Promethea, Book 2

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...

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.

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!

This is the second collected volume of the series. It's probably best to start with volume one. :-> That said, this continues the story of the living legend Promethea, as currently embodied in an alternative, technologically-advanced 20th Century. The 1999/2000 New Year's Day celebrations take place in this volume, for those wishing to keep score.<p>Each issue is becoming more jewellike and perfect, it seems to me (though I haven't gone on to the third compendium yet). One entire issue/chapter in this volume is given over to an exploration of humanity's history through the metaphor of a modified tarot deck, as told by the snakes on Promethea's caduceus, Mike and Mack (Micro and Macro - who speak in rhyming quatrains of iambic pentameter, flawlessly, each keeping his recognizable viewpoint towards either the big picture or the minutiae). Along the bottom of each page is both an anagram of Promethea's name that is pertinent to that page's content, and a serialized joke whose phrases again echo and reinforce the other three threads on each page. Another issue is given to an extended tantric sex scene (nothing is explicitly shown but boobies, though MUCH is implied), with a discussion of the theory and practice of magical symbolism and chakras ... which leads to a priceless last-page joke.<p>It's not a traditional narrative comic book. It's not even as traditionally-narrative as the first volume. It's ... dreamlike, and dense, and strange, in a way that is entirely appropriate for a work purporting to be about the world of imagination, and how that world interacts with our own through its avatar. It's not everyone's cup of tea, no. But if you like Neil Gaiman, you might well enjoy this too.

When I reviewed the first volume in this series, I described the general idea in the following way: 'Promethea' is an attempt to render the female super hero in an archetypical form. This book has a strong mystical or spiritual theme, with the female lead cast in a pluralistic role: she is both Sophie Bangs, student, and Promethea, imagination personified. Our Promethea is not the first, there is a whole line of Prometheas stretching back to ancient Egypt, and we get to know some of the earlier ones in this book.This volume collects issues 7 through 12 of the series. If anything, it tops the previous volume.Alan Moore and JH Williams III are firing on all cylinders here - we get quite a detailed examination of spiritual themes, contrasted and compared to quantum physics; some superheroing; one of the most sensual comics you're likely to see, and a diverse cast of characters.