Promethea, Volume 1
by Alan Moore (Author), J.H. Williams III (Illustrator)
Promethea (Collections and Selections — 1-6)
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Sophie Bangs was a just an ordinary college student in a weirdly futuristic New York when a simple assignment changed her life forever. While researching Promethea, a mythical warrior woman, Sophie receives a cryptic warning to cease her investigations. Ignoring the cautionary notice, she continues her studies and is almost killed by a shadowy creature when she learns the secret of Promethea. Surviving the encounter, Sophie soon finds herself transformed into Promethea, the living embodiment show more of the imagination. Her trials have only begun as she must master the secrets of her predecessors before she is destroyed by Promethea's ancient enemy. Collects issues #1-6. show lessTags
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Member Reviews
This is definitely one of the more interesting and entertaining reads I have done this year. The tale of Promethea is just starting in this volume, and I can't wait to find the second one. College student Sophia, in an alternate New York discovers she is to be the new Promethea. Moore's storytelling is very good, and the sense of humor he is known for is present as well. The art on this volume is very good as well, bringing alive the worlds of imagination and drawing the reader in. I am glad I discovered this, and I am looking forward to the next one. In fact, I may have to reread it to see what I may have missed the first time around.
I am in love with this series. It's a spectacular blend of rich, wacky worldbuilding and an excitingly metatextual meditation on the nature of storytelling and imagination. The complex and convincing literary history that Alan Moore invents for Promethea is sure to make literature nerds happy, but meanwhile he entertains readers with a colorful world that is really rather Joss Whedon-y in its sense of humor and sensibilities.
Lest Alan Moore receive all the praise, the art is also fantastic. Too many comics have mediocre or merely decent art; every page in this comic really is a work of art, and evokes emotions that comic books usually can't touch.
If I have any complaint, it's that the main characters are college students but act like show more high school students - not that college-age kids are a particularly mature bunch, but Sophia and Stacia feel like sixteen-year-olds. However, since this is an alternate world, and it's unclear how old they're supposed to be, I'm willing to give them the benefit of the doubt. show less
Lest Alan Moore receive all the praise, the art is also fantastic. Too many comics have mediocre or merely decent art; every page in this comic really is a work of art, and evokes emotions that comic books usually can't touch.
If I have any complaint, it's that the main characters are college students but act like show more high school students - not that college-age kids are a particularly mature bunch, but Sophia and Stacia feel like sixteen-year-olds. However, since this is an alternate world, and it's unclear how old they're supposed to be, I'm willing to give them the benefit of the doubt. show less
Moore's original tale of a girl who is transformed into an ideal of truth and righteousness is exquisitely drawn in a style that evokes the flowing beauty of Mucha and the intricate designs of Tiffany. Each era brings a new woman to wear the mantle and embody the ideal of Promethea--if she can bear the weight.
There's a good story here somewhere, but I'm having a hard time focusing on it, distracted by the bizarrely overdone, overcolored, busy, gradient-drunk art.
Re-read. The art is actually sometimes good, but always uneven. Still, appreciating the book more this time around.
Re-read. The art is actually sometimes good, but always uneven. Still, appreciating the book more this time around.
Promethea is a stirringly wondrous story about the power of myth and the imagination, set in a drolly imagined futuristic 'present', and fashioned with great care and love. It's beautiful, funny, intelligent, and resonant. On top of that, the art actually lives up to the idea. Even the color adds to the wonder, mystery, and eldritch loveliness.
To avoid spoiling too much, the plot's about stories; the ones we create and the ones that have dwelt for long centuries in the cauldron of our mythologies; their power over us and our power over them. It's an empowering story for bookworms.
So far, if I had to name a fault in Promethea, it would be that the stories and metaphysics are rather occidentocentric, and not just in areas where it would show more reflect the characters' bias. It puts a strange regional cap on concepts and themes that otherwise seem to stretch on into the infinite and universal. show less
To avoid spoiling too much, the plot's about stories; the ones we create and the ones that have dwelt for long centuries in the cauldron of our mythologies; their power over us and our power over them. It's an empowering story for bookworms.
So far, if I had to name a fault in Promethea, it would be that the stories and metaphysics are rather occidentocentric, and not just in areas where it would show more reflect the characters' bias. It puts a strange regional cap on concepts and themes that otherwise seem to stretch on into the infinite and universal. show less
I bought this book after reading a few teaser pages in this free CD I got from DC Comics which had a few pages each for a wide variety of their comics. It left me intrigued, so I decided to try this book.
I was NOT disappointed. This book was fantastic. I learned quite a few new things, and the art and the writing go hand in hand beautifully. At the end of this book, I did not hesitate to order the second book. Bravo to Alan Moore for this beautiful story!
I was NOT disappointed. This book was fantastic. I learned quite a few new things, and the art and the writing go hand in hand beautifully. At the end of this book, I did not hesitate to order the second book. Bravo to Alan Moore for this beautiful story!
I am an admirer of Alan Moore, from Watchmen, V, and From Hell, and also being very interested in Moore's own series about Magic, Story and Mythology, I was excited to pick up the first 4 collections. Now, having made it 3/5 of the way through the series, I know a few things about this story, that finishing it is not going to change. . .
Promethea is a Narrative about the nature of existence and narrative, told mainly through a Mystical Superheroine's journey through realm where Western Magic's symbols demons, and deities are manifest as physical, living things. Alan Moore makes a very strong case for his interpretation of mythology as an aspect of our reality as living information.
Promethea is a book I couldn't recommend more to show more someone who has an interest in reading about magic or practicing the real thing,
But if one has already studied it, or absorbed Moore's views via the dvd about is work "The Mindscape of Alan Moore" for example, there isn't much else here worth your time.
It's a little sad because Moore explicitly states at the very begining of the film, that no matter how fantastic the story you may be telling is, it must always have an emotional resonance. And while I can think of every reason why the story being told here matters, I can't bring myself to get invested at all in the characters for more than a few seconds. B.E. Ellis's Patrick Bateman is more sympathetic than the characters given here.
I think the main flaw of the work here is that Moore spent so much time trying to get his cosmology together, trying to imagine it as a journey through a story, but didn't take much time at all to develop his characters, almost all of the development is gained through realizations about the higher order of reality, none of it is really related in a human way. The dialogue between the characters on the magical journey is almost totally pat, maybe it couldn't be put any other way.
as a percievable whole, is a story about humans, that this author ultimately failed to put a human face on.
note: the themes and concepts in here are universal, but Moore's main field of study has been in western magick, not to the detriment of the east, just that that is what works for him.
For people interested in comics about Magic, and humanity, I'd reccomend Grant Morrison's "The Invisibles" it's much more down to earth, better paced, and has characters that more than ciphers the author uses to take us from one page to the next. show less
Promethea is a Narrative about the nature of existence and narrative, told mainly through a Mystical Superheroine's journey through realm where Western Magic's symbols demons, and deities are manifest as physical, living things. Alan Moore makes a very strong case for his interpretation of mythology as an aspect of our reality as living information.
Promethea is a book I couldn't recommend more to show more someone who has an interest in reading about magic or practicing the real thing,
But if one has already studied it, or absorbed Moore's views via the dvd about is work "The Mindscape of Alan Moore" for example, there isn't much else here worth your time.
It's a little sad because Moore explicitly states at the very begining of the film, that no matter how fantastic the story you may be telling is, it must always have an emotional resonance. And while I can think of every reason why the story being told here matters, I can't bring myself to get invested at all in the characters for more than a few seconds. B.E. Ellis's Patrick Bateman is more sympathetic than the characters given here.
I think the main flaw of the work here is that Moore spent so much time trying to get his cosmology together, trying to imagine it as a journey through a story, but didn't take much time at all to develop his characters, almost all of the development is gained through realizations about the higher order of reality, none of it is really related in a human way. The dialogue between the characters on the magical journey is almost totally pat, maybe it couldn't be put any other way.
as a percievable whole, is a story about humans, that this author ultimately failed to put a human face on.
note: the themes and concepts in here are universal, but Moore's main field of study has been in western magick, not to the detriment of the east, just that that is what works for him.
For people interested in comics about Magic, and humanity, I'd reccomend Grant Morrison's "The Invisibles" it's much more down to earth, better paced, and has characters that more than ciphers the author uses to take us from one page to the next. show less
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Promethea is perhaps the most pure expression of some of the key themes of writer Alan Moore’s work.
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Author Information
Multiple award-winning author Alan Moore is universally considered the best writer of graphic novels in the medium's history. Among his many awards are the Hugo Award, the Bram Stoker Award, the Eisner Award, and the International Horror Guild Award
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Contains
Common Knowledge
- Canonical title
- Promethea, Volume 1
- Original publication date
- 2000
- People/Characters
- Promethea; Sophie Bangs; Stacia Vanderveer; Barbara Shelley ; Kenneth, of the Five Swell Guys; Marv, of the Five Swell Guys (show all 23); Roger, of the Five Swell Guys; Stan, of the Five Swell Guys; Bob, of the Five Swell Guys; The Smee; Thoth-Hermes (Deity); Benny Solomon; Marchosias (Demon); Andras (Demon); Little Red Riding Hood; Trish Bangs; Charlton Sennet; Anna; Jack Faust (John Barrett); Margaret Case ; The Painted Doll; Grace Brannagh; Marto Neptura
- Important places
- Alexandria, Egypt; New York, New York, USA; The Immateria
- Epigraph
- A small voice pleads in the desert,
A dread shadow laughs in the city,
A desperate student writes the truth. - Dedication
- To Leah, Amber, and Melinda;
To all my family, all my friends.
To my wife, Wendy, for all her everloving support, inspiration and insightful help in the design of Promethea. The art and my life wouldn't be as good without her. Oh, and for her cookies, I must not forget the cookies! Also ... (show all)to Mick Gray, my friend and colleague, and to the power of the imagination.
The ink that I slapped around on this book is dedicated to all the people who made it possible for me to slap around ink on comic books: J.H. Williams III, Mark McKenna, Dan Vado, Chuck Austen, Frank Cirocco, and the rest of ... (show all)you... [sic.] you know who you are. To my favorite comic book writer, Alan Moore -- THANK YOU! Also, I can't forget my wonderful wife, and assistant, Holly...[sic.] the greatest gal in the world. - First words
- Alexandria, 411 A.D.
- Last words
- (Click to show. Warning: May contain spoilers.)"Let's finish this."
Classifications
- Genre
- Graphic Novels & Comics
- DDC/MDS
- 741.5941 — Arts & recreation Drawing & decorative arts Drawing Comic books, graphic novels, fotonovelas, cartoons, caricatures, comic strips History, geographic treatment, biography European British Isles
- LCC
- PN6728 .P75 .M667 — Language and Literature Literature (General) Literature (General) Collections of general literature Comic books, strips, etc.
- BISAC
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- ISBNs
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