Promethea is a brilliant fantasy graphic novel by the legendary Alan Moore. It follows a woman who is researching a story for her thesis, only to discover that the story actually lives in the imagination and can explode into the real world in surprising and mystical ways.
“Tell me, child, what is your name?” “Promethea.”
It is a clever, gender-bent retelling of Prometheus. But, it presents the exploration and knowledge of the mystical worlds of the qabalah as Prometheus’ gift to the world, instead of the usual literal interpretation of the gift of fire to light the night.
It seems to be Promethea’s destiny to bring fire and knowledge back to the imagination of humanity in order to change the world forever for the better.
“I am Promethea, the rumored one, the mythic bough that reason strains to bend. I am that voice left, once the book is done… I am the dream that waking does not end.”
To free her conditioned mind from the limitations of this reality, the woman, now bearing the incarnation of Promethea, needs to learn from her previous incarnations. If she doesn’t quickly grasp the secrets of the four sacred weapons, the cup, sword, pentacle and wand, Promethea’s ancient enemies will rip her to pieces.
“Humans are amphibious, Sophie. That means they live in two worlds at once: matter and mind. Yet many people only notice the solid world they have been conditioned to think of as more real while all about them diamond glaciers creak and star-volcanoes thunder.”
This graphic novel is pretty far out there. I really liked the mythic and occult themes, and strong female characters.
There’s some near nudity, but nothing too ridiculous. One of the incarnations of Promethea was brought into being by an author who used words and his imagination to shape his mistress into something more. Because of this sexual-themed awakening, she only wears a sheet, but it covers all the wobbly bits. Barely.
Highly recommended for adult readers who like fantasy graphic novels. There are few authors who write such themes better than Alan Moore.
Thanks for reading!
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