The Metabarons #1 by Jodorowsky and Gimenez, published by Les Humanoides Associes.
The Metabarons #1: Othon & Honorata
By Alejandro Jodorowsky and Juan Gimenez
Humanoids Publishing
ISBN: 978-1-59465-000-0
“We’re only 150 Warriors with prehistoric weapons against 1500 killers with post-nuclear arms. They will CRUSH us…” – Othon Von Salza
Baron Othon and his Castaka clan from the planet Marmola are loyal servants to the intergalactic empire, but when the empire discovers that the small family harbors the most powerful element in the universe, an oil with anti-gravity properties called epyphite, they send an armada to acquire it. Despite being outnumbered and outgunned, Othon contends to fight and sacrifice until he is the last man standing. His losses are great: His wife, Edna, is torn down, his entire force led by his twin lieutenants are decimated, and his son, Bari, loses the use of his legs. They are sacrifices that Othon determines to make in order to achieve total victory. Othon is a former space pirate and well practiced in martial combat. While his clan splits to bring the fight to the empire’s forces from the north and the south, he alone engages the center of the heavily armored, gun-wielding throng with only a knife. A knife. Oh, and poor Bari, his legs are broken by Othon in order to prevent him and their small army from acting rashly and getting immediately destroyed by the imposing forces. Suffice to say, Othon is not to be trifled with.
After the climatic battle on Marmola, Othon carries the bodies of his slain lieutenants off the battlefield.
Thus begins the indoctrination of Othon Von Salza, the first of his intergalactic warrior caste known as the Metabarons, into a life of endless combat and familial trauma. The Metabarons gain their strength from their honor-bound, Bushitaka, sacrificing anything – even yourself – to win at all costs. Writer Alejandro Jodorowsky (The Incal, The Technopriests, El Topo, and The Holy Mountain) has tweaked his warrior coda slightly from the Japanese samurai way of life, Bushido, which actually taught that sacrificing one’s self was the most important act for a samurai, not necessarily attaining victory. I find Jodorowsky’s re-worked warrior philosophy more preferable because he eschews noble sacrifice for a gloriously exaggerated, down-and-dirty, win at any cost attitude. The Metabarons don’t fear, they don’t back down, and they don’t give up no matter the odds against them.
Artist Juan Gimenez comes from an industrial design background. It shows.
Accompanying Jodorowsky for this epic tale is the great Argentinian artist Juan Gimenez (The Fourth Power). Gimenez comes from an industrial design background, so when he draws and paints a spaceship, it looks like it could actually exist. When Gimenez pulls back to show a widescreen shot, the detail is immense. The real magic, though, is in Gimenez’s characters, he combines realistic technology and backgrounds with wide-eyed, expressionistic faces. It’s a visual technique of juxtaposition that Walt Disney pioneered with his film Bambi to draw the viewer more into the illustrated world they are presented with. I feel like Juan Gimenez is actually an underrated artist in the U.S. despite being so technically brilliant, though when you have a fellow artist like Jean Giraud, better known as Moebius, as a contemporary some overlook is to be expected. However, Gimenez, who is in his 60’s now, still has his chops. He deserves much more praise in the States. You can see more of his work on his website here, and this is a video of him from a few years ago at Emerald Con in Seattle, doing a watercolor sketch of the last Metabaron:
What follows after the violent introduction to the Metabaron’s world is an exercise to see if Gimenez’s art can top Jodorowsky’s script in showcasing the next in a line of escalating obstacles that Othon and his family must endure in order to make a name for themselves in the universe. It is important to note that most of the hardships each Metabaron experiences are imposed from father to son, in order for the child to prove that he is capable of never being defeated in combat. Othon eventually loses his first son, Bari, in part because he still questions Bari’s maturity and strength during a pivotal battle, and his fatal misjudgment sends Othon into a deep depression. It is only when he is presented with the Shabda-oud priestess, Honorata, that he is able to become whole again. Through their union, the second Metabaron, Aghnar, is born.
Jodorowsky is having fun telling an epic story but there are also heavy psychological themes that he imbues into his work as he wants to create visceral, human connections between his characters and the reader. The father, Othon, is always disapproving of each of his sons’ worth, forcing the children to put themselves into ever-increasing peril and torture in order to win their father’s favor. At one point, Honorata and Aghnar are both exiled for several years for training and they succumb to what appears to be a genetic sexual attraction between mother and child, albeit very brief and mild – they share a kiss after Aghnar has finally bested his mother in combat. The baron’s blood is strong within Aghnar, he’s inherited the same dour facial features and white hair as his father. Does Honorata kiss the young Aghnar because she misses her true love, Othon, or is there something more? And what about Aghnar? He’s been training every day for seven years so that he can earn the right to be his father’s heir. Does he reciprocate the kiss from his mother because she is the only female he has ever known or is he a child who simply loves his mother and for the first time he’s able to express it? Oedipal implications aside, there are more obvious Freudian tableaus peppered throughout the volume. At another point the baron is castrated and he proceeds to build a towering phallic-shaped fortress to go along with an equally phallic-shaped space jet that he controls, by instinct, while the meta-baronic steering controls are connected where his manhood used to be.
The origins of the plot are actually rooted in the classic science fiction novel, Dune, written by Frank Herbert. Jodorowsky tried unsuccessfully to write and direct a 14 hour film adaptation of Frank Herbert’s book, some of which is documented here. He incorporated some loose concepts from the novel with his own sensibilities to create a truly fresh wave of ideas every time you turn the page. Epyphite is the analog for the spice Melange, the planet of Marmola is a stand-in for the sand planet, Arrakis. Honorata is a Shabda-oud priestess with a hidden agenda, much like Lady Jessica of the Bene Gesserit. Here is a clip from a documentary about Moebius detailing some of the pre-production work that went into the failed Dune epic:
When I was younger David Lynch’s film version, titled Frank Herbert’s Dune would come on local TV once a year for 2 nights, the first night I believe was the shorter 3 hour version, followed the next night by the longer 4-hour version. These nights were special for me, not only because as a 7-year old I was allowed to stay up late, but I also got to experience pure, unchecked Lynchian id being displayed on the screen for the first time. It was only later that I picked up Frank Herbert’s novel, and experienced his complete vision delivered by an author in top form. For a sci-fi novel, hell, for any novel, Herbert relates the most complete world-building I’ve ever read. Herbert wrote about his universe’s politics, religion, geography, community, and culture so seamlessly; every aspect was meticulously planned and executed.
The same spirit that Herbert brought to his work has been fully embraced in the creation of The Metabarons, and reading through the page-by-page universe construction, stunningly rendered by the fluid art of Juan Gimenez, I’m taken back to that 7-year old kid watching space opera on TV, though now I have a firm understanding of the psychological aspects that Jodorowsky has used to fortify his tale. The easy path to take in chronicling the history of the Metabarons would have been to simply use the Cambellian theory of “the hero’s journey” to describe the formative years of each generation, but Jodorowsky instead chooses to focus on and explore the concept of Greek tragedy and the psycho-sexual undertones that define each ebb and flow of catharsis that arises from the situations that his characters are placed in.
This is classic comics work, well worth reading and pouring over. It’s not my favorite volume of the series, I think that The Metabarons #3: Steelhead and Dona Vicenta is the high mark of creativity and insanity from Jodorowsky and Gimenez, and I will be reviewing it in a few weeks. That being said, get this book too, it’s definitely worth keeping on a bookshelf.
The Caste of The Metabarons – French edition
