By Alan Moore, J H Williams III & Mick Gray, with Jose Villarrubia & Jeromy Cox (America’s Best Comics)
ISBN: 1-84023-370-2
Sophie Bangs is a student who has discovered the metaphysical nature of a god-like being called Promethea. Throughout history women – and even some men – have been able to manifest as incarnations of a Spirit of Imagination that resides in the greater world of the unconscious named the Immateria where all Gods, Stories and Ideas dwell.
In real terms that means Sophia can transform into a super-powerful flying Amazon, and perhaps join the legions of Science Heroes who protect – and endanger – the world. Collecting issues #7-12 of the monthly comic, this volume begins to show just how different this version of an old story can be. Sophie is not some frustrated do-gooder suddenly flush with new-found power; she is and always has been concerned with knowing things.
As various real-world forces align themselves in response to the latest return of Promethea, Sophia is exploring the Immateria, looking for answers, and examining the careers of her predecessors. When those antithetical forces attack the hospital where her new-found friend Barbara is slowly dying, the resultant battle with the forces of Hell reveals just how potent a weapon Promethea can be. The serious reader is advised to examine closely the running sub-plot with hero team The Five Swell Guys and the psychotic serial killer The Painted Doll. As well as divertingly action-packed in a very cerebral tale, the long-running side-bar will have major repercussions in volumes to come.
Having dealt with the demon-horde, and the secret organisation that summoned them, Sophie again deviates from the expected in her dealings with infamous Sorcerer Jack Faust, and has a Y2K monster battle before the volume ends with a mystical primer on the history, meaning and symbolism of The Tarot that is the closest I’ve seen the printed page get to a multi-media experience.
This series always had the most experimental aspirations. It will never have universal appeal, but if you are serious about comics it is an experience you owe yourself to try. And don’t be fooled. This book isn’t a lecture or a lesson, it’s a journey…
© 2001 America’s Best Comics, LLC. All Rights Reserved.