''The Incal'' (; French: ''L'Incal'') is a French
graphic novel
A graphic novel is a long-form, fictional work of sequential art. The term ''graphic novel'' is often applied broadly, including fiction, non-fiction, and anthologized work, though this practice is highly contested by comic scholars and industry ...
series written by
Alejandro Jodorowsky
Alejandro Jodorowsky Prullansky (; born 17 February 1929) is a Chilean-French avant-garde filmmaker.
Best known for his 1970s films ''El Topo'' and '' The Holy Mountain'', Jodorowsky has been "venerated by cult cinema enthusiasts" for his work ...
and originally illustrated by
Jean Giraud
Jean Henri Gaston Giraud (; 8 May 1938 – 10 March 2012) was a French artist, cartoonist, and writer who worked in the Bandes dessinées, Franco-Belgian ''bandes dessinées'' (BD) tradition. Giraud garnered worldwide acclaim under the pseu ...
. ''The Incal'', with first pages originally released as ''Une aventure de John Difool'' ("A John Difool Adventure") in ''
Métal hurlant'' and published by
Les Humanoïdes Associés
Les Humanoïdes Associés (or simply Humanoïdes) is a Franco-American publishing house specializing in comics and graphic novels, founded in December 1974 by comic artists Mœbius, Jean-Pierre Dionnet, Philippe Druillet, and financial directo ...
, introduced Jodorowsky's "Jodoverse" (or "Metabarons Universe"), a
fictional universe in which his science fiction comics take place.
It is an epic
space opera blending fantastical intergalactic voyage,
science
Science is a systematic endeavor that Scientific method, builds and organizes knowledge in the form of Testability, testable explanations and predictions about the universe.
Science may be as old as the human species, and some of the earli ...
,
technology
Technology is the application of knowledge to reach practical goals in a specifiable and Reproducibility, reproducible way. The word ''technology'' may also mean the product of such an endeavor. The use of technology is widely prevalent in me ...
,
political intrigues, conspiracies,
messianism
Messianism is the belief in the advent of a messiah who acts as the savior of a group of people. Messianism originated as a Zoroastrianism religious belief and followed to Abrahamic religions, but other religions have messianism-related concepts ...
,
mysticism
Mysticism is popularly known as becoming one with God or the Absolute, but may refer to any kind of ecstasy or altered state of consciousness which is given a religious or spiritual meaning. It may also refer to the attainment of insight in ...
,
poetry
Poetry (derived from the Greek ''poiesis'', "making"), also called verse, is a form of literature that uses aesthetic and often rhythmic qualities of language − such as phonaesthetics, sound symbolism, and metre − to evoke meanings i ...
,
debauchery
Debauchery may refer to:
* Corruption
*Libertinism
*Lust
* Binge drinking
* Currency debasement
*Debauchery (band), a German death metal band
See also
*''Sodom, or the Quintessence of Debauchery'', a 1684 closet drama.
*LGBT rights in Kuwait
...
,
love stories
Love encompasses a range of strong and positive emotional and mental states, from the most sublime virtue or good habit, the deepest interpersonal affection, to the simplest pleasure. An example of this range of meanings is that the lov ...
, and
satire
Satire is a genre of the visual, literary, and performing arts, usually in the form of fiction and less frequently non-fiction, in which vices, follies, abuses, and shortcomings are held up to ridicule, often with the intent of shaming ...
.
''The Incal'' includes and expands the concepts and artwork from the abandoned film project ''
Dune'' directed by Jodorowsky and designed by Giraud from the early 1970s.
Originally published in installments between 1980 and 1988 in the French magazine ''
Métal Hurlant'', and followed by ''Before the Incal'' (1988–1995, with
Zoran Janjetov
Zoran Janjetov ( sr-cyr, Зоран Јањетов; born 23 June 1961) is a Serbian comics artist. Janjetov is among most prominent comics creators of former Yugoslavia, published worldwide. He is best known as the illustrator of '' Avant l'Incal'' ...
), ''After the Incal'' (2000, with Jean Giraud), and ''Final Incal'' (2008–2014, with
José Ladrönn
José Ladrönn (born 1967) is a comic book penciller and inker born in Mexico.
Biography
Comic book titles he has contributed to include ''Cable'', ''Spider-Boy Team-Up'', '' Superman Transilvane'' and ''Inhumans''. In the 2006 he received an E ...
),
it has been described as a contender for "the best comic book" in the medium's history. From it came spin-off series ''
Metabarons
''The Metabarons'' or ''The Saga of The Meta-Barons'' is a science fiction comic series relating the history of a dynasty of perfect warriors known as the Metabarons. ''The Metabarons'' series was written by creator Alejandro Jodorowsky and illu ...
'', ''
The Technopriests
''The Technopriests'' is an eight-issue comic book limited series created by writer Alejandro Jodorowsky, artist Zoran Janjetov, and colorist
In comics, a colorist is responsible for adding color to black-and-white line art. For most of the 2 ...
'', and ''Megalex''.
Content
''The Incal''
The story is set in the dystopian capital city of an insignificant planet in a
human
Humans (''Homo sapiens'') are the most abundant and widespread species of primate, characterized by bipedalism and exceptional cognitive skills due to a large and complex brain. This has enabled the development of advanced tools, cultu ...
-dominated
galactic empire
Galactic empires are a common trope used in science fantasy and science fiction, particularly in works known as 'space operas'. Many authors have either used a galaxy-spanning empire as background or written about the growth and/or decline of s ...
, wherein the Bergs, aliens who resemble featherless birds and reside in a neighboring
galaxy, make up another power bloc. It starts
in medias res
A narrative work beginning ''in medias res'' (, "into the middle of things") opens in the midst of the plot (cf. ''ab ovo'', ''ab initio''). Often, exposition is bypassed and filled in gradually, through dialogue, flashbacks or description of pa ...
with Difool thrown from the Suicide Alley to the great acid lake below by a masked group, luckily saved by a police cruiser. During the questioning he denies that he received the Light Incal, a crystal of enormous and infinite powers (it guides and protects those who believe in it), from a dying Berg. The Incal is then sought by many factions: the Bergs; the corrupt government of the great pit-city; the rebel group Amok (led by Tanatah); and the Church of Industrial Saints, commonly referred to as the Techno-Technos or the
Technopriests, a sinister technocratic cult which worships the Dark Incal. Animah (an allusion to
anima
Anima may refer to:
Animation
* Ánima (company), a Mexican animation studio founded in 2002
* Córdoba International Animation Festival – ANIMA, in Argentina
Religion and philosophy
* Animism, the belief that objects, places, and creatur ...
), the keeper of the Light Incal, seeks it as well. During the journey Difool and Deepo (Difool's loyal concrete seagull) are joined by Animah,
The Metabaron, Solune, Tanatah (sister of Animah) and Kill Wolfhead, with a task of saving the universe from the forces of the Dark Incal, and the Technopriests manufacture and launch into outer space the sun-eating Dark Egg. As the darkness is overcome, Difool is brought before Orh, the fatherlike divinity, who tells him he must remember what he witnessed. As Difool falls away, he finds himself where he was at the beginning, falling down the shaft.
''Before the Incal''
The story is a considerably more straightforward
noir tale of boundless urban corruption with the relative absence of spiritualistic elements, which dips deeper into exploring the urban fabric of the world of ''The Incal''. The story follows young Difool living in
demimonde
is French for "half-world". The term derives from a play called , by Alexandre Dumas , published in 1855. The play dealt with the way that prostitution at that time threatened the institution of marriage. The was the world occupied by elite me ...
. He soon finds that his prostitute mother devoted herself to growing amorine, a drug that restores the ability to love. His father, Olivier Difool, breaks the law in wearing a fake
halo
Halo, halos or haloes usually refer to:
* Halo (optical phenomenon)
* Halo (religious iconography), a ring of light around the image of a head
HALO, halo, halos or haloes may also refer to:
Arts and entertainment Video games
* ''Halo'' (franch ...
that is the mark of an
aristo
Aristo (from el, ) may refer to:
People Given name
* Aristo of Ceos (3rd century BC), Peripatetic philosopher
* Aristo of Chios (3rd century BC), Stoic philosopher and colleague of Zeno of Citium
* Aristo of Alexandria (1st century BC), Peripa ...
. Justice is harsh for such transgressions of class — a legal clause "allows the condemned man to choose between a tablet at the
morgue
A morgue or mortuary (in a hospital or elsewhere) is a place used for the storage of human corpses awaiting identification (ID), removal for autopsy, respectful burial, cremation or other methods of disposal. In modern times, corpses have cu ...
-wall, where he'll sleep away his thirty-year-and-one-day term", or "remodeling", which means having his entire memory wiped. His father chooses remodeling. Difool soon begins to investigate the mystery of the disappearance of prostitutes' children, something he shouldn't find out.
''Final Incal''
The story from the unfinished ''After the Incal'' was rewritten to provide a separate narrative for this volume.
The story starts after ''The Incal'' climax, in which John Difool encountered a flowing-bearded divine being named Orh, witnessing a universe-shaking event, hurtling towards certain death in the acid lake. DiFool forgets about the cosmic encounter, and recovers his memory as the universe faces the threat of a metallic virus.
The Prezident was cloned in a metallic body, equipped with both chemical and brutal weapons, but also an altered mind — operating under the influence of the "destroyer of all living things", the Bentacodon (equivalent to ''The Incals Black Egg). He unleashes a destructive organic virus called the Biophage 13-X with the purpose of forcing the population to abandon their natural bodies in favor of robotic ones.
The only way to counteract is to reunite John Difool with his true
love
Love encompasses a range of strong and positive emotional and mental states, from the most sublime virtue or good habit, the deepest interpersonal affection, to the simplest pleasure. An example of this range of meanings is that the love o ...
, Luz de Garra (from ''Before the Incal''), and the
Elohim (a force of goodness) makes four John Difools from different realities to encounter each other on a quest to find her. The egos of the allegedly evolved
guru
Guru ( sa, गुरु, IAST: ''guru;'' Pali'': garu'') is a Sanskrit term for a "mentor, guide, expert, or master" of certain knowledge or field. In pan-Indian traditions, a guru is more than a teacher: traditionally, the guru is a reverential ...
Difool and the super-evolved "angelic" Difool are ridiculed, and the least enlightened Difool, the ugliest and most craven, is selected to save the universe. In the end, the cosmic humanity manages to become one
collective consciousness, as true love saves it from turning into a collection of unfeeling metallic beings.
Main characters
* John Difool, protagonist: a Class R licensed
private investigator
A private investigator (often abbreviated to PI and informally called a private eye), a private detective, or inquiry agent is a person who can be hired by individuals or groups to undertake investigatory law services. Private investigators of ...
and occasional bodyguard. Difool is reluctant to assume the role of
hero
A hero (feminine: heroine) is a real person or a main fictional character who, in the face of danger, combats adversity through feats of ingenuity, courage, or strength. Like other formerly gender-specific terms (like ''actor''), ''her ...
, and suffers
mood swing
A mood swing is an extreme or sudden change of mood. Such changes can play a positive part in promoting problem solving and in producing flexible forward planning, or be disruptive. When mood swings are severe, they may be categorized as par ...
s, self-doubt, and
temper tantrums. He has a fondness for cigars, "
ouisky", and "homeosluts" (
gynoid
A gynoid, or fembot, is a feminine humanoid robot. Gynoids appear widely in science fiction film and art. As more realistic humanoid robot design becomes technologically possible, they are also emerging in real-life robot design.
Name
A gynoid ...
prostitutes). He is an everyman character, both unusually damning and praising of the human condition, kindly, sacrificing and selfish, likely to run away.
His story is presented in "Before the Incal": he is the son of a prostitute, and started as a PI while investigating on the children of the red ring prostitutes.
* Deepo, Difool's loyal and good-hearted "concrete seagull"; generally smarter and more resourceful than John himself. Early in the story, the Light Incal gives him the
power of speech.
* Animah and Tanatah, two sisters charged with guarding the Light and Dark Incals, respectively, whereof Tanatah hired the Metabaron to kill John DiFool and obtain the Light Incal. Animah, mother of Solune, who originally safeguarded the Light Incal, has
psychic powers
This is a list of alleged psychic abilities that have been attributed to real-world people. Many of these abilities pertain to variations of extrasensory perception or the ''sixth sense''. Superhuman abilities from fiction are not included.
Psyc ...
. Tanatah is also the head of the rebel group called the Amok.
*
The Metabaron, the greatest bounty hunter, mercenary, and
fighter ace in the known universe, and the adopted father of Solune; originally sent to kill John Difool by Tanatah. The Metabaron returned John in a frozen state without killing him, knowing that Tanatah would betray him.
* Solune (French words ''
soleil
SOLEIL ("Sun" in French) is a synchrotron facility near Paris, France. It performed its first acceleration of electrons on May 14, 2006. The name ''SOLEIL'' is a backronym for ''Source optimisée de lumière d’énergie intermédiaire du LURE ...
'' and ''
lune
Lune may refer to:
Rivers
*River Lune, in Lancashire and Cumbria, England
*River Lune, Durham, in County Durham, England
*Lune (Weser), a 43 km-long tributary of the Weser in Germany
* Lune River (Tasmania), in south-eastern Tasmania, Australia
P ...
''), the adopted child of the Metabaron and the biological child of Animah and John Difool. Like Animah, Solune has immense psychic powers, and was the chosen host of the power known as the Incal and become the dual-gendered leader of the universe.
* Kill Wolfhead, an
anthropomorphic wolf
The wolf (''Canis lupus''; : wolves), also known as the gray wolf or grey wolf, is a large canine native to Eurasia and North America. More than thirty subspecies of ''Canis lupus'' have been recognized, and gray wolves, as popularly un ...
mercenary in Tanatah's employ. Kill holds a grudge against DiFool, who pierced his ear with a bullet near the beginning of the story. He is featured as faithful, loyal, impulsive and aggressive.
Analysis
The center of the concept is Difool's fantastic
spiritual journey (or initiation) on a cosmic scale, which he is reluctant to accept; he constantly wishes to return to his own ignorant reality of simple
hedonistic
Hedonism refers to a family of theories, all of which have in common that pleasure plays a central role in them. ''Psychological'' or ''motivational hedonism'' claims that human behavior is determined by desires to increase pleasure and to decre ...
pleasures. It is an allegory for the
sins repeating, the futility of complacency and the necessity for individual transformation.
As the story progresses he keeps changing, becoming more heroic, even physically more handsome.
The original six installments begin and end by DiFool falling from the bridge; he descends, ascends and later re-descends in "closed" circularity.
The universe is split into two galaxies, a human (with 22,000 planets), and a Berg (featherless birdlike aliens), and the story is set on four planets in the human galaxy: Ter21, Techno-Gea, Aquaend, and the Golden Planet.
On the planet Ter21 there are two social classes: the fortunate (common and aristocrats), who reside at the top, and the others (including the mutants led by Gorgo the Foul, who represent the poor living in misery, on the fringes of society, minorities of all kinds
), who live down in the pits. At the top, it's a near-
panopticonical dystopia with standard TV program (with the same presenter Diavaloo) depicting filmed violence for public consumption, and indoctrination. Seemingly no one works anymore, and all life is mediated through the TriD (TV), even people's dreams. People are addicted to "love drug" amorine, while the president is engaged in repeated body transplants.
The masculine role is ridiculed by mass-produced holographic prostitutes. The technopriests represent the most damning, avaricious human drives.
John Difool is based upon
The Fool from
tarot
The tarot (, first known as '' trionfi'' and later as ''tarocchi'' or ''tarocks'') is a pack of playing cards, used from at least the mid-15th century in various parts of Europe to play card games such as Tarocchini. From their Italian roots ...
with his name being a pun upon "John, the Fool".
Animah's name is based on the
Jungian
Analytical psychology ( de , Analytische Psychologie, sometimes translated as analytic psychology and referred to as Jungian analysis) is a term coined by Carl Jung, a Swiss psychiatrist, to describe research into his new "empirical science" ...
concept of the
anima
Anima may refer to:
Animation
* Ánima (company), a Mexican animation studio founded in 2002
* Córdoba International Animation Festival – ANIMA, in Argentina
Religion and philosophy
* Animism, the belief that objects, places, and creatur ...
, the feminine part of every male's psyche, as well in Latin "anima" means "psyche". The series has no taboos, an attitude towards sex, violence and general social stigmas that may be avoided in more conventional comics.
They include
black-and-white dualism
The contrast of white and black (light and darkness, day and night) has a long tradition of metaphorical usage, traceable to the Ancient Near East, and explicitly in the Pythagorean '' Table of Opposites''.
In Western culture as well as in Co ...
or the conflict between
good and evil,
mystical
Mysticism is popularly known as becoming one with God or the Absolute, but may refer to any kind of ecstasy or altered state of consciousness which is given a religious or spiritual meaning. It may also refer to the attainment of insight in u ...
symbolism,
archetypes
The concept of an archetype (; ) appears in areas relating to behavior, historical psychology, and literary analysis.
An archetype can be any of the following:
# a statement, pattern of behavior, prototype, "first" form, or a main model that ...
,
metaphysics
Metaphysics is the branch of philosophy that studies the fundamental nature of reality, the first principles of being, identity and change, space and time, causality, necessity, and possibility. It includes questions about the nature of conscio ...
, tarot and other influences.
In the story there's often a conflict between life or nature and dead technology (even uniformity and diversity
), as "glasses enable you to see, that's technology. But happiness is not that, it's not your glasses. It's what you are able to see. If you have wonderful glasses but don't know how to see what's in front of you, then that technological tool is useless". The series also showcases religion, economy, politics and warfare, all mixed together.
The ''Final Incal'' is kind of a call for revolt to organize life in a different way, because as individuals people are mortal, but as humanity itself they are immortal. To learn that others exist, to live together and give, that there is continuity only as part of humanity as a whole.
It demonstrates that "love is the ultimate purifier; a force that can cleanse, renew and revitalize".
Style
The series capture worlds with cityscapes, huge spacecraft and lands populated by technopriests, rubbish-dwelling mutants, doppelgängers, giant jellyfish, chiming forests of gems and jostling, old gurus floating on crystals, an underground rat army, flying leeches, "necro-panzers", a selfish humanity among others.
Some touches are borrowed directly from ''
Dune'': the Emperoress, a "perfect androgyne", or Aquend, a planet composed entirely of water which is Arrakis's seeming opposite, and a "mentrek" who betrayed his former master.
Jean Giraud
Jean Henri Gaston Giraud (; 8 May 1938 – 10 March 2012) was a French artist, cartoonist, and writer who worked in the Bandes dessinées, Franco-Belgian ''bandes dessinées'' (BD) tradition. Giraud garnered worldwide acclaim under the pseu ...
's (also known as Moebius) artwork and
Yves Chaland
Yves Chaland (; 3 April 1957 – 18 July 1990) was a French cartoonist.
During the 1980s, together with Luc Cornillon, Serge Clerc and Floc'h, he launched the ''Atomic style'', a stylish remake of the Marcinelle School in Franco-Belgian co ...
's colouring from ''The Incal'' were well praised. Jodorowsky initially didn't have a script, but recounted and mimed the ideas to Moebius who sketched the scenario, recorded their conversation on tape, and they jointly altered the plot.
Jon Evans
Jon Evans (born April 11, 1973) is a Canadian novelist, journalist, adventure traveler, and software engineer.
Early life
Born to an expatriate Rhodesian father and Canadian mother, Evans grew up in Waterloo, Ontario and graduated from the Uni ...
considered resemblance to the
De Stijl
''De Stijl'' (; ), Dutch for "The Style", also known as Neoplasticism, was a Dutch art movement founded in 1917 in Leiden. De Stijl consisted of artists and architects. In a more narrow sense, the term ''De Stijl'' is used to refer to a body ...
school of art inspired by artists like
Piet Mondrian and
Vilmos Huszár
Vilmos Huszár (5 January 1884 – 8 September 1960) was a Hungarian painter and designer. He lived in The Netherlands, where he was one of the founding members of the art movement De Stijl.
Huszár was born in Budapest, Hungary. He emigrate ...
.
Moebius refused to do ''Before the Incal'', thus Jodorowsky found
Zoran Janjetov
Zoran Janjetov ( sr-cyr, Зоран Јањетов; born 23 June 1961) is a Serbian comics artist. Janjetov is among most prominent comics creators of former Yugoslavia, published worldwide. He is best known as the illustrator of '' Avant l'Incal'' ...
. Although Janjetov had his own style, he was influenced by Moebius and imitated him. Finally, Moebius decided to do ''After the Incal'', but beside his illness at the time he had a different style, and Jodorowsky was not satisfied by the overall work.
He depicted the nightmare of the tech-world with a more abundant sense of optimism, something peppered with light and hope throughout.
José Ladrönn
José Ladrönn (born 1967) is a comic book penciller and inker born in Mexico.
Biography
Comic book titles he has contributed to include ''Cable'', ''Spider-Boy Team-Up'', '' Superman Transilvane'' and ''Inhumans''. In the 2006 he received an E ...
's rendition of the worlds that Moebius originally designed in the rewritten sequel ''Final Incal'' is much darker and grittier; the streets are emptier, less colorful, more muted. He excelled at drawing, but as if he has studied not only Moebius but also the movies that Moebius influenced, directly or indirectly (like ''
Blade Runner
''Blade Runner'' is a 1982 science fiction film directed by Ridley Scott, and written by Hampton Fancher and David Peoples. Starring Harrison Ford, Rutger Hauer, Sean Young, and Edward James Olmos, it is an adaptation of Philip K. Dick' ...
'').
Publication history
''The Incal'' was initially serialized in French between 1980 and 1985 in the magazine ''
Métal Hurlant'', which was published by
Les Humanoïdes Associés
Les Humanoïdes Associés (or simply Humanoïdes) is a Franco-American publishing house specializing in comics and graphic novels, founded in December 1974 by comic artists Mœbius, Jean-Pierre Dionnet, Philippe Druillet, and financial directo ...
. An English translation was serialized in the magazine ''
Heavy Metal'' (published by
National Lampoon) from 1982 to 1984. Concurrent with its serialization in ''Métal Hurlant'', Les Humanoïdes Associés collected the series as six hardcover volumes: ''L'Incal Noir'' (1981), ''L'Incal Lumière'' (1982), ''Ce qui est en bas'' (1984), ''Ce qui est en haut'' (1985), ''La cinquième essenceGalaxie qui Songe'' (1988), and ''La cinquième essenceLa planète Difool'' (1988). In 1988,
Epic Comics
Epic Comics (also known as the Epic Comics Group)Shooter, Jim. "Bullpen Bulletins: The Truth About the Epic Comics Group!" Marvel comics cover-dated November 1982. was an imprint of Marvel Comics from 1982 to 1996. A spin-off of the publisher's ...
(a division of
Marvel Comics
Marvel Comics is an American comic book publishing, publisher and the flagship property of Marvel Entertainment, a divsion of The Walt Disney Company since September 1, 2009. Evolving from Timely Comics in 1939, ''Magazine Management/Atlas Co ...
) published ''The Incal'' in three volumes as a part of their "Epic Graphic Novels" line, with translation by
Jean-Marc Lofficier
Jean-Marc Lofficier (; born June 22, 1954) is a French author of books about films and television programs, as well as numerous comics and translations of a number of animation screenplays. He usually collaborates with his wife, Randy Lofficier ( ...
and
Randy Lofficier
Jean-Marc Lofficier (; born June 22, 1954) is a French author of books about films and television programs, as well as numerous comics and translations of a number of animation screenplays. He usually collaborates with his wife, Randy Lofficier ( ...
.
Later, between 2001 and 2002, was republished a series of ''The Incal'' and ''Before the Incal'' in a twelve issue limited series, with the former in two parts ''Orphan of the City Shaft'' and ''John Difool, Class "R" Detective'' between 2002 and 2003, while the first in two parts ''The Epic Conspiracy'' and ''The Epic Journey'' softcover trade format by
Humanoids Publishing
A humanoid is any being whose body structure resembles that of a human (e.g. bipedal).
Humanoid may also refer to:
* hominid, family of apes that includes eight extant species
* Humanoid robot, non-fictional robots
Arts, entertainment, and media ...
. The Humanoids Publishing initial version (of both ''The Incal'' and ''Before the Incal'') was recolored in a more modern style and had the nudity
censored
Censorship is the suppression of speech, public communication, or other information. This may be done on the basis that such material is considered objectionable, harmful, sensitive, or "inconvenient". Censorship can be conducted by governments ...
. Jodorowsky did not like the change of the series to seduce young audience.
In December 2010, Humanoids released a limited edition oversized hardcover edition of ''The Incal'', with only 750 copies printed. It was sold out and soon the series was out of print in the United States.
In 2011 more hardcovers were released by
Humanoids Publishing
A humanoid is any being whose body structure resembles that of a human (e.g. bipedal).
Humanoid may also refer to:
* hominid, family of apes that includes eight extant species
* Humanoid robot, non-fictional robots
Arts, entertainment, and media ...
in the US and
Self Made Hero
SelfMadeHero is an independent publishing house which specialises in adapting works of literature, as well as producing ground-breaking original fiction in the graphic novel medium.
SelfMadeHero's books are distributed in the U.S. by Abrams Boo ...
in the UK. Smaller than the oversized hardcover edition they resemble it in that they restore the original colouring and remove the censorship.
In 2012 Humanoids Publishing released 9.4 x 12.6" limited deluxe edition of ''Before the Incal'' with a foreword by
José Ladrönn
José Ladrönn (born 1967) is a comic book penciller and inker born in Mexico.
Biography
Comic book titles he has contributed to include ''Cable'', ''Spider-Boy Team-Up'', '' Superman Transilvane'' and ''Inhumans''. In the 2006 he received an E ...
, artist on the upcoming ''Final Incal''. Between January 2013 and 2014, they released a sold out 12 x 16" limited
coffee table edition of ''The Incal'' six volumes.
In 2014, Humanoids released 7.9 x 10.8" hardcover trade collection of ''The Incal'', and its sequels ''After the Incal'' and ''Final Incal'' in one complete collection simply called ''Final Incal'', as a 9.5 x 12.5" deluxe slipcase hardcover, as well limited and numbered edition 12 x 16" coffee table format.
In 2015 they released a 7.9 x 10.8" hardcover trade edition, but without ''After the Incal''. All the four volumes were digitally released by the Humanoids Publishing in 2014.
In December 2021, Humanoids announced 3 new prequel graphic novels as part of the INCAL UNIVERSE project, to which Alejandro Jodorowsky has given his blessing. ''Psychoverse'' by
Mark Russell
Mark Russell (born August 23, 1932) is an American political satirist and comedian. He is best known for his series of semimonthly comedy specials on PBS television between 1975 and 2004. His routines were a mix of political stand-up humor cover ...
&
Yanick Paquette
Yanick Paquette is a Canadian comic book artist. He has worked for Antarctic Press, Topps, Marvel, and DC Comics and since 1994.
Career
In 1996 Paquette drew two miniseries adapted from the TV series '' Space: Above and Beyond'', written by Ro ...
, ''Dying Star'' by
Dan Watters
Dan or DAN may refer to:
People
* Dan (name), including a list of people with the name
** Dan (king), several kings of Denmark
* Dan people, an ethnic group located in West Africa
**Dan language, a Mande language spoken primarily in Côte d'Ivoi ...
&
Jon Davis-Hunt and ''Kill Wolfhead'' by
Brandon Thomas Brandon Thomas may refer to:
*Brandon Thomas (playwright) (1848–1914), English actor and playwright who wrote the hit farce, ''Charley's Aunt''
*Brandon Thomas (musician) (born 1980), American rock band singer
*Brandon Thomas (American football), ...
&
Pete Woods
Peter Woods is an American comic book artist, known for his work on titles such as '' Backlash'', ''Deadpool'', ''Robin'', ''Catwoman'', ''Amazons Attack'', and ''Action Comics''.
Career
Woods worked as an intern for Wildstorm comics in April 19 ...
. Psychoverse was released on November 15, 2022 and Kill Wolfhead will be the English language debut of ''Kill Tête-de-Chien'', released on November 17 2021 in France.
The series was translated from French into more than eleven languages, selling millions of copies.
Volumes
''The Incal''
:''Note: For particulars on the English language editions of this series, please refer to the
main article''.
# ''L'Incal Noir'' ("The Black Incal") (1981)
# ''L'Incal Lumière'' ("The Luminous Incal") (1982)
# ''Ce qui est en bas'' ("What Lies Beneath") (1984)
# ''Ce qui est en haut'' ("What is Above") (1985)
# ''La cinquième essenceGalaxie qui Songe'' ("The Fifth EssenceThe Dreaming Galaxy") (1988)
# ''La cinquième essenceLa planète Difool'' ("The Fifth EssencePlanet DiFool") (1988)
''Before the Incal''
# ''Adieu le père'' ("Farewell, father") (1988)
# ''Détective privé de "Classe R'' ("Class "R" Detective") (1990)
# ''Croot!'' (1991)
# ''Anarchopsychotiques'' ("Psycho Anarchist") (1992)
# ''Ouisky, SPV et homéoputes'' ("Vhisky, SPV and Homeo-Whores") (1993)
# ''Suicide Allée'' ("Suicide Alley") (1995)
:A prequel series to the first ''Incal'' series, published after it.
''After the Incal''
# ''Le nouveau rêve'' ("The New Dream") (2000)
Left unfinished but The New Dream is remade and expanded in the first volume of Final Incal.
''Final Incal''
# ''Les Quatre John Difool'' ("The Four John DiFools") (2008)
# ''Louz de Garra'' ("Luz De Garra") (2011)
# ''Gorgo Le Sale'' ("Gorgo the Foul") (2014)
Reception and legacy
''
Rolling Stone
''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner, and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. It was first known for its ...
'' magazine in "The 50 Best Non-Superhero Graphic Novels" list placed the original volume as #30, calling it "one of ''the'' great comics team-ups". Patrick Hess from Nothing But Comics placed it as fourth out of seventy best comics list, as "there are very few comics ever created in the history of the medium that are this imaginative, this thoughtful, this heartfelt or this good".
Mark Millar called it "quite simply one of the most perfect comics ever conceived and probably the most beautiful piece of graphic literature ever drawn".
Anthony Paletta from ''
Los Angeles Review of Books
The ''Los Angeles Review of Books'' (''LARB'' is a literary review magazine covering the national and international book scenes. A preview version launched on Tumblr in April 2011, and the official website followed one year later in April 2012. ...
'' considered that "''The Incal'' isn't only a parade of thrilling grotesqueries: it also has a spiritual core that ... reflects Jodorowsky’s abiding idiosyncratic
Buddhism
Buddhism ( , ), also known as Buddha Dharma and Dharmavinaya (), is an Indian religions, Indian religion or Indian philosophy#Buddhist philosophy, philosophical tradition based on Pre-sectarian Buddhism, teachings attributed to the Buddha. ...
", while "Moebius’s work is simply some of the most beautiful not merely in his catalog, but in the comics world at large". He noted that the "echoes of ''The Incal'' can also be found in the work of
Hayao Miyazaki
is a Japanese animator, director, producer, screenwriter, author, and manga artist. A co-founder of Studio Ghibli, he has attained international acclaim as a masterful storyteller and creator of Japanese animated feature films, and is widel ...
,
Katsuhiro Otomo’s ''
Akira'', the decaying futurity of
Ridley Scott’s ''
Blade Runner
''Blade Runner'' is a 1982 science fiction film directed by Ridley Scott, and written by Hampton Fancher and David Peoples. Starring Harrison Ford, Rutger Hauer, Sean Young, and Edward James Olmos, it is an adaptation of Philip K. Dick' ...
'', ''
The Matrix
''The Matrix'' is a 1999 science fiction action film written and directed by the Wachowskis. It is the first installment in ''The Matrix'' film series, starring Keanu Reeves, Laurence Fishburne, Carrie-Anne Moss, Hugo Weaving, and Joe Pantolia ...
'', and even depictions of
Coruscant
Coruscant () is an ecumenopolis planet in the fictional '' Star Wars'' universe. Its first appearance was onscreen in the 1997 Special Edition of ''Return of the Jedi'', but was first depicted and mentioned by name in Timothy Zahn's 1991 novel ' ...
in the ''
Star Wars'' prequel films.
Daniel Kalder from ''
The Comics Journal
''The Comics Journal'', often abbreviated ''TCJ'', is an American magazine of news and criticism pertaining to comic books, comic strips and graphic novels. Known for its lengthy interviews with comic creators, pointed editorials and scathing r ...
'' noted that the drawing by Moebius in ''After the Incal'' was of lesser ability, also saying: "Moebius was and always will be The Man but he was not the man for this story: Ladrönn was. And so while ''After the Incal'' is certainly an intriguing footnote, a glimpse of a path not taken, ''Final Incal'' is the real deal".
Hugh Armitage from
Digital Spy noted that Moebius's ''After the Incal'' "delivers some typically breathtaking scenery, but his characters take on a cartoonish,
Sergio Aragonés
Sergio Aragonés Domenech ( , ; born September 6, 1937) is a Spanish/Mexican cartoonist and writer best known for his contributions to '' Mad'' magazine and creating the comic book '' Groo the Wanderer''.
Among his peers and fans, Aragonés is ...
-like style that is both atypical for the artist and at odds with the dark story.
alérieBeltran's colours leave the images looking flat and uninteresting", and praised the Ladrönn's artwork in ''Final Incal''.
Legal issues
The publishers sued
Luc Besson
Luc Paul Maurice Besson (; born 18 March 1959) is a French film director, screenwriter and producer. He directed or produced the films ''Subway'' (1985), '' The Big Blue'' (1988), and '' La Femme Nikita'' (1990). Besson is associated with the ' ...
, director of ''
The Fifth Element
''The Fifth Element'' is a 1997 English-language French science fiction action film conceived and directed by Luc Besson, as well as co-written by Besson and Robert Mark Kamen. It stars Bruce Willis, Gary Oldman, Chris Tucker, and Milla ...
'' (1997), claiming that the film borrowed graphic and story elements from ''The Incal'', but lost their case.
In an interview given to Chilean newspaper ''
The Clinic'', Jodorowsky claimed that neither he nor Moebius actually sued Besson, but instead that the lawsuit was filed by the editor of the comic series. He further claimed that the case was lost because Moebius "betrayed them" by working directly with Besson on the production of the film. In a 2002 interview with the Danish comic book magazine ''Strip!'', Jodorowsky considered it an honour that somebody stole his ideas.
Adaptations
In the 1980s the Canadian animation director Pascal Blais created a short trailer for ''The Incal'' (i.e. ''Dark Incal''), but the movie was never made. In 2011 and 2016, his studio made updated versions of the original trailer.
In 2013, in an interview by
France Inter
France Inter () is a major French public radio channel and part of Radio France. It is a " generalist" station, aiming to provide a wide national audience with a full service of news and spoken-word programming, both serious and entertaining, li ...
,
Nicolas Winding Refn was reportedly working as a director on a live-action movie adaptation of ''The Incal'', but it appeared to have been a rumor that Winding Refn dismissed in 2016.
US black metal band Bihargam released the album ''Ove Tenebrae'' as a musical adaption of ''The Incal'' on October 16, 2020.
In 2021, Jodorowsky officially announced a big screen adaptation by
Taika Waititi
Taika David Cohen (born 16 August 1975), known professionally as Taika Waititi ( ), is a New Zealand filmmaker, actor, and comedian. He is a recipient of an Academy Award, a BAFTA Award, and a Grammy Award, and has received two nominations at ...
.
Notes
References
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Incal
French graphic novels
French comic strips
1980 comics debuts
2014 comics endings
Jodoverse
Les Humanoïdes Associés titles
Science fiction comics
Dystopian comics
Comics by Jean Giraud
Space opera comics