Promethea, Volume 2 was an incredibly disappointing follow-up to a promising comic series.
The reader continues to follow the efforts of Sophie, a student who has learned to channel the spirit of a being of enlightenment named Promethea, while battling demons and other nebulous, bad guys.
We have yet to learn more about the villains of the story, except in brief asides, or Sophie’s allies, some sort of technological heroes.
This entry is bogged down with a lengthy metaphysical poem about the progression of tarot cards and an unexpected tantric sex primer.
My quibbles with the tarot card piece is it is far too simplistic but also too long. Each card can be interpreted a number of different ways, and not just applied to principles of civilization. It is also a metaphor for the soul’s journey, which Alan Moore touches on, but, I feel, never truly explains.
Also, by presenting the whole thing through rhyme, I couldn’t help but draw comparisons to Dr. Seuss. I get what Moore was going for, but it didn’t work for me.
Meanwhile, I couldn’t help but wonder if the lead character in this story was a guy if we would have been subjected to the tantric stuff at all.
I believe the earthly can be spiritual and the spiritual can be earthly. I think “kundalini rising” is just the lightning flash of inspiration in reverse. But a male hero being pressured into trading his body for secret knowledge? I don’t see it happening.
I liked the first entry of Promethea. I thought it was ground-breaking in the way it depicted a strong female character on a spiritual journey.
This second book simply isn’t of the same quality. Perhaps the series will redeem itself in the next entry. One can only hope.
- The Ballad of a Small Player: a Metaphysical Movie Review
- Otherwhere: A Field Guide to Nonphysical Reality for the Out-Of-Body Traveler by Kurt Leland
- Psychic Dreamwalking: Explorations at the Edge of Self by Michelle Belanger
- Archetypes on the Tree of Life: The Tarot as Pathwork by Madonna Compton
- The Goddess and the Shaman: The Art & Science of Magical Healing by J.A. Kent
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