The Incal: The Epic Journey

L'Incal #4-6

by Alejandro Jodorowsky, Mœbius (Artist), Sasha Watson (Translator)

Moebius, the internationally acclaimed illustrator of countless graphic novels and film designer for Alien, Blade Runner and The Fifth Element first influenced a generation with The Incal. John Difool, a low class detective in a degenerate world, finds his life turned upside down when he discovers an ancient artifact called "The Incal."--Difool's adventures will bring him into conflict with the galaxy's greatest warrior, The Metabaron, and will pit him against the awesome powers of the Technopriests. Can an ordinary man survive such an epic battle? Suggested For Mature Readers.

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

160 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1981

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

[The_Mad_Swede · Rating 5 out of 5]

The second and concluding volume of Jodorowsky and Moebius' excellent classic science fiction epic The Incal (see my review of the first volume here). Picking up where the first volume left off, the adventures of John Difool, a class "R" licensed private investigator who has become entangled with the fate of the Incal, a conscious, almost god-like artefact, continues.

This volume delivers a masterful conclusion to the epic tale which is something any science fiction or comics reader with self-respect ought to read. The absolutely first class art by Moebius does certainly not hurt either.

I cannot recommend this enough.

[Ma'Belle · Rating 4 out of 5]

Now with even more magick, penises, and Perfect Androgynes!

[Michael · Rating 2 out of 5]

My brain hurts. If you're big into HUGE cosmic madness, unbelievably powerful god-like beings, gigantic inter-galactic wars and prickly, unheroic anti-heroes, please read this book. I, honestly, had a hard time putting it all together in this book. I think that I might've enjoyed it more if I'd stopped to reread The Incal: The Epic Conspiracy before reading the conclusion of the epic. Just as a refresher, because I did enjoy the original, but I was a bit lost during the second part.

Meobius is a hell of artist, though, regardless of anything else. The book features lots of huge, epic sets and imaginative characters. The storytelling could be clearer in a few spots, although the lettering had as much to do with that as the random panel layouts in a few spots. I need to read the entire Incal saga in order to properly rate this book, but for now, I'm too confused to give it a very high score.

[Rick · Rating 4 out of 5]

As I first thought, this story feels exactly like Jodorowsky's films. The spiritualism, the mysticism, the metaphysical themes are all there. The wrap up was quite spectacular and Moebius's art was perfect for the story.

[Andrew · Rating 5 out of 5]

Everything I said in my review of the first volume applies here too. It's a classic. It's deeply weird. It might not be everyone's cup of tea, but it's amazing.

[James · Rating 4 out of 5]

The story was okay. It could have been better. The chracters are interesting but mostly one-dimensional. I must remember. Difool is a tragic and reluctant hero.

[Ostrava · Rating 5 out of 5]

Nirvana Any% but John Difool is Miguel de Unamuno.

[Scott · Rating 4 out of 5]

beautiful art, but i found the story hard to follow

[Travis · Rating 1 out of 5]

I actually only read the first and last chapters(?) of the book, and skimmed the rest. I didn't feel interested enough in the story or the characters to give it any more time than that. The characters especially were annoying. The main character, John Difool, is largely incompetent and only saves the day when he allows the god-like Incal to channel its power through him. The other major characters are a bit more competent, but lack depth and seem to exist only to fulfill the desires of the Incal. Also, even more stupid than the last one, like the claim that an item is made of antimatter and is therefore indestructible; sorry, no antimatter is super destructible, just throw some normal matter at it and they'll annihilate each other and probably release enough energy to destroy the stuff around them as well. But really, not worth complaining about anymore.

[Björn · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ég held ég hafi skrifað eitthvað um fyrra bindið og ég held að það sama eigi allt við um þetta seinna bindi. Ég held ýmislegt. Þessi bók og þessar bækur eru ka-reisí, gullfallegar myndasögur, hugmyndaríkar, iðandi og á stundum leiðinlegar. Hippaheimspekin er það sísta við bókina, sambönd persónanna eru dálíti á floti og oftast álíka spennandi og sudoku þrautir. Fléttan (?) minnir mig á Escher stiga, þarsem við stígum upp þrep fyrir þrep og hring eftir hring án þess að komast nokkuð. En allt sem kalla mætti stærra samhengi -- sérstaklega þetta sjónræna -- er algerlega sér á parti. Það er að segja óviðjafnanlegt. Á engan sinn líka.

[Jiri Fabian · Rating 3 out of 5]

Precti si Incal, Incal je klasika, Incal je top. Dal jsem na doporuceni a vrhnul se na nej. Uprimne, nechytlo me to. Banda plochych postav v cele s kralem vohnoutu Johnem Difoolem proplouva fantazijnim svetem, ktery nema hranic. Par zajimavych napadu, jinak bych od Jodorowskeho ze stejne serie doporucil spise Kastu metabaronu.

[Sasha Boersma · Rating 3 out of 5]

Loved the first collection. This one, however, is all over the place. Didn't not like it, but really struggled to keep track of all the settings and what's going on. The depth of the story is still pretty amazing.

[Simon MacDonald · Rating 2 out of 5]

I thought it was an okay graphic novel. The art by Mœbius was excellent but my understanding of the book suffered from not having read the first part of this series.

[Adnan Mahmutovic · Rating 5 out of 5]

Brilliant.

[Tom Landis · Rating 5 out of 5]

The best graphic novel of all time!!