Jack Frost ;)).

-Helga's character, as another reviewer mentioned before me, was a painfully annoying character until she actually did something in the last arc.

-And of course, some of the artwork (especially John Ridgway and Jill Thompson's) was just inexcusable bad.

CONCLUSIONS:

All in all, this volume, as well as the whole series, is a great read and I recommend it to anyone who is smart enough to know what "Manichean" means.

...but it seems like Grant himself, whom I respect, didn't know how to wrap things up. This TPB is the MOST disgusting one , considering splatter put in the story, and, sometimes plain boring. End is unclear, and reminds me of what Arthur Clarke said once : 'I don't explain anything'. Puzzling ending for my fave characters, could it have been better?

The Invisibles is by far the best, and the most original, comic book series out there. Many do not think this a fitting ending, and though the artwork does not compliment Morrison's writing, the dialogue and plot more than make up for it. I fervently believe this has the best ending in any work of fiction (comic, movie, book, TV show, the list goes on and on) ever. Grant Morrison is the most innovative writer in any medium, and the Invisibles is easily his best work. The evolution of Jack's character is worth the price of admission, as well as Bond's artwork in the beginning arc (check out Vimanarama!, his latest collaboration with Grant Morrison). All in all, this is one of my favorite volumes of the Invisibles, and is definately worth multiple reads, especially if you want to understand what the @$%# he's talking about!!! So read the Invisibles, and join the everfilling ranks of those who believe Morrison is a comics god.

Here it is, the final book of creator/writer Grant Morrison's Invisibles series. Books 1-3 collected Volume 1, Books 4-6 collected Volume 2, and Book 7 collects Volume 3 in its entirety. The previous two volumes had been over twenty issues each, but Volume 3 was only 12 issues, something which seems to spark much debate, these days.

I have seen many claims that Volume 3 was only 12 issues due to low sales, that DC/Vertigo requested Morrison to wrap up his series in half the time, to cut costs. This is simply not true. Volume 3 is Morrison's full vision; nothing was cut out due to editorial constraints. Here are Morrison's exact words, shortly before beginning Volume 3: "Volume 3 will appear as three four-part arcs-`Satanstorm'; `Karmageddon' and `The Invisible Kingdom'- in 1999. And then it's all done and I can go off and have my mid-life crisis in Tibet. There are some fears that this may not work and that `sales' will be dealt a permanent blow, but I prefer to have faith in all you wunnerful people out there who've stayed on the bus so far, and I'd like to think you'd rather see The Invisibles completed as intended than have me hack it out to meet a monthly deadline."

As it's the final book in the series, you might expect The Invisible Kingdom to answer questions and end the long journey. Unfortunately, you would be mistaken. In fact, most of Volume 3 doesn't even feel like the Invisibles we know and love. Where Volume 1 was slow-paced and focused on characterization, and Volume 2 was focused on action and metaphysics, Volume 3 seems like a totally different series. The main cause for this is that the Invisibles themselves are relegated to supporting-character status; Mr. Six and his Division X pals and archvillain Sir Miles Delacourt instead get the most "screen time," with King Mob, Jack, and Fanny reduced to small parts.

To make things worse, when Morrison DOES feature the Invisibles, instead of using the characters we already know, he instead tortures us with a new Invisible named Helga, who is probably the most annoying character in the series. Morrison obviously doesn't think so, however, as he gives Helga just about every "cool" line and "outrageous" action he can think of, in an attempt to make her cutting edge. Instead, she comes off as an annoyingly pretentious bore, and it doesn't help that Morrison fails to give her any sort of background or emotional makeup. What makes this all the more frustrating is that he uses this character so much, and totally ignores more interesting female Invisibles Ragged Robin and Boy. It's like Morrison ran out of ideas for the main characters, and had to come up with someone new to carry the plot; the problem is, he couldn't have chosen a worse lead character.

That being said, Book 7 picks up with Mr. Six and Division X, last seen in Book 3: "Entropy in the UK." They're still hot on the trail of Miles Delacourt and the monstrous "future king" of England. Meanwhile, Mr. Six strives to help his teammates remember that they're actually undercover Invisibles agents. In addition to this, Six and Helga attempt to deprogram Sir Miles. While this is going on, Jack Frost is in Africa with Jolly Roger, where he comes closer to realizing his Buddhahood. King Mob is mostly out of the picture, off meditating in India, trying to rid himself of the need to kill.

After laying to rest 99 year-old Invisible Edith, King Mob et al reunite for the final showdown with Miles Delacourt and the demonic Archons he serves. This culminates in a satanic crowning of the monstrous king on August 11, 1999, in a horrific ceremony which entails the butchering of children and homeless victims. Instead of an action scene as in Volume 2, the events play out more along the lines of the mystical denouement of Volume 1, with Jack Frost once again proving he is the most powerful human alive.

The above two paragraphs make the events of Volume 3 sound rather simplistic. This is not the case. As I mentioned, since this is the final volume of the series, one might expect Morrison to answer questions. Instead, he chooses to make Volume 3 as opaque and difficult as possible. Even the dialog doesn't help to sort things out; the characters don't talk to each other, they trade "I'm too cool" banter. What makes this all the more grating is that Morrison so obviously has taken his themes and plots from the works of Robert Anton Wilson and Terrence McKenna; but unlike those authors, who always guide the reader through their labyrinthine visions, Morrison instead tosses everything into a blender and hopes it all comes out "cool." Therefore, the chance for any emotional impact is pretty much lost.

Volume 3 is saved by the final story of the series, "Glitterdammerung." Fully illustrated by Frank Quitely, this is possibly the single best issue of the Invisibles. The previous 11 issues of Volume 3 wrapped up the series storyline, but it was up to "Glitterdammerung" to explain what the series itself was all about. Set in 2012 , the story operates more as a metaphysical look back at the series than as a linear tale. It does tie up several subplots, and also ends the series on a defiantly anarchic note, as Jack Frost frees himself from the confines of the comic itself. This story alone gives Book 7 a 4-star rating.

The secret revealed in Book 7 is this (avoid this paragraph if you hate spoilers, though if you know this, it probably wouldn't "spoil" anything, anyway!): the Invisibles is a game, one that is being played by someone (John A'Dreams? Jack Frost? YOU?). Toward the very end of the series, several characters begin to figure this out, most notably John A'Dreams, a white-suited former Invisible who disappeared before the events in Book 1: "Say You Want a Revolution." The idea is that the Invisibles is a reality-model experienced by those who wish to gain gnosis; hence the many, many times the phrase "Remember. It's just a game" was stated throughout Books 1-6. This entails the characters realizing they are not only works of fiction, but that each of them might even be the same person, only playing different characters, or "suits," as one enlightened character calls them. I've always felt this is Morrison's skewed way of interpreting the gnostic "all are one" belief, that all humans share one collective, unconscious soul - aka "God."

The art in Volume 3 is a mess. Volume 1 of the Invisibles was plagued with a succession of artists, some good, some terrible. Volume 2 corrected this in a big way. Unfortunately Volume 3 goes back to Volume 1 territory, only it's worse. Instead of different artists handling different story arcs, multiple artists work on the SAME story. This was a terrible idea on Morrison's part, and I think it backfired on him, as the art was so underwhelming in some places that DC/Vertigo had to have certain pages re-illustrated for this collection. Book 7 starts off promising enough, with Philip Bond and Warren Pleece's cartoonish art, but then it quickly falls to pieces when the "multiple artist" scenario rears its head. Quitely saves the day at the end however, and his art on "Glitterdammerung" is just as phenomenal as his work on Morrison's "Flex Mentallo." Special mention must also be made of Brian Bolland's cover art for this trade paperback. He's "remixed" the 12 original covers he did for Volume 3; one in particular, a "Sgt Pepper's" send-up, would make for a perfect poster.

Even though this review has been mostly negative, Book 7 is still required reading for all those who have made it this far. Morrison finishes the series in the fashion he intended from the start, and the character arcs are unique and inspiring. For example, what other work of fiction would feature a character like King Mob, who realizes over the course of the series that he's degenerating into a killer? Bruce Willis can kill umpteen terrorists in the "Die Hard" films and not once question if he himself is becoming as murderous as his enemies; King Mob instead gains enlightenment, and realizes that all life is precious. Of course, if something like this happened in a mainstream action film, audiences would write it off as tree-hugging schlock. But here it works, mostly because Morrison aimed for something higher with the Invisibles. And most of the time, he succeeded.

I'm only halfway through 52, having finished the first and now the second volumes of the series. But, the suspense and action of the first seems to take a back seat in the second. There are lengthy Black Adam sequences (which don't go anywhere, really, at least yet), goofy sequences with mad scientists, Lobo and cosmic dolphins, and even Egg-Fu as a character. It seems the authors were really trying to push the envelope a bit and include almost every DCU character, sometimes to the story's detriment.

Still, there are a lot of good things about the story (Question and Renee, Ralph Dibny, etc.) and the included authors' notes. I read it excitedly and am looking forward to volume three, which I hope resolves some of the seemingly unnecessary and odd elements of this one.

It's always a thrill to see Lobo, especially when Keith Giffen is involved--and this collection gets bonus points for featuring the first appearance of the Ambush Bug in almost two decades. The Intergang and Checkmate intrigue steps up, Black Adam is married, and Ralph Dibny goes a little nuts (...or does he?).

I'll repeat what I wrote for Volume 1: These new editions are well worth the wait. They include additional material such as essays and sketches by all of the key talent in the series. "52" is a step above the previous "Infinite Crisis" event that preceded it, and about 52 times better than the "Countdown" disasterpiece.

While the first volume of this series was full of suspense, tight plotting, and revelatory scenes, this volume meanders through a lot of humdrum situations and doesn't really go anywhere. All the story lines barely move along the continuum of storytelling, with Ralph Dibney's tale and that of the space-trio of Animal Man, Adam Strange, and Starfire getting even shorter thrift than the others. The artwork isn't as sharp, either, which puts a supreme damper on some of the activity.

The saving grace of this volume is the John Steele storyline detailing Lex Luthor's plan to enable anyone to become a superhero.

I already have Volume 3, and will read it since I bought it. I hope I like it as much as Volume 1!

DC's 52 was highly ambitious, which made me more than a little nervous, since projects as big as these usually fall flat. With the big three missing, Superman, Batman, and Wonder Woman, DC picks up some acilliary characters and kind of turns them into the modern age superheroes. Really DC is trying to kick start some other books. But they do a good job, especially since there is a book a week. Bravo gentlemen.

The strain of holding together a story written by four people is beginning to show. The art by committee is nothing to brag about either.

I found this book to be an excellent addition to my (growing) collection of books. Morrison has the ability to find a common problem and create a simple spell/empowerment to help with the problem. She has been a sterling example to me about how to keep spells simple, and about how to add new magic into your life. Tarot magic is not something everyone knows much about, and this is a simple guide that can be an excellent jumping off point for delving farther into this type of magic. Some people find the card destruction offensive, but I make color copies of my cards and just use those. It doesn't offend my deck, and still allows me to access the powerful symbolism of the cards. A must read!

I own every single Dorothy Morrison book and I feel as if she has become my mentor. Her books are filled with everything one needs to learn and explore the magic of tarot,the moon and the sun. I have been a fan for a long time and my first book entitled :Everyday Magic" was so detailed with spells, tables and other appropiate information I had to purchase her other books. Anyone can follow her spells,they are accurate,detailed, and comprehensive. What I like most about Ms. Morrison is her positive energy that clearly shines though all of her books. I have referenced all of her books for several years now and I feel as if she has become a gentle mentor. Her books are warm and full of magical intent, easy to read,exciting and a must have for any witch's library! She recently was the guest of honor at the Pagan Pride festival in Lakeville,MA and I was not able to attend. I was very upset at not meeting Ms. Morrison and I hope she will make other visits to this area as well as others. It would be a honor to meet such a wonderful and positive writer.

I absolutely adore Ms Morrison's writing and books, so I was very excited when I finally ordered this and got it in the mail. I was never very familiar with the Tarot before I read this, and after reading this, I feel that I have a much greater grasp of it. Her writing style is to the point and friendly without being too aggressively-friendly, which makes it easy to follow and charming to read. Her meditations with each card are treasured, and the spells are varied and simple to use. She also gives personal stories about her experiences with the Tarot, which help the reader (especially the beginner) to relieve any fears or doubts that they might have. Although it isn't the "most definitive" text on the Tarot out there, it is certainly one not to be missed.

Dorothy Morrison truly is concise and presice with her teaching of the tarot!A book for all..from Novices to the more learned.
Very easy to understand and apply.
I highly recommend this book to all.Way to go Dorothy!

I cannot believe I read through most of this piece of Yule kindling, much less spent money on it! I feel that Ms Morrison is fulfilling a writing contract with Llewellyn. They have some very venerable writers in their midst. Just because a new book can be produced each year, doesnt make it good!

On that note, this little tome contains very little useful and sane information regarding this beloved form of mysticism. I had nightmares after reading the first few chapters regarding spirits following your cards. And the nonsense about reading for oneself is absolute rubbish! How can one one learn the cards? Reading for drunks in a bar seems preferred.

As for the magic, there are many other books out there that provide safe and sane methods for your cards! Janina Renee's Tarot Spells or Terry Donaldson's Tarot Spellcaster are great sources. If there is a spell for using the cards in picking a better author...

This book waltzes through conceptually difficult material for the novice SQL'er. Correlated subqueries are given 3 pages. This is ridiculous! Furthermore, before a SQL novice can digest the conceptual ideas, Rishert presents examples which differ from what the novice is trying to digest. Yes, the examples present true information, but they leave the novice wondering what makes sense. The book needs a re-write if it wants to be presented to the community as a 'learning tool'. I'd recommend it to a novice provided the novice has a tutor on call.

The book informs you of various sql commands, but fails to give you the general syntax. If what you are trying to do has not been explicitely done in the book, it is unlikely to find what you are looking for in the book. The book is truly a workbook, and nothing else, and should not be purchased as an oracle sql refrence book.

I teach college computer classes, although my BA & MA are in linguistics. The only computer course I've actually taken was a non-credit course in Oracle SQL. I was pretty satisfied with it.

I'm only in lab 2 of 16 in this book, and have already learned MANY new things! It's very well written, giving you a little, testing you a little, etc. I strongly recommend it.

Could you master a foreign language with a reference work? If so, then this book is not for you because you're already a guru. Oracle Press books handle that nicely. SQL is analogous to a foreign language, and most people learn foreign languages through extensive exercises that build towards mastery. This book does that, and, as such, there's little out there that compares. If you patiently enter every SQL query in this book and break it down into its constituent parts, examine each query's output, do every exercise even if it means looking at the solution as you solve it, complete every "Test Your Thinking" exercise, redo chapters 4, 5, and 7 at every opportunity, and think, this book will become the most extensive SQL reference work you can imagine--that's right SQL, not simply Oracle's implementation of it. This is because this book shows you how to apply SQL in ways you may not have imagined (my brain still hurts). The drawbacks: (1) Oracle dbase software required for the companion dbase--don't get this book if you don't have access to Oracle because it relies on intimate knowledge of the companion dbase, (2) dizziness from the frequency of your hand smacking your forehead when asking yourself "Why didn't I think of that"? The prose is succinct and elegant in its clarity except for chapter 7, where the need for and role of correlative subqueries, inline views, and scalar subquery expressions and the theory behind them could have been explicated better, particularly where and when they can/should substitute for equijoins. Specifically, a one-stop-shopping set of guidelines as to when these types of subqueries are desirable over their equijoin counterparts would have been very helpful.

I really liked reading and doing the lessons in this book. The hands-on exercises are fantastic. Better yet, there were a few things I didn't understand clearly, and so I e-mail the author and she answers any questions that I might have. There are a few minor glitches in the book, some proof-read errors, which most of them are corrected on their web site which are listed on theot errata page. I've already reported a couple errors that I found and will update their proof-read error page. One annoying thing was having to turn back and forth to the back of the book to see the database schema diagram. The best thing to do is just photo copy the diagram so you don't have to constantly turn to the back of the book while doing the exercises.

This is the second collcetion of the Invisibles - and it helps to have read the first a couple of times, as the story and dimensions twist and turn even more in this second outing of Jack Frost, King Mob and the rest of the crew.

As you can judge from the cover - there is a darker undertone in this volume, death in his various incarnations plays a more central role as we are given a broader glimpse into the world of the Invisibles.

Does contain some strong passages, as this is not a mainstream comic book with caped heroes - but a dark tale in the spirit of Alan Moore (Watchmen and V for Vendetta)

...it begins with some one shots, some of them incredibly realistic and humane, and continues into Lord Fanny origin, which is Castaneda meets Morrison. The trade is coherent and not so psychodelic like rest of series is.

If you like this, get Say You Want A Revolution

The Invisibles hits an early peak with this collection, which features issues 9-16 of the series' first volume. It kicks off in slightly arbitrary fashion with 23: Things Fall Apart, which surely would have been more comfortable nestling up at the end of Say You Want A Revolution as a coda to the Arcadia story-arc reprinted there.

Still, beginnings as endings is a recurring theme throughout the series so it's just possible that the editors in charge of the Invisibles' release in graphic novel format are less incompetant and insane than the books' slapdash release schedule would seem to indicate.

Even this early in the title's run Grant Morrison is already going out of his way to shade our perception of the story and its protagonists, sowing seeds that will only grow to full bloom a year or more down the road. This can be seen first in the characters' varying reactions to the bloodbath of the opening issue, but it's telling that Morrison is willing to take (almost) an entire issue away from his main characters to continue the process, resulting in one of the best, most innovative stories of the entire series - the elegant, borderline-heartbreaking Best Man Fall.

From that high (or possibly low) we're immediately picked up and pitched straight into another. The She-Man arc is an example of that rarest of comic-book beasts - a back-story that actually serves to make the character involved more interesting. It helps of course that the character in question is the dazzling Lord Fanny ("I'm an international freedom fighter AND a photogenic witch, darling. I'm the most glamerous creature you'll ever meet!") and helps even more that the immensely talented Jill Thompson is on pencilling duty, but the net result is a story of initiation that's both brutal and - no pun intended - magical. Oh, and for good measure it concludes with the biggest, sheerest cliffhanger of the series so far, one that'll have any sane person scrabbling to get hold of Entropy In The UK, the collection that concludes Volume 1.

Throw in the always-fun Jim Crow making his scholck-horror debut, Jack/Dane trying (and mostly failing) to come to terms with his new place in the world, and a couple of absolutely belting covers and all in all you've got what is, despite strong competition, probably my favourite Invisibles graphic novel.

Plus it's got the best title of anything, ever. This isn't even open for debate.

A few years ago I read a bunch of Invisibles books, but somehow always missed this one. I might have stayed away because of the femme cover/title, and the inside art is all over the place quality-wise.

I'm wishing that I had picked it up sooner, though, because the storylines here are among the best in the series, and maybe in comicdom. One story I loved: yuppies at a pharmaceutical company distribute a crack that kills the bodies of users and leaves them as empty vessels for the yuppies to "joy ride." Another: the back story of Lord Fanny and her psychosexual "spirit quest" to become a transsexual witch.

For those who haven't been exposed to The Invisibles, you need to check this series out. I find it more twisted, more compelling, and more fringe than any of the other series I've read, including Transmetropolitan and Preacher. In fact, this is light-years beyond anything published in drab-text "Literature."

Book 2 of the Invisibles picks right up from Book 1's cliffhanger ending: Dane, one of his fingers chopped off by the sadistic (and demonic) Orlando, has taken flight, and the Invisibles have to find him. Unfortunately, heavily-armed "Myrmidons" have surrounded them, and what follows is the first all-out action scene since the very beginning of Book 1.

After this, things slow down a little, as creator/writer Grant Morrison "opens up" the world of the Invisibles. Even though we still don't know much about our main characters (King Mob, Boy, Ragged Robin, Lord Fanny), Morrison introduces new people to the fold, and we see how the exploits of the Invisibles affect the rest of the world.

First we are introduced to one of the more monstrous creatures ever witnessed in mass media entertainment, something that just might be the next king of England. Then we meet Jim Crow, an Invisible witch doctor who's both a world-famous rapper and a host for sacrifice-hungry voodoo spirits. And finally we are given one of the best single-issue stories in the series, "Best Man Fall," which, despite its seeming insignificance to the larger story, possesses more heart and emotion than any other in the series' history. A nonlinear narrative, this story shows how the "other side" works, and for once we see how our "heroes" (King Mob in particular) could just as easily be seen as "the bad guys." This is a great story, and worth the price of Book 2 alone.

The book closes out with a story arc that revolves around transvestite shaman Lord Fanny, in which we see his/her initiation as a young boy into the world of the supernatural. At the same time, the forces of darkness close in on the Invisibles in the present, and the two storylines merge into a narrative that defies the laws of the time/space continuum.

This arc is the first glimmerings of Morrison's grander scheme with the series; whereas before the Invisibles worked on an us-versus-them mentality, now we slowly begin to see that there are larger ideas at play. The volume ends with a story showing where Jack went, after his escape in the book's opening story, and finalizes his character arc from defiant loner to full-fledged Invisible.

The artwork is again split among various artists, with my favorite being Chris Weston in the Jim Crow story (Weston later became the regular artist, after Phil Jimenez's run on the title). Jill Thompson turns in the first story, capping off her run that began in Book 1, and she returns with the Lord Fanny arc, with a few one-off artists filling in on the other stories. Again, the artwork is nowhere near the level of Morrison's writing, but it's not terrible. In fact, the art takes second place to the writing in the Invisibles, because this isn't "just" a comic book: the Invisibles is subversive literature of the highest order.