{"id":2258,"date":"2025-01-17T09:38:23","date_gmt":"2025-01-17T14:38:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.opendoor-comics.com\/unbagged\/?p=2258"},"modified":"2025-07-20T21:57:10","modified_gmt":"2025-07-21T01:57:10","slug":"short-box-promethea","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.opendoor-comics.com\/unbagged\/2025\/01\/17\/short-box-promethea\/","title":{"rendered":"Short Box: Promethea"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Promethea TP \/ HC<\/h1>\n\n\n\n
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Wildstorm (America’s Best Comics)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Whenever I look at my massive to-be-read pile I have to struggle to pick up something new rather than just reread Promethea<\/em> again.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

During my hiatus from comics<\/a> I would occasionally pick up a comic or a trade, but the only things I bought with any regularity were new hardcover collections of Promethea<\/em>. It served as the strongest tether I had to my past – and future – as a regular comics reader.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That’s part of why the temptation to reject modernity and embrace rereading Promethea<\/em> is always so strong.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That and the fact that it’s so good.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Promethea<\/em> tells the story of a young woman named Sophie Bangs who, as is so often the case, gets more than she bargains for while writing a college paper about a recurring character in folklore. That character is someone called Promethea, and Sophie learns that Promethea is more than just a story, but then again, even a story is never just a story.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The original Promethea was a little girl whose magician father saved her life by giving her to his god, who takes the little girl to a place called the Immateria, transforming her into a story that will live forever.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Throughout the centuries, different people found a way to bring that story to life, merging the little girl with a real person. After encountering the most recent person to merge with the spirit of Promethea, Sophie herself becomes the newest vessel, having multiple adventures and engaging in a voyage of discovery that reveals that she is meant to bring about the apocalypse.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The story told in the pages of Promethea<\/em> is the real story of Alan Moore’s exploration of magic, serving as a kind of lesson in which he shares what he’s learned and what it can teach us about life, death, and art.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

While it is rather didactic – some issues are essentially lectures – the lessons are interwoven with exciting stories featuring compelling characters and interesting plots, and it is overall a joy to read, even if you walk away from it thinking that all the magic stuff is just a bunch of hooey.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It’s also a joy to look at, with stunning visuals and dizzying layouts from J.H. Willimas III. Moore frequently challenged Williams to do the impossible and Williams never once let him – or us – down.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I really can’t spare the time to reread it again, so if you haven’t read it, do what I wish I could do and read it now.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And if you have read it, you almost certainly understand my struggle.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Born and raised in the sparsely populated Upper Peninsula of Michigan, Jon Maki developed an enduring love for comics at an early age.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n

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