PROOMETHEA #16
"Love and the Law"
Highly Recommended (9/10)
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DC Comics/America's Best Comics
Writer: Alan Moore
Pencils: J.H. Williams III
Inks: Mick Gray
Colors: Jeromy Cox
Letters: Todd Klein
Editor: Scott Dunbier
Price: $2.95 US/$4.95 CAN |
Moore's journey through the concept of magic and the nature of... well, everything continues, and as always, it engages the intellect and the imagination. Promethea is a fantastic epic, combining the concepts of myth and the modern super-hero wonderfully, but what's most unique about it is how enlightening, how educational it seems to be.
Sophie Bangs, the current Promethea, and Barbara, one of her predecessors continue their quest through imagination and the afterlife. They soon find themselves in an ocean of emotion... literally. Both face the pain of their loved ones, as well as a sense of bliss incarnate. Meanwhile, Sophie's friend Stacia fills in as Promethea in the real world, and teams with the Five Swell Guys.
It seems every issue of Promethea in recent months holds a new treat when it comes to the art. Williams and Gray's detailed work is as stunning as always, but they adapt a new motif for the Emotion Ocean scenes. I'm reminded of the visual style of Yellow Submarine. Thick lines and surreal but simple figures give this particular chapter of the saga its own peaceful, unique look.
The subject matter here is beyond thought, beyond the abstract. Though the artists do a good job of conveying some of it visually, it's Moore's words that really convey those feelings to the reader. The all-too human moments of pain on the page 12/13 double spread bring the spiritual journey of the Prometheas down to earth.
Perhaps the only real flaw in this issue, and of the series as a whole, is the fact that Moore really doesn't include much in the way of reminders of what's come before. This is episodic fiction, and even those of us who pick up every issue might feel a little lost at times. It's only as I've been typing this review that I recalled that the point of the quest initially was for Sophie to find Barbara, but now it's become Barbara's journey.
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