The Metabarons. (Source: http://www.humanoids.com)

One of the greatest never made movies of all time is Alejandro Jodorowsky’s version of Dune which was featured in the 2013 documentary film Jodorowsky’s Dune.

The documentary showed what Jodorowsky had in mind for Frank Herbert’s science fiction novel and the controversial, but interesting deviations he had envisioned.

Because of a running time that rivaled a TV mini-series and the extraordinary production costs to create Jodorowsky’s out-of-this-world ideas, the movie never made it past the pre-production phase.

But all was not lost, and a good bit of Jodorowsky’s ideas for Dune eventually made their way through graphic novels Jodorowsky wrote, one of them being The Metabarons.

A Metabaron ritual being passed down from father to son. (Source: http://www.metabarons.com)

The Metabarons is a science fiction story set in the far future where powerful humanoids exert incredible power and influence in the politics and the livelihood of sentient life in the universe.

Although the Metabarons are super humans with every need just a threat away, the stories also deal with tragedy and loss with happiness a fleeting memory as their greatest enemies are often their offspring.

The stories are similar to those of greek tragedy in a very extreme way; the Dune influences are clearly seen throughout the work, but mostly give way to the tragic and brutally raw nature of the characters.

I wouldn’t call the Metabarons heroes by any stretch since the vicious violence they commit isn’t solely reserved for their enemies, and each has a very strict and harsh code they live by which they deviate little from much to the horror of their enemies and allies.

It’s an epic, extremely violent, and strange story with subject matter that will shock and baffle, after all it’s written by Jodorowsky whose live action films I have yet to watch fully due to the overly weird and often-times perplexing nature of the movies.

However, Jodorowsky has toned it down just enough in The Metabarons to make the graphic novel a worthwhile and fascinating read amplified by artist Juan Gimenez’s hyper detailed work.

Gimenez’s detailed art helps to immerse readers in Jodorowsky’s epic universe. (Source: http://www.humanoids.com)