Freedom2014: Grant Morrison and Rian Hughes' The Key

31 March 2014

An exclusive comic created by graphic artists Grant Morrison and Rian Hughes for the BBC's freedom2014 season. The award-winning artists 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.

The Key - title page with an image of two keys - one is grey (a state key) the other is made up of lots of small individual keys in different designs and colours

Grant Morrison and Rian Hughes

Our hero - a figure, faceless and sexless, with a bag covering his head - stands on the end of a pier surrounded by three soldiers of the state who are pointing guns at him.

Grant Morrison and Rian Hughes

The hero has a key hanging around his neck on a chain. It is ripped from his neck by one of the soldiers.

Grant Morrison and Rian Hughes

The key, which is quite ornate, is then dangled in front of the hero's face...

Grant Morrison and Rian Hughes

... the key is dropped into the water below the hero's feet.

Grant Morrison and Rian Hughes

The soldier smiles and holds up a different key - it is grey and plain with a long number on it. It is a uniform state key.

Grant Morrison and Rian Hughes

The soldier uses the key to lock a padlock around the hero's neck instead.

Grant Morrison and Rian Hughes

Meanwhile in the city, we see surveillance drones fly high above people with thought bubbles above their heads, each containing the 'state' key.

Grant Morrison and Rian Hughes

Close up of padlocks on chains hanging around people's necks.

Grant Morrison and Rian Hughes

A silhouette image of the guard kicking the hero off the pier.

Grant Morrison and Rian Hughes

Our hero falls into the water, with his arms tied into a straightjacket and the padlock chained around his neck.

Grant Morrison and Rian Hughes

Our hero sinks deep into the water, following the path of the ornate key which had been originally ripped from his neck.

Grant Morrison and Rian Hughes

Our hero sinks even deeper into the Abyss. The chains continue to drag him down in a foam of bubbles. The ornate key seems to be further away.

Grant Morrison and Rian Hughes

The soldiers watch from the pier, there are some ripples in the water.

Grant Morrison and Rian Hughes

The soldiers continue to watch as the ripples get fainter.

Grant Morrison and Rian Hughes

The captain of the soldiers looks at his watch.

Grant Morrison and Rian Hughes

Still looking at his watch, the captain smiles and gives the thumbs up.

Grant Morrison and Rian Hughes

An image of the hero - faceless and sexless - appears with an image of his ornate key. Our hero's face is marked with a big red X.

Grant Morrison and Rian Hughes

Back in the city and the same image of our hero's face, marked with the red cross, appears on a big screen for people to see.

Grant Morrison and Rian Hughes

A figure turns and stares at the picture.

Grant Morrison and Rian Hughes

Grant Morrison and Rian Hughes

A close up of her face, some sort of realisation dawns upon her. She stares open-mouthed.

Grant Morrison and Rian Hughes

Suddenly, she yells - a speech bubble appears with a picture of her key, but it is not the state key, it is more beautiful and individual.

Grant Morrison and Rian Hughes

Meanwhile, back to the water and the hero's key is still sinking.

Grant Morrison and Rian Hughes

As it reaches the sea bed there are lots of other keys - again they are not the state keys, but a variety of individual ones.

Grant Morrison and Rian Hughes

In the city people scream, speech bubbles appear, all with their individual, unique, keys inside.

Grant Morrison and Rian Hughes

People take their keys from around their necks and unlock their padlocks, which also hang around their necks.

Grant Morrison and Rian Hughes

A silhouette of someone unlocking another person's padlock

Grant Morrison and Rian Hughes

People remove the padlocks, which had been around their necks

Grant Morrison and Rian Hughes

People stand behind a chain-link fence.

Grant Morrison and Rian Hughes

They start attaching their padlocks to the fence.

Grant Morrison and Rian Hughes

A close up of a padlock on the fence

Grant Morrison and Rian Hughes

A close up of people holding hands behind the fence.

Grant Morrison and Rian Hughes

Even closer up on the hands - so close up the fence can hardly be seen.

Grant Morrison and Rian Hughes

Back looking over the water, ripples appear on the surface.

Grant Morrison and Rian Hughes

Now bubbles appear...

Grant Morrison and Rian Hughes

And a hand - the hero's hand - bursts from the water full of lots of different keys.

Grant Morrison and Rian Hughes

End page - lots of grey state keys in lines.

Grant Morrison and Rian Hughes

Followed by a page of coloured, ornate individual keys

Grant Morrison and Rian Hughes

Around the BBC

BBC News - Freedom 2014