Before the Incal, is a six issue graphic novel, which is part of The Incal saga. It was published by Les Humanoïdes Associés, between 1988 and 1995. It was written by Alejandro Jodorowsky and illustrated by Zoran Janjetov.
Before the Incal follows the story of John DiFool before the events depicted in The Incal, from a young rascal who loses both of his parents early, to a pre-detective who uncovers a dark secret with serious political ramifications. He's helped along the way by Deepo, a concrete seagull he rescues from the streets; Kolbo-5, an abandoned cybo-cop: and Luz De Garra, an aristo who falls in love with John. While on the opposite side, the Supra-divinoid, the Prezident and the Prime Minister will try to stop him at every turn.
Before the Incal has a similar tone to The Incal, but it's a more straightforward coming-of-age story. It incorporates neo-noir elements, as well as featuring more graphic violence and nudity. Although Before the Incal acts as a prequel to The Incal, the series is best read following the release order (i.e The Incal should be read first), so that revelations and plot-twists retain their full effect.
Overview[]
Before the Incal answers questions that The Incal had left unanswered.
Like The Incal, Before the Incal also has six issues, although not all of them are divided in chapters. The ending of Before the Incal ties directly into the beginning of The Incal. Some events that were left unexplained or only hinted at in The Incal are shown in Vhisky, SPV and Homeo-Whores and Suicide Alley; like how Tanatah stole the Black Incal and became the Queen of Amok or how a Berg came to be in possession of the Luminous Incal at the very beginning of The Black Incal, for example.
The fact that the aristo Nimbea S. Quinq is revealed to be Animah in disguise or that John's memory is erased and that's why he must "remember" at the end of The Fifth Essence: Planet DiFool, could be considered instances of retroactive continuity, "adjusting" the events of the previous volume to this one.
- Farewell, Father (1988)
- Class "R" Detective (1990)
- Croot (1991)
- Psycho Anarchist (1992)
- Vhisky, SPV and Homeo-Whores (1993)
- Suicide Alley (1995)
Main characters[]
The Techno-pope, the cybo-commander, Diavaloo and the Prezident.
- John DiFool
- Deepo
- Luz De Garra
- Kolbo-5
- The Supra-divinoid
- The Prezident
- Lord De Garra
- The Techno-pope
- Diavaloo
- Snailhead
- Oliver DiFool
- John's mother
Themes[]
Social Commentary[]
Like in The Incal, City Shaft serves as a commentary on class divisions. The elite aristos go to the lower-level clubs to throw parties and have fun, ignoring all the misery, even peeing and shooting at people who jump down Suicide Alley. As we learn in Psycho Anarchist, the halos (the main class signifier of the aristos) are actually manufactured by extracting the pineal gland from babies of low-level prostitutes, that is, the whole rich aristo class depends on the explotation of poor women, and the origin of this hierarchy is maintained in secrecy thanks to the alliance between church (the Techno-pope), state (the Prezident), media (Diavaloo) and police (the cybo-commander).
The way the mutant population is discriminated against in City Shaft works as a metaphor of how minority groups are ghettoized and subjected to violence. The Hunchbak Army's massacre of the Mutant GTO mirrors the way goverment approved death squads have been used to crush dissent or perpetrate ethnic cleansing, with the media helping to cover up the real story.
The Mega-Mex war campaing and the protests agains could be seen as a commentary on imperialist wars and the anti-war movement. The Psycho-anarchists seem to be the main opposition to the war, at times employing suicide bombing tactics. The name of some the psycho-anarchist leaders are references to real people: Borizvian (surrealist writer Boris Vian), Trosqui (communist revolutionary Leon Trotsky), Max Stinrer (anarchist philosopher), Furiosso (early socialist philosopher Charles Fourier)
Love & Sexuality[]
The need to rediscover and "remember" love in a civilization dominated by science and tecnhology that represses emotions is one of the main themes of Before the Incal. For example, the moment cybo-cops feel emotions they're programmed to self-destruct, something that ends up happening to Kolbo-5. The only drug that allows the rediscovery of love is called amorine, which is extracted from flowers that are implanted and grown in the hearts of people who are in a state of near death. The name of the flower is "amorose", that is rose of love (amor is love in spanish).
Despite the fact that throughout the story of Before the Incal John experiences a series of traumatic sexual events, like being forced to prove his manhood by losing his virginity to a home-whore, witnessing the rape and murder of Bandtiih, Luz using her sexuality to manipulate him etc., his romances with Bandtiih and eventually Luz do help him to feel new emotions and rediscover love. However, Before the Incal, much like The Incal, also ends with an ironic twist, since John's memories are erased, leading him to forget everything that he learned about love.
John is threatened twice with castration in Before the Incal, first by a lesbian criminal gang in Farewell, Father and then by the psycho anarchists in Psycho Anarchist. In The Incal, he would once again be faced with the same threat, in The Fifth Essence: Planet DiFool.
Parenthood[]
Issues of parenthood are also recurrent: John loses his father and his mother at a young age, Deepo is adopted by John, the prostitutes give away their babies to the Techno-techno cult, Luz doesn't seem to have a mother either, and is eventually separated from his father, Kaimann is disowned from his family house and John fathers a child with Animah without even knowing it.
Art Style[]
A page from the first issue.
In 1986 Janjetov, a fan of Moebius, visited the Les Humanoïdes Associés office and met Jodorowsky, showing him some illustrations he had done. Since Jodorowsky was insterested in doing a prequel to The Incal, he suggested Janjetov as a succesor. After Moebius gave the go-ahead Janjetov went back to Yugoslavia and started working on the first issue. Jodorosky liked Janjetov's art because he considered it similar to Moebius yet distinct enough that it could be perfect for the atmosphere of the prequel, since it had a more primitive look. Jodorowsky recognizes that Moebius would have been the logical choice to continue The Incal, but he just "wasn't interested in it". Janjetov redrawn the first 8 pages of the first issue for a 1991 re-edition.
Recoloring[]
On the left, a pannel from Farewell, Father recolored.
Between 2002 and 2004 the six issues were digitally recolored by Valérie Beltran (Studio Beltran), significally changing its aesthetic by favoring a more "modern" look. Nowadays these editions are out of print, and the original coloring (restored by Léonor Pardon) is used instead.
Continuations[]
Story-wise Before the Incal is a prequel to The Incal, tying the end of one to the beginning of the other. The story would be further developed in After the Incal and Final Incal, both set after the events of The Incal. The planet Mega-Mex is often mentioned in the story, a name that closely resembles that of Megalex, a city-planet and a graphic novel of the same name written by Jodorowsky.