Hey guys,

After seeing El Topo and The Holy Mountain recently, I looked into Jodorowsky's comic book work, and picked up The Incal: The Epic Conspiracy and The Incal: The Epic Journey. But I noticed a whole bunch of different comics written by Jodorowsky and all taking place in the same universe. Is there a correct order in which to read these? Does one series reference the others? Will I be hopelessly confused if I don't read them in a correct order? As far as I can tell, the two Incal sets I got were the start of the whole thing, so I felt okay beginning with them. But after that, I feel a little lost.

"The Incal: The Epic Journey" and "The Incal: The Epic Conspiracy" were the first Incal books Jodo wrote, with Moebius on art.

There's also an Incal prequel, created later, that can be found in the graphic novels "Orphan of the City Shaft" and "John diFool, Class R Detective."

There's also an unfinished Incal sequel series that, to my knowledge, has neither been translated into English or released in the US.

There's also a spin-off series, "The Metabarons," that tells the story of the Metabaron from the Incal books. English translations have been published by Humanoids (in a censsored version, 4 books) and DC/Humanoids (uncensored version, 3 books).

I also believe that the TechnoPriests books (I believe 2 have been published by DC/Humanoids) also tie into the Incal/Metabarons mythology, but I'm not 100% on that.

If you're concerned about reading order, I think you're okay starting out with Epic Journey and Epic Conspiracy. Those were the first published Incal books, and the prequel was released later.

The Metabarons, despite taking place in the same universe and sharing a character, stands on its own. It's very different in tone (both in the story and artwork) from The Incal, and one series can be read without reading the other.

Awesome! I finished The Incal: The Epic Conspiracy last night and loved it. Guess I'll grab the other comics, too.

Sorry for bumping this old thread but I figured it would be better than needlessly starting a new one - Can anyone point me in the direction for uncensored and relatively reasonably priced copies for The Incal series (mainly the original stories, I'll worry about the prequels and spinoffs later)

As grateful as I am that Humanoids have put out a lot of European comics in high quality, I loathe their business practice of reissuing popular titles 40 times in different configurations. If they're going to do that, at least leave the basic trade paperback version available for people who don't want to drop $60+ for a hardcover edition.

I would recommend checking out your local comic shops. They may have older stock of the graphic novels that won't break the bank. If Humanoids is the sole publisher (not Humanoids and DC), you should be getting a quality copy.

So the Humanoids releases (not the co-release with DC) are the ones to look for? Are they hardcover only?

I have to agree here. The way they release stuff is really confusing; there are so many editions and formats that are constantly dropping in and out of print that it's overwhelming for a casual fan or noob to keep track of or know what they're getting. It's like Fantagraphics and Love & Rockets.

I think there were some trade versions of The Incal made, but they're already out of print. It would likely be easier to find the DC co-release versions, and while I don't believe those are censored, they are re-colored with digital coloring techniques that are very very different from what Moebius originally did on the comic. Now I'm a big enough Incal fan that I ended up getting one of the massive hardcover versions of The Incal (and Before The Incal, and The Metabarons), which is a great way to experience that series, but hardly reasonable for someone who just wants to dip their toes into the Jodoverse.

As I said, your local comic shops would likely be your best bet, but be aware that Humanoids have released The Incal both as a single story, and also in reproductions of the original issues (I believe there were six), and other variants besides, so be sure you're actually getting the material you want.

The other option would be to try your library if they carry graphic novels.