The Knights of Heliopolis

Les Chevaliers d'Héliopolis #1-4

by Alejandro Jodorowsky, Jérémy (Illustrator)

Este primeiro álbum reúne Nigredo e Albedo, os volumes 1 e 2 da saga.
O destino de Luís XVII, que pereceu aos 10 anos nas masmorras da prisão do Templo, é, na mesma medida que o Homem da Máscara de Ferro, um dos maiores mitos da História de França. Um destino romanesco que o genial Jodorowski reescreve com brilho numa grandiosa fábula iniciática e esotérica. O traço virtuoso de Jérémy (Barracuda) dá a Os Cavaleiros de Heliópolis a força de um fresco épico, em que se misturam os segredos da alquimia e os arcanos da História.

I – NIGREDO, A OBRA AO NEGRO

Ele é o detentor de um saber. O herdeiro de um poder.

Fim do século XVIII. Num mosteiro do Norte de Espanha, esconde-se o templo sagrado dos Cavaleiros de Heliópolis: uma assembleia de alquimistas imortais e afastados do mundo. No momento em que o discípulo Dezassete se prepara para completar a sua formação e integrar a ordem, o seu mestre Fulcanelli revela aos outros cavaleiros o terrível segredo das suas origens. Na realidade, Dezassete é o filho ocultado de Luís XVI e de Maria-Antonieta: o rei de França Luís XVII! Herdeiro desse destino, o jovem vai reclamar o trono que lhe é devido ou ficar na sombra, fiel aos preceitos milenares da Alquimia?

II – ALBEDO, A OBRA AO BRANCO

Não o deixaram tornar-se rei de França. A alquimia reserva-lhe um destino ainda maior.

Dezassete é um ser único. Filho ocultado de Luís XVI e de Maria-Antonieta, ele é o herdeiro legítimo do trono de França. É igualmente um poderoso alquimista, membro da ordem secreta dos Cavaleiros de Heliópolis. Mas a sua iniciação está apenas a começar… O seu próximo adversário há muito que era candidato a, também ele, se tornar cavaleiro. Excepcional, mas perigoso, é provavelmente o homem mais temido do mundo. Aquele que acaba de derrubar Luís XVIII e se prepara para se tornar igual a um deus: Napoleão Bonaparte.

Genres: Fantasy, Comics, Graphic Novels, Fiction, Comics Manga, Historical Fiction, Graphic Novels Comics

232 pages, Hardcover

Published April 20, 2021

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

[Caitlin ~WordsAreMyForte~ · Rating 2 out of 5]

DNF @ 50%

I feel like a broken record—because I say this about so many graphic novels—but the story barely holds a candle to the art. This is why (usually) the best GN's come from artist and writer duos who work together, because illustrations and storytelling are two entirely different art forms. It's rare when one person can master both and create a truly incredible GN (Monstress by Marjorie Liu and Sana Takeda is a great example of this occurrence), but Knights of Heliopolis sadly wasn't that.

The story is based around historical figures who are part of an ancient secret cult, but all of its disparate elements and characters were so confusing from part to part that I barely had any idea what was happening. The beginning started off fine, with the birth of the King of France and then his acceptance into the cult of historical figures. The Napoleon chapter started to pick up and become a bit interesting, but it took me forever to read, so I just didn't want to continue on. As breathtaking as the art could be, the story didn't do much in the way of character development or guiding the reader through any important themes for me to want to read more unfortuntately.

[Roman Zarichnyi · Rating 4 out of 5]

Банд десіне «Лицарі Геліополя» — це історична фантастична драма Алехандро Ходоровського намальована художником Жеремі. Видання складається із чотирьох окремих альбомів — «Ніґредо, робота в чорному», «Альбедо, робота в білому», «Рубедо, робота в червоному» й «Цітрінітас, робота в жовтому».


У північно-східному регіоні Іспанії знаходиться таємний храм, який ретельно охороняється. Там проживає група безсмертних і мудрих воїнів, відомих як Лицарі Геліополя. До цього ордену належать такі видатні постаті, як Лао-цзи, пророк Єзекіїль, апостол Іоанн та Нострадамус. За сюжетом, учень, якого називають Сімнадцятий, стикається зі складним випробуванням. Щоб довести свою гідність приєднатися до лицарів, Сімнадцятий вступає в бій із балакучою горилою і виходить із нього переможцем. Горилу вражає унікальна ідентичність Сімнадцятого, як гермафродита, що виявляється після того, як він оголяється, демонструючи одночасно чоловічі та жіночі статеві органи. Крім того, Сімнадцятий — це ніхто інший, як Людовик XVII (Луї-Шарль), законний спадкоємець французького престолу, життя якого, коли він був немовлям, врятував член Геліопольського лицарського ордену.


Після успішного завершення випробування, Луї отримує своє перше завдання: вкрасти старовинну корону із золота у свого дядька, Людовика XVIII, який наразі обіймає французький трон. Ця корона є надзвичайно важливою, оскільки в ній міститься стародавнє золото, необхідне Луї для проведення процесу трансмутації, який наддасть йому безсмертя та дозволить досягти статусу повноправного Лицаря Геліополя. Під час цієї заплутаної в хронології історичних подій катавасії, він потрапляє в складну інтригу, у яку втягнутий і Наполеон Бонапарт, який також прагне вічного життя. Після кожної нової місії Луї повинен узяти участь у черговій церемонії, яка є складовою його духовного розвитку, що змушує героя впадати в коматозний стан, який триває кілька років. Ця незвідана дивовижа дозволяє йому постійно переноситися в часі для своєї наступної місії.


«Лицарі Геліополя» — це банд десіне, яке вражає вигадливістю та драматичним сюжетом, що може стати насолодою, якщо до нього підходити з відкритістю до авторської фантазії, або незрозумілою плутаниною, якщо противитися цьому. Згідно з біографією автора, Алехандро Ходоровський розробив унікальну духовну систему, відому як Психомагія або Психошаманізм. Ця система черпає натхнення з різних джерел, включаючи алхімію, таро, зен-буддизм та шаманізм. Автор об’єднав ці різні філософські та магічні концепції в унікальний підхід до духовного розвитку та самопізнання. І в «Лицарях Геліополя» ці різні аспекти майстерно переплітаються автором у сюжеті, створюючи незвичний і унікальний світ, де читач може зануритися в події та філософські думки.


Хоча «Лицарі Геліополя», на мою думку, не є чимось неймовірним із погляду сюжету, але натомість приваблюють до себе завдяки блискучій художній роботі Жеремі. Стиль художника в цьому банд десіне основна причина, чому я не міг відірватися від цієї історії до самого кінця. Малюнок Жеремі має особливий стиль, який допомагає Ходоровському вплести різні надприродні елементи в цю історико-фантастичну тематику оповіді. Художник зміг створити візуально вражаючі сторінки, які змушували довго затримати погляд на них, перед тим, як перегорнути на наступний розворот.


Це банд десіне має характерний почерк Ходоровського. Історія починається з історичних подій і згодом заглиблюється у сферу конспірологічної фантастики, розкриваючи приховані шари історії, пов’язані із загадковим безсмертним братством. Поступово сюжет переходить у сферу містики та алхімічних фантазій, і врешті-решт набуває науково-фантастичного виміру, перш ніж знову повернутися до елементів фентезі. Якщо вам здається, що це щось занадто заплутано, то не намагитмуся з вами сперечатися, адже все саме так. І, якщо б на місці Жеремі перебував менш вмілий художник, боюся помилитися, але сприймалося все б не так добре. А так, усе вийшло досить класно. Тому маю надію, що ми будемо мати більше робіт цього чілійського сценариста з українським корінням рідною мовою в майбутньому. І також банд десіне «Лицарі Геліополя» цієї творчої команди.

[Dan Cassino · Rating 2 out of 5]

So, Louis the XVII, who is both a man and a woman, is sword fighting a giant talking gorilla in order to prove their worth and gain admission to a group of immortal alchemists. They defeat the gorilla, named Beto, by taking their clothes off. That’s in the first five pages.
This book is a series of wild ideas, connected by a barely coherent back story involving aliens. It’s well drawn, and imaginative, and is entertaining only in the sense of “what is going on now?” Napoleon is immortal because of a magic bee he got in Egypt? Sure. Jack the Ripper, who’s the daughter of an alien, wasn’t really killing women, so much as cutting their innards out in order to clone new psychic bodies for them? Why not?
The art is beautiful- very much in a Humanoids house style: detailed, well colored, but oddly static. The story is utter nonsense, and far too reliant on adolescent attempts at shock value. That wouldn’t be too bad, if you didn’t get the sense that Jodorowsky thinks he’s on to something truly profound with the symbolism of dualism and male vs female, and alchemical gold. If the book didn’t take itself seriously, it would be a hoot: as it is, the only laughs are unintentional, and the cosmology sounds like someone really high explaining their ideas to you. I enjoyed it purely on the basis of how ridiculous the plot developments were, but still wound up skimming through large sections.

[Václav · Rating 4 out of 5]

(3,8 of 5 for this twisting road of historical conspiracy)
This is a kind of good and engaging story that has "Jodo" written all over it. It starts with historical events, then it turns into some conspiracy fiction (aka secret background of history) with some kind of immortal brotherhood. Then it transcends into mysticism/alchymist fantasies and ends with a sci-fi touch sliding back to fantasy. And yes, there is a lot of naked bodies, especially women's. It's not bad, it's actually fun, but the tone and theme twist and turn with each (included) book. But the art is good, dialogues too and it's fun to read.

[Ville-Markus Nevalainen · Rating 2 out of 5]

The moment you see the cover art, you feel like you are coming down from a bad LSD trip. Fantasy knights with Alejandro "failed Dune attempt" Jodorowsky and a blurb by... Kanye West? I've never even used drugs, what is this?

Then, intrigued by the premise, you begin the story. There's a secret ancient knighthood and a nameless apprentice, Seventeen, is facing his final trial. It's against a talking gorilla! He wins the battle by stripping his clothes and mesmerizing and confusing his opponent! But no, he's not nameless, on the contrary! He is the rightful heir of France. His royal parents, Marie Antoinette and one of the kings, sought the help of an alchemist as they had failed to have intercourse with each other even though they had been together for years. Apparently, the king's grandfather kept banging everyone for his entire life and Marie-Antoinette's mum gave birth to double digit kids. So, you know, now they're afraid of sex. But fear not, if the king murders the beautiful peacock and strokes the queen's womanhood with one of its feathers for an hour, they'll be free and they can bang like they were meant to! And lo and behold, it works! It works so well the king bang- no, rapes the cook, too. And the two give birth at the same time, the cook's boy becomes a wolf boy that only howls as his mother is forced to abandon him and the heir is a hermaphrodite! But definitely a man, though he must face his fierce feminen side later on! And that's the first pages, there's also an immortal Napoleon that can shoot laser beams and they fly on eagles and vultures and the Skyrim's shout magic, it's here, too. And Jack the Ripper wasn't that bad either, she was Jacqueliene and she did it to save them, because there's aliens.

And - yeah. It's weird man, from start to finish and the more it goes on, the weirder it gets. The art style is... eh and there are fun ideas here and there, but overall, the near-shock value of its absurdity is all you're going to get.

And I thought I had wild ideas...

[Davide Saladino · Rating 4 out of 5]

Storia nella media. Intrattiene abbastanza bene anche se un po' breve.
Disegni eccezionali.
Nel complesso, una lettura interessante e piacevole.

[Warty Goblin · Rating 2 out of 5]

This was dumb. Set up a lot of cool stuff, didn't follow through on any of it. Conflict was usually resolved by one character saying, "Hey, don't" until the other randomly changed their mind. Invented a lot of situations for characters to be suddenly naked (at least twice during fights). Inconsistent messaging and worldbuilding throughout. Decided at the end that the moral should be, "total annihilation is bad."

Second star is for some really cool artwork and paneling, usually involving Napoleon.

[James · Rating 4 out of 5]

Almost eternal life. Good fight scenes. Society can't work with only men in charge. The feminine needs to work with the masculine and create a balance.

[Eamonn Murphy · Rating 3 out of 5]

‘The Knights Of Heliopolis’ is a historical fantasy drama by Alejandro Jodorowsky with colourful and stylish art by Jérémy. The original work was in French, has a French background with sexy French scenes and has been translated by Marc Bourbon-Crook. Apart from one odd buddy reference, ‘me and the big guy’, which doesn’t fit in the 18th century, he seems to have done well.

In northeast Spain lies the hidden secret temple of the Knights of Heliopolis, an order of immortal warrior wise men that includes Lao Tzu, the prophet Ezekiel, the apostle John and Nostradamus, among others. As the story begins, an apprentice known only as Seventeen faces trial by combatting a talking gorilla to join the knights. He wins, startling the gorilla by whipping off his clothes to reveal breasts and two sets of genitalia, for Seventeen is a hermaphrodite! He is also Louis XVII, the rightful king of France, saved from death by a Knight of Heliopolis.

Having passed his trial, Louis’ first job is to steal an ancient gold crown from Louis XVIII, his uncle who now sits on the throne of France. He needs old gold to transmute into an immortal and become a full Knight of Heliopolis. After that, he gets involved in a complex affair involving Napoleon Bonaparte, also seeking eternal life. The timeline goes awry here as Louis XVIII took over after Napoleon’s defeat unless I missed something.

After each new quest, Louis has to undergo another ritual as part of his spiritual growth, putting him into a coma state for years. This handy device means he can skip forward to London in 1888 to chase Jack the Ripper and then go on to London 1941 for his next step. In the final adventure, Louis learns more about the true nature of the Knights of Heliopolis. He falls in love with the errant daughter of the order’s mysterious leader, the ancient Chinaman Fuxi, who was born in 2852 BC and invented writing.

‘The Knights Of Heliopolis’ is a work of great imagination with terrific, colourful, dramatic art that will entertain if taken with a pinch of salt. It features ‘mature content’ or soft porn. According to his bio, author Jodorosky has developed a system of Psychomagic or Psychoshamanism, which derives from his interest in alchemy, Tarot, Zen Buddhism and shamanism. The book, a beautiful hardback edition on quality paper, can be enjoyed without believing in anything. I kind of liked it.

[Rick Ray · Rating 2 out of 5]

I nearly gave up on finishing this. Jodorowsky's script is banal and winding. The story seemed to progress endlessly with little concern about bringing it to a satisfying conclusion. Jodo clearly wanted to explore occultism and conspiracies through the lens of historical fiction, with little to no consideration on characters or plot. The story mostly focuses on a fictionalized version of the life of Louis XVII as he lives in disguise upon the fall of his father and mother to the guillotine. The story does start off strong, but quickly falls off a cliff when the story progresses beyond the first album.

Jérémy's artwork is splendid and the reason I stuck the story out until the end. The art does feel very typical of the brand of bande dessinée artists that Humanoids tends to reprint, but there's quite a lot of fun scenes for Jérémy to work with. Despite the historical fiction bend to the story, Jodo and Jérémy introduce a lot of strange supernatural elements, that while detracting from the narrative, do make for some great panels to look at. Not a great, or even good, comic by any means, but I'm sure a lot of people might still like this on the basis of the artwork and imaginativeness alone.

[Bahman Naraghi · Rating 3 out of 5]

Don't even know where to start with this one.
I guess it's about par for the course for Jodorowsky, in that it's bizarre, yet engaging and probably loses a lot in translation. Without completely ruining it, he may be the only writer to try and mash up ancient aliens, hermaphrodites, superhumans, the French Revolution and a talking gorilla. Oh, and Jack the Ripper. OK, maybe Alan Moore.
The story is all over the place, the dialogue is occasionally stilted (likely lost in translation), and it kind of feels like a shonen manga, with the protagonist leveling up and acquiring a new, more powerful form to meet a new challenge.
Almost all of that can be forgiven for the visual appeal of the book though. One, it's a hardcover, and two, the art is absolutely gorgeous. Detailed, clean, easy to follow from one panel to the next, beautiful coloring.

[ik.ben.henri · Rating 4 out of 5]

I've read the Dutch version. It's not on Goodreads.

No idea why there are so many bad reviews on Goodreads for this series. I do notice that it's mostly Americans who give it a bad review. Jodorowsky is a chaotic writer who throws a lot of seemingly undeveloped ideas at the reader. Probably because it's published in the US by Titan Comics, not Humanoids, and for that target audience - you can stereotype them as the average American comic reader - it's probably too confusing, even for many Europeans. Someone who wants an easy, straightforward story with a very clear, unambiguous, logical structure and storylines where characters and/or events definitely shouldn't take illogical turns, will be confused and disappointed. Even though those turns may have a double meaning or a moral on the overall structure of the story, or Jodorowsky wants to make a point.

Additionally, I think for Americans, who are rather prudish when it comes to popular media, it contains too much nudity and unconventional sex scenes. Jodorowsky's stories are full of strange fetishes, rapes, homosexual rapes, male nudity (in American media men are never completely nude), etc., which can shock the average reader.

With The Incal, the moral of the story was somewhat clearer, but afterwards, I also had to look up what the theme and meaning of each chapter were. With Heliopolis, Jodorowsky used the myth of Louis XVII to make that character go through the various stages of alchemy and thus discover his own spirituality. For Jodorowsky, the concept of the story, the logic of the meaning or the point of his story, takes precedence over the logic of the characters or events in the story. So if there's a plot twist or something suddenly appears out of nowhere, it's usually because the logical consequence doesn't match the overall concept. Which is wrongly attributed in a lot of reviews, also from professional sites, that Jodorowsky has good ideas but is a bad writer.

After reading The Incal and seeing the documentary about Jodorowsky's Dune, I've come to appreciate his work. His work is usually very layered and ambiguous, filled with plot twists, sex, rapes, etc. You can tell he's influenced by classical myths, and why couldn't a wolf be the mother of the mythical founders of Rome, and shouldn't something equally absurd be allowed in a modern comic?

Jeremy's illustrations are fantastic. He's the reason why Jodorowsky chose to have the story take place during French history.

------

Nederlandstalige versie gelezen. Staat niet op Goodreads.

Geen idee waarom er zoveel slechte recensies zijn op Goodreads van deze reeks. Het valt me wel op dat het meestal Amerikanen zijn die dit een slechte recensie geven. Jodorowsky is een chaotische schrijver die veel, op het eerste gezicht, onuitgewerkte ideeën op de lezer afvuurt. Waarschijnlijk is het omdat het is uitgegeven in de VS door Titan Comics, niet Humanoids, en voor die doelgroep - je kunt ze stereotyperen als de doorsnee Amerikaanse comiclezer - is het waarschijnlijk te verwarrend, ook voor veel Europeanen. Iemand die een gemakkelijk, doorsnee verhaal wil met een zeer duidelijke, ondubbelzinnige, logische structuur en verhaallijnen waarbij personages en/of gebeurtenissen zeker geen onlogische wendingen mogen nemen, zal verward en teleurgesteld zijn. Ook al hebben die wendingen op de algehele lijn van de structuur van het verhaal een dubbele betekenis of een moraal, of wil Jodorowsky een punt overbrengen.

Daarnaast denk ik dat voor Amerikanen, die op het gebied van populaire media nogal preuts zijn, het te veel naakt en onconventionele seksscènes bevat. Jodorowsky's verhalen zitten vol rare fetisjen, verkrachtingen, homoseksuele verkrachtingen, mannelijk naakt (in Amerikaanse media zijn mannen nooit volledig naakt) etc., waardoor de gemiddelde lezer best geschokt kan worden.

Bij De Incal was de moraal van het verhaal iets duidelijker, maar achteraf moest ik ook opzoeken wat het thema en de betekenis was van elk hoofdstuk. Bij Heliopolis heeft Jodorowsky gebruikgemaakt van de mythe van Louis XVII om dat personage de verschillende stadia van alchemie te laten doorstaan en zo zijn eigen spiritualiteit te laten ontdekken. Bij Jodorowsky staat het concept van het verhaal, de logica van de betekenis of het punt van zijn verhaal, voorop ten opzichte van de logica van de personages of gebeurtenissen in het verhaal. Dus als er een plotwending komt of iets plots uit het niets verschijnt, heeft dat meestal te maken met het feit dat het logische gevolg niet overeenkomt met het algehele concept. Wat ten onrechte toegeschreven wordt in enorm veel reviews, ook van professionele sites dat Jodorowsky goede ideeën heeft, maar een slecht schrijver is.

Na het lezen van De Incal en het zien van de documentaire over Jodorowsky's Dune ben ik zijn werk wel gaan waarderen. Zijn werk is meestal erg gelaagd en dubbelzinnig, waardoor het vol zit met plotwendingen, seks, verkrachtingen, enz. Je merkt dat hij beïnvloed is door klassieke mythes, en waarom zou een wolf niet de moeder kunnen zijn van de mythische oprichters van Rome, en zou zoiets even absurd niet mogen in een moderne strip?

Jeremy's illustraties zijn fantastisch. Hij is de reden waarom Jodorowsky ervoor heeft gekozen om het verhaal te laten plaatsvinden ten tijde van de Franse geschiedenis.

[Jon Hewelt · Rating 2 out of 5]

Well, that was bonkers. Just not bonkers enough, especially for such a weak ending.

[Cornerofmadness · Rating 3 out of 5]

Let's be clear Jérémy's art was five star and the only reason I gave this three stars. This is some of the most beautiful sequential art I've seen in ages. The story on the other hand is problematic at best.
C.W. misogyny, rape, some gore, lots of naked people.

There will be spoilers in this, the really big ones I'll put a warning on it.

This should have been a showcase for Jodorowsky's interest in alchemy and surrealism and it sort of was. It opens with the titular knights who are alchemists who have found the elixir vitae (immortality) and the nameless apprentice Seventeen is undergoing their trial to be a knight but they're actually Louis XVI (in theory bouncing off the Man in the Iron Mask legend), the lost dauphin, the son of the king and Marie Antoinette, hidden so he wasn't beheaded like his parents.

Minor Spoiler - Aslamar, as they name the dauphin upon acceptance into the knighthood is the Rebis, the great hermaphrodite (it's a long explanation not in the story as to why this is an important figure in alchemy) It's strongly hinted that the group did some kind of magic/alchemy to insure Aslamar was born this way, a true hermaphrodite with fully functional bits for both sexes. We also get a weird why Louis XVI and Marie are both incapable of sex ....and then Louis deciding hey sex is fun, let me rape the baker who also has a son that is used to replace the true heir.

This part of the story wasn't bad but then it transitions into some alt history with Napoleon and here we start seeing the misogyny creeping in. Now I can handle the knights being female given the time period. I'm not surprised by kings/rulers thinking all women should be theirs. But there is something that is hit time and again in this story, the idea that you flash a little power at a woman and she can't help but fall instantly in love with the dude. WTF?

The Napoleon thing went on forever, went on a weird path including him leaving one of the insta-love women and hands her the sword to kill herself with when she threatens to do so....

The final chapter was baffling and frankly down right ugly so major spoilers from here out.

Aslamar was sent to kill Napoleon and fell instantly in love with him for literally no reason. They failed their task and naturally blames their female half for being pathetic and weak. They ALL do (um, didn't you say Aslamar being a hermaphrodite was crucial? In fact that's never revisited and Aslamar's emotional ties to their condition are shallower than a teaspoon).

Later they're sent to kill Jack the Ripper who is actually a female, and the daughter of an alien from Sirius who is the group leader and they worship him...since when?!? She's mad at dad because he sterilized her because she's female. In fact, ALL women on his planet were killed because of reasons that made no sense (apparently we're problems to be eliminated) and once they were all gone men lived in paradise without women distracting them. They came exploring on this planet and human women distracted them and they died all but him but now he can't get home.

Aslamar is meant to kill her too but during their fight they kiss for no reason and then are screwing . So Aslamar has their second bout of insta-love with a truly gross character and they leave the group for her as she's not carving out ovaries for funsies but rather she's resurrecting these women from their ovaries down the road to make an army to beat up dad and omg what even is this? Aslamar is sure she'll forgive dad because that's what women do... (well they did forgive Napoleon for the horrible things he did to them. Must have been her feminine side overlooking the fact Napoleon amputated her arm trying to murder her)

You know I'm fairly sure we're not going to forgive the genocide of one sex and forced sterilization but she does because of course she does.

I'm at a loss to explain this horrifically misogynistic final chapter in this but it's stupid as hell and ruins the entire thing taking it from weird to distasteful.

And we are never told why Beto looks like a giant gorilla. Reasons I guess...

[Brady Jones · Rating 1 out of 5]

While the art is superbly done, nothing can overcome the absolutely exhausting plot, poor character development, and asinine story lines.

One character is an alien who was the only one of his crew not to have sex with women, so he could live forever… and then he goes on to tell a story about how he had sex with Marie Antoinette A LOT. Like… that’s just one example of the sloppy and nonsensical writing.

And don’t get me started on the absolutely cringe misogyny. Do yourself a favor and skip this. I wish I could have the last couple hours of my life back after reading this.

[The_J · Rating 3 out of 5]

Beautifully textured, convoluted story (but at least in their immortals they managed to get John the apostle, Imhoptep, and one that turned out to be an alien) So at the end of the day even with the interesting battle with a Jumped up Napoleon, it feels more beautiful than compelling, and a little snide shot at males (Left alone they would just destroy everything), but an interesting option to trade sexual deprivation for immortality, that could be worthy of a treatise.

[Patrick · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love this book. The interplay of historical events and how the characters move through them and influence them really made it a fun read. I will say some of the historical facts are not entirely true but it does make it an enjoyable fiction. The artwork is beautiful and tells a compelling story. I would recommend this to anyone who likes historical fiction and Supernatural events and the way that things can interact.

[Michael Norwitz · Rating 4 out of 5]

Jodorowsky's convoluted story takes place in 18th century Europe, involving a secret hermaphroditic heir to the French throne and a mysterious school of alchemists. Jeremy's art is not as lyrical as Moebius' but the greater realism helps ground the story so the mystical excesses don't predominate to the same extent, and there is a lot of action and thrills amidst the mumbo-jumbo.

[Eu · Rating 2 out of 5]

Two stars mainly because the art (including the covers) was detailed and often well-rendered. The story went everywhere but mainly nowhere and in many places induced cringes and eye rolls. There was a way to play with gender and reject binaries.... but this was not it. Many parts felt very male-gazey. There is also a way to blend genres.... but also not this.

[Jefferson · Rating 3 out of 5]

Other than the pseudo-historical setting, Jodorowsky isn't really covering any new ground here, but this book does maintain his consistently high standards in terms of unusual storytelling and gorgeous artwork.

[Ernest Spoon · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'm going to boost the graphic novel's rating a little over it's current three-star GoodReads status. This is some weird sh*t. But cool. And, actually, I'm most very favorably impressed by Jeremy's artwork.

[Racheal Paquette · Rating 4 out of 5]

The art work is stunning in this Graphic novel! The storyline was good in the beginning and picked up with Napoleon but then got weird....Aliens...okay I guess so lol

[Amanda [Novel Addiction] · Rating 3 out of 5]

Um.. What?

[Lee Bright · Rating 5 out of 5]

Breathtaking artwork and a fantastical spin on history. I loved this book, the story telling is so inventive and absorbed me from page 1.

[Michael Brown · Rating 2 out of 5]

Nice artwork. Most of story OK. But overall just a so-so effort.

[Sonic · Rating 5 out of 5]

Historical fantasy is my smart-ass take on this.
With Jodorowsky, it's always a very wild ride!

[Roeliox · Rating 1 out of 5]

Jodorowsky hit rock bottom with this book...

[Aurora]

I got… maybe 1/5th of the way through? What a load of nonsense.

[Dan Meier · Rating 2 out of 5]

Wonderful art brought down by a ridiculous story that doesn't make any sense. The book throws plot twists at the reader with such regularity that they cease to have any meaningful impact.

[Olli Nurmi · Rating 1 out of 5]

Thickest piece of crap I’ve read in a long while. The art was gorgeous though.