Book: Promethea
Story: The Radiant Heavenly City

Issue: #1

Alan Moore - writer
J.H. Williams III - penciller
Mick Gray - inker
Digital Chameleon - colorist
Todd Klein - letters
Eric Desantis - assistant editor
Scott Dunbier - editor

Story:

This, being a first issue of the comic serves as both an introduction to a quasi-mythical literary figure Promethea, and as a launching pad for a new pulp adventure comic. We begin in 411 AD, as some Christian priests kill an old pagan priest. Although these Christian holy-men seem to be being controlled by an outside force they neglect to account for the zealots young daughter. Fleeing to the desert she eventually encounters the Gods of her father who being benevolent take her to the safety of their mystical realm, Immateria. Cut to the year 1999 (a near future world of super heros and villians), we meet a grad student named Spohie, writing a term paper on the very real history of the folk-hero, Fairy Queen, warrior woman Promethea. She visits the home of the widow of the last author to tackle the character. But her interest has stirred up some unsavory interests far removed from any thoughts of a simple term paper. It seems Sophie has fallen into the situation where she is the next mortal in line to actually take on the powers of Promethea. Sounds crazy right? Well, our heroine thinks so too until she is brutally attacked by the shadowy Smee, a demon sent from the agents of evil to stop her before she can assume the mantle of the warrior queen. But of course the demon is too late, our protagonist assumes the powers of the once little girl lost in the desert. She inherits the mystical powers of the ancient fairy goddess, and transforms into the mantle of Promethea...

This guy seems pretty cool. It's too bad he was killed at the end, although I suspect he is a token demon that could easily be brought back if they wanted too. Anyhow, he's just a minion of evil, not a big boss type. He seems to be made of shadow, and works nicely to help create an atmosphere of fear and confusion.

- The artwork on the whole is very nice. Some of the in-between panels seem a bit rushed but I can understand that considering the incredible detail of the important moments. Also the layout is very nice, the artists really took care to create a unique and interesting feel here. Even the spaces between the panels is often filled with intriguing hieroglyphs and symbols. Very cool.
- As a separate point, the cover artwork by comic legend Alex Ross, is quite marvellous.
- In terms of story it's really a pretty fascinating concept.
- Promethea herself is very nice to look at.
- I like the fact that the character really is a folk myth. It adds some realism in a world that is obviously far removed from the one we know.
- The city's local super hero team Five Swell Guys is pretty amusing, even if one of them appears to be a woman...
- The most popular comic book in this world is something called The Weeping Gorilla

- The story being based on all these separate true histories is a little be befuddled. Then again, trying to fit any real characterisation or history in a comic's first issue is a pretty tough task.
- Some of the artwork was a little too bit dark, but maybe that was just lighting.
- How come this was written in 1999 and the year of the future is 1999; why not actually make it sometime in the future? It might be easier to suspend disbelief.

Not bad for a first issue. I like the premise, I definitely like the way Promethea looks. And the bad guy fight was pretty cool. We'll really have to wait and see what is made of this one. But so far, not too shabby.

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