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Rating: 
Summary: Epic, But Flawed
Review: I have bought this book, and I have mixed feelings about it. The story, as the other reviewers have already mentioned, is complex - but not too deep, and is full of cliches. The artwork is also ambiguously good - Gimenez is a master of both colour and line, but not of continuity. Check out the children - it's his Achilles heel. He even draws Othon's first wife Edna in an irregular sort of way, and I sometimes got confused between her and Bari, Othon's son. Also, when I read the first book on Metabarons in the "Heavy Metal" magazine (July 1995), there were ten pages in the earlier portion concerning the current Metabaron. Those pages are missing from this book. Can anyone out there tell me why?
Rating:
Summary: Space Opera? How About Space Shakespeare?
Review: Several things I'd read about this prior to buying it called it "space opera." After reading the first volume, I would say it's more like "space Shakespeare." I don't mean Love's Labors Lost. Think Titus Andronicus in all it's rape/mutilation/torture/dismemberment/cannibalism glory. Our story begins with--and all too frequently returns to--a framing sequence in which one robot spins yarns of the beginnings of the Metabaron clan to another. These bookend pieces are awkward in the extreme. They make far too much use of such non-futuristic terms as "diodes" and "circuits" and "ultra-coolant." It is likely that they are just as awkward in the original French, and not simply a victim of the tyrrany of translation. Fortunately, it�s well worth fighting through these bits to get to the meat of the tale. That�s where the payoff comes. We're presented with Othon Von Salza, an average enough crown prince of an average enough planet until the entire galaxy takes an interest in the family's powerful secret. Through a complex series of events--involving love, betrayal, intergalactic politics, space warfare, genital mutilation by laser blaster, mechanical space sharks, more space warfare, and genetically-engineered hermaphroditic fetuses (I'm not making this up)--Othon transforms into the irredeemably nasty patriarch of the ultra-powerful and self-abusive Metabarons. The most frustrating thing about this story is its sheer density. There are six untold tangent stories hovering between the frames of each page. An obviously rich and complex back-story is sped past like so much roadside scenery, sometimes at the cost of clarity. But what story we get is engrossing and compelling, if perhaps a little gut-wrenching.
Rating:
Summary: Space Opera? How About Space Shakespeare?
Review: Several things I'd read about this prior to buying it called it "space opera." After reading the first volume, I would say it's more like "space Shakespeare." I don't mean Love's Labors Lost. Think Titus Andronicus in all it's rape/mutilation/torture/dismemberment/cannibalism glory. Our story begins with--and all too frequently returns to--a framing sequence in which one robot spins yarns of the beginnings of the Metabaron clan to another. These bookend pieces are awkward in the extreme. They make far too much use of such non-futuristic terms as "diodes" and "circuits" and "ultra-coolant." It is likely that they are just as awkward in the original French, and not simply a victim of the tyrrany of translation. Fortunately, it's well worth fighting through these bits to get to the meat of the tale. That's where the payoff comes. We're presented with Othon Von Salza, an average enough crown prince of an average enough planet until the entire galaxy takes an interest in the family's powerful secret. Through a complex series of events--involving love, betrayal, intergalactic politics, space warfare, genital mutilation by laser blaster, mechanical space sharks, more space warfare, and genetically-engineered hermaphroditic fetuses (I'm not making this up)--Othon transforms into the irredeemably nasty patriarch of the ultra-powerful and self-abusive Metabarons. The most frustrating thing about this story is its sheer density. There are six untold tangent stories hovering between the frames of each page. An obviously rich and complex back-story is sped past like so much roadside scenery, sometimes at the cost of clarity. But what story we get is engrossing and compelling, if perhaps a little gut-wrenching.
Rating: 
Summary: Good story that keeps you reading!
Review: This book when I first saw it I knew I had to pay the mere [amount]to have it on my collection. The story is a wonderful space opera, and I adore futuristic settings. This story also had a mixture of drama and action...some melancholy segments, and ones where you wanted to hero to come out in the end. The book doesnt contain the entire series but it definatly will leave you wanting more. The art is spectacular and the story flows together wonderfuly. You people will want to pick up this book!
Rating:
Summary: Good story that keeps you reading!
Review: This book when I first saw it I knew I had to pay the mere [amount]to have it on my collection. The story is a wonderful space opera, and I adore futuristic settings. This story also had a mixture of drama and action...some melancholy segments, and ones where you wanted to hero to come out in the end. The book doesnt contain the entire series but it definatly will leave you wanting more. The art is spectacular and the story flows together wonderfuly. You people will want to pick up this book!
Rating: 
Summary: it's typical
Review: This is typical jodorosky. I've read a number of his works and they're all the same: excellant imaging centered around violence, and a story line which only serves to support that violence. If you're into it, fine; but I've read this book and the next ("blood and steel") and I don't see myself getting the third.
And, I agree totally with the other reviewer. The two robots (one telling the story to the other) are tedious in the extreme.
Buy it for the art; but don't expect much else.
Rating:
Summary: it's typical
Review: This is typical jodorosky. I've read a number of his works and they're all the same: excellant imaging centered around violence, and a story line which only serves to support that violence. If you're into it, fine; but I've read this book and the next ("blood and steel") and I don't see myself getting the third.
And, I agree totally with the other reviewer. The two robots (one telling the story to the other) are tedious in the extreme.
Buy it for the art; but don't expect much else.
Rating:
Summary: New DC Version Available
Review: This seems to be the first Humanoids volume of the series. DC has taken over English distribution for Humanoids, and you can find its first volume on Amazon <A HREF="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/1401203620/ref=pd_sim_b_1/102-7919572-6450511?%5Fencoding=UTF8&v=glance">here</A>.
The DC version is slightly different. This one collects the first five issues. The DC one goes back to the French original volumes and collects the first two, serialized by Humanoids as the first four issues. In other words, this Humanoids volume has half a book more in it, but that material opens the second DC volume. The DC versions are on cheaper paper but in a wider format that doesn't leave the white space at the top and bottom of the page, which the Humanoids versions (on high-grade paper) have. Also, the Humanoids versions were censored: clothes are added in some scenes.
In response to Avik Kumar Maitra, that 10-page story telling the origin of the clan was reprinted by Humanoids in a slim volume along with other miscellany, including pages cut from Incal showing the Metabaron and a preview of a new Metabarons series. The same 10-page story is included in the back of the first DC volume, the same one linked to above.
Rating:
Summary: The French Frank Herbert
Review: You know it's true. Your inner teenage brat is crying out for something in which the forces of light can clearly trump the forces of darkness, even if they have to be as evil as the the bad guys. Jodorowsky is your man. Because his artists have lots of time to do their art, the art is always stunning. One of the reviewers here complained of cliches in the story. And there are times when the resolution to problems seems too pat. But the plot twists are so durned hilarious that you can completely overlook it. My sole complaint with this series of books is directed at Humanoids Publishing. I would really prefer to see this whole series collected in a giant edition, like Marvel is doing with Grant Morrison's X-Men (usually also quite amusing) and Bendis's Spider-Man. That way we get the art at the size it was intended to be seen at AND we get the entire story arc.
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