Decoding Eternal Tales: Psychedelic Art of John Thompson - Softcover

One of John Thompson's ornate, mystical and ethereal comic books, The story is titled "Shaman Prophecy" and it's about a shaman named Thon and his wife Rda, whose lovemaking is interrupted when they are abducted from Earth by friendly "star-pilot" space travelers. After being transported to the star-pilots' space ship, the captain of the ship pleads with Thon to use his magical powers to rescue his civilization on another planet, which Thon reluctantly agrees to do. As Thon and Rda travel to the planet Midin, the captain relays the story of his planet's terrible conflict with Hgwa, the demon of fear. Thon and Rda arrive on Midin, where Thon explores a mystical inner world before finally meeting up with Hgwa. In a dizzying and surreal sequence, Thon defends his state of mind against Hgwa's attempts to confuse him, which results in defeating the demon's threats. Thon and Rda are suddenly transformed back to planet Earth, where Thon wonders if everything that had just happened was just a dream. The comic book Eternal Tales is literally integrated into the story as a plot device by Thompson, who also uses upside-down and mirrored writing and illustration to convey the illusive encounter between Hgwa and Thon. As always, Thompson's ink drawings are exquisitely detailed and worth lingering over. This newer version contains an introduction by John Thompson explaining the esoteric symbolism of the writings as well as a view of the art and social scene of the sexual revolution of the 1960's.