Promethea: Book One

In which we are introduced to Sophie Bangs, a college student who becomes the latest host for Promethea, a demi-goddess/psychic archetype who represents the collective imagination of humanity. and the power of Story In order to learn more about her powers, Sophie begins to meet with the previous Promethea hosts (who now live in “the Immateria”, the realm of imagination), and she also does some traditional-type superheroing at the same time, fighting demons and whatnot.

Most of the ideas here are ones that Moore's used in other works: the techno-futurist present is evocative of the New York of Watchmen, for example, and the conclave of previous Prometheas is reminiscent of both the Supremacy in Supreme and the Parliament of Trees in Swamp Thing. I believe that the hilarious “Weeping Gorilla Comix” is meant to serve the same function as the pirate scenes in Watchmen (that's a bit of a tenuous connection, admittedly). These are relatively minor elements, though, so the story doesn't feel like a retread in any way.

Prior to reading:I would recommend reading a book about Tarot (such as [b:The Complete Illustrated Guide to Tarot 680918 Complete Illustrated Guide to Tarot Rachel Pollack http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1177099374s/680918.jpg 667311] and then [b:The Book of Thoth 243001 The Book of Thoth A Short Essay on the Tarot of the Egyptians (Equinox III 5) Aleister Crowley http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1173059843s/243001.jpg 836251] (companion to the Thoth Tarot). Also watch the Alan Moore documentary. I cannot help but think that he was in the middle of writing Promethea while being interviewed. The story (particularly in later volumes) will make a lot more sense and there will be a lot to pick up on, both in the writing and the illustrations.

Decent, but pretty unremarkable compared to some of the really good comic books out there.