The Incal

The Incal by Alejandro Jodorowsky
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

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.



View all my reviews