Opting for ontological terrorism: Freedom and control in Grant Morrison's The Invisibles

Anarchism is typically understood as an ideology advocating the abolition of all forms of institutional authority in favor of natural order and, as such, is easily dismissed as overly simplistic and unrealistically optimistic. A more relevant and less utopian conception of anarchism, "ontological terrorism," is described in Grant Morrison's science-fiction comic book series The Invisibles. This paper locates The Invisibles in relation to other works of anarchist fiction, traces the evolution of Morrison's depiction of anarchism within the series from orthodox anarchism to ontological terrorism, and demonstrates how ontological terrorism subverts the dualistic relationship between freedom and control. Law, Culture and the Humanities 2007; 3: 435-454