‘Sons of El Topo’ To Be Collected in Omnibus Format
by Tito W. James
Sons of El Topo is a graphic novel series that acts as a sequel to Alejandro Jodorowsky’s Acid Western cult film, El Topo. Written by Jodorowsky and illustrated by José Ladrönn, the comic picks up with the merciless gunslinger El Topo after he’s abandoned his pursuit of ultimate gun mastery. Instead, he searches for enlightenment in the unlikeliest of places and is forever transformed into a holy vessel imbued with the power to perform miracles and cheat death.
Sons of El Topo is a cinematically rich work of sequential art that offers a thrilling continuation to an avant garde film. Longtime followers of Jodorowsky’s oeuvre will recognize the “cinema of cruelty” carved into each page. The violence and sexploitation take on a mythical quality that few other artists could pull off.
Epic tales of the Old Testament are recontextualized within a surreal Western landscape. This is a radical deconstruction of religious imagery that leads to a bold reinvention of spiritual ideas. The brilliance of Sons of El Topo is how the creators use elements from various genres, myths, and aesthetic traditions and weaves them into something new.
The Sons of El Topo Omnimbus will release on July 2nd from BOOM! Studios’ Archaia imprint.
