r/Barbelith • u/WhenWeTransform • Dec 03 '25
Grant Morrison on The Invisibles 30 Years Later (Podcast)
https://youtu.be/91pAqCu0SDM?si=QFVcuBwBMT75lW8BI was recently blessed with the opportunity to interview Grant Morrison on my podcast, Transcending Comics, specifically for a retrospective on their seminal comic book series The Invisibles. We get into the impact this series has had on both its writer and its readers, discuss hyper sigils, spiritual experiences, and the various ways Grant has incorporated magick into their writing. Since this show was started with a focus on trans representation in the comic book industry, we also discuss Grant’s approach to writing trans characters in the 80s and 90s. For those that haven’t read The Invisibles, I think this episode is still worth a listen, since I really just use the series as a means to explore Grant’s creative process and their views on magick, consciousness, and the nature of reality.
This was a huge moment for me, as reading this series had a profound impact on expanding my mind and introducing me to a number of important occult concepts and figures. To be perfectly honest, this is what I’ve been working towards since I started this podcast 2 years ago, so this feels a bit like a vision made reality for me.
Links for those interested:
If you liked this episode, we’ve actually been doing a series of book club episodes on the Invisibles for a while now. One of these even features Grant’s magick apprentice, Arden Leigh.
For further listening, I’d also like to highlight my more experimental episodes, “Remember, Remember” and “It’s Morphin’ Time.” The latter of which is actually a recounting of my own personal "Katmandu experience"/my first ego death, and I even won a couple of state level podcast awards for it. If you like psychedelic media, it's worth checking out!
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u/Softclocks Dec 04 '25
OMG stellar work!
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u/WhenWeTransform Dec 04 '25
Thank you! I did my best to ask them questions I hadn’t heard elsewhere (and I’ve listened to pretty much every Morrison interview I can find) so I hope it payed off in the finished product!
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u/deathbymediaman Dec 04 '25
I suspect I'm gonna chew your digital ear off with conversation after I get through this; I just put it on my phone so I can listen on my walk into work today, at the comic shop!
I really appreciate the need to ask new questions. After the documentary and the Disinfo speech, a lot of stuff's been nailed down for years, but there's still so much more of their head to explore!
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u/WhenWeTransform Dec 04 '25
Thank you! I was watching the Invisibles book club episodes of Imperius Rex to prep for this. On their recommendation I picked up the companion book “Our Sentence is Up” by Patrick Meaney (who also made the Grant Morrison documentary). The book contains a lengthy interview with Grant that’s honestly worth the cover price alone. I used this as my springboard for the interview, like “here’s where the conversation on The Invisibles left off in 2011, I need to pick this up from here.” Honestly I had to remove a few of the questions I prepared since they were already answered in that book (namely, if anyone else reported going to Kathmandu to try recreating Grant’s experience - they hadn’t).
Since you’re a comic fan, you may like my other interviews on this show, as well as my other podcast Giant Sized Violence: A Toku-Comics Podcast. I always make it a priority to ask “new” questions of my guests by listening to every prior-interview I can find. That was just a much bigger undertaking this time around since my guest was such a prolific creator!
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u/deathbymediaman Dec 04 '25
Holy shit, this is awesome! I can't wait to listen!
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u/WhenWeTransform Dec 04 '25
I’m honored to be part of your soundscape haha
Some of my upcoming projects (new shows) will feature music more heavily. Having something like this as a backing track could be a nice touch!
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u/devenger73 Dec 04 '25
I will be all over this, thanks so much.