PROMETHEA #18
"Life on Mars"
Recommended (8/10)
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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 |
Alan Moore continues to guide us along through his odd but interesting beliefs about magic and the interconnected nature of the universe. I can't say as though I fully understand all of this stuff, but I am definitely intrigued. As always, Williams and Gray offer up fantastic yet impressively realistic artwork. It's obscured a bit at times by a monochromatic motif, but it's one that makes sense in the context of the story.
Boo-Boo guides the new Promethea and her predecessor, Barbara, into the next level of spirituality and consciousness: the realm of Mars. It is a level bathed in judgment, anger, strength and confidence, but when the two human women become too immersed in it, they end up in a far more dangerous place. Meanwhile, Stacia and Grace, serving as a fill-in Promethea on Earth, face off against the hordes of demons that possess the Mayor of New York.
Williams and Gray manage to capture a sense of both the real and the surreal throughout this book. The line between beauty and horror blurs in their work. In other words, there's a magical dichotomy in their art here. There's a soothing quality in the visuals but also one that conveys an uneasiness as well. Cox's rich, dark colors bolster the art even further, though the bright red palette for the demonic confrontation was a bit overpowering.
Moore takes a two-pronged approach to this lengthy story arc, and the subplot of the Grace/Stacia really gets a change to shine in this issue. The writer's decision to link the two plotlines was a clever one, though, and the one set on Earth brought the spiritual journey down to earth just a little bit. Also giving the story a more grounded feel -- an important factor, given the lofty concepts being tossed around -- is the dialogue. The genuine sound of the characters' words props up the story.
A little nugget of advice I once heard really stuck with me: "Feelings are never wrong. It's how we act on those feelings that determines right or wrong." In this issue, Moore tells his characters and the reader to embrace all of who they are, and that includes anger. We often think of anger as a force for destruction, either physical or emotional, but it can also be a source of strength and positive power. That seems to me to be the message of this particular issue.
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