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Difficult to get the measure of this, it appears to be another spiritual journey that reaffirms love in the end, but that is tempered by a clear enthusiasm for violence. The ending is explicitly revolutionary. As a reading experience, it is slightly less compelling for me than the 'Incal' cycle because the Metabarons as characters are a bit too 'unfeeling warrior' to draw you in, representing a lapse into high fantasy, where characters are masculine or feminine ideals or archetypes rather than people who breathe. It's difficult not to see this as intentional however, as Jodorowsky really does seem interested in presenting the kind of psychological makeup that would be required to be the ultimate indiscriminate killer or mercenary. The art by Giménez is incredible, absolutely stunning, and simply has to be experienced. The beauty of it is difficult to describe in words but it's simply some of the most stunningly imaginative art I've seen in books.
Juan Gimenez is a fine illustrator but but doesn't have the storytelling/comicking range of Moebius who previously collaborated with Jodorowsky in the universe of the Incal. His protagonists look far too often like they've stepped out of a 70s porn flick, to distracting effect - all pneumatic tits and arse and vein-ed brawn (also lovely, well maintained hair). He realises the setting of Jodorowsky's batshit metaphysical space opera/dynastic saga incredibly well though, providing vital visual world building that adds a lot to the story which meanders in usual Jodorowskian what the fuck style.
DNF (after issue #7; at page 204). Decided to rate it because I highly doubt my issues with it can be addressed in later chapters. I suppose some specific plot points might turn out to make slightly more sense, but after 204 pages I think I have a good enough grasp on the writing style, and find it reasonable to assume it will remain as it is.
Review:
A great love for science fiction, and for Dune in particular, can be seen on every page. Sadly, the writing is really bad.
It reminds me of a scene from Bojack Horseman (might not be exact), where Bojack and Todd get high on drugs and write what they think is a literary masterpiece, only once they’re sober they try reading it and find out it’s actually a mixture of incomprehensible nonsense and copy-pasted Wikipedia articles. This work is very similar, in the sense that it reads like a Dune fanfiction (so much so that I’d call it plagiarism) written by someone who’s high on all sorts of drugs, and not the kind that makes you creative.
Dialogue: Everyone recite their thoughts out loud as if this was an old theatre play. I admit that it gives the story some superficial resemblance to old classic plays, but at a great cost, especially since this is a comic-book and not a novel – Dune got away with such writing, but a visual medium is expected to rely on its visuals for storytelling, not be a novel with a colourful background. In Dune characters felt somewhat real, but here people literally fall in love at first sight, in a complete and absolute way (and stating all of this aloud, of course). When I read such dialogue, all I sense is immaturity.
Fan fiction: This work is not just inspired by Dune – it copies entire plot points, usually with a superficial change. Examples: 1. A sorceress from a sisterhood called Shabda-oud (which has reverend mothers and mother superior) becomes a lover of the metabaron because. An exact plotline from Dune, only with a superficial change – probably to avoid it being an actual rip-off. 2. There’s a semi-magical substance that only exists on the barons’ world. 3. There’s a test of pain endurance (on the legs instead of a hand) which, once over, is commented upon with words that are almost an exact copy of the ones used in Dune. There are many other examples, but I think the point is made – inspiration is great, but this is too close to the original. And the last example is pure plagiarism.
Side note: Star Wars also copied plot points from Dune, but not nearly as egregiously.
Science fiction? : The sci-fi language (futuristic techno-babble?) sounds similar to the handful of classic superhero comic books I had read. When the meta-baron takes his meta-weapon, enters his meta-craft and leaves his meta-bunker, all I hear is batman taking his bat-weapon, entering his bat-mobile, and leaving his bat-cave. We also have paleo-dogs, proton-pelvis, you name it. Someone even curses “bio-crap”. It’s ridiculous.
To me this feels like an excited, rushed attempt at emulation – an author taking his favourite genre and simply cranking the everything up to eleven. If you like it, that’s perfectly okay. But I don’t.
World-building: Too little thought was put into the consistency of the word-building, from the science to the cultures and the characters. Example: a character is weightless due to being infused with an anti-gravity substance. He then receives mechanical legs so their weight will compensate for it. But then he uses his mechanical feet to scratch two enemies which immediately start to float, and we learn that his mechanical legs were filled with the anti-gravity substance... And this is among the less ridiculous ones.
A more ridiculous one:
Many events and plot points are not thought all the way through, similar to the examples above, creating a sense of an author changing things on the fly with no attention to detail and no attempts at foreshadowing. The purpose seems clear: he wants cool stuff to happen, so he bends the logic of the world (and the characters, and the writing) to move the plot to where he wants it to go. The plot making sense doesn’t seem to be on his agenda.
Review:
A great love for science fiction, and for Dune in particular, can be seen on every page. Sadly, the writing is really bad.
It reminds me of a scene from Bojack Horseman (might not be exact), where Bojack and Todd get high on drugs and write what they think is a literary masterpiece, only once they’re sober they try reading it and find out it’s actually a mixture of incomprehensible nonsense and copy-pasted Wikipedia articles. This work is very similar, in the sense that it reads like a Dune fanfiction (so much so that I’d call it plagiarism) written by someone who’s high on all sorts of drugs, and not the kind that makes you creative.
Dialogue: Everyone recite their thoughts out loud as if this was an old theatre play. I admit that it gives the story some superficial resemblance to old classic plays, but at a great cost, especially since this is a comic-book and not a novel – Dune got away with such writing, but a visual medium is expected to rely on its visuals for storytelling, not be a novel with a colourful background. In Dune characters felt somewhat real, but here people literally fall in love at first sight, in a complete and absolute way (and stating all of this aloud, of course). When I read such dialogue, all I sense is immaturity.
Fan fiction: This work is not just inspired by Dune – it copies entire plot points, usually with a superficial change. Examples: 1. A sorceress from a sisterhood called Shabda-oud (which has reverend mothers and mother superior) becomes a lover of the metabaron because
Spoiler
she was commanded to become pregnant by him and give birth to a hermaphrodite, but she fell in love with him and chose to give him a sonSide note: Star Wars also copied plot points from Dune, but not nearly as egregiously.
Science fiction? : The sci-fi language (futuristic techno-babble?) sounds similar to the handful of classic superhero comic books I had read. When the meta-baron takes his meta-weapon, enters his meta-craft and leaves his meta-bunker, all I hear is batman taking his bat-weapon, entering his bat-mobile, and leaving his bat-cave. We also have paleo-dogs, proton-pelvis, you name it. Someone even curses “bio-crap”. It’s ridiculous.
To me this feels like an excited, rushed attempt at emulation – an author taking his favourite genre and simply cranking the everything up to eleven. If you like it, that’s perfectly okay. But I don’t.
World-building: Too little thought was put into the consistency of the word-building, from the science to the cultures and the characters. Example: a character is weightless due to being infused with an anti-gravity substance. He then receives mechanical legs so their weight will compensate for it. But then he uses his mechanical feet to scratch two enemies which immediately start to float, and we learn that his mechanical legs were filled with the anti-gravity substance... And this is among the less ridiculous ones.
A more ridiculous one:
Spoiler
baron’s wife has a hydrogen bomb instead of a heart, which she never told the baron about for no conceivable reason, and which cannot be removed because it’s her heart and she’ll die without it... firstly, we need a very good explanation as to why she didn’t say it sooner, and secondly, are there no artificial hearts in this universe?? They have far more advanced artificial organs there! The heart is among the simplest organs we have.Many events and plot points are not thought all the way through, similar to the examples above, creating a sense of an author changing things on the fly with no attention to detail and no attempts at foreshadowing. The purpose seems clear: he wants cool stuff to happen, so he bends the logic of the world (and the characters, and the writing) to move the plot to where he wants it to go. The plot making sense doesn’t seem to be on his agenda.
Absolutely batshit insane. The very idea that this could ever be adapted into anything but a super niche, X-rated animated feature is laughable. It's misogynistic, a bit repetitive and totally ridiculous. Dune meets Heavy Metal.
I loved it.
I never knew what to expect on each panel, the artwork is peerless. The detail on the ships, planets, aliens and battles is stunning, I found myself often just staring at a page trying to take it all in. Everything is big here, there's zero room for subtlety. 13 year old Henry would have never shut up about this. I liked the narrative of the two robots telling the story, even if it was silly it did tie nicely into the story in the end. Not for everybody, especially those with good taste.
I loved it.
I never knew what to expect on each panel, the artwork is peerless. The detail on the ships, planets, aliens and battles is stunning, I found myself often just staring at a page trying to take it all in. Everything is big here, there's zero room for subtlety. 13 year old Henry would have never shut up about this. I liked the narrative of the two robots telling the story, even if it was silly it did tie nicely into the story in the end. Not for everybody, especially those with good taste.
The two stars are purely for the art which I thought was nicely done, with some quite original design ideas in places. The story was dire though; macho and misogynistic throughout it was a hard slog to get to the end. I almost gave up several times. It made me glad Jodorowsky never got to film Dune; I hate to think how it would have turned out.
adventurous
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
Content Warnings
Graphic: Incest, Sexual violence, Violence, Blood, Murder, War
A fascinating universe, but quite difficult to get past the misogyny. Unless you're really into Jodorowsky and the weirdness that is the Metabarons universe, probably not worth digging into.
adventurous
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
Jodorowsky es el charlatan mas grande que estos pagos han dado al mundo.
Gimenez es un maestro absoluto.
Gimenez es un maestro absoluto.