Tag: incal

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Best/Worst Graphic Novels Read in 2024

Ahh, end of the year lists. Everybody’s doing them, so why not me? Here’s the five best and five worst graphic novels I’ve read in 2024. The rules are simple: 1. I read the graphic novel in 2024. 2. This is my first read of the graphic novel.

Batman: Dark Victory is great and would make this list, but I already read it. Graphic novels that are part of a larger series that I have not read count, even if I’ve read the earlier volumes. Example: Love & Rockets, which is on this list.

BEST (in alphabetical order):

Conan: Birth of a Legend, by Kurt Busiek and Cary Nord. This is the best take I’ve ever seen on Conan, made more impressive by the fact that it covers his lost childhood and manages not to be boring.

Daredevil Ultimate Collection: Volume Two, by Brian Michael Bendis and Alex Maleev. I view this as a noir comic rather than a superhero comic, especially since the superhero in question is written as a narcissistic donkey.

Human Diastrophism: Love & Rockets, by Gilbert Hernandez. The characters here age, change, and even die. In this volume, Luba leaves Palomar and we meet aged hitman Gorgo.

Incal: Black Incal, by Alejandro Jodorowsky and Moebius. Hallucinatory science fiction that has spawned countless imitators.

Kamandi: The Last Boy on Earth, by Jack Kirby. Inspired by Planet of the Apes, this postapocalyptic comic by Jack Kirby moves at a breakneck pace.

WORST (in alphabetical order):

I, Vampire. This series might’ve had promise, but the creators left after a few issues, and the second creative team jumped the shark, and by the time the third creative team found its footing the series ended.

Justice League of American: The Marriage of the Atom and Jean Loring. If you are interested in Brad Meltzer’s Identity Crisis, you might enjoy this . Most will find it a slog to read, with too many characters, confusing storylines, and no meta-plot.

Marvel Masterworks Daredevil: Volume Three, by Stan Lee & Gene Colan. Mike Murdock, Matt’s identical twin who is also blind and who none of Matt’s friends have ever met, takes center stage as the creators see how high they can fly before their feathers melt and they plunge into the ocean.

Marvel Masterworks Sub-Mariner: Volume Two, by Roy Thomas & Bill Everett. This is a step-up from the first volume, with some eye-opening imagery and also art by Golden Age artist Bill Everett, but it won’t be of interest to anyone but the biggest Sub-Mariner fans.

World’s Finest Silver Age Volume Two. If you want to see Indian chief Superman and a crackpot inventor with a salad colander on his head torment the Dynamic Trio, then look no further.

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The Incal: The Black Incal

This is a review of The Incal: The Black Incal, by Alexandro Jodorowsky and Moebius. This is a science fiction comic put out by Humanoids, an European publisher. I haven’t read many Humanoids comics. My first impression was Heavy Metal coupled with Eurotrash, a heady whiff, but that’s not true. They are having a huge Humble Bundle sale, here.

A private eye named John DiFool is hired to escort a beautiful young aristocrat to a brothel, where she mates with a man with a wolf’s head. At midnight she transforms into an old woman. Fleeing an angry WolfHead, DiFool takes refuge in futuristic sewers where he meets an alien with a knife in his back. The dying alien gives him the Incal, which at first glance resembles a glowing cigarette lighter.

With me so far? In American comics, we’d be three issues in, but this graphic novel is just getting started. DiFool escapes getting thrown into an acid lake and then retrieves his bird, who is acting like the Messiah, preaching and healing people (DiFool jammed the Incal down the bird’s throat), before witnessing the clonage of His Supreme Highness and then traveling to a huge necropolis, where robots are made from human parts. And that’s before we meet the Black Incal.

Whew, that’s a lot of plot. Also: great art by Moebius. This is a futuristic dystopia with a healthy dose of anarchy/satire. There’s also some nudity and sex scenes, which aren’t too graphic. I did not know this came out in 1980. If you read it, you’ll see its influence in the aesthetic of movies like Total Recall, The Fifth Element, and Blade Runner. In comics, think of Cynosure in John Ostrander’s Grimjack, Warren Ellis’ Transmetropolitan, Judge Dredd.

John DiFool is an EveryMan. Well, given his name I guess he’s stupider than that. I don’t know what the Incal is, but it is sentient and can talk. There isn’t much of a plot yet, just lots of spectacle and great art. Everyone wants the MacGuffin – er, I mean the Incal. This is a great science fiction comic and is thus highly recommended!