Borgia In Blue

Alejandro Jodorowsky is one of those artists whose voice is so uniquely distinctive that he almost has to exist outside of the mainstream, while being admired by those who create there. His followers are passionate about his films, and time is usually quite favorable in how his work is viewed though it may frequently be less understood and often hidden from sight upon first release. El Topo, his earliest cult hit, with fans like John Lennon, created the midnight cult movie concept. The Holy Mountain defined him globally as the premiere surealist film maker of the time. His never-filmed adaptation of Dune is considered a lost treasure.
Later, he partnered with legendary French (so very, very French) artist Moebius to create The Incal series, again heavy in surrealism and mysticism at the core, even in the heavy scifi trappings.

So, what happens when you mix Alejandro Jodorowsky with peerless Italian erotic artist Milo Manara for an historical fiction based on the House of Borgia?
We get this week's

Their Borgia collaboration runs 4 volumes. We'll just be peeking into the first book today:

They immediately set the tone of the book in a single panel that opens the first view of Rome:

Early in the book, they set up the conflict between the Borgias and the Church...

...the children are found alive in the closet there.
Of course, it wouldn't be proper Jodorowsky without a bit of surrealism and mysticism mixed in our imagery...

The tale goes into behind the scenes political manipulations to serve personal hatreds and agendas...

...culminating in a clash of power between the Borgia family and the Church...

Here ends the first book. Lest you suspect otherwise, with 52 pages of story, we've skipped quite a bit here. Both creators are masterful storytellers, and their talents combine well. Books 2-4 have been in the to-read piles for a while, but keep getting pushed back on my frequent "Maybe this should be saved for later" policy. Ergo comment on how the series develops shall have to be deferred until after reading.

But don't let that stop you from reading ahead. I don't mind.

pages by Alejandro Jodorowsky and Milo Manara from Borgia: book 1 (2006)