Alexandro Jodorowsky's Screaming Planet Vol. 1

Screaming Planet #1

by Alejandro Jodorowsky

Alexandro Jodorowsky steps up to the challenge of the short graphic novel story format by collaborating with an international panoply of artists. A collection of Sci-Fi short stories all written by Alexandro Jodorowsky ( The Incal, The Metabarons ) and illustrated by talent from various countries and different graphic traditions. The thematic thread of these tales: an asteroid spawned from the destruction of a planet produces sounds (a howling shriek ) which, when crossing an inhabited world, creates a change or imbalance within it...

Genres: Comics, Graphic Novels, Science Fiction, Fantasy, Fiction

56 pages, Kindle Edition

First published March 19, 2014

About the author

Also credited as Alexandro Jodorowsky

Better known for his surreal films El Topo and The Holy Mountain filmed in the early 1970s, Alejandro Jodorowsky is also an accomplished writer of graphic novels and a psychotherapist. He developed Psychomagic, a combination of psychotherapy and shamanic magic. His fans have included John Lennon and Marilyn Manson.

Reviews

[Anne · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not for me.
I read the foreword to try and get a feel for what this was going to be about, as I had never read anything by Alejandro Jodorowsky before. Maybe something is lost in translation, but he sounded very up-his-own-ass in it.
Especially the part where he talked bout how one artist couldn't draw faces, one could only do robots, one wasn't good with landscapes - and how he wrote the stories that allowed them to work within those parameters.



There were little forewords in front of each story that didn't add much to the reading experience other than to overexplain a bit for my taste, as well.



But maybe I just didn't understand what I was getting into? I only grabbed it because it was a Hoopla Bonus Borrow and I was out of comics.
Anyway. I thought all the stories kind of sucked (except the one about the vampire, ironically), but none of them were long enough to actually hate.



Whatever this is, I'm not the right audience for it.
Recommended for someone else.

[Xisix · Rating 4 out of 5]

An interesting collection ov comicks by Alejandro Jodorowsky with various artists. These primarily sci-fi tales deal with a specific human emotion or construct such as Destiny with a bit of a Twilight Zone spin for endings. There are some gems Tale of a boy who cries golden tears was particularly poignant. Felt text was sastifying thoughsimilar to Grant Morrison collection that just finished that it needed an extra spark. That little bit extra to propel to greatness. Worth a read and would like to acquire Incal or anotherbefore too long.

[Carolina Casas · Rating 5 out of 5]

A thrilling mind-bending tale!

Talk about the upside down! This term has become popular thanks to 'Stranger Things'. But this it's the real stranger things. Everything about this anthology is both freaky and disturbing without the need of shock value (ie, gratuitous violence or sex). You can even put this in the cosmic horror section. There's Lovecraftian madness, the inevitable result that comes from the terrifying epiphany that we are nothing more but mindless wanderers in a sea so big and unexplored. And because it is so vast, we strive to find (or give it) meaning. At the heart of this anthology is an even more powerful traveler whose light brings wisdom and infinite hopelessness. Is he a cosmic puppet too or is he still partially blind to this fact? This question is, as with most sci-fi of this nature, left to the reader to decide.
My only nitpick is some of the drawings and coloring which looked cheap and simple at times. Also, what's up with those Xenomorph species look alike? If looked like a knock-off? Granted, that story was cool but the artist could've made the creatures less Xeno-ish.
A great read for lovers of mind-bending/altering science fiction and comic book lovers.

[Mouse · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really enjoyed this first collection! Some really cool, interesting, imaginative stuff... all with that Heavy Metal feel! Love the hurling metal that ties everything together, what a “metal” concept! This collection had some stories that felt sort of old school, yet many much more contemporary, or futuristic even!
The introductory commentaries by the author were a good added touch and honestly I could’ve done with more. Lots of violence, sex, lasers, and all kinds of rated R stuff going on!

[The Smoog · Rating 2 out of 5]

Some of the artwork on show here is really nice, but the stories fell flat, most of them feeling stilted and heavy-handed. I also wouldn’t bother reading any of the author's commentaries, they come across as really quite conceited, and certainly don’t add anything here.

[Kumar K · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed this a lot. I like stories that last only 1 issue, and I love sci fi and cheese and art-house stuff. This anthology sets up a chunk of space full of civilizations, and the Screaming Planet burns through the skies and causes "unusual" activity, which upsets the status quo in places. The stories all have some sort of funny part to them.

First one is great: the landscape of sci fi monsters and the cyclous nature of a hero and a priestess is pretty sci fi. I love the twist of the girl being a bad guy in the Vampire story. I love the Pope in the last story being brought over to a monster and realizing the massacre that happened earlier is gonna happen again. The only reason I am not giving this a 5/5 is that some stories don't have good satisfying endings, whether good or bad. Second story of the worker-planet didn't strike me as worthy of being written: it seemed like it was trying to communicate something about office life, but not super clear or profound enough to reach the audience.

[Tristan · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is part one of a two-parter currently available on Kindle Unlimited in English, collating short stories in graphic format authored by Jodorowski and drawn by a number of emerging artists. As I understand it, these were commissioned to help launch the French magazine Metal Hurlant in the USA. The stories are all a bit of mystical claptrap, rather uneven in the writing as well as the art, but they are worth a read. I’ll also read the second volume.

[Christopher · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a rag-tag bunch of stories and artists. Some of them are downright amazing - The Invasion - while others are just weird for weird's sake - Eucharist Sun.

The general conceit is laid out in the first story and the way that pushes through to the others is a very interesting way to give the stories their impetus.

[Chad · Rating 1 out of 5]

I don't know what this was supposed to be but what it turned out to be was a bunch of shitty stories that made zero sense. It has that old world sci-fi vibe of just random things happening with some stupid message about society that doesn't really say anything. This will probably be the last Jodorowsky comic I read, good thing this one was free on Hoopla last month.

[A M H · Rating 3 out of 5]

A collection of imaginative and uniquely alien, sci-fi stories. The core concepts, world building, and artwork is creative. Theses stories try to offer various meanings and wisdom; environmentalism, self awareness, guilt, adaption, and riding oneself of useless ideas.

[Petr · Rating 3 out of 5]

I appreciated how the stories were diverse and engaged in a fast world-building. However, I would have liked a little more introduction commentary (especially after reading the first few, which also described the artists background).

[Vít Kotačka · Rating 4 out of 5]

Chutná jednohubka, která dává dohromady povídky, které Jodorowsky napsal pro znovu-oživený časopis Métal hurlant. Mimochodem, chytrá hra s názvy (i když to mezi angličtinou a francouzštinou nemusí být zřejmé) - křičící kov vs. ječící planeta. 👍

Jodorowsky psal do té doby mnohasvazkové ságy (které všichni známe a milujeme... nebo jsme o nich aspoň slyšeli), a tak žánr povídky je pro něj nový. Každou povídku ztvárnil jiný ilustrátor, ale podle příbehů a témat bezpečně poznáte, kdo je autorem - Jodorowsky má svůj okruh témat, která se prolínají všemi jeho příběhy, má svoje vyprávěcí postupy, občas nějaká nechutnost a šokující zvrat. Nic, co by vás mělo překvapit. 🤭

Všechny povídky jsou sci-fi, často říznuté mystikou, občas zabrousí do fantasy. Všechny kousky jsou samostatné, vypointované a rozmanité, jenom velmi volně propojené oním tématem řvoucí planety. Co že to je, ta screaming planet? Jak se dozvíme v úplném úvodu, jde o úlomek zničené, vypleněné planety, šílené hlubokým zármutkem, která prolétá vesmírem a na své pouti ovlivňuje životy na planetách, které míjí. Protože tento asteroid řve žalem, není to ovlivnění pozitivní - naopak, posouvá lokální děj do kulminující krize, jež nezřídka skončí zánikem daného světa, civilizace, společenství.

Škoda jen, že povídky byly rozděleny do dvou dílů. Jeden svazek by působil víc konzistentně.

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Recenze Screaming Planet, Vol. 2 ★★★

[Tim · Rating 4 out of 5]

While some of the stories are a bit flimsy, I love me a good look into sensational European comic art...and these examples are gorgeous.

[Justin · Rating 3 out of 5]

It was okay. I keep expecting something more deep from Jodo and then am left down

[Adrian Bloxham · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good stories and art

[Bria · Rating 4 out of 5]

Most of the stories are something like 3 stars, but I'm bringing it up to 4 for "Invasion" which is at LEAST a 5 star story.

[Kevin · Rating 3 out of 5]

The vampire story was the highlight in an otherwise weird collection.

[Mee Too · Rating 3 out of 5]

Reminds me a lot of the animated movie 'Heavy Metal" for some reason. It was a fun set of short stories, i will read the second addition.

[The_J · Rating 3 out of 5]

An interesting mix of story and art, perhaps a little desperately French, but not bad.

[Trike · Rating 2 out of 5]

Even for Jodorowsky this is some weird stuff.

[Mitchell · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great art and great stories with high sci fi and fantasy concepts.