Written by: Alejandro Jodorowsky
Illustrations: José Ladrönn
Coloring: José Ladrönn
Publisher: Glénat
De Zonen van El Topo #1 Kaïn – Comic Book Review
El Topo is probably one of those movies that passed you by rather silently, as it’s a cult Western movie from the seventies, that never truly made it big. The movie proved to be an acquired taste, but the creator of said title is nowhere near finished with his story about the bandit that eventually ended up becoming a holy man. While the following story still involves El Topo, it will be more about his sons, and during this first album Kaïn in particular. Biblical names were chosen for both his children, but it seems El Topo’s eldest son is following in his footsteps as a brutal thug, albeit due to the influence and curse cast upon him by his father.
Kaïn, now a fully grown man who has seemingly been alive for centuries, is the son of El Topo, the man who was once a criminal, but eventually redeemed himself and became a holy man. At least, he redeemed himself in the eye of the public, but never bothered to care for his very own son, who he left when he was not yet a man of faith, and while Kaïn was out for revenge, by wanting to torture El Topo’s other offspring, he was cursed by his father. Instead of ironing out the crinkles, Kaïn was doomed to live forever with a mark branded to his face, and people would be punished if they ever looked at him or talked with him, making it seem as if El Topo’s blood was nonexistent. Forced to live out his life as an invisible man, Kaïn swore to exact his revenge on his brother, in order to punish his father, but even so, it seems loneliness is slowly but surely getting to him.
Even though the story itself is rather interesting, the origin story is hastily depicted in this first album, making it feel like there’s not that much going on throughout the course of this issue. Nonetheless, what is happening perfectly paints the painful picture of Kaïn’s life, who wanted to get back at his father, but sadly got punished even worse for trying to do so. It’s clear that Alejandro Jodorowsky has been sitting on this story for quite some time and eventually came up with something very interesting, occult and exciting, but perhaps a bit more about the origin of the series would have given this story a better foundation.
Artistically speaking, this album is rather pleasing to look at. Going off on the story it’s clear that this world is not a happy place, at least not for Kaïn and thus José Ladrönn opted for a gritty, raw and dirty style for this title and it fits quite nicely. Faces are depicted in a very rugged way, with enough shading to make everyone look a tad eerie and in many ways, ugly, simply to make the general populace look like the villains in this tale. The colors are rather bland, which is not necessarily a bad thing, as this Western tale situates itself in the desert for the most part.
Conclusion
De Zonen van El Topo #1 Kaïn proves to be an interesting interlude to a trilogy of comic books, albeit with the lack of a bit of extra background information about El Topo himself. Perhaps this is something for the following issues, but that being said, the series proves to be an interesting, gritty story of a cursed man looking for recognition. If you like the vibe of a good old Western movie tied together with something occult, this rather picturesque issue will prove its worth.
De Zonen van El Topo #1 Kaïn - Comic Book Review,
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