cover image The Metabaron

The Metabaron

Alexandro Jodorowsky, Jerry Frissen, and Valentin Secher. Humanoids, $29.95 (114p) ISBN 978-1-59465-153-3

“All this violence and pain fills me with such joy, Tetanus!” If you can get on board with that sentiment, you may be the audience for the Metabarons series, a long-running European comics saga conceived by art-film legend Jodorowsky. The chronicle of a dynasty of super-warriors in the far future, it tosses Greek mythology, Frank Herbert’s Dune, and a bit of the old ultraviolence into a blender and presses frappé. The creators announced the end of the series in 2003 but have returned with a new volume, which, like its predecessors, is both stunningly illustrated and utterly bananas. The Metabaron and his faithful robot, Tonto, take on the cartoonishly evil Techno-Admiral, who has cybernetic arms bigger than his body and dreams of cloning a perfect foe for his nemesis. Dazzling views of spaceships, artificial planets, and impossibly massive edifices provide a lush backdrop for grimy battles between space jerks. The macho politics and treatment of women are medieval, but everything becomes futuristic if you put meta in front of it. (Oct.)