So...Jodorowsky?

[Arminius]

I remember seeing The Incal in comic shops ages ago but never bothered. Now it's come to my attention again by a circuitous route--an article comparing Willy Wonka (with Gene Wilder) to a Jodorowskian nightmare. That would be high praise for Mr. J, even though it may not have been intended that way.

Then I learn that The Incal was a(n acclaimed) collaboration with Moebius. Hm! I've always loved M's art (who doesn't?) but I've never seen it tied effectively to a really good story or coherent world. My fault, perhaps?

But...not knowing who Jodorowsky was...I'd seen Santa Sangre some time ago and ultimately I thought it promised much more than it delivered.

RPG-related: Jodorowsky is also responsible for The Metabarons, which got an RPG treatment by WEG. Had no idea what it was about until now. I'm also wondering if there's any connection to French RPG Empire Galactique, if not explicitly, then maybe the Jodoverse looms so large that it had to influence games from that period?

[Dirk Remmecke]

The Incal was a collaboration between Moebius and Jodorowski, but I woudn't call it a particularly good story. I liked the beginning more than the later parts (basically the first two books). Moebius drifted ever more deeply into esoterics, and it shows in his oevre.

The Metabaron is a supporting character from The Incal, the last survivor of a warrior caste. The spin-off series (beautifully illustrated by Juan Gimenez) details the history of that caste and is a kind of Knights of the Old Republic to the (much weirder, Moebius-esque) Incal.

The Incal was inspired by Moebius's own, two part short story, The Long Tomorrow, written by Dan "Alien" O'Bannon (which allegedly was an SF interpretation of Mickey Spillane's I the Jury).
The Long Tomorrow served as inspiration for the "Harry Canyon" episode in the first Heavy Metal movie.

I don't know Empire Galactique. But I know the other SF jeu de rôle, MEGA (III), a crunchy time/dimension travel RPG heavily inspired by the other big French SF comic book, Valérian, Agent Spacio-Temporel.

Luc Besson's movie The Fifth Element is a hommage to all three, The Long Tommorrow,Valérian, and The Incal.

My favorite Moebius story is still The Airtight Garage.

[Arminius]

I hated The Fifth Element. Couldn't really see the point of any of it.

ButThe Airtight Garage! It seems really cool, but I don't know where the entry point is. I read some little riffs and bits where Moebius used it as a setting, and that's all.

[Dirk Remmecke]

I hated The Fifth Element. Couldn't really see the point of any of it.

AFAIK Besson is a big Valérian fan. (Or comics fan in general? He did a Blueberry movie, after Moebius's other ground-breaking and influential comic book series.) I read somewhere that he wanted to do a Valérian movie and ended up mixing his influences for Fifth Element.
Last year 2012 (d'oh, we've got 2014) it was announced that he wants to do a real Valérian adaption but so far nothing has come of it.

ButThe Airtight Garage! It seems really cool, but I don't know where the entry point is. I read some little riffs and bits where Moebius used it as a setting, and that's all.

I am a purist when it comes to the Garage. I know that Moebius, Lofficier and Shanower worked on spin-offs and sequels in the same universe but I like the original story especially for its stream-of-consciousness plotting. The original story was a monthly series that ran in (two to four page instalments) for years in the pages of Métal Hurlant. Moebius had no plot and took the story where his mind wandered and his whim took him.
It's not coherent, it's weird and whimsy in a Peter Mullen and Erol Otus kind of way, and the ending makes you go, "WTF???".
The later, "expanded universe" stuff is more defined and a rather ordinary, almost generic, space adventure.

The original, collected series is this.
(I am still on the fence whether I prefer the colorized version or the original b/w version.)

[Arminius]

Dirk, thank you for the tip.

[Settembrini]

Dune!?

[Dirk Remmecke]

Dune!?

Yes, it's possible that the whole "Jodoverse" is in fact just the fallout of his failed Dune movie.

[Settembrini]

Wow.