The Invisibles Vol. 2: Apocalipstick

The Invisibles, Grant Morrison's brilliant series of magickal underground tales, exposes the naked spirituality of good and evil through gut-wrenching, psychedelic violence. Apocalipstick, the collected issues from midway through volume 1, tracks the career of new kid Jack Frost after he runs away from his wary pals in the Invisibles to come to terms with his power and his adulthood. Along the way we see humans hunted for sport, interdimensional monsters that would make H.P. Lovecraft puke, and a leisurely look at Lord Fanny's childhood. The penciling, always appropriate to Morrison's moods, ranges from brutal scratchings to startling clear drawings. While it's probably true that comics, like literature generally, can't be truly subversive any more, Apocalipstick shows how it could be done. --Rob Lightner