je_fancyb's review
adventurous
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
4.0
Visually there is some of the greatest stuff ever created in this series, unfortunately the story and characters are the most paint by number space opera pulp where most problems are solved within a page
Content Warnings
Graphic: War, Violence, and Body horror
david_during's review against another edition
adventurous
funny
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.75
br33na's review
4.0
A psychedelic sci-fi romp as strangely gorgeous as it is bizarrely opaque.
I love it and that Jodorowsky and Moebius came together to make the explosion of ideas. I just wish I loved it as much as I love the idea of it.
I love it and that Jodorowsky and Moebius came together to make the explosion of ideas. I just wish I loved it as much as I love the idea of it.
tominaz's review
3.0
5 stars for the artwork. 1.5 for the writing, which is, by turns, amateurish and juvenile, overstuffed and underdeveloped, with pretensions of spirituality made risible by cringe-inducing sexism and casual misogyny. Jodorowsky’s apparent indifference to the craft of writing is especially jarring and frustrating given that the resulting narrative flatulently straddles page after page of unfailingly sublime illustration exquisitely rendered by Moebius.
bobwoco's review
dark
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? Yes
4.0
cesspool_princess's review against another edition
5.0
When my grandfather died, the only thing he left me were two art books by Jean Giraud (Moebius) which I adored (I've been obsessed with Moebius since). However, being young and incredibly stupid, unthinking and uncaring I ended up cutting up parts of the art books to use in my own collages. It didn't take me long to realize what an idiotic mistake I had made to deface and partially destroy not only something with personal, sentimental value but also actual literal value (I found out later that these books are worth hundreds). Basically I am dumbass. Anyway, for my birthday this past year, Laura surprised me and got me this, the all-in-one huge hardcover edition of the Incal and reading this book was such a powerful experience, getting to have it now feels rly important and makes me so happy and while it doesn't erase/ negate what I did, it does feel a bit recuperative.
Now to the review: this this is a masterpiece. It's scale is epic, it is so ambitious, weird and exciting and surprising. It feels like it takes place in a living, breathing world and its combination of science fiction, poetics, mysticism/ esotericism and satire creates something truly special, unique and incredibly influential. Imo one of the best comic books in the history of the medium, up there with From Hell and Watchmen but perhaps more manic, fast-paced, colorful, sillier (in comparison to Moore's graver voice/ tone).
The book follows John Di Fool, a mediocre, grouchy, hedonistic low-level detective who is thrust into the middle of an intergalactic adventure when he comes into possession of the mystical white pyramid object "the luminous incal". John and a very colorful cast of characters blunder through an even more colorful sci-fi world inciting a proletarian revolution, fighting mutants from the center of the planet, participating in ancient alien mating rituals, riding giant psychic jellyfish into battle against a planet sized spider made of pure darkness and all this happens at breakneck speed. There is political intrigue, slapstick comedy, explosive action and spiritual/ philosophical discourse layered on top of one another frenetically. This is the sort of book that will take a second to adjust to, one that you have to surrender to the logic of before you can fully enjoy what it is trying to do or say. You will not have fun if you try to make perfect sense of everything that happens as a lot of it is intentionally surreal, symbolic or just weird.
The Incal has so so much going on. Jung is all over this thing, his concepts of anima/ animus, the shadow, the collective unconscious and many of his "archetypes" (the androgyne for example) are all directly referenced. Tarot is also very present with the Major Arcana showing up throughout the book even starting off with the protagonist, John Di Fool being a play on first card of the major arcana "The Fool". Other concepts coming from Buddhism to Christian mysticism to psychotherapy come up again again and you can conceptualize the book as being John Di Fool's process of individuation and spiritual initiation. I think there will be people who feel the characters are flat or not fully fleshed out but I think those people don't realize that the characters are literally supposed to be those archetypes I was referring to earlier, they seem archetypal bc that is exactly what they are supposed to be. Something that I think will help certain people enjoy this book more is if they focus not on the narrative itself or the characters as actual people but more on the world and the ideas that the characters are supposed to represent/ embody. This book reminds me a lot of how I feel about the movie Paprika by Satoshi Kon in this regard. There is a rly frustrating attitude esp among people who consume more “high brow” (ew) media that slow pacing, subtlety and character driven narrative is always better, more “mature” etc. Like everyone prefers Perfect Blue to Paprika and while I do think that Perfect Blue is a better made film I still find myself frustrated by ppls rejection of or inability to appreciate that which is fast, wacky, colorful and idea driven. Anyway tangent over.
Moebius's art is simply impeccable. There are so many simply stunning panels, so many iconic images and character designs, the buildings and the outfits and the vehicles and the bodies are all just *MUAH*. Also (I could have put this above too as its not just in the visuals but the writing as well) but there is soooo much toying with gender and sexuality in this book, in the presentation of the characters and literally in the core concepts of the book itself (referring back to "the perfect androgyne" and the President's character specifically but just all throughout in general). In a way there are aspects of this that remind me of Sam Delaney, not from a writing perspective (Delaney writes circles around Jodorowsky) but more from the perspective of just how Delaney and Jodorowsky construct and introduce us (or rather throw us in) to their worlds, forcing us to figure shit out as we go along with Di Fool who is often just as confused and bewildered as we are.
I love that Di Fool is never let off the hook in the book, he remains unremarkable (except in a few v circumstantial moments), mean, cowardly, hedonistic etc and he is never powered up to match the sheer power of some of the other figures in the universe; he really just is a regular guy and that is the whole point of him. And I'm glad Jodorowsky stayed committed to that when it would have been rly easy to make him into more of a "hero". This is really driven home at the end when John has to go to the former Berg homeworld and is confronted with the new population of John Di Fool clones in all their hateful glory.
I can see The Incal's influence everywhere now in retrospect: I can see it in Hayao Miyazaki's work (him and Moebius were great friends), obviously in the Fifth Element and ESPECIALLY in Akira (like omg read this and then rewatch or better yet reread Akira) and then ofc in just a tooon of the other comics and graphic novels that came after this in the 90s and 00s. Just like reading Berserk, its just amazing to read something that intimately influenced other work that is very dear to your heart.
This is a must read if you are into comics, science fiction or esoteric thought. If you are used to more slow paced, subtle or character driven narratives this might not be for you (this shit is the OPPOSITE of subtle) but otherwise pls read this, it is gorgeous and relentless and so much fun.
Now to the review: this this is a masterpiece. It's scale is epic, it is so ambitious, weird and exciting and surprising. It feels like it takes place in a living, breathing world and its combination of science fiction, poetics, mysticism/ esotericism and satire creates something truly special, unique and incredibly influential. Imo one of the best comic books in the history of the medium, up there with From Hell and Watchmen but perhaps more manic, fast-paced, colorful, sillier (in comparison to Moore's graver voice/ tone).
The book follows John Di Fool, a mediocre, grouchy, hedonistic low-level detective who is thrust into the middle of an intergalactic adventure when he comes into possession of the mystical white pyramid object "the luminous incal". John and a very colorful cast of characters blunder through an even more colorful sci-fi world inciting a proletarian revolution, fighting mutants from the center of the planet, participating in ancient alien mating rituals, riding giant psychic jellyfish into battle against a planet sized spider made of pure darkness and all this happens at breakneck speed. There is political intrigue, slapstick comedy, explosive action and spiritual/ philosophical discourse layered on top of one another frenetically. This is the sort of book that will take a second to adjust to, one that you have to surrender to the logic of before you can fully enjoy what it is trying to do or say. You will not have fun if you try to make perfect sense of everything that happens as a lot of it is intentionally surreal, symbolic or just weird.
The Incal has so so much going on. Jung is all over this thing, his concepts of anima/ animus, the shadow, the collective unconscious and many of his "archetypes" (the androgyne for example) are all directly referenced. Tarot is also very present with the Major Arcana showing up throughout the book even starting off with the protagonist, John Di Fool being a play on first card of the major arcana "The Fool". Other concepts coming from Buddhism to Christian mysticism to psychotherapy come up again again and you can conceptualize the book as being John Di Fool's process of individuation and spiritual initiation. I think there will be people who feel the characters are flat or not fully fleshed out but I think those people don't realize that the characters are literally supposed to be those archetypes I was referring to earlier, they seem archetypal bc that is exactly what they are supposed to be. Something that I think will help certain people enjoy this book more is if they focus not on the narrative itself or the characters as actual people but more on the world and the ideas that the characters are supposed to represent/ embody. This book reminds me a lot of how I feel about the movie Paprika by Satoshi Kon in this regard. There is a rly frustrating attitude esp among people who consume more “high brow” (ew) media that slow pacing, subtlety and character driven narrative is always better, more “mature” etc. Like everyone prefers Perfect Blue to Paprika and while I do think that Perfect Blue is a better made film I still find myself frustrated by ppls rejection of or inability to appreciate that which is fast, wacky, colorful and idea driven. Anyway tangent over.
Moebius's art is simply impeccable. There are so many simply stunning panels, so many iconic images and character designs, the buildings and the outfits and the vehicles and the bodies are all just *MUAH*. Also (I could have put this above too as its not just in the visuals but the writing as well) but there is soooo much toying with gender and sexuality in this book, in the presentation of the characters and literally in the core concepts of the book itself (referring back to "the perfect androgyne" and the President's character specifically but just all throughout in general). In a way there are aspects of this that remind me of Sam Delaney, not from a writing perspective (Delaney writes circles around Jodorowsky) but more from the perspective of just how Delaney and Jodorowsky construct and introduce us (or rather throw us in) to their worlds, forcing us to figure shit out as we go along with Di Fool who is often just as confused and bewildered as we are.
I love that Di Fool is never let off the hook in the book, he remains unremarkable (except in a few v circumstantial moments), mean, cowardly, hedonistic etc and he is never powered up to match the sheer power of some of the other figures in the universe; he really just is a regular guy and that is the whole point of him. And I'm glad Jodorowsky stayed committed to that when it would have been rly easy to make him into more of a "hero". This is really driven home at the end when John has to go to the former Berg homeworld and is confronted with the new population of John Di Fool clones in all their hateful glory.
I can see The Incal's influence everywhere now in retrospect: I can see it in Hayao Miyazaki's work (him and Moebius were great friends), obviously in the Fifth Element and ESPECIALLY in Akira (like omg read this and then rewatch or better yet reread Akira) and then ofc in just a tooon of the other comics and graphic novels that came after this in the 90s and 00s. Just like reading Berserk, its just amazing to read something that intimately influenced other work that is very dear to your heart.
This is a must read if you are into comics, science fiction or esoteric thought. If you are used to more slow paced, subtle or character driven narratives this might not be for you (this shit is the OPPOSITE of subtle) but otherwise pls read this, it is gorgeous and relentless and so much fun.