La Casta de los Metabarones (English)

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Artist: JUAN GIMENEZ
Writer: ALEJANDRO JODOROSKY

The series was first published partially in Spain

by Ediciones B in 1992 in the collection books of coconut (the first two albums), continued and published entirely by Norma Editorial in the Pandora collection.

In Spain eight deliveries of 64 pages Edition was conducted by Norma Editorial, in the Pandora collection, while the integral Edition in a volume of 584 pages has corresponded to Random House Mondadori in their line of books Reservoir Dogs. This unique volume has a size of 18 × 24 cm, slightly smaller than the European albums, but work perfectly resists the change of format. There is also a short nine-page story drawn by Travis Charest that saw the light in Métal Hurlant magazine and a ninth album with sketches, additional pages, and statements made by the authors.

What we are told about is the saga of the metabarones, from the first to the last of this breed of invincible warriors that were governed by a code of honor and conduct traditionalist, but unafraid to cybernetically altered her body to achieve any advantage in the battle. As a result, the metabarones became of the Galaxy warriors most powerful mercenary, able to destabilize each of them to whole worlds, or maintain Empires to simply announce that they supported the regime. More than warriors, were the ultimate weapon, with the particularity that the new metabaron was only sworn in as such after murdering his father. Thus, for several generations, the Castaka, capable only of conceiving males, engendered that would be his own murderer and successor.

Both the script and the drawing are characteristic of a true work of art of the European comic.

This work is divided into eight volumes where each one of them tells the story of each of the Metabarones until you reach nameless, the last Metabaron. Each book has the birth, evolution and death of each one of them.

This work has different readings, you can take it as a simple comic science fiction or you can interpret it in terms of philosophy of life of how we live from our heritage and beliefs, or conversely how can be replaced by the own experiences and if you really can or not to change your fate. It is also an analysis of how the power gets out and is lost.

Back to the comic, and talking about the script, I must say that like that sometimes it is very original, others is quite obvious and sometimes bland, but altogether is effective and interesting.

Speaking of the drawing, you can love it or hate it, but will not let you indifferent,it is a very detailed drawing, sometimes so far as getting lost in the details and not understand it very well.

I believe Gimenez exaggerates himself when describing the story through drawing.

It is a typical work of the years in which it was published, where the European comic (although the authors aren’t) was full of fantastic, futuristic stories full of rare specimens. It is a clear example of how the European comic wanted to differentiate from the American Comic.

But in short is an essential reading to understand European fiction.