Promethea (Book 4)

Customer Reviews:

There can be only one (more or less).......2006-02-06

The pace picks up in this continuation of the Promethea saga, starting where P3 left off. P-Sophie is wandering the ethereal realms guided by previous Prometheas. (Yes, they're deceased, but they consider it bad form to dwell on the little things.) P-Stacy is on duty back in the real world, and getting to like her job. After all, in that world, "super-hero" (or something like it) is considered respectable work.

There are two problems, though. First, P-Stacy isn't exactly considered a hero, and the FBI is on her trail. Second, P-Sophie is done with her trip to The World Beyond, but P-Stacy doesn't want to hand the job back. So, we have problems.

Moore's story moves faster in this volume, with a lot less of the oppressive pseudomysticism that bogged down in earlier volumes. Art by Williams and Gray only makes it better, and in varied visual idioms. Chapter 1 features painterly cloudscapes, with the occasional nod to Seurat. Ch. 3 switches to a flat, graphic, woodcut style. Ch. 4 experiments with color saturation - or lack of it. Ch. 5 draws on the comic idiom itself, but without smug self-referentiality. And, as in any good narrative art, the art moves the narration forward, adding its own meaning to the script.

The Promethea series has been good but uneven. This is not just a step forward for her (their?) story, but a step up.

//wiredweird

Average customer rating:

The Big Finish, or Going Out With Style
Not up to the rest of the Promethea books

Promethea - Book 5 (Promethea)
Alan Moore
Manufacturer: Wildstorm
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 1401206204

Customer Reviews:

The Big Finish, or Going Out With Style.......2007-05-29

I've been reading comics for nigh on thirty-five years now, and PROMETHEA is one of my all-time favorites. This concluding volume wraps up the show in fine fashion as Promethea ushers in an "apocalypse" that is wholly unexpected, and is based on the original Greek meaning of the term. The coda issue is STUNNING, one of the most innovatively written and designed comic stories EVER, I kid you not.

As to the other poster's somewhat off-handedly critical comments about "air brushed" art: well, I do not know what technique the amazing JH Williams III used in parts of the finale story, but let me contextualize WHY he chose a new style for some scenes. In the final story imagination and reality begin to blur and Williams uses a semi-photo-realistic style to suggest "reality," as in our reality, which blurs with comic book reality. After 30-some issues of spectacular innovation Williams keeps the new design ideas flowing in this final volume.

Needless to say, you probably will not be buying this volume without having read the first four books, so you will already know if you HAVE to read v5 or not. I think it is a majestic finish to a truly remarkable work of art, and if there were seven stars, I'd grant it that (seven being a lucky number!).

PROMETHEA gets my highest possible praise, love and respect and yes, it even nudged out Neil Gaiman's incandescent SANDMAN meta-megaseries.

Not up to the rest of the Promethea books.......2007-03-08

Promethea 1-4 set a remarkable standard of storytelling. Characters, despite a bit of super-ness, had enough human weaknesses and quirks to make them seem real. Artwork varied in ways that followed the varying worlds that our heroes traversed. The plot built, over the course of the books, without frustrating the newcomer or taunting the long-time reader. I expected more of that very high standard from this book.

Well, I'm wrong a lot. The style of art varied between hard comic edges for the mundane world and airburshed softness for the realm beyond, but I found the rapid alternation more distracting than enlightening. The last chapter's psychedelia not only failed its narrative purpose, but often camouflaged the written narrative. When actual motivation waned, crossover characters materialized to create plot events. There' more to object to, as well, but most of all was the ending - if there actually was one at all.

Perhaps it's best that the Promethea saga ends with this volume. Whatever there was to say, was said - as much as I like the series as a whole, this volume cost me my interest in seeing more of it.

//wiredweird

Average customer rating:

Graphic SF Reader
Interesting layouts and parallel stories
Promethea Book 3: Trippy Occult Comics
Promethea 3:
A walk through pedantry

Promethea (Book 3)
Alan Moore , J. H. Williams III , and Mick Gray
Manufacturer: Wildstorm
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 140120094X

Customer Reviews:

Graphic SF Reader.......2007-09-03

Promethea bad girl, ends world. Or does she? Her, and a backup, anyway, while she goes off on a mystical symbol-quest. This is pretty trippy stuff, and again, is not anywhere near the Hulk smash, Batman scare dodgy street crim school of superhero storytelling. So if you want straight action, rather than magic and mysticism loopiness, stay away.

Interesting layouts and parallel stories.......2005-01-21

Prior to reading this I had read Book 1 in the Promethea series. I picked up on what was going on here OK, but starting in at this book would not be a good idea. The Background for the series: Basically Promethea is the Goddess myth embodied. She enters the real world (modern day New York but with flying cars and other advanced technology) through Sophie, a college student. She has entered the world through other women at other times. These women are now dead and they lounge around in the after life and watch Sophie-Promethea for entertainment. Sophie-Promethea can enter other worlds. So she can visit the other Prometheas or can travel through the land of myths (the Immateria). Her main job is to maintain order in the real world and keep balance between all these forces that we learn about as they emerge.

The story here involves Sophie-Promethea leaving to go on a journey through the realms of the soul to find Barbara-Promethea (one of the deceased Prometheas), who wandered off in search of her deceased husband sometime during Book 2. Meanwhile 20's Promethea merges with Sophie's roommate to maintain order in the real world while Sophie-Promethea is gone. As you would expect from the series there is a lot of numerology and occult stuff here. Most of this happens in the Sophie-Promethea plot-line which is all serious. The real world plot line has mostly action, with 20's Promethea fighting in style, and comic relief since 20's Promethea and Sophie's roommate don't get along so well but are sharing a body. These two plots parallel one another especially at the conclusion.

The graphics: The artistic style is the normal comic booky style done well. However the layouts are spectacular. Almost any spread of two pages hangs together as one coherent whole. The highlight of the book for me was a layout in the chapter entitled "Gold" This layout shows a small sun in the center of the spread, with frames radiating out like rays from the sun. You can read the dialog and action in the frames clockwise or counterclockwise and it makes sense. You can read left to right across the top half, then left to right across the bottom half of the spread and that makes sense. You can read top-to-bottom on the left page, and then on the right page and that makes sense. It is very very cool.

This book is good, but you will likely be confused unless you have read others in the series. For example if this review is incoherent for you then read the earlier books first. I liked this one better than the previous book I had read, but without having read that one I would have been beating my head against the wall.

The one spread that I mentioned with the sun is very cool. If you are interested in comic book design then you should check out that spread.

Promethea Book 3: Trippy Occult Comics.......2004-04-20

I liked this 3rd volume better than the first two. The first volume, largely a tale of superheroics, tends to put you in mind of Wonder Woman. But by this volume, the story has morphed into a Madame Blavatsky/Theosophical Society-type occultic quest story. Two of the Prometheas set out to find the older, fatter Promethea's dead husband in the afterworld. They ascend several of the 10 nodes in the Kabbalist Sefiroth, each of which corresponds to a plane of reality. They run into Greek and Hindu Gods, Aleister Crowley, Death, various demons, and so forth. So there's a bunch of discussion about magic and metaphysics along the way, that sort of thing.

The visuals contain several nice special effects, including a moebius-strip path (with inverted and sideways word balloons) and a set of rotating panels that can be read clockwise or counterclockwise. I guess it's nothing exactly BRILLIANT, but the book demonstrates some neat things you can do with comicbook graphics that you can't do with film or prose. I think PROMETHEA has the best artwork in any of the ABC Alan Moore series.

Some readers might be disappointed by the relative lack of conflict in the story (compared to, say, the first volume). This is more of an exploration/discovery thing, and a pretty druggy one at that. A little irritating in a few places, but I thought it was kind of cool.

Promethea 3:.......2004-04-04

This book takes off in two directions. The second one (I'll come back to the first) introduces a new Promethea. That plays by the rules - there have been lots of them and will be lots more. This plane of reality just has one at a time, though. The new one embodies "punk", in attitude and style.

Promethea is a semi-mythic ideal of womanhood - certainly too rich and complex a topic to embody in any one person. Various Prometheas carry various parts of that vision: motherly, raw and angry, innocent, and sensual, but always powerful and involved. Some parts of the complete image are unpleasant but needed for the image to be complete, and that's where Promethea/Stacy fits. She exorcises demons by being more demonic than them.

The book's other direction explains why the first Promethea was off duty. She is on a trip through the mythic planes, led by a succession of spirit guides. She acts as a passive display of each realm she traverse, and that seems a real under-use of a very worthwhile character. It's a verbal and philosophical trip, but Promethea is a character of action. Worlds of fantasy, sensuality, and judgement could have been settings for active exploraiton of each idea, but Promethea just talked about them while passing through. I consider that an opportunity lost.

Still, the series is readable, well-drawn, and full of ideas well beyond the usual comic. Despite some flaws, I intend to keep reading.

A walk through pedantry.......2003-11-14

Moore has put everything he read on the tarot, the Kaballah, eastern mysticism, paganism and religion in his graphic novel. The result is a lifeless walk through a hodgepodge of references, humourless, boring to the extreme and not really interesting for the fans of the above mentioned fields. The text displays a false depth with no relation to the extremely slim narrative plot. When you think he has also authored the truly excellent "League"... you wonder what demon got into him.

Average customer rating:

Graphic SF Reader
Headache-inducing high concept mythology. Funny too.
Book 2: Another good one
Not for everyone, but a magnificent book!
eighties icon pulls a Michael Jackson and goes wacko

Promethea (Book 2)
Alan Moore , J. H. Williams III , Mick Gray , and Jose Villarrubia
Manufacturer: Wildstorm
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 1563899574

Customer Reviews:

Graphic SF Reader.......2007-09-03

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.

Headache-inducing high concept mythology. Funny too. .......2004-11-28

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.

Book 2: Another good one.......2004-03-10

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.

Not for everyone, but a magnificent book!.......2003-12-30

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!

eighties icon pulls a Michael Jackson and goes wacko.......2003-03-26

Oh my goodness. Somehow I'm not surprised, given his history. It seems inevitable, now that it has happened. Alan Moore has turned into an Aleister Crowley wanna-be. Comic books mixed with pseudo-mysticism. Two laughable genres that taste ridiculous together. This is too rich. Moore's pseudointellectual pretentions mixed with Crowley's b.s. Pick this up the next time you need a laugh at how low popular culture can sink.

Average customer rating:

Graphic SF Reader
Moore on a off day
Graphic layouts and a trippy story
Alan Moore introduces us to the mystic warrior Promethea
Very Nice

Promethea (Book 1)
Alan Moore
Manufacturer: Wildstorm
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 1563896672

Amazon.com

Alan Moore, like Neil Gaiman, constantly flirts with the too-smart-for-his-own-good aesthetic without alienating his readers. Promethea weaves Moore's trademark scholarly mysticism with wild, fun swipes at post-everything culture in a complex tale based on the importance of story. Following a teenage girl, whose interest in an obscure and possibly real heroine leads to her assumption of the heroine's role, Promethea draws on a century of comics art to express themes of history and fiction. Action, intimacy, fantasy, and ennui all find their place, and when it's over, the reader will hunger for the next collection. --Rob Lightner

Customer Reviews:

Graphic SF Reader.......2007-09-03

I looked at this for a long time, picked it up off and on, and kept dismissing it as looking way too girly or frilly. I was wrong. This is good. The use of myth and story is excellent, and the hero group in the city is hilarious, as can be the ex-Prometheas.

Moore on a off day.......2005-01-28

If you like Alan Moore's metatextual explorations of fiction, you'll love his creation of Promethea, a female archetype of power and imagination who exists primarily as a story, reflected in other artists and writers over the centuries.

My main quibble of this story is that Moore seems to get tired of Promethea after her newest incarnation appears and switch the focus to hermeticism and magickal philosophy. The development of the character gets lost in a horde of Goetic demons and otherworldly realms.

One thing that puzzles me is the idea that somehow Promethea is a more authentically female superhero than those who have gone before, instead of being a "man in a woman's body" like Roger of the 5 Swell Guys. How is Promethea/Sophie (created by two men) more a real woman than Wonder Woman (created by William Moulton and Charles Gaines) or Buffy the Vampire Slayer (created by Joss Whedon)? At least the Bride of "Kill Bill" was created by a man and a woman.

However, Moore on a bad day is still levels above plenty of other writers, so this is worth checking out.

Graphic layouts and a trippy story.......2004-12-08

The plot: Promethea is an idea - the goddess myth that changes depending on who sees her and how. "If she didn't exist we would have to make her." Yes this plot is tenuous and mystic and intends to be deep. We follow the story of college student Sophie, who is doing a term paper on the Promethea character, who reemerges in literature, pulp fiction and comics. Strangely many of the people involved in creating the art that shows Promethea also claimed to have met her. Sophie soon finds an idea that can enter our world (or at least her world - a very technologically advanced 1999 in which cars fly through a world of neon billboards).

The plot and story here were surprisingly coherent. First of course Sophie meets Promethea and begins to understand how an idea can enter the realworld and become physically real. Interspersed are back stories on how Promethea originally came to be and on the artists she has touched in past manifestations.

The graphics: The artistic style is the normal comic booky style done very well. However the layouts are spectacular. Often there is a border surrounding the frames on a spread - and in that border part of the scene is taking place. Almost any spread of two pages hangs together as one coherent whole. Anyone interested in graphic design and comics should check this one out.

Overall Promethea was a good comic book. The graphics were spectacular. Even though the plot is a bit artsy and pretentious, by about half way through I was hooked. There is enough action and "good parts" to keep things flowing well.

Alan Moore introduces us to the mystic warrior Promethea.......2004-04-18

After reading both "From Hell," where Alan Moore detailed in endnotes where he was getting his historical facts and speculations regarding Jack the Ripper, and the original story of "The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen," where he created a team of comic book superheroes out of some of the most famous literary creations of the late 19th century, it is easy to read Moore's prologue in Book 1 of "Promethea" and buy it hook, line, and sinker. Entitled "The Promethea Puzzle: An Adventure in Folklore," Moore explains how the character of Promethea has appeared in works from the epic sentimental fantasy "A Faerie Romance" by the New England poet Charlton Sennet to the comic books written by Steven Shelley. Next thing you know you are off doing a Google search to find out more about these "real" people and finding out that what you should have been thinking in reference to Moore's work is "The Watchmen" with its memorable group of faux super heroes.

Book 1 of "Promethea" collects the first six issues from America's Best Comics with the script by Moore, pencils by J. H. Williams III, inks by Mick Gray, and lettering by Todd Klein. The story begins with a prologue set in Alexandria, 411 A.D., in which a strange old man with mystical powers saves his daughter from a group of killer monks. We then jump ahead to a New York existing in the year 1999 that has cabs hovering without wheels, police in flying saucers, and a successful comic book about the "Weeping Gorilla." Here we meat Sohpie Bangs, who is writing a term paper and visits Barbara Shelley, the widow of the last guy to write the Promethea comic book. However, Sophie gets a big time brush off and the following advice from Barabara: "You don't wanna go looking for folklore. And you especially don't want folklore to come looking for you."

There is something of misdirection to this advice, not only because it is too late for Sophie, who is gong to become the new "host" for Promethea, but also because ultimately Moore is not really writing about folklore here but about the female super hero. In modern times that pretty much takes us back to the creation of Wonder Woman, but Promethea harkens back to ancient Greece and elements of Artemis, Athena, and Atalanta. However, in a similar way Moore is also dealing with the archetypal nature of comic books, which is where the folklore part really comes into play in his concept of the Immateria, a realm where stories are real. If you can believe in the power of Story, then it can transport you to the Immateria, as young Sophie finds out.

The first three stories deal with Sophie getting indoctrinated into the ways of Promethea, although there are always more questions than answers. Meanwhile the city's resident superheroes, the Five Sweel Guys, are dealing with their arch-enemy the Painted Doll. But in issue #4, "A Faerie Romance," Moore adds a great conceit to the mix, as the various incarnations of Promethea sit around in the Immateria discussing the newcomer. The idea of the archetype becomes reinforced, not by going back to the beginning, but rather by showing how each generation has had a Promethea it could call its own. This is where the series slips into the next gear and exhibits the most promise.

There is a Promethean movement, which is "dedicated to advancing human life through self-expression, augmented by authentic freedom, experimentality and individualism." Now, I am not really sure if looking at these comic books as valuing the liberated and realized person while opposing repression, orthodoxy, and collectivism is the way to go, but the important thing is that you need a foundation for approaching Moore's work. Fortunately Moore is always worth reading and you can get by the scholarly mysticism by just taking the story at face value. After all, Moore is just making this up as he goes along.

Very Nice.......2004-03-25

I didn't like this one as much as I liked Top Ten, or even the relentlessly grim and depressing Watchmen. But it's still about three floors up from most of the other stuff on the market. And maybe it's just a longer story, and all I've read so far is the first book.

Promethea is a living idea, and she can posess people - but there has to be an asking for it, a looking for it. And she has enemies who have nothing to do with her body; other living ideas and organizations.

Book Description

In writing Le Livre de Promethea Hélène Cixous set for herself the task of bridging the immeasurable distance between love and language. She describes a love between two women in its totality, experienced as both a physical presence and a sense of infinity. The result is a stunning example of Pecriture feminine that won kudos when published in France in 1983. Its translation into English by Betsy Wing will extend the influence of a writer already famous for her novels and contributions to feminist theory. In her introduction Betsy Wing notes the contemporary emphasis on "fictions of presence." Cixous, in The Book of Promethea, works to "repair the separation between fiction and presence, trying to chronicle a very-present love without destroying it in the writing." Betsy Wing is a freelance translator and fiction writer. She translated Catherine Clément and Hélène Cixous's La Jeune Née (The Newly Born Woman) into English in 1986. A collection of her fiction, Look Out for Hydrophobia, was published in 1990. Hélène Cixous is also author of the play The Terrible but Unfinished Story of Norodom Sihanouk, King of Cambodia, translated by Juliet Flower MacCannell, Judith Pike, and Lollie Groth (Nebraska 1994).

Customer Reviews:

i dug this book.......2003-12-24

This is the kind of book you can read by opening to a page and reading or cover to cover.. little jewels shaped like words everywhere.

A most precious pillow-book.......1999-10-01

The type of literature that recreates in the symbolic, exploring the unconscious in an extremely poetic manner, this book, opened on any page at random, will undoubtedly widen your understanding of love and take you where you dream to have lived it. Source of inspiration for thorough introspection in the most awe-inspiring landscapes of the soul, the material mingles with the word to carry you where the body alone cannot take you. An exercise of the feminist language. Some might have got bored by reading it in a conventional way. But, using it with that ethereal wisdom that comes from the debris of unbridled passion, it might prove to be your most precious pillow-book.

Average customer rating:

Graphic SF Reader
The theory of Life, the Universe and Everything.....
It's all about the art this time..

Promethea (Book 4)
Alan Moore , J. H. Williams III , and Mick Grey
Manufacturer: Wildstorm
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 140120032X

Customer Reviews:

Graphic SF Reader.......2007-09-03

In Book 4, too many Prometheas spoil the something or other.

Our first Promethea is off doing the Promethea mythology thing with all the Prometheas gone before, even if they are dead.

Fill in friend Promethea is doing the hero thing, to some degree or other, back in normalish Wildstorm type places.

When the 'original' returns, what's a girl who likes kicking arse as a superhuman to do?

The theory of Life, the Universe and Everything............2005-04-12

Promethea book 4 continues the quest of Promethea (Sophie) and
Barbara to search for Barbara's lost husband Steve in the Immateria. The story is more of a platform for Alan Moore to share his learnings of magic (I remember reading he had studied magic or even practised it). However, it is full of interesting observations and connections, that tie together science, different religions and the origin of the universe. He uses Aleister Crowley as a character throughout the plot, and I suspect Moore must have used Crowley's material for much of his research. I'm curious how much of these connections were drawn from Moore's own insights and how much from his readings - not sure.

The layout of each page are creative and experimental. Sometimes, I found myself reading the panels in the wrong sequence, but quickly adjusted. The artwork and styles are a feast for the eyes. When I compare Promethea to some of my early comics from the 70's and 80's, it is amazing how finely-crafted the art, creative the stories, and experimental the compositions are these days. Amazing. All standards are being raised and broken.

The best story in my opinion was the nicely written gem about two Prometheas, from both sides of the Crusades and its juxtaposition with a modern conflict between two Prometheas. I thought the story ended poignantly, with a light-hearted epilogue. This story really reinforces the myth of Promethea and is a tribute to how deeply Alan has explored this character and the potentials of the myth.

The last part of the book refocuses back to the material plane and sets up a new plotline that leaves me eagerly waiting for the 5th book.

It's all about the art this time.........2003-12-09

I have to admit, I'm less and less impressed with the magic/kabbalistic mysticism that's become almost the entirety of the plot. I was actually offended by some of the content this time around. The art however, is worth the wade into the weird. Each of the issues collected here has a different visual scope and color scheme in keeping with the journey motif going on; Very blue and Van Gogh circa "Starry Night" at the beginning, a stylized monochromatic stone garden for Arcadia, flat red-dominated iconographic murals for Babylon, and by the time Promethea reaches 'Heaven' everything is given over to bright whites and muted golds. The lovliest is the split story from chapter six that shows Christian and Muslim versions of Promethea, both existant at the time of the Crusades - each panel has half a woman rendered with the appropriate geometric or iconographic motifs, fitting seamlessly together.

Average customer rating:

Graphic SF Reader
World Shattering Reading

Promethea (Book 5) (Promethea)
Alan Moore
Manufacturer: Wildstorm
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 1401206190

Customer Reviews:

Graphic SF Reader.......2007-09-03

In this volume of Promethea Moore goes off on a really, really, really long trip into various areas of mysticism. Unless you are really interested in that sort of thing, it can make your eyes glaze over and want to skip a lot of it.

Perhaps even if you are, as well. So be warned, from that point of view. It is still pretty, though.

World Shattering Reading.......2006-01-07

This graphic novel did an excellent job in capping off the Promethea series.This was so good that I nearly had a spiritual experience by reading it. This makes me wish that everyone else in the world had the same experience. With current events as they are, we surely need it!

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Promethea (Book 4) (Promethea)
Alan Moore
Manufacturer: Titan Books Ltd
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 1840236698

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Le livre de Promethea
Helene Cixous
Manufacturer: Gallimard
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Unknown Binding

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ASIN: 2070700100

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