Promethea, Book 5

 

By Alan Moore, J H Williams III & Mick Gray with Jeromy Cox & Jose Villarrubia
(America’s Best Comics)
ISBN: 1-4012-0619-0

In the final collection of the adventures of the goddess of Myth and Imagination, Alan Moore and JH Williams conclude their epic exploration of creativity and reality with a spectacular visual tour de force that resembles nothing so much as the early “Underground Comix”. Those attempts to depict pharmaceutically enhanced consciousnesses (hey it was the sixties, OK?) were just as ground-breaking, confusing, memorable and ‘Gosh-Wowie’ as the work in Promethea, albeit here it is greatly improved by the miracle of computer-aided colouring and way better printing technology.

Regrettably, in terms of actual story it’s all a bit of a letdown, as the exploration has to also encompass the tying up of narrative loose-ends before all the Armageddoning-cum-Ascending can transpire, producing an unnerving feeling of sweeping up the bedroom just before your mum comes in.

As a monthly series that was always coming from the very edge of mainstream comics Promethea was challenging and pictorially stunning. Some of the narrative may have suffered from a lack of story fundamentals occasionally but as an honest attempt to move beyond the pitifully retarded norms of that mainstream’s usual output it should be seen by as many fans as possible. So it’s a good thing that we have graphic novel collections

Whether this series becomes part of the oft-cited canon of Moore excellence, and ranks alongside Swamp Thing, V for Vendetta, From Hell and Watchmen, only time will tell. In the meantime, perhaps we should all sit down with the complete set and read ourselves into another, “Higher”, place…

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