Talk about your advance news. Publisher Humanoids has announced The Metabaron, the seminal character created by Alexandro Jodorowsky and Mœbius in 1980, will return in a powerful new “space opera” in June 2016.
The Metabaron was introduced to the world in the international bestseller The Incal, first created by Jodorowsky and Mœbius in the pages of the seminal magazine Métal Hurlant (whose American counterpart was then Heavy Metal). Following that, he became the subject of his own series, The Metabarons, a Sci-Fi saga with art by Juan Gimenez and dedicated to the ultimate warrior’s genealogy. It rapidly came to be THE “space opera” series of the 1990s, with more than one million copies sold, and translated throughout the world to this day.
In the final pages of the first season, the question of what became of the last of the Metabarons went unresolved. No Name, as he is known, chose to leave behind no descendants to prevent the bloody ritual of the Caste of the Metabarons from being perpetuated –that in order to become the new Metabaron, the son must kill his father.
In June 2016, Humanoids will unveil part of the mystery, publishing the first volume of Metabaron, a four-book series that will be released at the rate of one every eight months.
This new season, based on a story by Jodorowsky and written by Jerry Frissen, will be composed of four cycles of 108 pages each. Each cycle will be drawn by a different artist, recognized by the publisher for his unique talent and his ability to speak to an international audience.
26-year-old French prodigy Valentin Sécher, will be the first to take up the mantle, more than ten years after Gimenez last drew the iconic character. Sécher burst onto the scene with the series Khaal: Chronicles of a Galactic Emperor, and is today considered one of the rising stars of European comics.
Following the first book, Canadian artist Niko Henrichon will grab the reins. An internationally-recognized creator, he is best known for the 2006 graphic novel The Pride of Baghdad, written by Brian K. Vaughan. He recently drew the graphic novel Noah, directly linked to the eponymous film by Darren Aronofsky, but seems a little daunted at having to follow Sécher’s run on the title. “To do the two books which follow Valentin’d, the bar has been set pretty high,” he says, appreciatively.
In the afterword of a new edition of The Metabarons to be published in early 2015, David S. Goyer, emblematic figure of the crossroads of Hollywood and the world of comics, and screenwriter of the Dark Knight trilogy, Man of Steel, and the eagerly-anticipated Batman vs. Superman: Dawn of Justice, writes: “to my mind, The Metabarons is the greatest work of graphic fiction ever produced.”
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The founder of downthetubes, which he established in 1998. John works as a comics and magazine editor, writer, and on promotional work for the Lakes International Comic Art Festival. He is currently editor of Star Trek Explorer, published by Titan – his third tour of duty on the title originally titled Star Trek Magazine.
Working in British comics publishing since the 1980s, his credits include editor of titles such as Doctor Who Magazine, Babylon 5 Magazine, and more. He also edited the comics anthology STRIP Magazine and edited several audio comics for ROK Comics. He has also edited several comic collections, including volumes of “Charley’s War” and “Dan Dare”.
He’s the writer of “Pilgrim: Secrets and Lies” for B7 Comics; “Crucible”, a creator-owned project with 2000AD artist Smuzz; and “Death Duty” and “Skow Dogs” with Dave Hailwood.
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