And that’s only the smallest hint of what you’ll see in this book. Men (and women) urinating on other people? Sure. Dying pope drinking breast milk from an unwilling woman? Sure. You might expect this from a comic that includes Machiavelli and Da Vinci as characters, but this book approaches Tudors (the TV show) levels of over the top-ness (shut up, that is too a word). Jodorowsky and Manara have created the ultimate soap opera of historical comics. The graphic novel brings all of this to life, and then some. Unheard of today, but not exactly unusual for the time and place in which the Borgias lived. The patriarch of the family, Rodrigo Borgia, became Pope Alexander VI and used his illegitimate children by Vannozza dei Cattanei (among them Cesare and Lucrezia) to strengthen his hold over Italy. They were also supposed to be incredibly corrupt and depraved-Rome and the Catholic Church were no innocents in the 15th and 16th centuries, and the Borgias were representative of the extremes in their society. I’ve never read anything about the Borgias prior to this graphic novel, but I had the same basic knowledge about them that I’m sure many of you do: they were a strong family in a time of powerful dynasties, and the fact that we remember their name is testament to that. Okay, warning out of the way, let’s get down to brass tacks. Basically I’m just saying you might want to reconsider reading this one on the subway or anywhere easily offended people or non-parented small children might be tempted to read over your shoulder (learned that lesson the hard way when a kid started reading Saga over my shoulder on the F train, and I am passing that pro tip onto you, our beloved readers). Dark Horse categorizes this as a book for adult audiences and with good reason. But for people with no frame of reference for this family (I can only assume you’ve been living under a rock), you’re going to want to watch who you read this around.

I mean, it’s the Borgias, for FSM’s sake, and if you know anything about that family, have seen any movies or TV shows about them, you would know this. I have to preface my review about this graphic novel with a warning: it is not for those easily offended.

Los Borgia by Alejandro Jodorowsky