Before the Incal by Alejandro Jodorowsky

​What a weird, weird book. An odyssey, really, a science fiction dystopian odyssey but a distinctly European flavored one. Incal was dreamt up by Alejandro Jodorowsky, a controversial cult-classic sort of avant-garde figure, who despite being originally from Latin America, is mostly and very distinctly Gallic in his sensibilities. Born is 1929, he’s also a man of a different era, several different eras, really. So all of that must go a long way to inform his sexual politics, because it’s impossible to talk about Incal without mentioning them.
I mean, sure, we can discuss at length the wildly imagined world of Incal, with its precise and striking social strata and its futuristic wildness – it’s sort of like cyberpunk, crazy-advanced tech and low-quality lives. We can discuss the social injustices that set off the young detective John Difool on his missions, but,,,but…in the end of the day, what really stands out here is the sex. It’s like that joke “You f*ck one goat…”
Because these comics are laden, rife with sex in a variety of grotesque scenarios. Some are romantic - Difool and his beloved on and off aristo Luz get all loved up romantically - but the rest…yikes. Incal really goes there and I mean really goes there, everywhere. Well, everywhere within author’s own imaginations’ limitations, presumably. For, it’s all pretty much straight, for one thing, however perverted. For another…there’s all that rape. And how much rape, you might inquire? Well, there’s a rape scene of a dead fourteen-year-old girl, so that should answer that question.
And (here’s a weird sentence) Jodorowsky isn’t even a stranger to rape controversy. In fact, this might be one of the milder instances for him. He did some bizarro western in the 70s El Topo and…well, you can look that up. Suffice it to say, the man proudly claimed the authenticity of the rape scene in that movie for ages until modern day and age has finally forced him to say he hyped it up for publicity, which…well, you can decide just how believable that sounds.
And sure, the ethics and gender politics have changed a lot since and they’ve been very different to begin with when comparing the generally puritanical US to the do as you please Western Europe, but still…it stands to be mention that some readers might be quite…um…disturbed by the sexuality of the Incal comics.
Aside from that…this is a difficult book to love as such, but it has a certain magnetism, certain energy. And there are lovable things about it, like Difool’s companions, both fowl and robotic. There’s a very peculiar strangeness to the Incal world that can draw you in. It’s certainly different enough to be interesting.
Now when it gets into the actual Incal as a mystical object, the mysticism aspect of it…that reads straight out of the 70s, someone did too much acid, sort of thing. Didn’t care for that at all. But the actual Difool’s adventures otherwise can be compelling, especially since he is such non-traditional/non-heroic/reluctant protagonist. And the world building here is top rate. You can see why this comic is so highly regarded by the people who know these things.
Fun fact, Jodorowsky was once tapped for the original cinematic adaptation of Dune. See if you can tell why.
Another fun fact, according to the internet, the awesomely talented Taika Waititi is set to direct the cinematic adaptation of the Incal. At long last. Who knows how a thing like this can be even brought to life…it’s so otherworldly in so many ways. But if anyone can do it, Waititi can. That ought to be a spectacle of first order.
As for the book, it’s difficult to recommend for many reasons. But for people looking for something completely different and not overtly prudish/easy to disturb, it might be worth a read.