Karmatron and the Transformables

Karmatrón and the Transformables is a Mexican science fiction and fantasy comic series created by Óscar González Loyo and published for the first time in 1986 and which lasted 298 issues; A second limited edition was published as a graphic novel in 1992 and a third began publication in 2002. So far 20 issues of this latest version have been published.

The original comic was a moderate success among Mexican children and young people since it took advantage of the boom in anime and Robots and Mechas cartoons of the eighties, arising from the premiere of shows like Mazinger Z, Transformers, Voltron and Robotech on Mexican TV at that time. This allowed Karmatron to acquire some fame and notoriety in the medium.

Genres and themes

The plot of the comic has elements of science fiction (especially space opera), fantasy, adventure, drama, humor and love. This saga addresses themes and elements such as mythology of ancient civilizations, giant robots, spaceships, transformable mechas, intergalactic adventures, magic and fantastic beings.

The theory of the ancient astronauts constitutes one of the basic pillars of the main plot of Karmatron. Various principles of Buddhism, Taoism, Esotericism and Mayanism are also addressed in most of the comic's issues.

The comic mentions quotes from ancient sacred texts, from Madame Blavatsky as well as other types of books such as The Little Prince, trying to "awaken the readers' conscience" in a section of each published issue called "The Kundalini Warrior Manual". Reference is also made to scientific discoveries of the time and philosophical quotes from personalities such as Carl Sagan, Emanuel Kant and Eric Von Daniken among others. Some sections also show topics of culture and general interest, astronomy, nature and zoology.

Summary

The main protagonist of this story is an extraterrestrial humanoid named Zacek (White Star, in Mayan), emperor of the Zuyua and possessor of the kalpé- om, a belt that allows him to transform into the powerful metallic giant Karmatrón.

The plot of the comic tells the adventures of Karmatron (a 100-meter-high colossus protected with mystical armor) who defended the universe from the forces of the tyrannical emperor Asura of the planet Metnal and the Master of Darkness, and features the help of the kundalinī warriors and the noble Star Warriors (powerful robots with feelings; also known as the Transformables).

Plot

Millions of years ago, on the planet Zuyua, Zacek lived peacefully, being the youngest of two heir princes to the throne of the Zuyua people. On his planet, young Zacek learned advanced cybernetics, and often built robots as a hobby. Zacek's father, Emperor Canilek ('snake star', in Mayan), was the founder and leader of the GAU (Grand Universal Alliance, something like an intergalactic United Nations), which opposed the bloody campaign of universal conquest of Emperor Asura.

In issue #1, the Asura army invaded Atlan (the capital city of the planet Zuyua), forcing its inhabitants to flee their home, while thousands of Zuyua citizens were exterminated by the ruthless Metnalite occupation forces. Midway through the attack, four robots programmed by Zacek suddenly sprang into action, attacking Asura's soldiers and ships and wreaking havoc on the invading army. They were the first (of many) Transformables:

• Titana robot/tank and leader Transformablesinspired by Optimus Prime.
• Acuariusa robot/submarine;
• Unicornan underground robot/vehicle
• Estelaris, a speed robot/spaceship.

These four heroes helped the Zuyua survive the invasion, and allowed them to plan their exodus to a safer planet. However, while the Zuyua strategists planned an escape route away from their home planet, Emperor Canilek sent his two sons on a mission to the Planet of Eternity, a sacred place where spiritual warriors try to awaken their serpent kundalini, which lives in the Meru mountain of that planet. Those who manage to awaken that snake are called kundalini warriors, and it means acquiring spiritual transcendence, wisdom, inner peace and the power to do good. Canilek wanted his children to become kundalini warriors since an ancient prophecy zuyua; He spoke that the lineage of Serpent Star (Canilek) would defeat the Asura emperor and bring peace to the entire universe again.

Unfortunately, Canilek's best friend and advisor; Aspier, was a traitor spy who quickly informed Emperor Asura of Canilek's plans. Asura ordered Aspier to kill Canilek when the right moment arose, which he gladly did, taking advantage of the chaos of the Metnalite invasion.

Meanwhile, Zacek and his older brother Nazul arrived at the Planet of Eternity, but when the princes reached the chamber of the sacred serpent located in the depths of the Meru mountain and were preparing to Enter, they were attacked by a Metnalite soldier who followed them on Asura's orders (Asura knew of the prophecy). The Metnalite soldier was able to catch Nazul, then carry him to his ship before he could enter the serpent's resting place. Zacek was unable to help his brother, because the heavy stone slab that guarded the entrance to the sacred serpent chamber slammed shut just as Zacek was preparing to help his brother, and he was left trapped in that room.

A mysterious voice in the chamber told Zacek that he could no longer get out of there, and that he had no choice but to follow his father's wishes and try to awaken the kundalini snake. Discouraged, Prince Zuyua carried out the difficult task of awakening the sacred serpent, a feat that only the most spiritually evolved and pure-hearted beings could achieve. The voice in the chamber told Zacek that if anyone unworthy tries to awaken the snake, it will strike down the first being it sees in front of it in a state of meditation. Zacek was not intimidated by that warning, and managed to succeed in his dangerous mission, becoming a true kundalini warrior from that moment on. Katnatek, the first kundalini warrior (and the voice he heard when he entered the chamber) then appeared in front of him and gave him the kalpe-om, the magical belt that would allow him to transform into the most powerful "warrior of good" in this world. Universe (later, readers will be made aware that there are many possible universes, and that each possible universe has its own Karmatron). Uttering a sacred mantra that activates the kalpe (la' yume' num t'ox muk' il in ti'al), Zacek transformed for the first time into Karmatron.

Fully equipped with his powerful new armor, Karmatron then rushed to the planet Metnal to save his brother, but arrived too late. The Asura Emperor tortured Nazul until he was tired, then abandoned him to his fate in the feared Zone of Darkness (in Metnal), a place filled with twisted and voracious man-eating beasts. Karmatron arrived at the Zone of Darkness only to find Nazul's mangled corpse, still being devoured by the monsters that roamed there. There, Karmatron discovered that the evil emanations that permeated the planet Metnal were very harmful to him (in fact, evil in general is very harmful to him, because he now used positive spiritual energy as 'energy') so Karmatron could only limit himself to taking flight and quickly escaping from that horrible place with his brother's remains in his hands. From his palace, Asura was able to briefly see this impressive steel giant that came to his planet, and then he became violently enraged, because he recognized it and knew that it would be a hindrance to achieving his plans of conquest.

In future issues of the comic we see Zacek fight Asura across the universe, over millions of years. Zacek becomes a friend and leader of many characters who help him fight the evil of Asura, he meets a Zuyua woman called Lis-ek ('star of light', in Mayan) whom he marries, literally hundreds of Transformables are added to the cast of the comic, and in the end Karmatron and the Transformables ends abruptly in issue 298 on Earth, in the middle of Karmatron's fight against Asura in modern times.

Zacek and Karmatron appearance

Zacek is represented as a young boy, approximately 18 years old, with an athletic build and human appearance, except for his white hair, the same as that of his mother Sictia. White hair appears to be a common trait among the Zuyua, possibly unrelated to terrestrial albinism, as Zacek's eyes are black, and his skin is of a normal Caucasian appearance. In the first issues of the magazine he always wore a white leotard, over which he wore a long black vest, with red edges and shoulder pads. He also used to wear red gloves, belt and boots. This color pattern is very similar to Zacek's first power armor.

After becoming a kundalini warrior, Zacek always wore the characteristic warrior uniform: loose-fitting black pants and sweater, a long white sleeveless vest over the sweater, as well as white gloves and boots. Over his vest Zacek always wore his red kalpé-om, and he also used to wear a black cape with a white back. On his chest, the kundalini uniform had the Sanskrit symbol of Om printed in Devanagari script, and on the back it showed the symbol of yin and yang.

The sacred armor of Karmatron, although different in each of its versions, always shows a samurai helmet, gauntlets and red boots. The first armor had a black breastplate, and lacked shoulder pads. The following armors had a white breastplate, and had black shoulder pads. Each armor had unique devices and features. In the graphic novels published in 1992 the armor appears radically altered, with a red, white and blue pattern and a more colorful design that uses elements of the three armors shown in the regular series. In the new era of Karmatron, the design of the first armor is used, more stylized and stronger and more impressive looking.

Creation and publication

According to your author Karmatron was created in 1978, but the lack of publishers interested in the project delayed its publication for several years.

The original name of the comic was originally conceived as Karmatrón and the Star Warriors, since the allied robots of Karmatron initially would not have the ability to change shape. However, due to the tremendous success of animated series of convertible robots in the eighties such as Transformers and Gobots the editorial pressured González Loyo to include this kind of characters in the comic, so it would be renamed as Karmatron and Transformables to increase the sales of it.

Finally, the comic was published for the first time in February 1986, weekly until mid-1991. Each issue had 32 half-letter-sized pages. The first edition lasted 298 copies. This stage of the franchise is known as the "Classic Era".

Each issue of the original magazine during the 1980s was done entirely in one week, although on some occasions previous issues were republished or editions containing mainly text were published in order to meet the deadline. The author states that during the 5 years that it was published weekly in the traditional format it had more than 100,000 copies, although there is no information that can verify this statement.

In 1992 a new limited reissue of the comic's first story - but with new character designs - was published in black and white graphic novel format. This special edition only consists of two copies and this stage of the Karmatrón franchise is known as the "Intermediate Era".

3 compilations were also published in book format of "The Kundalini Warrior Manual" from 1994 to 2004.

In December 2002 Karmatrón was again relaunched by ¡Ka-Boom! Study. The comic was rebooted with a new plot, larger size, new character designs, and digital colors. This stage of the franchise is known as the "New Era".

However, due to financial problems of the publishing house, the frequency of the new Karmatrón has been irregular, with issues published every 2 months or after periods of up to a year. In total 20 issues have been published (and republished), with the publication of issue 14 of the comic in the first half of 2015, issue 15 in May 2016, issue 16 in August 2016, and issue 17 in October of the same year. anus. Issue number 18 was released in early 2017. Issue number 19 was released in June 2017 and issue number 20 was published at the end of the same year.

Crossovers

Due to the popularity of the comic during the eighties, several issues were dedicated to crossovers of Karmatrón with characters from other independent Mexican comics published during that time.

From numbers 100 to 104 of the original series - published in 1988 - a crossover titled Karmatrón vs Destruktor was carried out with characters from Destrúktor, The Cosmic Defender, another weekly science fiction comic from 1987 that lasted 33 issues and which was drawn by Nicanor Peña Cabrera.

From issues 284 to 286 -published in 1991- another crossover was presented called Adventures on Planet Tier-rata, where the protagonists were Jiva and Robby (by Oscar González Loyo) as well as the Visitor Zot and the Rats Fulano, Zutano and Mengano (by the artist and author Francisco "Paco" Baca).

Free online version

The first 45 issues of the original Karmatron and the Transformables series - originally published in 1986 - have been put online by Ka-Boom! I have been studying for free since 2008.

In the first issue of Karmatrón the script was written by Alfonso Samaniego Diéguez and González Loyo, although for the digitalized version Samaniego was omitted from the credits. Subsequent issues of the online comic are still pending.

Reception

The creator of Karmatrón considers this comic as a reference for independent stories in Mexico, although it is currently little known. However, the comic is still remembered with nostalgia by many people who were children or young people in the eighties thanks to its peculiar artistic style (very similar to that of the Japanese robot anime of that time) and is still considered by many as one of the first "mangas" Mexicans of Science Fiction and Fantasy in the history of comics in Mexico.

The comic is also famous for its weekly publication, something unusual during the period in which it was made. According to the creator of the comic, many foreign comic artists and editors - who normally publish their works monthly to this day - could not believe that the creation of a weekly comic was at all possible during the time in which it was published < i>Karmatron.^{[citation required]}

The 20th episode of the original comic titled " One Step from Death" and published in 1987 takes concepts, sequences, references and images from issue 4 of the comic ofDr. Strange "Dr. Strange meets Death!" from 1974, drawn by Frank Brunner (which was never published in Mexico), in a possible tribute by the Mexican author to the original American comic. Readers and some comic authors have pointed out (and harshly criticized) the obvious similarities, to which González Loyo has responded by denying having plagiarized said story and justifying himself by stating that his intention was to make a tribute to the original author and his work, which It was not known in Mexico during that time.

Today, the circulation of the new edition of the comic that began in 2002 is approximately one or two issues each year. Mexican cartoonists and foreign comic editors have criticized this inconsistent periodicity, especially in comparison with the weekly publication of the original Karmatrón of the eighties^{[citation required]}. González Loyo has repeatedly stated that he will not modify his way of printing and distribution due to the difficulty of finding printing companies for the new version of the comic and the complexity of its new design.

Adaptations

The author of the comic declared in July 2016 that a Hollywood studio has shown interest in making a film adaptation of the franchise.