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The Technopriests #1-3
Initiation
The bastard son of a pirate, the young boy called Albino has only one goal: to become a member of the Technoguild and create the videogames that influence every citizen in the galaxy...or die trying And he just might The path to become a Technopriest is a difficult one and Albino must face many trials before he can fulfill his destiny. Meanwhile, Albino's mother, brother, and sister begin a perilous quest to find the brutal pirates who fathered Albino and his siblings. In this epic Sci-Fi series, Alexandro Jodorowsky (The Incal, The Metabarons) collaborates with artist Zoran Janjetov and digital artist Fred Beltran to create a universe that is truly imaginative and limitless.
160 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2004
3 people are currently reading
138 people want to read
About the author
Alejandro Jodorowsky
692 books1,940 followersAlso credited as Alexandro Jodorowsky
Better known for his surreal films El Topo and The Holy Mountain filmed in the early 1970s, Alejandro Jodorowsky is also an accomplished writer of graphic novels and a psychotherapist. He developed Psychomagic, a combination of psychotherapy and shamanic magic. His fans have included John Lennon and Marilyn Manson.
Better known for his surreal films El Topo and The Holy Mountain filmed in the early 1970s, Alejandro Jodorowsky is also an accomplished writer of graphic novels and a psychotherapist. He developed Psychomagic, a combination of psychotherapy and shamanic magic. His fans have included John Lennon and Marilyn Manson.
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Displaying 1 - 18 of 18 reviews
February 10, 2019
To those of casual followers, you’re well aware of my disdain for Gilbert Hernandez. For those of you following a wee bit longer, you’ll also know I’ve got a thing against Matt Wagner and his insipid creation Grendel (not to mention his atrocious covers for the English releases of Lone Wolf and Cub). However, many of you probably aren’t aware that there is someone I hate even more: Alejandro Jodorowsky!
Although I’ve only reviewed one work of his illustrated crud I also have an inordinate level of disdain for his cult favorite movie: Holy Mountain. Any movie that involves burning poop can’t be good right? Everything he’s done of the written and cinematic varieties is just awful at every level.
So why did I read Technopriests and review it? Originally, I just wanted to give him another chance, being the forgiving god that I am. Did that go wrong! After reading 100 pages into and throwing the crap against the wall, this review will ultimately be more than cautionary tale than anything.
So where do we begin? To be frank, Jodorowsky likes to be weird well… just ‘cause he can. Much akin to the modern art crap of our current era, anything that is bizarre has to be great right? Favoring perversion over the talent, what actually made weird art great has been butchered from the Po-Mo era onward. While weirdos such as Picasso and Dali forged works well deserving of their outlandish tastes and perspectives, none can deny not the enormous talent and fecund meanings behind all their works. Subjective will always be subjective but, their creations were infused with deep meanings deserving of their restless periods.
Conversely, Jodorowsky’s works clearly favor the garish but when the extraneous is sloughed off, there is nothing more than a naked emperor behind it all.
With a decidedly science fiction veneer, the hook of the known-knowns suck the suckers into parting with yet another wad of their hard-earned cash. But once the veneers of known-knowns are ever so swiftly sifted through, everything just gets weirder and weirder. From intergalactic dairy harvesting to multi-armed humanoids, a tale of revenge is punctuated with every bizarre kitchen sink in Jodorwsky’s fried little mind.
Little makes sense here, and everything screams a little boy’s fantasy of illustrated revenge against all those who just didn’t like what he liked. Featuring a talking quasi-mini-mouse (ostensibly representing the author’s youthful imaginary friend) engaged in dialogue with the geriatric protagonist, a story is told back-wards – frame-style. With blood and guts dangling across the main character’s recollections of his development as a video game designer (which means something far different here) each panel is caked with poo not from Jodorowsky’s butthole but, his mind’s third eye.
Although I’ve only reviewed one work of his illustrated crud I also have an inordinate level of disdain for his cult favorite movie: Holy Mountain. Any movie that involves burning poop can’t be good right? Everything he’s done of the written and cinematic varieties is just awful at every level.
So why did I read Technopriests and review it? Originally, I just wanted to give him another chance, being the forgiving god that I am. Did that go wrong! After reading 100 pages into and throwing the crap against the wall, this review will ultimately be more than cautionary tale than anything.
So where do we begin? To be frank, Jodorowsky likes to be weird well… just ‘cause he can. Much akin to the modern art crap of our current era, anything that is bizarre has to be great right? Favoring perversion over the talent, what actually made weird art great has been butchered from the Po-Mo era onward. While weirdos such as Picasso and Dali forged works well deserving of their outlandish tastes and perspectives, none can deny not the enormous talent and fecund meanings behind all their works. Subjective will always be subjective but, their creations were infused with deep meanings deserving of their restless periods.
Conversely, Jodorowsky’s works clearly favor the garish but when the extraneous is sloughed off, there is nothing more than a naked emperor behind it all.
With a decidedly science fiction veneer, the hook of the known-knowns suck the suckers into parting with yet another wad of their hard-earned cash. But once the veneers of known-knowns are ever so swiftly sifted through, everything just gets weirder and weirder. From intergalactic dairy harvesting to multi-armed humanoids, a tale of revenge is punctuated with every bizarre kitchen sink in Jodorwsky’s fried little mind.
Little makes sense here, and everything screams a little boy’s fantasy of illustrated revenge against all those who just didn’t like what he liked. Featuring a talking quasi-mini-mouse (ostensibly representing the author’s youthful imaginary friend) engaged in dialogue with the geriatric protagonist, a story is told back-wards – frame-style. With blood and guts dangling across the main character’s recollections of his development as a video game designer (which means something far different here) each panel is caked with poo not from Jodorowsky’s butthole but, his mind’s third eye.
October 19, 2018
Jodorowskyan grandeur escapes any easy genre tagging. And mixes all existing ones. More exuberant than any space-opera and with a greater degree of freedom than usuall blends of sci-fi and fantasy. The theme is also original. It seems like the human mind, its spiritual possibilities and its ever renewing capacity for hubris are explored, in a way that makes the universe as a metaphor for consciousness, and opens up gravity wells and portals in our imagination.
August 29, 2014
For those who don't know Jodorowsky, this may only be 2 or 3 stars. For those who know Jodorowsky through his two most famous films (El Topo and Holy Mountain) this may be more solidly a 3 star work. For those like me who have heard him talk about Hollywood (such as in the movie Jodorowsky's Dune), the parallels are clear and the cliches are not as detrimental.
The Technopriests is written as two interwoven stories. The link between the two stories appears at the start ... though there are hints that our main characters may meet again after their transformations. In story one, we meet Panephra, once virgin oracle to a long forgotten god that is raped by three space pirates. After birthing three children from this rape, Panephra swears revenge on the pirates. She starts off manufacturing Space Cheese to fund her revenge, using two of her three children as slaves and the third she values above the others. Story one follows Panephra and two of her children as she seeks her revenge. Story two follows the third child, Albino, who is sold by his mother to the technocrats upon hearing his wish to be a video game creator. Albino has a talent and his goal is to use video games to enlighten the world ... but the technocrats only want video games to enslave and dumb down the masses.
Panephra's story is full of the violence Jodorowsky's movies are noted for. Lots of body parts vaporized, lots of blood, some misogynistic treatment of women (Jodorowsky has explained in interviews that writes stories from a virile and very masculine perspective ... I'm conflicted here since that really doesn't excuse his mistreatment of women in movies, but he also uses all characters - regardless of gender - as symbols and representatives of the Tarot ... so, yeah), and a glimpse of spiritual battle. This is the weakest of the two stories, full of bad writing and cliched lines (including, "You may take my body, but you'll never have my soul"). Until the end of the book (which is only the first of 5 parts ... and the third comic of fifteen?), it lacks the additional weight of Jodorowsky's other work; it's missing the spiritual core that takes weak characters and makes them into symbolic pillars.
Albino's story is where I am more engaged. This is because Albino's story is really Jodorowsky's story. Albino's battle to make transcendent video games is Jodo's battle to make beautiful movies. Sure, it is a tad repetitive, but I've always found watching an author exorcise demons to be incredibly fulfilling (which is why I enjoy Stephen King so much). And that's what this series boils down to. This is Jodo exorcising his anger against Hollywood and the way They do business. Quite possibly, these two stories are one and the same. Panephra is Jodo's id, seeking the violent revenge and expressing his anger in the most direct manner. Albino is his superego, seeking to rectify the situation despite countless odds.
I shall find and finish this series, but it is not a series I recommend without prior knowledge of Jodorowsky.
The Technopriests is written as two interwoven stories. The link between the two stories appears at the start ... though there are hints that our main characters may meet again after their transformations. In story one, we meet Panephra, once virgin oracle to a long forgotten god that is raped by three space pirates. After birthing three children from this rape, Panephra swears revenge on the pirates. She starts off manufacturing Space Cheese to fund her revenge, using two of her three children as slaves and the third she values above the others. Story one follows Panephra and two of her children as she seeks her revenge. Story two follows the third child, Albino, who is sold by his mother to the technocrats upon hearing his wish to be a video game creator. Albino has a talent and his goal is to use video games to enlighten the world ... but the technocrats only want video games to enslave and dumb down the masses.
Panephra's story is full of the violence Jodorowsky's movies are noted for. Lots of body parts vaporized, lots of blood, some misogynistic treatment of women (Jodorowsky has explained in interviews that writes stories from a virile and very masculine perspective ... I'm conflicted here since that really doesn't excuse his mistreatment of women in movies, but he also uses all characters - regardless of gender - as symbols and representatives of the Tarot ... so, yeah), and a glimpse of spiritual battle. This is the weakest of the two stories, full of bad writing and cliched lines (including, "You may take my body, but you'll never have my soul"). Until the end of the book (which is only the first of 5 parts ... and the third comic of fifteen?), it lacks the additional weight of Jodorowsky's other work; it's missing the spiritual core that takes weak characters and makes them into symbolic pillars.
Albino's story is where I am more engaged. This is because Albino's story is really Jodorowsky's story. Albino's battle to make transcendent video games is Jodo's battle to make beautiful movies. Sure, it is a tad repetitive, but I've always found watching an author exorcise demons to be incredibly fulfilling (which is why I enjoy Stephen King so much). And that's what this series boils down to. This is Jodo exorcising his anger against Hollywood and the way They do business. Quite possibly, these two stories are one and the same. Panephra is Jodo's id, seeking the violent revenge and expressing his anger in the most direct manner. Albino is his superego, seeking to rectify the situation despite countless odds.
I shall find and finish this series, but it is not a series I recommend without prior knowledge of Jodorowsky.
April 4, 2016
About as shallow as it gets.
September 10, 2016
This book had a few redeeming qualities, but the overall product was unsatisfying. First of all, there's the main character. It's really interesting that he relates his story from a century into his future. However, I found the journey repetitive. He wants to be a film director, *ahem* I mean a video game creator (rather odd focus for a mind bending space opera), but finds that the system in place prevents him from pursuing artistically merited work, and must instead produce shallow cash grabs while also learning evil business practices. It's a completely unsubtle and shameless metaphor for Jodorowsky's own experience in the film industry, and knowing that makes the little snot even more insufferable. His old self is some sort of cyberspace messiah, cementing his status as author avatar Marty Stu. Yeesh. From what I did read, the MC repeats the same arc over and over. He's thrust into some eschelon of game developer, his boss is an asshole who forces the young lad into an impossible challenge which he overcomes, he outsmarts his new boss, then his boss' boss comes and takes the boy away to a new level of development. Out of the two parallel stories, I found this one the worse of the two.
The B plot is where the actual story begins. We learn that the protagonist's mother was some sort of religious sacred maiden, with her most valuable possession being her virginity. Oh, here we go. The obvious happen, her church is raided and exterminated, and she's the only one to survive, but only after she's raped by three technicolor alien men. It becomes a rape and revenge story, with this woman devoting her life to bloody vengeance. The three children she bears all come from the three pirates, somehow giving birth to triplets that are only half-siblings. I'm not sure this is handled well. It left me very uncomfortable, and not in any apparently meaningful way. Yeah, rape is bad, and it's necessary to start the plot, but I find the whole thing exploitational. Fortunately, her story is a bit more interesting. After selling off her third child to the game developer (he was dead set on doing this, and she helped him as a way of getting rid of him), she and her other two children then enact the plan for revenge. It all goes sour, of course, but I didn't read much farther than that.
So yeah, there's some interesting stuff in the book, but it's not well written enough to keep me interested. I just don't care enough about the characters to see what happens next. The art wasn't great, especially the CG stuff. This is my first experience with Jodorowsky, but judging by the way people talk about him, most of his more well known works are much better. I think I'll give him another chance, but I'm done with The Technopriests.
The B plot is where the actual story begins. We learn that the protagonist's mother was some sort of religious sacred maiden, with her most valuable possession being her virginity. Oh, here we go. The obvious happen, her church is raided and exterminated, and she's the only one to survive, but only after she's raped by three technicolor alien men. It becomes a rape and revenge story, with this woman devoting her life to bloody vengeance. The three children she bears all come from the three pirates, somehow giving birth to triplets that are only half-siblings. I'm not sure this is handled well. It left me very uncomfortable, and not in any apparently meaningful way. Yeah, rape is bad, and it's necessary to start the plot, but I find the whole thing exploitational. Fortunately, her story is a bit more interesting. After selling off her third child to the game developer (he was dead set on doing this, and she helped him as a way of getting rid of him), she and her other two children then enact the plan for revenge. It all goes sour, of course, but I didn't read much farther than that.
So yeah, there's some interesting stuff in the book, but it's not well written enough to keep me interested. I just don't care enough about the characters to see what happens next. The art wasn't great, especially the CG stuff. This is my first experience with Jodorowsky, but judging by the way people talk about him, most of his more well known works are much better. I think I'll give him another chance, but I'm done with The Technopriests.
July 2, 2013
Picked this up on a friend's recommendation. Was ok, but I didn't really care for it enough to carry on to other volumes. Basic theme: Game Designers rule the universe, creating the ultimate tools that entertain and educate. The lead character aspires to become a member of the guild of techno-priests that design the ultimate games.
Neat them, but not that clever in how it's pulled off, and too much "Heavy Metal-esque" content (gratuitous rape, violence, etc).
Neat them, but not that clever in how it's pulled off, and too much "Heavy Metal-esque" content (gratuitous rape, violence, etc).
August 29, 2022
The art is very good. I love those colors. The story, however and just like in Moon Face, is not as appealing as the Metabarons or the Incal. Jodorowsky's use of paleo-this and paleo-that is funny the first few times but it gets on your nerves after a while. Having said that, I did buy Book 2 in oversized hardcover, as I had 1 and 3 already, which this Book One collects, because I wanted to enjoy the art in the bigger format. Now on to Book Two and Three to see how it all ends.
February 2, 2018
5,5/10
March 11, 2018
Summary: Somebody wants to be game-creator. Everybody wants to get revenge for their miserable life moments.
Main idead: These book just tought me that the power of authorities are relative.
Main idead: These book just tought me that the power of authorities are relative.
September 8, 2009
To try and explain this book would be to give too much away. Basically, tt tells the story of Albino, who is one of three bastard children sired by intergalactic pirates. He goes from one hardship to the next but always successfully emerging through his wits. The graphic novel goes from weigthy space opera to techy lingo ("paleo-bitch" anyone?) to subtle sci-fi satire (a space cheese factory?).
The artwork is richly detailed but always clear and never takes away from the subject matter. This first book is definitely a great entry into the Technopriests saga!
The artwork is richly detailed but always clear and never takes away from the subject matter. This first book is definitely a great entry into the Technopriests saga!
January 17, 2008
I wanted to have at least one of Jodorowsky's comic books,
and this one appeared pretty interesting, but I think I would've liked the Buddhist series better. This one is actually
pretty funny on the meta-level as a very sarcastic take on modern society as an inbred clan of god-like gaming fanatics
vis a vis The Glass Bead game except with Hot Four-Arm Crimson-Skinned Pirate gals and weird lizard cows and stuff.. :)
June 28, 2012
all I can say is that I am torn between calling this great and shite... though as you can see from the four stars, I kind of liked it in the end.
the reason I have explained in another review here
the reason I have explained in another review here
January 10, 2015
Okay this is a tough one. I love the art and I love the overall story, but the "paleo-bitch, paleo-wood, paleo-worm" stuff just seems cheesy and lazy. The direction the story is going and the art keep it a solid four for me though.
November 27, 2007
Probably not the best translation possible, but still, fun ideas and very well drawn.
July 28, 2008
For when you want something kinda weird.....
October 8, 2011
If you want something sort of like Ender's Game on acid, you've found it.
June 29, 2015
I love Technopriests, it's a rare piece of gem filled with fantastic drawings and interesting storyline. I loved the bizarreness but especially the fat shaming in issue 3, it's a must read.
September 10, 2016
I am breaking up, Jodorowski.
Displaying 1 - 18 of 18 reviews