Karmatron
Encyclopedia
Karmatrón y los Transformables (Karmatron and the Transformers) is a comic book
created in 1986
by Oscar González Loyo
, and published first at CEPSA. The comic itself was meant to deliver a pastiche of multiple philosophies, doctrines and new age concepts -some of them contradictory between them-, through the story of an intergalactic battle between two forces marked as definitive good and evil, reinforcing the intention of the autor of establishing his own conception of Ying and Yang. It ran from 1986 to 1991 (#298), even though the last numbers where dedicated to themes that did not dealt with the comic story itself, including 8 whole numbers filled with an indoctrination manual called "Manual del guerrero Kundalini" (see controversy). The comic had a decent reception between mexican comic book readers, as at the time the amount of new national titles was close to zero, and even american franchises were scarce at the moment, with only Vid Editorial and Novedades taking on the occasional publishing of comics. However, as the storyline progressed and the indoctrination attempts became more dense and evident, both the editorial and the public became more and more alienated until the comic ceased to be published. The comic has been called a space opera
by its author, though it also had certain elements of comedy, adventure, and fantasy.
It depicted the adventures of Zacek, emperor of the Zuyua people and also a Kundalini
warrior that an ancient prophecy announced to be the one who could restore the balance between light and darkness. Zacek was the bearer of the powerful Kalpe-Om
, a magical belt that allowed him to transform himself into Karmatron, a 300 feet tall armoured spiritual warrior. Karmatron defended good and peace in all the universe, constantly fighting the forces of dark emperor Asura
of Metnal and his evil god, the Master of Shadows, with the help of his numerous friends and his Transformables, an army of giant transformers
. Later on, he created smaller ones, like Magneto and Warp.
energy to create various effects: He can teleport short distances; he has some degree of telekinetic talent; he can read minds and thoughts; he can use clairvoyance
; he can read the psychic imprints on an object; he can turn invisible; he can fire bolts of positive spiritual energy (and he can make weapons out of this energy, such as shurikens or boomerangs) and he can make astral journeys, leaving his body behind him. All Kundalini Warriors can stop their heartbeats completely in order to fool their enemies, or to avoid the effects of a lethal poison or radiation. This faked death is pretty convincing, as the warrior's body has effectively stopped functioning, but this is a very dangerous feat to perform. Kundalini Warriors can only do this three times in their lives. Zacek has already done it twice. As Karmatron, Zacek has all his Kundalini powers enhanced by a tenfold (or more), he has super-strength, near physical invulnerability, the ability to fire a variety of types of rays and bolts, he has flight capability, he can survive in space or in any environment short of a nuclear inferno (which almost killed him once) and he can shrink to microscopic level.
The story starts millions of years ago, in a very distant place in the universe—Planet Zuyua—where Zacek lived peacefully as the youngest of two heirs to the Zuyuan throne. There, young Zacek learned advanced cybernetics
as a career, and he often built robots, big and small, as a hobby (these robots had a mayor role further in the story - more on that later). His father, emperor Canilek (Snakestar, in mayan) was the founder and leader of the Great Universal Alliance (a galactic United Nations
of sorts) that opposed emperor Asura's militaristic campaign of universal conquest. In issue # 1, Asura's metnalian army invaded Planet Zuyua's capital city and forced the zuyuan people out of their own planet, as thousands of them were exterminated by emperor Asura's bloodthirsty occupation forces. In the middle of the attack, four giant robots programmed by Zacek to activate in case of peril suddenly burst into action, attacking Asura's soldiers and ships and wreaking havoc in the invading army. Enter the first (of many, many) Transformables: Titan, a robot/tank and the Transformables' leader; Aquarius, a robot/submarine; Stelaris, a speedy robot/spaceship and Unicorn
, a robot/subterranean vehicle. These four unexpected robotic heroes helped the zuyuans to survive the invasion so they could plan their exodus
to a safer planet. However, while zuyuan strategists planned an escape route from Planet Zuyua, emperor Canilek sent his two sons on a quest to seek the Planet of Eternity, a sacred, mystical place where spiritual warriors go to attempt to awake the Kundalini
serpent that lived in Mount Meru, and thus gain the spiritual transcendence
, wisdom, inner peace
and power that comes with being a Kundalini. Canilek hoped that at least one of his sons became the prophetized Kundalini warrior who would defeat Asura and bring back peace to the universe. Unfortunately, Canilek's best friend and advisor, Aspier, was also a spy who informed emperor Asura of Canilek's plans. Aspier was also commanded by Asura to kill Canilek when the appropriate time came, which he gleefully did, helped by the turnmoil of Asura's invasion.
Meanwhile, Zacek and his older brother Nazul arrived at the Planet of Eternity, but as they reached the sacred serpent's chamber located in the depths of Mount Meru, a metnalian soldier who followed them by Asura's command assaulted the two princes (Asura knew of the prophecy of the Kundalini that would defeat him) and managed to grab Nazul and take him to his ship before he could go into the serpent's resting place. Zacek was unable to help his brother, because the heavy slab of stone that guarded the serpent's chamber entrance slammed shut in that precise moment, trapping him in there. A voice in the chamber told Zacek that he had no other choice than to follow his father's wishes and attempt to awake the Kundalini Serpent, which he reluctantly did. The zuyuan prince underwent the difficult task of awakening the sacred serpent, a feat that only the most spiritually enlightened and pure of heart could accomplish. Zacek managed to succeed in his mission, and became a full-fledged Kundalini warrior. Katnatek, the first Kundalini warrior (and the voice he heard when he entered the chamber) appeared before him then and gave him his Kalpe-Om
, the magical item that allowed him to transform in the most powerful warrior of good in this universe (the audience is later informed that there are many possible universes, and each possible universe has its own Karmatron). By uttering a sacred mantra
, Zacek transformed into Karmatron for the first time.
Fully equipped with his powerful new armor, Karmatron rushed then to Planet Metnal to save his brother, but he arrived too late. Emperor Asura tortured Nazul at his leisure, and then the dark emperor dumped him into Metnal's dreaded Darkness Zone, a place full of twisted, voracious man-eating beasts. Karmatron arrived at the Darkness Zone only to find the mangled corpse of Nazul still being devoured by the monsters who dwelled there. He also discovered that the evil emanations that impregnated the entire planet Metnal were very noxious to him (actually, evil in general was very noxious to him, because he used good spiritual power to fuel his powers) so he could only managed to escape rapidly from that horrid place with his brother's remains in his hands. Asura caught a glimpse of this awesome steel giant that came to his planet, and he became violently enraged then, for he acknowledge him for what he was, and knew him to be the source of many future problems.
The comic book followed Zacek's further adventures as he battled Asura across the galaxies, through many millennia, and the story was interrupted abruptly in issue # 298, with Karmatron fighting Asura here on Earth in modern times. The comic book was discontinued then and fans of all ages still hope for the saga to start anew.
The lost continent of Mu
is featured as the location of the base cities of some the main characters. The Moai
of Easter Island
are said to be images of a robot called Paskuash, protector of Mu.
Comic book
A comic book or comicbook is a magazine made up of comics, narrative artwork in the form of separate panels that represent individual scenes, often accompanied by dialog as well as including...
created in 1986
1986 in comics
-Year overall:* Batman: The Dark Knight Returns, a four-issue limited series written and drawn by Frank Miller and published by DC Comics, debuts...
by Oscar González Loyo
Oscar González Loyo
Oscar González Loyo, born April 11, 1959 in Mexico City; is a comic book artist, author of Karmatrón y Los Transformables. He is also founder and CEO of ¡Ka-Boom! Estudio...
, and published first at CEPSA. The comic itself was meant to deliver a pastiche of multiple philosophies, doctrines and new age concepts -some of them contradictory between them-, through the story of an intergalactic battle between two forces marked as definitive good and evil, reinforcing the intention of the autor of establishing his own conception of Ying and Yang. It ran from 1986 to 1991 (#298), even though the last numbers where dedicated to themes that did not dealt with the comic story itself, including 8 whole numbers filled with an indoctrination manual called "Manual del guerrero Kundalini" (see controversy). The comic had a decent reception between mexican comic book readers, as at the time the amount of new national titles was close to zero, and even american franchises were scarce at the moment, with only Vid Editorial and Novedades taking on the occasional publishing of comics. However, as the storyline progressed and the indoctrination attempts became more dense and evident, both the editorial and the public became more and more alienated until the comic ceased to be published. The comic has been called a space opera
Space opera
Space opera is a subgenre of science fiction that emphasizes romantic, often melodramatic adventure, set mainly or entirely in outer space, generally involving conflict between opponents possessing advanced technologies and abilities. The term has no relation to music and it is analogous to "soap...
by its author, though it also had certain elements of comedy, adventure, and fantasy.
It depicted the adventures of Zacek, emperor of the Zuyua people and also a Kundalini
Kundalini
Kundalini literally means coiled. In yoga, a "corporeal energy" - an unconscious, instinctive or libidinal force or Shakti, lies coiled at the base of the spine. It is envisioned either as a goddess or else as a sleeping serpent, hence a number of English renderings of the term such as 'serpent...
warrior that an ancient prophecy announced to be the one who could restore the balance between light and darkness. Zacek was the bearer of the powerful Kalpe-Om
Om
Om is a sacred syllable of Hinduism, Buddhism and Jainism.OM and similar may also refer to:-Music:* Om , a stoner metal band* Om , a 1965 album* OM , a 2006 album* Om...
, a magical belt that allowed him to transform himself into Karmatron, a 300 feet tall armoured spiritual warrior. Karmatron defended good and peace in all the universe, constantly fighting the forces of dark emperor Asura
Asura
-In Hinduism:In Hinduism, the Asuras constitute a group of power-seeking deities, sometimes considered sinful and materialistic. The Daityas and Danavas were combinedly known as Asuras. The Asura were opposed to the Devas. Both groups are children of Kasyapa...
of Metnal and his evil god, the Master of Shadows, with the help of his numerous friends and his Transformables, an army of giant transformers
Transformers
A transformer is a device that transfers electrical energy from one circuit to another by magnetic coupling.Transformer may also refer to:* ASUS Eee Pad Transformer, an Android 3.2 Honeycomb tablet computer manufacturer by Asus...
. Later on, he created smaller ones, like Magneto and Warp.
Powers
Zacek, as all Kundalini Warriors, can manipulate pranaPrana
Prana is the Sanskrit word for "vital life" .It is one of the five organs of vitality or sensation, viz. prana "breath", vac "speech", chakshus "sight", shrotra "hearing", and manas "thought" Prana is the Sanskrit word for "vital life" (from the root "to fill", cognate to Latin plenus...
energy to create various effects: He can teleport short distances; he has some degree of telekinetic talent; he can read minds and thoughts; he can use clairvoyance
Clairvoyance
The term clairvoyance is used to refer to the ability to gain information about an object, person, location or physical event through means other than the known human senses, a form of extra-sensory perception...
; he can read the psychic imprints on an object; he can turn invisible; he can fire bolts of positive spiritual energy (and he can make weapons out of this energy, such as shurikens or boomerangs) and he can make astral journeys, leaving his body behind him. All Kundalini Warriors can stop their heartbeats completely in order to fool their enemies, or to avoid the effects of a lethal poison or radiation. This faked death is pretty convincing, as the warrior's body has effectively stopped functioning, but this is a very dangerous feat to perform. Kundalini Warriors can only do this three times in their lives. Zacek has already done it twice. As Karmatron, Zacek has all his Kundalini powers enhanced by a tenfold (or more), he has super-strength, near physical invulnerability, the ability to fire a variety of types of rays and bolts, he has flight capability, he can survive in space or in any environment short of a nuclear inferno (which almost killed him once) and he can shrink to microscopic level.
The story
Cybernetics
Cybernetics is the interdisciplinary study of the structure of regulatory systems. Cybernetics is closely related to information theory, control theory and systems theory, at least in its first-order form...
as a career, and he often built robots, big and small, as a hobby (these robots had a mayor role further in the story - more on that later). His father, emperor Canilek (Snakestar, in mayan) was the founder and leader of the Great Universal Alliance (a galactic United Nations
United Nations
The United Nations is an international organization whose stated aims are facilitating cooperation in international law, international security, economic development, social progress, human rights, and achievement of world peace...
of sorts) that opposed emperor Asura's militaristic campaign of universal conquest. In issue # 1, Asura's metnalian army invaded Planet Zuyua's capital city and forced the zuyuan people out of their own planet, as thousands of them were exterminated by emperor Asura's bloodthirsty occupation forces. In the middle of the attack, four giant robots programmed by Zacek to activate in case of peril suddenly burst into action, attacking Asura's soldiers and ships and wreaking havoc in the invading army. Enter the first (of many, many) Transformables: Titan, a robot/tank and the Transformables' leader; Aquarius, a robot/submarine; Stelaris, a speedy robot/spaceship and Unicorn
Unicorn
The unicorn is a legendary animal from European folklore that resembles a white horse with a large, pointed, spiraling horn projecting from its forehead, and sometimes a goat's beard...
, a robot/subterranean vehicle. These four unexpected robotic heroes helped the zuyuans to survive the invasion so they could plan their exodus
Emigration
Emigration is the act of leaving one's country or region to settle in another. It is the same as immigration but from the perspective of the country of origin. Human movement before the establishment of political boundaries or within one state is termed migration. There are many reasons why people...
to a safer planet. However, while zuyuan strategists planned an escape route from Planet Zuyua, emperor Canilek sent his two sons on a quest to seek the Planet of Eternity, a sacred, mystical place where spiritual warriors go to attempt to awake the Kundalini
Kundalini
Kundalini literally means coiled. In yoga, a "corporeal energy" - an unconscious, instinctive or libidinal force or Shakti, lies coiled at the base of the spine. It is envisioned either as a goddess or else as a sleeping serpent, hence a number of English renderings of the term such as 'serpent...
serpent that lived in Mount Meru, and thus gain the spiritual transcendence
Transcendence (philosophy)
In philosophy, the adjective transcendental and the noun transcendence convey the basic ground concept from the word's literal meaning , of climbing or going beyond, albeit with varying connotations in its different historical and cultural stages...
, wisdom, inner peace
Inner peace
Inner peace refers to a state of being mentally and spiritually at peace, with enough knowledge and understanding to keep oneself strong in the face of discord or stress. Being "at peace" is considered by many to be healthy and the opposite of being stressed or anxious...
and power that comes with being a Kundalini. Canilek hoped that at least one of his sons became the prophetized Kundalini warrior who would defeat Asura and bring back peace to the universe. Unfortunately, Canilek's best friend and advisor, Aspier, was also a spy who informed emperor Asura of Canilek's plans. Aspier was also commanded by Asura to kill Canilek when the appropriate time came, which he gleefully did, helped by the turnmoil of Asura's invasion.
Meanwhile, Zacek and his older brother Nazul arrived at the Planet of Eternity, but as they reached the sacred serpent's chamber located in the depths of Mount Meru, a metnalian soldier who followed them by Asura's command assaulted the two princes (Asura knew of the prophecy of the Kundalini that would defeat him) and managed to grab Nazul and take him to his ship before he could go into the serpent's resting place. Zacek was unable to help his brother, because the heavy slab of stone that guarded the serpent's chamber entrance slammed shut in that precise moment, trapping him in there. A voice in the chamber told Zacek that he had no other choice than to follow his father's wishes and attempt to awake the Kundalini Serpent, which he reluctantly did. The zuyuan prince underwent the difficult task of awakening the sacred serpent, a feat that only the most spiritually enlightened and pure of heart could accomplish. Zacek managed to succeed in his mission, and became a full-fledged Kundalini warrior. Katnatek, the first Kundalini warrior (and the voice he heard when he entered the chamber) appeared before him then and gave him his Kalpe-Om
Om
Om is a sacred syllable of Hinduism, Buddhism and Jainism.OM and similar may also refer to:-Music:* Om , a stoner metal band* Om , a 1965 album* OM , a 2006 album* Om...
, the magical item that allowed him to transform in the most powerful warrior of good in this universe (the audience is later informed that there are many possible universes, and each possible universe has its own Karmatron). By uttering a sacred mantra
Mantra
A mantra is a sound, syllable, word, or group of words that is considered capable of "creating transformation"...
, Zacek transformed into Karmatron for the first time.
Fully equipped with his powerful new armor, Karmatron rushed then to Planet Metnal to save his brother, but he arrived too late. Emperor Asura tortured Nazul at his leisure, and then the dark emperor dumped him into Metnal's dreaded Darkness Zone, a place full of twisted, voracious man-eating beasts. Karmatron arrived at the Darkness Zone only to find the mangled corpse of Nazul still being devoured by the monsters who dwelled there. He also discovered that the evil emanations that impregnated the entire planet Metnal were very noxious to him (actually, evil in general was very noxious to him, because he used good spiritual power to fuel his powers) so he could only managed to escape rapidly from that horrid place with his brother's remains in his hands. Asura caught a glimpse of this awesome steel giant that came to his planet, and he became violently enraged then, for he acknowledge him for what he was, and knew him to be the source of many future problems.
The comic book followed Zacek's further adventures as he battled Asura across the galaxies, through many millennia, and the story was interrupted abruptly in issue # 298, with Karmatron fighting Asura here on Earth in modern times. The comic book was discontinued then and fans of all ages still hope for the saga to start anew.
The lost continent of Mu
Mu (lost continent)
Mu is the name of a hypothetical continent that allegedly existed in one of Earth's oceans, but disappeared at the dawn of human history.The concept and the name were proposed by 19th century traveler and writer Augustus Le Plongeon, who claimed that several ancient civilizations, such as those of...
is featured as the location of the base cities of some the main characters. The Moai
Moai
Moai , or mo‘ai, are monolithic human figures carved from rock on the Chilean Polynesian island of Easter Island between the years 1250 and 1500. Nearly half are still at Rano Raraku, the main moai quarry, but hundreds were transported from there and set on stone platforms called ahu around the...
of Easter Island
Easter Island
Easter Island is a Polynesian island in the southeastern Pacific Ocean, at the southeasternmost point of the Polynesian triangle. A special territory of Chile that was annexed in 1888, Easter Island is famous for its 887 extant monumental statues, called moai, created by the early Rapanui people...
are said to be images of a robot called Paskuash, protector of Mu.