Promethea: Book 1 - Softcover

Written by Alan Moore; Art by J.H. Williams III and Mick Gray Sophie Bangs was a just an ordinary college student in a weirdly futuristic New York when a simple assignment changed her life forever. While researching Promethea, a mythical warrior woman, Sophie receives a cryptic warning to cease her investigations. Ignoring the cautionary notice, she continues her studies and is almost killed by a shadowy creature when she learns the secret of Promethea. Surviving the encounter, Sophie soon finds herself transformed into Promethea, the living embodiment of the imagination. Her trials have only begun as she must master the secrets of her predecessors before she is destroyed by Promethea's ancient enemy

Promethea sees Alan Moore tackling the idea of myths and their passage through history and culture, and gracefully mingling this with Neil Gaiman-esque magical realms and some good old-fashioned super-heroics. In a present-day New York City dominated by scientific wonder, student Sophie Bangs tirelessly researches the origins of a mystic warrior woman called Promethea, whose legend has recurred throughout history in a variety of forms. When Sophie meets Barbara Shelley, the most recent chronicler of the Promethea legend, she becomes entwined in a strange, magical world called the Immateria, where myths are born. Facing a myriad of terrifying dangers, Sophie must learn the truth about Promethea and, to survive, embrace the legend itself. With a terrific central idea--that myths become "real" through their chroniclers--Promethea is another triumph for Moore, and will certainly satisfy anyone with a hankering for an engrossing adventure that errs on the realm of Sandman rather than Wonder Woman. Promethea really hits its stride when the action moves to the dazzling, sorcerous world of Immateria, where Sophie learns of her mystical heritage, interwoven with some fine post-modern touches from Moore (a funny encounter with a foul-mouthed Little Red Riding Hood and Sophie "living" a 1920s Promethea comic book). Accompanying Moore's enticing and challenging stories is J.H.Williams III's vivid art, providing Sophie's mythical odyssey with a backdrop of considerable visual flair, befitting a world where myth and reality collide. For fans of Moore, this is a must, and this is a fascinating prospect for anyone wishing to experience Moore's typically combustible imagination. --Danny Graydon