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thecommonswings's review against another edition
3.0
Jesus, what a vertiginous drop off in quality. If Moore could have just written a story about Barb and Sophie’s friendship and a journey through the spiritual world it would have been a masterpiece, but just one issue into this volume and it feels really stilted and awkward. This is plotty and tired and the fact Moore feels the need to bring in the Tom Strong characters feels like a tacit admittance that he had nowhere to go with the story. The ending even feels derivative, weirdly of Grant Morrison too - which I just know Moore would explode at the thought of - with Moore and Williams turning to the audience and the whole meta comic thing. But even though the final issue of The Invisibles is dense and hard work at times, it ends up with pages of simplicity and striking beauty.
The final issue is great but is so hard visually to read because of the colours. And Williams’ art that was so striking during the journey issues becomes weirdly hacky and ugly when the apocalypse nears. It’s such a mess and feels like such an incredible compromise, like he felt people needed to have a superhero comic for him to use as a jumping off point for bigger ideas. But he really didn’t need to do that. He’s Alan Moore, he can write what he wants. You begin to wonder, as you do so often, that Moore’s jaded views of the comic industry might, you know, not be helped by some of his own decisions? There’s an absolute masterpiece in here, strangled by cliches and dopey plotting all of which was completely unnecessary
I feel I should give it a two but this is the last time you really see fun Moore so I’m giving him a three for this volume - but by god what a drop in quality
The final issue is great but is so hard visually to read because of the colours. And Williams’ art that was so striking during the journey issues becomes weirdly hacky and ugly when the apocalypse nears. It’s such a mess and feels like such an incredible compromise, like he felt people needed to have a superhero comic for him to use as a jumping off point for bigger ideas. But he really didn’t need to do that. He’s Alan Moore, he can write what he wants. You begin to wonder, as you do so often, that Moore’s jaded views of the comic industry might, you know, not be helped by some of his own decisions? There’s an absolute masterpiece in here, strangled by cliches and dopey plotting all of which was completely unnecessary
I feel I should give it a two but this is the last time you really see fun Moore so I’m giving him a three for this volume - but by god what a drop in quality
ladydewinter's review against another edition
5.0
Wow.
My mind ... is kind of blown. Scratch that, it is blown. Holy. Fucking. Shit.
In the beginning, I was torn between giving this 4 or 5 stars, but by the third volume I knew it could only be 5 because this is amazing.
"Promethea."
An imaginary fictional character who manifests in reality through the artists and writers that tell her story. Obviously, the name's a feminine version of Prometheus, which means "forethought"... which means "imagination". [...:]
Imagination... tumbling, spinning... is the light that guides humanity into its future."
Basically, this is the story of a college girl called Sophie Bangs who takes on the persona of Promethea and as a result of this has to deal with Promethea's enemies, friends and the end of the world.
The incredible thing about this is that while I loved the first volume, I had no idea where this was going when I read it the first time (or the second time). It was like I was going on a journey, and I expected it to be interesting, but I didn't think it'd be like this. Which would be better than interesting.
Alan Moore is one of those few, gifted writers who can make you see familiar things, stories, in a completely different way and he can open your eyes to something you've just never seen before. And because he's Alan Moore, it's mystic and psychedelic and just kind of weird, but WHOA. Seriously.
This was an amazing read, but apart from the writing the artwork is just. God. Incredible.
I read the first volume of Promethea back in 2008, so obviously I'd encountered J.H. Williams III's art before seeing it in Detective Comics, but while I was amazed at the art in this book even back then, I didn't fall in love with it until seeing it in Detective Comics this year (he is part of the reason I love Batwoman as much as I do). But looking at it now - it's brilliant. Absolutely brilliant and fitting and I think I have to look at it again and again and again. And again. And I desperately need the Absolute Edition of this.
The experience of reading the very last issue was very fitting because I had the same feeling of "hmhm, this is interesting, oh, cool, holy shit! I'm not quite sure what's going on but hm, oh, oh, OH MY GOD I DID NOT SEE THIS. This is how it connects." All one. <3
My mind ... is kind of blown. Scratch that, it is blown. Holy. Fucking. Shit.
In the beginning, I was torn between giving this 4 or 5 stars, but by the third volume I knew it could only be 5 because this is amazing.
"Promethea."
An imaginary fictional character who manifests in reality through the artists and writers that tell her story. Obviously, the name's a feminine version of Prometheus, which means "forethought"... which means "imagination". [...:]
Imagination... tumbling, spinning... is the light that guides humanity into its future."
Basically, this is the story of a college girl called Sophie Bangs who takes on the persona of Promethea and as a result of this has to deal with Promethea's enemies, friends and the end of the world.
The incredible thing about this is that while I loved the first volume, I had no idea where this was going when I read it the first time (or the second time). It was like I was going on a journey, and I expected it to be interesting, but I didn't think it'd be like this. Which would be better than interesting.
Alan Moore is one of those few, gifted writers who can make you see familiar things, stories, in a completely different way and he can open your eyes to something you've just never seen before. And because he's Alan Moore, it's mystic and psychedelic and just kind of weird, but WHOA. Seriously.
This was an amazing read, but apart from the writing the artwork is just. God. Incredible.
I read the first volume of Promethea back in 2008, so obviously I'd encountered J.H. Williams III's art before seeing it in Detective Comics, but while I was amazed at the art in this book even back then, I didn't fall in love with it until seeing it in Detective Comics this year (he is part of the reason I love Batwoman as much as I do). But looking at it now - it's brilliant. Absolutely brilliant and fitting and I think I have to look at it again and again and again. And again. And I desperately need the Absolute Edition of this.
The experience of reading the very last issue was very fitting because I had the same feeling of "hmhm, this is interesting, oh, cool, holy shit! I'm not quite sure what's going on but hm, oh, oh, OH MY GOD I DID NOT SEE THIS. This is how it connects." All one. <3
wayward's review against another edition
3.0
Overall, despite a lot of lovely artwork, this series was just a slog. Despite devouring Mercedes Lackey and the like as a teenager, turns out I'm just not that interested in magic, at least the deeply mystic aspect. And the system of magic presented at great length never paid off, plot-wise. Promethea never used anything she learned, always defaulting to the battle sequence of wave-hand/grimace/smug-stoner-cliché/victory! Glad to be done with this series.
wesleymccraw's review against another edition
5.0
Promethea, Vol. 5: For me, a better ending than Watchmen’s. Also, it has lots of fun with the art form. Color me satisfied.
wealhtheow's review against another edition
2.0
Promethea is a great idea set in a fantastic world (I love the details!) with fabulous characters. Sophie's loooong voyage into the Immateria (...she meets God! She IS God! We are ALL God! Wow!) was boring, but no where near as frustrating as the end of the series. Promethea-as-Ender-of-Worlds I like, but then it all got very psycadelic and I'm pretty sure Moore just finished writing while on acid.
threadybeeps's review against another edition
2.0
A Thelemite's idea of post-apocalyptic spiritual illumination would, of course, be the rolling out of legalized prostitution. Of course. Yawn.
speljamr's review
4.0
Alan Moore's new-age vision of the apocalypse is beautifully drawn and well scripted. In a few places I did find it difficult to figure out which direction to continue reading as each new page would shift from left to right across both pages to left to right and down on a single page. Overall though it is a stunning piece of work that clearly took tremendous effort to produce. Alan Moore never seems to disappoint me.
pelks's review
4.0
This whole series was wild to read. I feel like it really complimented my experience of life in 2020.
My general reading of the whole series and its extremely deep dive into Moore's magickal spirituality is that Moore was and is trying to make sense of a truly horrific world, and Promethea is his guidebook, i.e. "Here's what works for me, noted magician Alan Moore". I am not a fan of Crowley nor the extremely gender normative reading of the tarot, so I am not one hundred percent on board with all of the magickal underpinnings of Moore's theories. However, the ideas of interconnectedness, of the power of languages, symbols, and thought, and of an apocalypse not necessarily as a cataclysm but a release from entrenched thinking, were all presented in a fantastic and beautiful way. Although the ultimate conclusion (that creativity and imagination are some of the highest human callings which connect us to higher realms) is not a new one, I do love how brazen this series is, and how even the slight hints of a plot all fell away in favor of pure psychedelic speculation on the nature of the universe.
All in all, extremely Alan Moore. Hail Glycon.
My general reading of the whole series and its extremely deep dive into Moore's magickal spirituality is that Moore was and is trying to make sense of a truly horrific world, and Promethea is his guidebook, i.e. "Here's what works for me, noted magician Alan Moore". I am not a fan of Crowley nor the extremely gender normative reading of the tarot, so I am not one hundred percent on board with all of the magickal underpinnings of Moore's theories. However, the ideas of interconnectedness, of the power of languages, symbols, and thought, and of an apocalypse not necessarily as a cataclysm but a release from entrenched thinking, were all presented in a fantastic and beautiful way. Although the ultimate conclusion (that creativity and imagination are some of the highest human callings which connect us to higher realms) is not a new one, I do love how brazen this series is, and how even the slight hints of a plot all fell away in favor of pure psychedelic speculation on the nature of the universe.
All in all, extremely Alan Moore. Hail Glycon.