209 - Giménez

Giménez JUAN GIMÉNEZ THE CAST OF THE META-BARONS Steelhead the Elder (Vol. 5), Les Humanoïdes Associés 1998 Original cover. Signed. Acrylic on paper 32.4 × 45.8 cm (12.76 × 18.03 in.) Expanding upon the rich universe imagined by Alejandro Jodorowsky and brought to life by Moebius was a good idea, especially since this approach allows for a style that is less ethereal and less Apollonian than that of the creator of *L’Incal*. It’s not widely known, but Jodorowsky wrote commentaries on the Talmud and the Gospels. Seriously—and not in comic book form! Looking at this cover, which depicts an aging warrior with a flower-adorned beard—a descendant of that legendary lineage whose very name is enough to terrify entire armies: the Meta-Baron, the universe’s ultimate warrior—one cannot help but think of the figure of Abraham, who was said to have lived to the age of 175. Created between 1992 and 2004, the spin-off *The Caste of the Meta-Barons* is the greatest success of Juan Giménez, who passed away in 2020 at the age of 76. The saga recounts the history of a dynasty founded by Othon, a former pirate who became the first Meta-Baron out of love and loyalty. It is characterized by excess. It is governed by a relentless ritual: in each generation, the son is maimed by his father before being forced to face him in a duel from which only one will survive. This initiatory violence shapes a family epic of rare tragic intensity. For this cover, he delivers a masterful visual synthesis: hyperrealistic textures, a baroque profusion of armor, and sophisticated weapons and cybernetic implants. The face—archaic in its gravity yet with the gaze of a seraph—contrasts with the technological coldness that surrounds it, while the cosmic background places the figure within an epic dimension. Fantasy art reaches its pinnacle here. Didier Pasamonik