Posted in: Comics | Tagged: alejandro jodorowksy, Archaia/Boom, jose ladronn

The Sons Of El Topo "A Mess Of Theme, Rape, Violence, and Mysticism"

Published Thu, 19 Mar 2020 17:30:01 -0500

We poo-poo comics designed to be movie pitches, but what about the other way around? Alejandro Jodorowsky's (The Incal, The Metabarons) tried for years to get money to make movies, and he eventually gives up and writes them as comics instead. In the introduction to the first of the two volumes of The Sons Of El Topo, Jodorowsky writes that he specifically asked for three widescreen panels to emulate film. This time around, illustrator José Ladrönn (Hip Flask, Cable) steps up to the plate for a mess of theme, rape, violence, and mysticism.

Ladrönn absolutely nails the panel to panel storytelling, while also not skipping on detail. Maybe it was the limited number of panels per page, but each page looks fantastic. True to Jodorowsky's edict, the widescreen effect took hold on me and didn't let me go until the end of each volume.

I've read a lot of Jodorowsky comics, and The Sons Of El Topo, movie connection or no, count as more of those. Personally, I'm more interested in how a project which includes a rape scene where the survivor's hymen fights off her male attackers landed at Boom!. That story would be just as interesting as The Sons Of El Topo.

Legendary filmmaker Alejandro Jodorowsky (The Incal, Metabarons) and virtuosic illustrator José Ladrönn (Cable, Incredible Hulk) deliver a sequel to Jodorowsky's cult classic film, El Topo. El Topo was once a bandit without limits, a man with no moral compass, until his journey through the desert brought him to religion and enlightenment. As he became a holy vessel imbued with the power to perform miracles, he left behind his first born son Cain, and brought forth the birth of Abel. Fueled by resentment, and unable to kill his saintly father, Cain begins the slow pursuit of his half brother in a tale of magic and mayhem.

* The ongoing sequel to cult film, El Topo , from cult-favorite filmmaker Alejandro Jodorowsky. * Cain and Abel reunite following the death of Abel's saintly mother, but the reunion is not without trouble. Cain's quick to anger and his penchant for hate and violence quickly overcome the brothers already contentious relationship. * In a virtuosic journey of untethered magic, corrupted faith, and lust, cult-filmmaker Alejandro Jodorowsky and master illustrator Jose Ladronn continue the complex story of two brothers at odds after the death of their saintly father, the legendary El Topo.

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