PROMETHEA #31 REVIEW

[Robin Lewis]

Reviewer: Robin Lewis, lucillerobin@aol.com
Quick Rating: Excellent.
Story Title: The Radiant, Heavenly City

It's the end of the world as we know it.

Esteemed Writer: Alan Moore
Obsessed Artist: J H Williams III
Inspiration: Wendy
Colourist Extraordinaire: Jose Villarrubia
Amazing Colors: Jeromy Cox
America's Best Letterer: Todd Klein
Faithful Assistant: Kristy Quinn
Exuberant Editor: Scott Dunbier

It's taken a while, and there's still one more issue to come ('Wrap party', according to the closing page, and God alone knows when it'll come out - this book has turned into a quarterly), but pretty much everything is brought to a close in this, the thirty-first part of one of Alan Moore's most ambitious and unique stories. It's been almost five years since the first issue, and at times the gap between episodes has stretched uncomfortably long, but at last we're close to getting the whole picture. For those of you with short memories, we left off last issue just as the world was about to end. Now where are we?

Ah, yes. Armageddon. What happens when the world ends? Does the planet explode? Is all life extinguished? No, of course not. In spite of the superb action scenes that have darted through its pages, Promethea has never been a comic where that kind of end was going to happen. What happens after the worlds ends is, of course, that the world begins again. But not before six billion people have been given a fireside chat with Promethea. In three double page spreads of quite amazing beauty Moore and Williams make clear many of the themes that have underpinned the book from the get-go: the magic that runs through the world (even when we don't notice its presence), the power of the imagination, the fecundity of life and the purpose of existence are all present and correct. The world people have built, the one they thought they inhabited, is destroyed in one glorious stroke of Enlightenment, and then the world is sent on its way again, shorn of illusions. Not with a bang, and not with a whimper does the story end. Alan Moore gives us a third way of shutting the covers of a book: "Hey, yeah. I get it".

Aside from all the metaphysical stuff, the book gives plenty of room for the characters. A little while after everyone's third eye has been opened friends catch up on what's been happening since the Apocalypse. Many have seen their life jump tracks and head off in a different direction. Jack Faust is apparently loving the new world, and Stacey and Lucille (and possibly a third party) are a couple. Even the Doll appears to be enjoying a new-found role. Loose ends are tied up with the kind of deceptive aplomb that Moore has made his trademark, and, as usual, there are jokes that manage the neat trick of being funny and natural at the same time. He makes it look so easy. There's even a cute hint that Tom Strong's own reaction to enlightenment will be revealed over in his book. Sophie gets a happy ending, by the way. It doesn't look like being Promethea was a permanent gig, but the reward for hosting her seems worth it.

One of the things that encourages the belief in Moore's magical abilities is his unfailing knack of getting the right artist for the right story. In Promethea, he's been particularly blessed with a talent as diverse as JH Williams III. Each and every issue has seen a new way of telling a story, a new way of laying out a page. Very often, the design of each page has been remarkable in its own right. In this issue we have pages of total darkness, wonderful two-page spreads of breathtaking scope, and, to denote the changing of the world, the remainder of the book looks it's been made out of stained glass. There's more variety in these pages than some books get over the course of their entire run. And he's been doing this for practically every issue. Special mention must go to the cover to this issue, which, like the thirty that came before it (and like the others in the ABC line) has been a work of art in its own right: unique and worthy of your appreciation. Not for this comic the generic team-shot that sits blandly on the front of the book. In every respect this is a book that strives for both difference and excellence.

I debated with myself long and hard about giving this book a score: are five stars deserved? It's the first time I've felt sufficiently strongly about a book to want to award that highest of scores, and it's not something I take lightly. I'm aware that, perhaps, I want to give it top marks because it's the capstone to a series I've loved since it started, and that it isn't a book that's going to reward casual readers, but the hell with it. So many little things are tidied away in perfectly fitting moments, so many ideas are crammed into each page and so many revelations are thrown in our faces that I can't help but be carried away. I guess you'll feel differently if you haven't read the preceding parts, but that's your own damn fault. Don't come crying to me asking who the Weeping Gorilla is. There's still the tpbs you can pick up if you have missed out on this series, and I would urge you to do so. Run to the store now and blow that roll of bills you were saving for a rainy day. You were only going to waste them on something frivolous. Get me some cigarettes while you're at it.

Once the final issue is out I'll go back and read everything again, and no doubt there'll be a hundred little touches I never noticed the first time around, tiny flourishes that will reward a second viewing, foreshadowings of things to come. Until then, this astonishing issue will keep me happy.

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[James Groves]

Wonderful issue.

[clockwork.fables]

It's been ages since I've read Promethea. I hope the collected editions keep coming out so I can get back on track. I absolutely love JHW3.