Tag Archives: Alexandro Jodorowsky

Showman Killer: Heartless Hero

Hermetic Library fellow T Polyphilus reviews Showman Killer: Heartless Hero by Alexandro Jodorowsky, illustrated by Nicolas Fructus, translated by Ivanka Hannenberger.

Alexandro Jodorowsky Showman Killer Heartless Hero

Heartless Hero is the first volume of the Showman Killer series of graphic novels, which seem to be Alejandro Jodorowsky’s most recent published work in English. (The French original was issued in 2010.) Although this story doesn’t have any narrative continuity with the Incal/Metabarons/etc., Jodorowsky is still telling the same kind of story: an anti-hero taking on a galactic empire, with mystical portents. The protagonist here is the titular “Showman Killer,” an invulnerable assassin capable of destroying armies in the blink of an eye. This first volume recounts his creation, his independence from the scientist who engineered him, and his mercenary ambitions. He is drawn into intrigue for the throne of the Omnimonarch, and encounters a mysterious woman who has visited his dreams.

There is (predictably, given the plot summary above) a lot of violence and gore in this volume, although I suppose some readers might be more bothered by the occasional nudity. Artist Nicholas Fructus has a background in animation, and has worked with luminaries like Druillet and Moebius. His art here is very painterly and effective.” [via]

Madwoman of the Sacred Heart

Hermetic Library fellow T Polyphilus reviews Madwoman of the Sacred Heart by Alexandro Jodorowsky and Jean Moebius Giraud.

Alexandro Jodorowsky Jean Moebius Giraud Madwoman of the Sacred Heart

An intellectually self-absorbed, incontinent university professor serves as the protagonist in this mystical adventure with themes of messianic apocalypse, and eventually psychedelic initiation. Supernatural elements are introduced very gradually, and at first it is easy for the reader to join Professor Mangel in dismissing them. There’s a lot of sex, as Mangel struggles with the reintegration of his carnal consciousness, and his companions foster the revolutionary cult of the god-goddess Jesusa. As Jodorowsky often does in other stories, such as his Incal tales, the skeptical ignorance of the protagonist drives much of the plot and its tension.

This collection makes for a good, self-contained read. It should be avoided by those who don’t appreciate explicit sex, mystical blasphemy, or controversial politics. [via]

 

The Hermetic Library Reading Room is an imaginary and speculative future reification of the library in the physical world, a place to experience a cabinet of curiosities offering a confabulation of curation, context and community that engages, archives and encourages a living Western Esoteric Tradition. If you would like to contribute to the Hermetic Library Reading Room, consider supporting the library or contact the librarian.

Before The Incal

Hermetic Library fellow T Polyphilus reviews Before The Incal Classic Collection by Alexandro Jodorowsky, illustrated by Zoran Janjetov:

Alexandro Jodorowsky and Zoran Janjetov's Before The Incal

 

This volume collects the full-length prequel series that provides background for the classic Jodo/Moebius Incal books. The stories are all set on the planet Earth 2014, and they center on the young John Difool, particularly the vicissitudes of his romance with an aristo girl Luz and his progress from gutter rat to revolutionary to detective.

Jodorowsky’s storytelling is as fun as ever, although these are heavy on the social satire, and they don’t dive as deeply into the mythic strata that dominate The Incal. The sixth and last of the parts of Before the Incal is a little frenetic, making connections and tying up loose ends in order to maintain the continuity between this arc and that one. Even so, it seems like an incipient galactic revolution got lost somewhere between the two books.

Janjetov’s art is terrific. According to the Lambiek Comiclopedia, Janjetov first worked with Jodorowsky and Jean “Moebius” Giraud as a colorist on some issues of the original Incal series, and he had the express blessing of Moebius to continue the work with Jodo. In Before the Incal, he mostly emulates Moebius’s style from the earlier material, but he occasionally experiments (quite successfully) with integrating the more highly-rendered style that he would later use in other Incal-related books (Metabarons and Technopriests). [via]

 

 

The Hermetic Library Reading Room is an imaginary and speculative future reification of the library in the physical world, a place to experience a cabinet of curiosities offering a confabulation of curation, context and community that engages, archives and encourages a living Western Esoteric Tradition. If you would like to contribute to the Hermetic Library Reading Room, consider supporting the library or contact the librarian.

The Incal

Hermetic Library fellow T Polyphilus reviews The Incal Classic Collection by Alexandro Jodorowsky, illustrated by Moebius, introduced by Brian Michael Bendis:

Alexandro Jodorowsky and Moebius' The Incal

 

This beautiful hardcover collects the six original books of Jodorowsky and Moebius’s classic science fiction epic The Incal, originally published in French in the 1980s. A work as self-consciously mythic as this one is going to invite comparison to many other tales. But some of the lines of influence here are pretty obvious, with references falling outside the medium of comics into science fiction novels and films, as well as esoteric traditions.

Clearly, Frank Herbert’s Dune played a major part, with the contention of corrupted factions in a galactic empire, framed by a mystical apocalypse. Qabalistic references include the “theta dream” of Tiphareth, succeeded by the “daath dream” ascending the Tree of Life.

While the influence of The Incal on Luc Besson’s film The Fifth Element is so overwhelming as to incite accusations of plagiarism, it can also be traced in movies like The Matrix and its sequels. Jodorowski’s antihero John Difool is not Neo, who could be compared to the messianic Solune. Instead, as we see in “Planet Difool,” he actually bears closer comparison to Wachowskis’ Agent Smith!

The 10,000-light-year-view used in the narrative framing of The Incal leaves it open to accusations of stereotyped characters and perfunctory plotting. But this book occupies a pole diametrically opposed to literary realism; it is mystical allegory, in which the characters and factions represent spiritual orientations and capabilities. Moebius’s art is perfectly suited to its task here, and the revolting panels of the nightmare sequence near the book’s end are only rivalled by the exaltation that follows them.

Enjoyable in their own right, the contents of this volume are a landmark in the development of the graphic story medium and the science fiction genre. [via]

 

 

The Hermetic Library Reading Room is an imaginary and speculative future reification of the library in the physical world, a place to experience a cabinet of curiosities offering a confabulation of curation, context and community that engages, archives and encourages a living Western Esoteric Tradition. If you would like to contribute to the Hermetic Library Reading Room, consider supporting the library or contact the librarian.