The Invisibles: Kissing Mister Quimper by Grant Morrison and Chris Weston (graphic novel review)
The more I read ‘The Invisibles’, even 25 years into its future, our present, bearing in mind I haven’t read any of the background about the stories, I’m still wondering what writer Grant Morrison was taking when creating these stories. Some things he’s obviously taken to task which he admits in one of the early books, so I wasn’t the only one to notice things, identifying all the lead characters in the opening and even the plot of the previous graphic novel. The fact that this Invisibles team is taking some time off in New Orleans before their next adventure ends up being surreal based off their sexual habits and a touch of Lovecraft demons that pop up briefly and go away. Morrison also has a new artist in the shape of Chris Weston who adds the likenesses of actors John Mills and Richard E. Grant into the mix.
A lot of the focus is on how Ragged Robin arrived in the present from the future, locked up in an asylum for a while before giving high ESP results from testing. There is also the capture of her time machine and its inventor looking at it so he can invent it. Then there is the matter of Mister Quimper, a dwarf with who appears to wearing a mechanical mask. Unravelling what is going on is as difficult for the team as it is the reader because of the misdirections.
How far to go without going spoiler is awkward because the story meanders over the same plot. I do have to wonder if Morrison has read the Illuminatus Trilogy because it’s referenced in all but name as Ragged Robin recognises she’s a fictional character after her time machine travels.
Am I any wiser? Still not sure. This is not a typical let alone untypical super-hero team. I still think Morrison’s ‘Doom Patrol’ is his better opus from what I’ve read of his material. So must have others or it wouldn’t have been used so much in the TV series.
GF Willmetts
November 2025
(pub: DC Comics/Vertigo, 2000. 220 page graphic novel softcover. Price: varies. ISBN: 978-1-56389-690-2)
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