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3.87 AVERAGE
3.87 AVERAGE
Down and out class R detective John DiFool has a powerful artifact, The Incal, fall into his grasp. But what is the Incal? And what will other people do to get it?
Yeah, that's grossly oversimplifying it but The Incal throws so many concepts at you it's hard to simplify. Do I mention the far-future, near dystopian setting where most of humanity spends most of its time watching TV? Or the giant flying space jellyfish? Or the dark eggs? Or The Metabaron, the biggest bad ass in the galaxy? Or the Prezident and his hunchbacks? Or the conjoined twins that rule the empire, The Emperoress?
The story starts at street level with John DiFool finding the Incal and scales up a few times until it's the ultimate battle between light and darkness with the entire universe at stake. Jodorowsky throws idea after idea at the reader without much breathing room.The story gets a little incoherent at times but it's best to hold on and pay attention as best you can. I have to think Grant Morrison borrows a lot from this.
The art is by Moebius and is quintessential Moebius: an orgy of clean lines and minimalist but still intricate art. I'm a little saddened that it's taken me this long to discover Moebius but I'm glad I have a lot his comics ahead of me. The presentation, with the original colors on slick paper, is akin to the Dark Horse Moebius Library. It's built to last and I plan on putting it to the test.
Things got really crazy toward the end. I'd say The Incal is more about the journey and the ideas along the way than the destination. While I enjoyed this quite a bit, I think I'll leave John DiFool's other adventures on the shelf. The poor bastard has been through enough!
While I didn't like this one quite as much as World of Edena, I'll be tracking down more of Humanoids' Moebius titles some time soon. 4.5 out of 5 stars.
Yeah, that's grossly oversimplifying it but The Incal throws so many concepts at you it's hard to simplify. Do I mention the far-future, near dystopian setting where most of humanity spends most of its time watching TV? Or the giant flying space jellyfish? Or the dark eggs? Or The Metabaron, the biggest bad ass in the galaxy? Or the Prezident and his hunchbacks? Or the conjoined twins that rule the empire, The Emperoress?
The story starts at street level with John DiFool finding the Incal and scales up a few times until it's the ultimate battle between light and darkness with the entire universe at stake. Jodorowsky throws idea after idea at the reader without much breathing room.The story gets a little incoherent at times but it's best to hold on and pay attention as best you can. I have to think Grant Morrison borrows a lot from this.
The art is by Moebius and is quintessential Moebius: an orgy of clean lines and minimalist but still intricate art. I'm a little saddened that it's taken me this long to discover Moebius but I'm glad I have a lot his comics ahead of me. The presentation, with the original colors on slick paper, is akin to the Dark Horse Moebius Library. It's built to last and I plan on putting it to the test.
Things got really crazy toward the end. I'd say The Incal is more about the journey and the ideas along the way than the destination. While I enjoyed this quite a bit, I think I'll leave John DiFool's other adventures on the shelf. The poor bastard has been through enough!
While I didn't like this one quite as much as World of Edena, I'll be tracking down more of Humanoids' Moebius titles some time soon. 4.5 out of 5 stars.
2.5 stars, but rounded down because it's not really a book I'd recommend. If you're reading it, my recommendation is to skim the first third, then read the rest (but still at a brisk pace). There are iconic thoughts at work here, but they're often obscured or lost in a sea of extraneous everything.
Some great art and some very interesting choices, and some panels in particular stick out as having been mimicked through the decades. Usually great art makes earns a round-up, but in this case the art did heavy lifting to get me to continue/finish the book at all.
Some great art and some very interesting choices, and some panels in particular stick out as having been mimicked through the decades. Usually great art makes earns a round-up, but in this case the art did heavy lifting to get me to continue/finish the book at all.
What a trip. The scale alone is one the most ambitious comics I have ever read. The art is breathtaking.
One of those I'm sure it was innovative at the time but tiresome to read now. Imaginative in it seemed like it got made up as they went along and didn't really care about narrative
You can't fault the art. Moebius has a style of his own and each page is beautifully drawn.
The story, however, despite it's scope, is pretty bad. The dialogue is stilted and the protagonist is just horrible.
Three stars
The story, however, despite it's scope, is pretty bad. The dialogue is stilted and the protagonist is just horrible.
Three stars
Struggled with this one a bit. Great art, and some interesting ideas, but the plot didn't draw me in and the characters didn't interest me. I'd like to see smaller stories told in this setting.
Wow.
I wasn't aware of the existence of The Incal or any of the other works in the 'Jodoverse', or even that Jodorowsky had even authored comics. But an image of a gorgeous comic cover in a random Facebook ad led me on a search (it was a cover for a volume of the newer The Metabaron series), and that search led me to a unanimous chorus of people saying that, not only should I start here with The Incal, but that it was also allegedly one of the greatest works the medium had to offer.
Between the praise the work received, the importance it seemed to hold, and the fact that it was, to me, largely just a formality so that I could get to the works that I was actually interested in (The Saga of the Metabarons), I was understandably pretty underwhelmed at first. The writing had a rushed and almost stilted quality that made me question if it was the writing itself or merely an artifact of translation, but it was an issue I had to grapple with all the same. Likewise, the book moves rapidly, throwing new places and characters and concepts at you with each new page; it's hard at first to get a foothold, making a lot of the first issue feel like a series of comic strips with little to no payoff rather than a concurrent, singular work. Even the art of Moebius, which seemed to hold equal share of the adulation the book received, wasn't really doing it for me.
But for all of those same reasons that my expectations set me up for initial disappointment, I kept going, and am so glad that I did. Like the cast standing before the mirror wall and having to attune themselves to its frequency to pass, I found myself coming to terms with those rough edges I had found and fell into the pacing and rhythm that the book resonated at; with so much happening, you just have to strap in and go along for the ride, and in doing so those edges get smoothed out.
The reward for doing so is a psychedelic trip through a work of supreme imagination and creativity, populated by fantastical stories, mind bending moments, and the kind of staggeringly inspired artwork that freezes you in your seat. This is one of those rare works that is so boldly creative and original the you can't help but feel inspired to create something of your own, even as you despair of the challenge of doing so in the shadow of what you just absorbed.
That all may sound a bit over-the-top, and maybe it is, but it's an over-the-top work. It has its flaws, sure, but it seems open and unconcerned about them in a way that the reader may find themselves emulating; the flaws, things like thin characterizations and poorly motivated actions, feel like besides the point of the universe-spanning and attempted soul-expanding story that's being told.
It won't be everyone's cup of tea, but it's certainly one that everyone should at least try.
I wasn't aware of the existence of The Incal or any of the other works in the 'Jodoverse', or even that Jodorowsky had even authored comics. But an image of a gorgeous comic cover in a random Facebook ad led me on a search (it was a cover for a volume of the newer The Metabaron series), and that search led me to a unanimous chorus of people saying that, not only should I start here with The Incal, but that it was also allegedly one of the greatest works the medium had to offer.
Between the praise the work received, the importance it seemed to hold, and the fact that it was, to me, largely just a formality so that I could get to the works that I was actually interested in (The Saga of the Metabarons), I was understandably pretty underwhelmed at first. The writing had a rushed and almost stilted quality that made me question if it was the writing itself or merely an artifact of translation, but it was an issue I had to grapple with all the same. Likewise, the book moves rapidly, throwing new places and characters and concepts at you with each new page; it's hard at first to get a foothold, making a lot of the first issue feel like a series of comic strips with little to no payoff rather than a concurrent, singular work. Even the art of Moebius, which seemed to hold equal share of the adulation the book received, wasn't really doing it for me.
But for all of those same reasons that my expectations set me up for initial disappointment, I kept going, and am so glad that I did. Like the cast standing before the mirror wall and having to attune themselves to its frequency to pass, I found myself coming to terms with those rough edges I had found and fell into the pacing and rhythm that the book resonated at; with so much happening, you just have to strap in and go along for the ride, and in doing so those edges get smoothed out.
The reward for doing so is a psychedelic trip through a work of supreme imagination and creativity, populated by fantastical stories, mind bending moments, and the kind of staggeringly inspired artwork that freezes you in your seat. This is one of those rare works that is so boldly creative and original the you can't help but feel inspired to create something of your own, even as you despair of the challenge of doing so in the shadow of what you just absorbed.
That all may sound a bit over-the-top, and maybe it is, but it's an over-the-top work. It has its flaws, sure, but it seems open and unconcerned about them in a way that the reader may find themselves emulating; the flaws, things like thin characterizations and poorly motivated actions, feel like besides the point of the universe-spanning and attempted soul-expanding story that's being told.
It won't be everyone's cup of tea, but it's certainly one that everyone should at least try.
adventurous
dark
funny
hopeful
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Sick art, wacky story. If you like the Jodo films, you'll like this.
After hearing a lot about this, I finally picked it up and read it. It's definitely got strong Jack Kirby and Grant Morrison vibes -- the story is bonkers and the dialogue is a bit clunky, but it has more ideas per page than most entire graphic novels have.