On Alejandro Jodorowsky

back in the days, there were no forums, webpages or videoblogs to stay up to date with the developement in the field of computers, or, even more important for the kid that i was, computergames. instead there were a dozen or so papermagazines available. usually one had only one magazine of choice that one bought. so every information on games, computers, technology, had to be crammed in there each month. the magazine i read decided to also put a new category up, about comics. the comics i known so far were mostly of the spirou&fantasio or tintin category. so i was amazed to read about a different kind of comics; comics orientated at a more mature audience, experimental and underground. one review was "class r detective" by alejandro jodorowsky. the review immediately enchanted me, so when i saw this particular comics at a store, i instantly checked it out.
if there was perfect timing in my life, it was when the works of jodorowsky hit my life. apparently, this comic, which was part of a series on the youth of the incal's protagonist john difool, was made with a teenage audience in mind. i just had entered the teen age, and this comic series was exactly the thing i needed at that moment. it had romance, sex, violence, thrill, true true love, drugs, social decay and general confusement, all fit into an overwhelming science fiction galaxy.
this was the start into the world of alejandro jodorowsky.
what can be said about his work, in general? maybe that it has a quality that is rare these days, which is that it is outstanding, in the true meaning of the world. there is not much that could be compared to his works. he combines philosophical pondering, deep questions of existance, with fast paced action and true romance stories. never have high culture and low culture be so close, or rather, be shown to be the same side of the same coin.
this hints at the overarching quality of his works: it's all about the deep questions, it raises deep thoughts, intensive speculation. some of the oldest questions of the philosophers have been hid in his comics, and sometimes even deeper thoughts. all covered up in seemingly pulp appeal, with its laser shooting mutant snails from a different planet, in a true jodorowsky style, and this is in my opinion his great skill: to combine these seemingly contradictionary things.
another one of his qualities is his apparently vivid fantasy. he creates his own universe full of awe-inducing, fantastic occurances, mysteries, wonders. his works overflows of ideas, of creativity, of imagination.

science fiction has been rocked by the cyberpunk revolution. but together with moebius, in my opinion, jodorowsky occupes a third section. it is neither the clean-cut authoritarian scifi of the past (as in: blonde boy rescues the universe, all done of course for the all powerful instituation of the future state), nor purely the dirt, decay and nihilism of cyberpunk. it has both of it, and is beyond it; the world of jodorowsky is one of chaos, danger and desease, but also of excellence, of beauty and high ideals; and the protaganist is usally hopelessly lost between both.

but there is another quality i should mention. his work is deep at more levels. the storylines often seem reduced: a romance, a love affair (amidst the chaos). but these things are written more touching, more emotional, more moving than in most fiction. it is hard to put in words - maybe i can do it in the future.

jodorowsky is on his own plateu, and from above this place, he sends us his imagination down to us.

the main body of jodorowsky are the adventures of john difool in various times, and the various spin-offs of this, such as the technofathers or the metabarons. but also the not that wide known works by him are worth checking out (in fact it is hard to get a cohensive list of his works). megalex. ogregod.

jodorowsky's work is out on the open, waiting to be discovered. if you are out for adventure, and don't mind your imagination reaching an overflow due to his ideas, go for it.