Alan Moore Beyond Watchmen: Promethea
The countdown to Watchmen’s cinematic debut is hitting the home stretch, and so is my blog trilogy into the world of Alan Moore. The ABC collection is a layered, enthusiastic universe that spans several bookshelves and includes a realm of heroes and villains created entirely by Moore. Atop all of ABC, however, and in the fringe of almost every book, lies Promethea, Alan Moore’s apocalyptic five-book series.
Promethea initially appears to be Alan Moore’s take on the warrior-goddess-princess figure so prevalent in comics. In The Extraordinary Works of Alan Moore, Moore freely admits to the Pied Piper design of the character: “It’s also got that Trojan horse element to it, in that, yes… you might mistake it for something a bit like Wonder Woman.”
And Book 1 certainly relishes its super-hero roots. Young student Sophie Bangs researches her term paper on a recurring character in literature and pop culture named “Promethea” and stumbles upon a destiny. Sophie, with the help of previous Promethea incarnations, learns that she, like five others before her, is an avatar for Promethea to step into the real world—or, at least, what Sophie thinks is the real world. Sure enough, Sophie and best pal Stacia are soon entangled in a war of gods and demons. It’s a crackling read, but there is something greater at work.
Book 2 picks up with Sophie entering Immateria, the world-within-the-world. And it’s in this revelatory plane that she begins to understand more of her role. Artist and co-creator J.H. Williams III (Desolation Jones) thrives in these psychedelic pages, experimenting with different styles between panels and weaving photographs and mixed media into the storytelling.
Every time I re-read this series, I find new insight into certain sections but wander off the path in others. This time, I found much to love in the final chapter of Book 2, where Promethea is guided by her weapon, a caduceus, through the history of Man. It’s a daunting 22 pages, especially given that it’s told through Tarot cards, in rhyming verse by the two snakes, Mike and Mack (Micro and Macro), who twine about Promethea’s staff. And there are the Scrabble tiles at the bottom of each page, scrambling the name “Promethea” into words or phrases that suit whichever card is the focus (“metaphore”).
Books 3 and 4 only go deeper into Moore’s grand plan, and it’s here that most readers bow out of the series. If you are at all exasperated by Moore’s Mobius Strip-brand of plotting, better plan ahead. “I wanted to be able to do an occult comic that didn’t portray the occult as a dark and scary place,” Moore states, and I’d believe him if not for the final chapter of Book 3, where Promethea travels in one of the darkest, scariest comics I’ve ever read. In the Fifth Sphere, a fiery dimension colored in only reds and blacks, Promethea is judged by the demon Asmodeus. Taking the form of an enormous, soul-spinning spider, he welcomes her: “I am wrathful forever in red. My hate is beetles in your womb.”
But dropping out means missing Book 5, which is built upon the spines of all the previous collections. Without full immersion into Moore’s metafiction, Promethea is simply a super-hero. The deeper reward is at its finish. “All of the comics companies have flirted with the idea of the end of the world,” Moore says in Extraordinary Works. “[Y]ou show the incredible drama of what would happen if an entire line of super-heroes suddenly faced the apocalypse or whatever and you can carry on publishing them as if nothing happened. Well, what I’d like to do with ABC is actually do it for real.”
As mentioned last week, the finale of the ABC Universe is so huge that a crossover with its steadfast hero, Tom Strong, is only natural. The two heroes meet at world's end, and a highlight for fans is Williams’ seamless imitation of Tom Strong artist Chris Sprouse’s minimalistic, cartoonish style. Tom Strong looks like Tom Strong, not J.H. Williams III’s version of him, while Promethea is Williams’ finely detailed heroine. The blending of the two tableaux juxtaposes nicely with the violent clashing that ensues. “Make things right with yourself, Tom Strong,” Promethea warns. “Make things right with God.”
Book 5 seals the series as my favorite in comics. It weaves the above super-hero fisticuffs with real-life introspection, and it thankfully never preaches. It’s a celebratory apocalypse, and Moore uses the end of the ABC Universe to share his most personal beliefs on where human imagination arises; where archetypes stem from; what magic is (“The Big Bang never ended”). It’s enriching to read it all come to a close, and it’s not until I finish Book 5 that I can laugh at how seriously I take it while in the moment. And in this moment, Promethea personifies that dramatic, melancholic feeling when a fiction looks over its shoulder and catches the reader. It resonates, rippling long after the books are back on the shelf.
Extenze Review on March 09, 2010 at 12:28 PM
I am wrathful forever in red. My hate is beetles in your womb.