Binding: Paperback
Dewey Decimal Number: 741.5941
EAN: 9781563899577
ISBN: 1563899574
Label: Wildstorm
Manufacturer: Wildstorm
Number Of Items: 1
Number Of Pages: 176
Publication Date: 2003-02-01
Publisher: Wildstorm
Release Date: 2003-02-01
Studio: Wildstorm

Customer Rating:
Summary: Promethea is a magic super-ride!
Comment: Alan Moore firmly establishes himself as one of the premier writers in the Graphic Novel world with his second volume of Promethea. America's Best Comics matches Moore's prose with high quality, stunning illustrations from a number of highly skilled artists and the result might be more properly considered a Graphic Immersion instead of simply a Graphic Novel. Don't read too fast or you will miss the exquisite detail in the illustrations! Moore has proven himself equally adept at speaking to the female audience, IMO, as the more traditional male audience of this genre. With strong female leads, Moore's romp through the ancient and modern versions of Promethea is a both an entertaining and enlightening journey. I can't wait to read book three...

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Customer Rating:
Summary: Graphic SF Reader
Comment: As Promethea continues, along with exploring a mythic female superhero archetype with a long line of predecessors like the Phantom, but magical, Moore delves into his own mystical interests through dialogues and the Tarot. If you are looking for a straight superhero story, this will definitely disappoint, if you don't like Hellblazer, or Swamp Thing, or Sandman, or other such mysticism, it is very very unlikely that you will enjoy Promethea, other than for the artwork.

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Customer Rating:
Summary: Headache-inducing high concept mythology. Funny too.
Comment: Our heroine Sophie researches a mythological figure called Promothea for her term paper and then becomes her. Features a staggering reinterpretation of the Tarot consistent with the Big Bang and evolution. Predicts that in 2017 humankind's understanding will hit saturation point and the world as we know it will end. The Apocalypse is interpreted as an epistemological and metaphysical step forward for human understanding. There's also a twelve-page tantric sex scene. Mr. Moore, you've done it again.

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Customer Rating:
Summary: Book 2: Another good one
Comment: I'm still enjoying this series. The art is good, the story is engaging, and it's just a bit more literate than most comics. The women in this story are a lot more believable than most. Barabara (I'll miss her) lacked the customary hourglass figure, as does Sophie - though in different ways. Maybe Sophie shows a bit too much delicacy and refinement, and maybe Barbara showed a bit too little. I like the human flaws.

Promethea's quick trip through the major arcana of the Tarot was interesting. The oracle is meant to be interpreted in many ways, and the creation story was a different spin on it. Moore's connection of the Tarot to the hebrew alphabet eludes me, but I'll keep reading.

As much as I like Promethea, a few things jar - Promethea seems to buy hats where Galactus does, and shares an eye color with the Silver Surfer. These are little things, though, and don't really bother me.

One passage did bother me, though. I have no problem with a few Tantric moments, but I am shocked at the attitude towards safe sex. The idea of condoms came up, but was discarded since the man involved promised to hold back. WRONG! First, it's pretty easy for any guy to get carried away. Second, a few sperm can leak out even without ejaculation - a quick way to put any woman on the "mommy track". Third, condoms prevent exchange of disease in both directions. Maybe Promethea is so magical that she's immune to conception and other little living things, but maybe Sophie isn't. The book's reader's certainly aren't. It would not have hurt the narrative flow to demonstrate a little adult responsibility as part of the adult pleasures.

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Customer Rating:
Summary: Not for everyone, but a magnificent book!
Comment: Alan Moore is perhaps the most groundbreaking and innovative comic book scribe in the history of comics. Sure, the field has provided many groundbreaking and innovative comic book artists (from Windsor McKay to Will Eisner, from Jack Kirby to Frank Miller, from Alex Ross to Steve Ditko, and many many more...), but in my opinion, no other comics writer (emphasis on the term "writer") has brought so much to this often maligned art form. Alan Moore has proven that sequential storytelling can be as interesting, thought provoking, inspiring and imaginative as prose storytelling (and indeed, even more at times, since comics have one advantage over prose alone: imagery).

Alan's best known work is of course "Watchmen", often copied and emulated but still unequaled in depth and richness after more than a decade. However, it must not be forgotten that Alan has provided his avid fan base (and an immense number of casual comic book readers from all walks of life) with many delightful comics works since Watchmen. Of these, Promethea stands apart as a very emotional and personal work from its author.

This series is a vehicle for Alan to explore and expose to the readers many themes presumably dear to him. To be able to do so, he has devised a rather interesting trick for the story, creating a framework in which the primary characters (Promethea and her immediate supporting cast) evolve and convey the message to us readers (at some point, the so called "fourth wall" is even breached, much to the delight of Scott McCloud's fans). This trick consists, in fact, of a gigantic road trip through various realms (that is, places the characters visit during the stories) existing outside of our perceived "real" or physical world.

These places can be called psychic realms or metaphysic worlds or the imagination space, they are intended to convey Alan's views concerning various concepts such as the Kaballah, the numerous earthly religions and their impact on us, the relationship between magic and technology (hint: they are two sides of the same cosmic "coin"), mysticism and spirituality, the liberating power of imagination, the neglect of our spiritual sides, the divine nature of womanhood, etc.

This mind bending road trip makes for a unique comics series, and through it all we get to see what are Mr. Moore's views and beliefs. For those willing to put up with the non-traditional approach in words and pictures (the artists, J. H. Williams III and Mick Gray show us how superb draughtsman they can be, adopting many different styles throughout the series - an aspect of this comics series worth the price of admission in itself) Promethea makes a fine and enriching read! Not only do I highly recommend this series, but I recommend the purchase of all the trade paperbacks, and the reading of them in sequence, preferably over a few days... A guaranteed mind trip!

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