The Knights of Heliopolis, the new graphic novel from filmmaker Alejandro Jodorowsky and French artist Jérémy sees the pair taking the bones of the legend of the Man in the Iron Mask, as popularised by Alexandre Dumas, and going far, far afield with their interpretation. The tale of the French revolution is interwoven into the familiar story of a hidden heir to the throne of France, but that’s about where reality and this epic tale part ways.

While it’s intriguing to consider the possibility that Charlotte Corday as the wet nurse for the child of Louis XVI after bearing the king an illegitimate song, and would then become radicalized and eventually murder revolutionary leader Jean-Paul Marat, it’s certainly unlikely that she bore a hermaphroditic child who would go on to join a group of alchemists – including a gigantic talking gorilla – dedicated to ruling the world.

Of course, if one’s at all familiar with Jodorowsky’s works, the mix of alchemy, intrigue, and characters who are definitely not what they seem will feel as natural as pulling on a well-worn pair of boots. The sheer audacity of being willing to go so far afield and then leave said field to soar into the stratosphere and beyond is a hallmark of the filmmaker’s catalog, and he certainly doesn’t disappoint here. While the dialogue might be clunky in its frequently-expository nature, the ever-expanding scope of the narrative over the course of its four parts makes for a gripping read.

Unfortunately, Jérémy is one of those artists for whom certain faces become quite similar, forcing the reader to rely on the context clues – and, occasionally, hoping that one character will call another by name – to sort things out. Fulcanelli, the Count de Saint-Germain, and Nostradamus all have such similar features that it becomes difficult to sort them out. It’s also a little too glossy at times, looking more akin to an early ’00s superhero comic than the craziness one might expect from Alejandro Jodorowsky.

Release Date: April 27th