Incal Final: Integral

The Incal Saga #3

by Alejandro Jodorowsky, Mœbius (Illustrator), José Ladrönn (Illustrator)

Llegamos a los confines del Jodoverso: el cierre de la mayor saga del cómic de ciencia ficción, en una edición integral inédita en español.

El antiheroico detective John Difool ha roto el bucle de su caída eterna, pero ahora debe enfrentarse a otra misión para salvar al universo, amenazado por un virus robótico que quiere terminar con toda materia viva. Dotado de un insólito don de la ubicuidad, Difool se va a multiplicar en cuatro individuos distintos y por la misma razón idénticos, desempeñando un nuevo rol: el de héroe múltiple, mutable y voluntariamente contradictorio.

Genres: Comics, Graphic Novels, Science Fiction, Fiction, Graphic Novels Comics, Comic Book, Bande Dessinée

219 pages, Hardcover

First published November 12, 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

[Marcos GM · Rating 3 out of 5]

[ESP/ENG]

Llegados a este punto, es hora de acabar la historia de El Incal. Y casi mejor, ha dado tantos giros que no sé muy bien que pensar.

Tras los acontecimientos previos, aquí tenemos un nuevo inicio (reboot de Después del Incal, 1. El nuevo sueño tras los problemas habidos en su elaboración) que cuenta algo parecido a aquello pero va luego por otros derroteros, que particularmente no me han interesado demasiado. Y ni siquiera tiene un final cerrado, algo que ya hoy día no vamos a ver. Sí me ha gustado el como trata el amor como fuerza restauradora del universo, pero los personajes no me son creíbles ya en este punto.

El arte está bastante bien, no es Moebius pero me gusta como dibuja aquí Ladrönn, con formas más suaves sin dejar de lado las megaciudades y los muy diversos aspectos de los personajes.

Si alguien quiere meterse a esta saga, yo recomiendo leer la serie principal y dejarlo allí.


-----------------------------------


At this point, it is time to finish the story of El Incal. And this might be for the better, the story has taken so many turns that I don't really know what to think.

After the previous events, here we have a new beginning (reboot of Después del Incal, 1. El nuevo sueño after the problems that occurred in its preparation) that tells something similar to that but then goes in other directions, which have not particularly interested me too much. And it does not even have a closed ending, something that we are not going to see anymore. Yes, I liked how the author treats love as a restorative force in the universe, but the characters are no longer credible to me at this point.

The art is quite good, it's not Moebius but I like how Ladrönn draws here, with softer forms without neglecting the megacities and the very diverse aspects of the characters.

If someone wants to get into this saga, I recommend reading the main series and leaving it there.

[Michael Burnam-Fink · Rating 2 out of 5]

Final Incal begins where we left John DiFool, falling down the shaft of the great city of Terra 2014 towards an acid lake, his cosmic encounters forgotten. He's rescued by plasma shooting giant bugs and informed of a new universal conflict. The great black Bentacodon, a horrible energy vampire, is conspiring with the Prezident of Terra 2014 to release a horrible plague, killing all organic life and forcing the survivors into metal bodies. DiFool meets up with Elohim, a glowing white archangel who informs him that only his love for Luz can save the galaxy, and they're off through the Incal cosmology, meeting mutants, space pirates, techno-technos, and the hermaphroditic Emperor/ess of the Galaxy.

What this feel like most is a retread, a return to basically the same themes and story beats as both previous Incals and the Metabaron, without the psychological tension or originality that made those stories great. Jodorowsky has his themes, and returns to them again and again. DiFool alternates between cowardice and heroic self-sacrifice as the narrative demands. The war between black and white, and their ultimate fusion, seems like an empty play of symbols. And finally, something is off about the art. It's incredibly detailed in every panel, but when I found in the end that Ladronn did it entirely digitally, and 3D modeled key elements like the city shaft, it made sense. Some things are better analog.

[Andrew · Rating 5 out of 5]

The first thing I will say that okay I am reading them out of order - although each book I am pretty sure (for those that have read them) that they are standalone and yet all fit together in to a bigger story (there is also the Metabaron to fit in there too but as I read the interview at the end of the book it appears he now has his own tale to tell and is appearing in his own publications).

but what can I say that will not give away any spoilers - well the artwork is still incredibly iconic but now with a slightly crisper clearer definition to it - but that I believe is due to the changes to the production team rather than a change in the story or the creative processes behind it.

But there also a lot of what made the first Incal book so incredible - the massive canvases of the action (I think what is most impressive are some of the wide angle images where there is just so much going on) as well as the incredible eye for detail especially when you see how far the story goes from planets and asteroids, from the depths the heights there is just so much going on.

The book is something that you would just want to return to time and time again and I can now see why there are so many references to other stories and pieces of art which you can clearly see to their inspiration from this story.

[Konstantine Paradias · Rating 5 out of 5]

In true Jodorowsky fashion, the Final Incla is more of a sequel to Before the Incal than the Incal itself. Much more concisely structured but with a sort of 'let's get this over with' ending, this was one hell of a conclusion to a god-tier space opera series.

[andrew y · Rating 2 out of 5]

This had glorious art the likes of which I have hardly ever seen.
And yet a totally incomprehensible story that despite my best efforts flew way, way over my head.

[C. Varn · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is difficult to review, if you have the current one with "After the Incal" you can see the story start twice: once with Moebius and once with Ladronn. Jodorowsky's Incal stories got more and more relatable in time, particularly when he wrote the "Before the Incal," which, while still have some objectively laughable dialogue, did give you far more consistent characters than Incal itself. It also contextualized "The Incal" in a way that made its themes clearer. Both the Moebius and Ladronn versions of the story pick up and try to integrate the events of "Before the Incal" with "The Incal" in a way that makes John DiFools character more consistent. The story telling possibilities seemed more interesting in the Moebius version, but I must say, I actually like Ladronn's art a little more.

Making "The Incal" a dream, however, was both lazy and inconsistent with the story. It was clear that Jodorowsky liked the symbolism of the Incal, but did not like some of the narrative problems. It also doesn't make sense since there are some continuities issues that this creates even in the Ladronn version. Now many will point out that story is prosperous, which is true, but that was true for ALL the comics in the Jodoverse except for the short stories like vignettes in "Screaming Planet." Furthermore, there is actual character development here which most Jodorowsky comics lack in a way his films do not.

Still it doesn't have the pop of originality of the first Incal and not as a narratively developed as "Before the Incal." It is, however, better than a lot of the other space operas out there.

[Zardoz · Rating 2 out of 5]

It’s actually more of a reboot than an actual sequel. The plot was edited down to some of the more coherent points. There was a new idea introduced in the beginning and the art was much better. Also, the female love interest decided to go topless most of the time 😳. But, unfortunately the ending didn’t have the same impact as the original.

[Octavi · Rating 4 out of 5]

Muy buena edición que incluye "Después del Incal", inconcluso, e "Incal final". Es muy entretenido y el dibujo es espectacular, pero carece de la magia de "El Incal" original.

[Panhodny · Rating 4 out of 5]

Unbelievable as it sounds, Final Incal is probably Jodorowsky´s most normal work. Of course that hardly means you will not find dozens of bizarre characters, plot twists and ideas on every other page, just that in the context of Jodorowsky´s work, Final Incal exhibits the kind of cohesion that you would find in many "regular" scifi/superhero stories. The book actually reminded me a lot of various cosmic superhero adventures, which was quite surprising. It is both the strength and weakness of this installment. Weakness in the sense that Jodo´s work was always characterized by a sort of disjointed mayhem of ideas, changing locations and often characters from page to page, which Final Incal lacks. On the other hand, it´s also what makes it his most narratively "unified" work. The story is mostly linear, a lot of the scenes are portrayed in detail (especially battles, which are so detailed they actually flow very nicely from one action to another!) - this is in stark contrast with the original Incal where an idea is often presented and discarded within 4 pannels.

Overall, better than Before the Incal (to which it actually connects more than to the Incal itself). The art is magnificent! Being able to build on Moebius´ designs and aesthetics, Ladronn proves himself to be more than a match to Moebius himself.

[Luke]

I was more mixed on this one that I wish I was. The Incal, the original Jodorowsky and Moebius comic, is one of the best comic books of all time, and truly melted my brain when I read it earlier this year. Before the Incal is also really good. This one, like I said, I was more mixed on. The main thing was that it felt "modern" in a way that the first two didn't - they were more in the "classical" 70s and 80s style where everything was drawn by hand, in simpler panels, and everything was over-written--in this case a good thing. There simply weren't as many ideas at play, and the writing and dialogue felt a bit thin. There is just so much packed into the original Incal; this one plays out like any standard sci-fi action comic of the last 20ish years. The colors in this are more muted, softer, pastel almost, where the old Incal really popped with vivid color. This is also drawn on computer, and not by hand; it kind of numbs my brain a little, though a lot of the art is still very good. It does finish the story in a pretty satisfying way, though. I've got Metabarons and Technopriests lined up to read next, which I hear are both quite good, so here we go...

[Jose Miguel · Rating 4 out of 5]

Primer cómic que leo de Jodorowsky… no sé qué pensar. La historia es caótica pero supongo que es porque condensa un universo entero creado por el autor

¡Los dibujos de Moebius y Ladrönn son increíbles!

[Executionereniak · Rating 5 out of 5]

"Nic podobne krásného jsem nevidel od chvíle, kdy me jako malé ptáča matka zavedla na astroport podívat se, jak lode odlétají ke hvezdám!"

[Raúl · Rating 3 out of 5]

Bueno, Incal sólo hay uno, pero Jodorowsky se emepeña en convertirlo en una teleserie...
Incal, los 6 libros fascinantes que Mebius creó que los guiones de Jodorowsky

[Michael (Horror Gardener) · Rating 4 out of 5]

The 3rd book in the series, while I loved the artwork on this one, I found the story kinda blah and the dialog 3rd rate, compared to the wacky adventures of the first two books.

Also how they treated Deepo ( who has been around the whole series) made me very sad.
#notmydeepo

[Adriano Barone]

Come dire... un maestro come Jodo non si tocca.
Però si arriva a volte a un punto in cui si deve anche avere il coraggio di dire basta.
Peccato per i disegni di José Ladrönn sprecati per 'sta roba.

[Martti · Rating 1 out of 5]

Nothing continues to happen in this one in the same kind of particularly nonsensical manner. Quickly skimmed because I got it with the rest of the Humble Bundle - Humanioids Megabundle - among them the graphic novels by Alejandro Jodorowsky and Moebius.

Well, at least that was the "final" one.

[Rachel · Rating 2 out of 5]

Happy to return to this indescribable universe, but sad to see the updated art. Totally a stylistic preference, but I much prefer Moebius's flat, bold colors.

That Kanye West epigraph though--yes. I guess now I actually have to watch Holy Mountain but I'm all out of 'shrooms.

[Paula Silvonen · Rating 3 out of 5]

Ihan hyvä päätös Incalille. Tykkäsin aiempien osien piirtojäljestä enemmän.

[Bones Green · Rating 4 out of 5]

The absolutely new artistic presentation comparing to the previous volumes. More sci-fi, more weird, more bright. The worthy ending of the incredible story.

[Michel · Rating 1 out of 5]

Jodorowsky vond bij nader inzien zijn oorspronkelijk einde voor de hele Incal-dinges (“oef het was maar een droom”) niét zo goed, en besloot dan maar een ander einde te brouwen.

Op het einde van zijn leven had Moebius geen goesting meer om te tekenen voor Jodorowsky. Hij heeft één boek gemaakt van Après L’Incal, en dan was het genoeg geweest. Knip en plak een stuk interview daarover:

« Q : Il s’est passé huit ans entre la publication du tome 1 de Après l’Incal avec Mœbius et celle de ce premier tome de Final Incal. Vous paraissait-il important d’apporter certaines modifications, et si oui lesquelles ? S’agit-il d’ailleurs d’un complément ou… d’un recommencement ?
R : Ce n’est pas du tout un complément, moi comme écrivain dans Après l’Incal de Mœbius, je me suis trompé. Je ne sais pas quelle idiote de mouche m’a piqué pour décider que toute l’histoire de L’Incal n’était qu’un rêve. Idée extrêmement facile. Après une cure en mangeant des noix de coco chez les indiens d’Amazonie, j’ai récupéré mon intelligence chamanique. Les sages rats à huit pattes que j’ai vus dans mes délires m’ont prié de recommencer l’histoire. Moebius, gentiment fâché avec moi, a décidé de ne pas me suivre dans cette voie “schizophrénomystique”, j’ai dû attendre huit ans pour trouver un artiste à la hauteur de la nouvelle version. Le rêve s’est transformé en plusieurs mondes parallèles. »

Jaja, Jodorowsky bleef Jodorowsky. De mens was in de 80 en nog altijd even zot.

Hij hyeeft uiteindelijk in José Ladrönn een ongelooflijk goeie vervanger gevonden. Nee serieus: de tekeningen in deze drie boeken zijn echt fantastisch. Béter dan wat Moebius op het einde maakte, vind ik, en dat zegt bijzonder veel.

Ik wou dat ik hetzelfde kon zeggen van het — wat daar moet voor doorgaan — scenario. Pijnlijk heel erg slecht. Pijnlijk ongrappig, pijnlijk onorigineel (héél goed gekeken naar Druuna, om maar iets te zeggen), pijnlijk bordkarton, pijnlijk onlogisch, pijnlijk, pijnlijk, pijnlijk.

Ook heel oneven: het begint degelijk, neemt dan een irritante slapstick-draai, en verdrinkt uiteindelijk in de ene na de andere belachelijk iritante deus ex machina.

Ik zou bijna elke pagina in groot formaat aan mijn muur hangen, maar ik kan niemand deze zooi aanraden voor het scenario.

[Rogerio Lopes · Rating 4 out of 5]

Incal Final o volume que encerra a republicação de Incal no Brasil pela Pipoca e Nanquim é uma obra um tanto irregular. Pela ânsia dos editores em incensar essa obra tão importante talvez tenham feito escolhas editoriais que não funcionem tão bem.
O volume inicia-se com Incal Final final propriamente dito uma história consideravelmente mais condensada do que as anteriores o que pode frustrar um pouco o leitor, já que ela parece meio apagada em relação às outras. Para aproveitar de fato Incal Final o leitor precisa conhecer melhor como toda a obra Incal foi pensada e ter um background cultural considerável.
A seguir somos apresentados a Depois do Incal que foi a primeira proposta de um encerramento da série, encerramento esse desenhado por Moebius. Esse excerto parece muito mais viajado e complexo do que o Incal Final e ao mesmo tempo (até por ser incompleto) meio apagado.
Por fim temos a parte mais interessante e ao mesmo tempo maçante da obra Os Mistérios do Incal, uma longa sequência de textos que vão dar conta de dar explicar o contexto que Incal foi pensado, apresentar os envolvidos no projeto, contextualizar o leitor perante a obra de Jodorowsky e Moebius e comentar cada um dos elementos de cada volume e da história.
Acredito que essa escolha tenha sido pensada para que os volumes tivessem mais ou menos o mesmo número de páginas, porém ajudaria e muito se tivessem dividido esses textos pensando na ordem dos volumes publicados e referenciando o leitor para consultá-los após a leitura.
Contrariando o que eu costumo pensar Incal é uma obra que quanto mais o leitor souber dos autores e de seu contexto melhor vai aproveitar. Portanto, minha sugestão de leitura é ler primeiro Os Mistérios do Incal e depois proceder uma leitura cronológica da história. Ler Antes do Incal, Incal e finalizar com o restante da leitura do Incal Final.
Dessa forma o leitor aproveitará melhor penso eu a jornada de John Difool (O Louco) através dos doze Arcanos do Tarot (uma das possíveis chaves de leitura da obra). Cabe ainda comentar que é uma obra que pede releituras e de preferência uma leitura corrida sem intercalar outras obras entre os volumes.

[Federico · Rating 4 out of 5]

Pure Jodo—I wanted to know how the story ends, and not knowing a damn thing about the plot, I was sold just by reading a small paragraph-sized back cover. He doesn’t waste any time either: as soon as the volume starts, there are a billion things happening, all over the place, at the same time, in different universes, and the action never stops—not until the very end.

And while the beginning is incredibly well thought out, and the middle doesn’t disappoint, I have to confess I found the ending a bit rushed. Boom, that’s it. Wait, that was it? It finished? This is it? Not that I didn’t like the ending or thought there was something wrong with it, but I think I would have liked another chapter or two with more development.

Something I missed in the second volume is that, while it appeared to be an exploration of a different theme, it was a story that could very well have had different characters and a different setting. This, on the other hand, is a one-hundred-percent sequel to The Incal, with all its political, theological, symbolic, galactic, and catastrophic shenanigans.

Interestingly, the first—abandoned—version followed the second volume more closely. It looks like, with time, Jodo wanted to get closer to the original story. And funnily enough, I found the third volume to have Fifth Element vibes—a very Jodorowsky thing to do, after suing Luc Besson for plagiarism. It goes full circle, just like the story.

[Óscar López · Rating 4 out of 5]

"Final Incal" is the third and last book in the Incal saga. It's a continuation of both the original and the prequel, and a retelling of the aborted "After the Incal" story, borrowing some elements from it but improving the rough parts.

The narrative is what you should expect from Jodorowsky - at some points the story doesn't make any sense, and it feels childlike because the author throws plot twists and grandiose scenes for the heck of it, with no coherence. The characters are mostly the same from previous books, with Gorgo the Foul getting a bit more of attention.

The profound, pseudo-spiritual tone of the first volume is gone; this is just an action/adventure comic that more-or-less ties all the loose ends from the previous books by making heavy use of the multiverse trope to explain continuity gaps, and concludes the story in an open-ended fashion which is moderately satisfying.

Ladrönn does a fantastic job with the artwork; the level of detail on each panel is crazy, with lots of nuances and secondary stories being told in the backgrounds. Sadly the coloring leaves much to be desired, the colors have this washed-out, pastel quality that doesn't match the style of the first volumes, with their vibrant palettes.

All in all this was an interesting saga, it's the first time I was exposed to the Jodoverse and all of its wonderful world building - it's obvious why it's been so influential, but definitely I'm not a fan of Alejandro's approach to storytelling. There's a multitude of additional volumes set in the Jodoverse, in particular the Metabarons saga, but for the moment they don't rank high in my reading list.

[Clint · Rating 2 out of 5]

2.5 stars
Final Incal’s propulsive opening pages immediately excited me as it seemed to get right into a more urgent crisis than the previous two books. But then the story never really slows down to introduce new corners of this world or interesting new characters like the previous two books did, and seems to misuse existing characters mostly to avoid needing to introduce anyone new to play those parts. I was excited to see several familiar faces again, but nearly everyone acts so out of character that it feels like a reboot from a company that bought the IP. There’s also almost no humor here, which is a sharp break from the overtly playful tone of the previous two stories.

I felt similarly about Ladrönn’s cleaner and understandably more modern looking art and the attractive watercolor coloring. Initially impressed, but then quickly let down by its less distinctive and less interesting quality overall. Several previously introduced visuals get new presentations, but there’s surprisingly little if any new imagery introduced here. The monochromatic aesthetic many pages use becomes washed out and blasé next to the comparatively garish technicolor of the first two books.

This sort of feels like the The Incal’s very own Episode IX. :(

[Diego JT · Rating 3 out of 5]

Creía que este era el famosísimo cómic de los 80 que iba a ser adaptado próximamente al cine por Taika Waititi, pero no, es una especie de secuela/reboot de hace 15 años que se puede leer de forma independiente.
El dibujo y el mundo que presenta el Incal es apabullante y no dejan de suceder cosas todo el rato, hay viñetas chulísimas, además de que las criaturas son interesantes. No obstante, hay momentos en la trama en que todo se acelera rapidísimo de forma muy artificial en algunas páginas, además de tener algún Deus Ex Machina risible, sobre todo al final.
También comentaré el tema de que solo hay un personaje femenino y se tira la mitad de las viñetas en tetas, además de que hay, no una ni dos, sino 3 escenas de violaciones, (te puedo comprar 1, pero no las que se utilizan como recurso cómico).
Con un guión algo más pulido y tal, sería algo tocho, pero se queda en un entretenido cómic de Ciencia Ficción. Leeré el original.

[Mario · Rating 3 out of 5]

Nonostante l'intrigante cambio di paradigma iniziale, l'Incal Finale risente di una struttura episodica "ostacolo-fuga" che si percepisce come ripetitiva. Se da un lato questo modo di procedere ricorda e ripropone alcuni schemi narrativi dei due capitoli precedenti, dando l'impressione di minore originalità nell'elaborazione della trama, dall'altro non riesce a eguagliare quell'effetto matrioska da risucchio nel tunnel del bianconiglio verso il cuore mistico e filosofico della storia.

Di contro, la combriccola che viene a formarsi a metà lettura sorprende e diverte, portando a conseguenze naturali, seppure parodiche, le premesse iniziali. La presenza dell'incompleto Dopo l'Incal nella versione integrale riattiva quel vortice circolare che come un prisma rilancia con mille sfaccettature la lotta dell'esistenza umana sulla tela dello spazio-tempo.

[Shabbeer Hassan · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is the end, my beautiful friend the end! The journey of John DiFool, his companion Deepo, his ever-changing flames, greed-laden, hedonistic humans in a universe full of weirdness, impressionable aliens and everyone's favourite evil - machines, finally comes to an end after a torturous journey.

It all started brilliantly and in a trail-blazing fashion with The Incal, meandered through middling imagination in Before the Incal and finally landed in a quiet, distasteful whimper with this book. The desire to be unpredictable and shocking was too strong with Jodorowsky which in turn followed a similar plotline to the first book and ended up touting mystical cosmic consciousness of love, whatever that is, to be the supreme power in the cosmos binding humanity together (despite panels before they were still squabbling over land, money and power).

All in all, the whole series was superb, especially the first book, and anyone who is into SF, should at least read that one, rest of them can be pretty much avoided.

My Rating - 1.5/5

[Joseph Boquiren · Rating 3 out of 5]

The Final Incal is the last book in Jodorowsky's Incal Trilogy.

This book, lavishly illustrated by Ladronn is visual wonder to behold. Every panel is jaw-droppingly amazing. I continually wondered how the artist managed to cram so much detail into each page and still maintain the manic production pace needed for publication.

My only quibble is that Jodorowsky's pacing is relentless and never lets up. The story is frenetic and action packed from beginning to end. I continually wished for a page with a single panel that allowed the reader's eyes to rest before diving back in. I was exhausted halfway through the book and had to put it down for several days.

[Al McCarty · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'm doing this all backwards. Despite knowing about the Incal series for decades, and while admiring the art of Moebius, I just never got into this. Put it off too long, look for it at the library, and the only volume available is the last, illustrated by the quite capable Ladronn.
Story is a convoluted mess of gobbledygook that I don't know quite how to evaluate, and the drawings/painting/computer-rendered storytelling, is gorgeous. A lot of high-flying, overblown Sci-Fi/fantasty craziness. Jodorowsky's prose is rudimentary. It's fun enough, and pretty to the eye. Hard to truly to judge by reading the final chapter before the rest.

[Zach · Rating 4 out of 5]

I think Final Incal is a satisfying conclusion to the Incal trilogy, though the story fumbles a little bit and re-convolutes itself relative to the incredibly clear and jam-packed narrative of Before the Incal. The biggest highlight is José Ladrönn's awesome interpretation on the Incal universe -- his art is very different from Moebius' original and Janjetov's Moebius imitation: Ladrönn takes the classic images created by Moebius and reimagines them, projects them from different angles and in a new light, adding nuances and details and overall building the universe to new heights. The art is definitely the highlight; the story is pretty cool too.