THE KEY: Grant Morrison & Rian Hughes

[Frank]

An exclusive comic created by Grant Morrison and Rian Hughes for the BBC's freedom2014 season. The award-winning creators tell a story of freedom, which, apart from the title, has no words. Find out more about the story behind The Key, in an interview with the creators.

[Frank]

No takers? Maybe I should have mentioned that it's free. If the lack of dialogue and sound effects is a problem for you, I used this as a soundtrack while reading.

[CrazyFoxMachine]

That's a very effective browser-friendly comic that - nice stark artwork from Hughes as well. Luvverly stuff.

[Frank]

That's a very effective browser-friendly comic that - nice stark artwork from Hughes as well. Luvverly stuff.

Aye - Hughes has obviously put a lot of thought into how to present the story, and scrolling down one continuous page feels more natural than the zig-zagging and page breaks involved in reading most comics digitally. The satisfying proportions of those huge panels mean it works just as well for smartphones as it does for the laptop.

[Jimmy Baker's Assistant]

I didn't really like it

Rian Hughes artwork is always a treat, but it's been a long time since I've enjoyed anything Morrison has written.

[Frank]

I didn't really like it Rian Hughes artwork is always a treat, but it's been a long time since I've enjoyed anything Morrison has written

I didn't love it, but it's a great curiosity and an interesting formal experiment. It's the kind of non-spandex, big idea narrative that would have interested the floppy fringe Morrison of the last time you enjoyed his work, although the only other dialogue free comic I'm aware of him writing was the episode of New X-Men he wrote when their entire line of comics produced a silent issue to commemorate the World Trade Centre attacks.

The Key is a deceptively simple affair. I spent an age trying to figure out the significance of the digits inscribed upon the key the bad guy uses on the hero's collar (16161633). My first guess was an IP address, which would chime with the strip's intention to reach folk in places where internet access is the only conduit to information and outlet for dissent, but I'll be fucked if I'm messing around with my laptop to find out.

I think I've worked it out, though, and it's an explanation that fits with the strip's portrayal of the way a single truth and individual example contains within it the potential for not just the dissemination of that idea, but the exponential creation of countless numbers of individual truths. I suspect Morrison's answer will turn out to be that the idea is for everyone to arrive at their own answer, but does anyone else fancy a guess? *


* or want to hear my own crackpot theory; please ask me, go on, go on, go on ...