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50th out of 189 books
—
39 voters
Promethea, Vol. 5 (Promethea #5)
University student Sophie Bangs has buried the immense power of PROMETHEA deep inside her, hiding from government agents, but now she must once more release that power and bring Armageddon to friends, foes and the world!
Reprints issues 26-32 of the monthly comic series Promethea.
Reprints issues 26-32 of the monthly comic series Promethea.
Paperback, 200 pages
Published
August 16th 2006
by WildStorm
(first published 2001)
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This series by Alan Moore and JH Williams has been one of my favorite comics ever and this final collection is no different.
The previous volumes were guided introductions to magic and the kabbalah. This last volume sees Promethea presiding over the Apocalypse while the government and a a super-team try and stop her. Moore's vision of the end of the world is actually quite uplifting and inspiring; probably not something you ever expected to read.
As with the whole series, JH Williams' and Mick Gra...more
The previous volumes were guided introductions to magic and the kabbalah. This last volume sees Promethea presiding over the Apocalypse while the government and a a super-team try and stop her. Moore's vision of the end of the world is actually quite uplifting and inspiring; probably not something you ever expected to read.
As with the whole series, JH Williams' and Mick Gra...more
The final volume. Moore somewhat redeems the series by abandoning most of the new age mystical crap and telling an exciting story about the Apocalypse. And, it's a rather neat twist on the Apocalypse: the world doesn't end, but rather everyone is given a new and more complex perspective on the nature of reality. I like that idea, but Moore still manages to ride his simplistic occult hobby-horse through the proceedings. Moore's idea of enlightenment is, as I've said before, totally juvenile. It's...more
"I - I hadn't realized this would be so intimate, so personal. We're all behaving so oddly, everything's so near the surface..."
Sophie's sentimentality grows less annoying in this finale, when friends and family all take the stage for a collective trip. It's endearing to anyone who has gathered with close friends and loved ones to share catalytic compounds ("drugs" is the right word, of course, but too clinical for such a context).
"Pentagon studies in the 1980s demonstrated that comic strip nar...more
How to put my feelings about this book into words? First off, if I could give it 4.5 stars, I would. I wouldn't call it "amazing", but it's given me enough to think about that I want to say more than "really liked it".
Second, I'm not sure how to describe the mystical psychobabble that takes up most of the last 1/3 of the series. On the one hand, it was kind of nice to have a superheroine who wasn't just fighting Bad Guy du Jour, but on the other, it just felt like endless exposition and no story...more
Second, I'm not sure how to describe the mystical psychobabble that takes up most of the last 1/3 of the series. On the one hand, it was kind of nice to have a superheroine who wasn't just fighting Bad Guy du Jour, but on the other, it just felt like endless exposition and no story...more
It takes a certain amount of gumption to end your comic series with the apocalypse.
There are two schools of thought, traditionally, on apocalyptic literature. The first is that apocalyptic stories are a metaphor for an evolution in human consciousness - old ways of thinking are abandoned in favour of new ways of understanding the world and our place in it; the second is that they're used as political statements, saying that current conditions are so bad that the end of the world must be around t...more
There are two schools of thought, traditionally, on apocalyptic literature. The first is that apocalyptic stories are a metaphor for an evolution in human consciousness - old ways of thinking are abandoned in favour of new ways of understanding the world and our place in it; the second is that they're used as political statements, saying that current conditions are so bad that the end of the world must be around t...more
This is definitely Alan Moore's Theological Treatise. Part of me is glad that he did it and another part is sad because something is always lost when you try to explain that which is unexplainable. Alan Moore of all people should know that. I believe he really put himself out there by making this series because it is obvious that it is some of his deeper held beliefs on reality and most people will simply dismiss it as just another fantastical comic book.
I don't think it is possible to even try...more
Every one of the other four Promethea collections, it seemed, had a confusing, chaotic dream-like sequence—either an actual dream, or a heavenly journey across the Tree of Life, or an exploration of the magical symbolism of sex.
It is truer to say that this fifth collection had a couple of short lucid periods; other than that it was *all* chaos, all symbol, all longwinded unreadable insufferable explanation. The last sequence—presumably intended to be the summation and conclusion of the whole ser...more
It is truer to say that this fifth collection had a couple of short lucid periods; other than that it was *all* chaos, all symbol, all longwinded unreadable insufferable explanation. The last sequence—presumably intended to be the summation and conclusion of the whole ser...more
Sex. Reality Cancer. The Apocalypse. Clowns. Promethea, Volume 5 seamlessly weaves all these disparate elements together in the conclusion to Alan Moore and J. H. Williams III’s epic story.
This is a particularly difficult series to review because you don’t just read Promethea; you experience it. Moore’s writing and Williams’ art join together to create something magical that succeeds because of the medium, not in spite of it. Promethea is very ambitious, and there were occasional moments when I...more
This is a particularly difficult series to review because you don’t just read Promethea; you experience it. Moore’s writing and Williams’ art join together to create something magical that succeeds because of the medium, not in spite of it. Promethea is very ambitious, and there were occasional moments when I...more
Reprints Promethea #26-32. Sophie goes on the run while trying to prevent the end of reality but finds that her fate as Promethea is unstoppable. The conclusion to the entire Promethea series (and for the most part the America's Best Comics) find itself more based in reality than the previous three books, but the end devolves into more "psycho-babble". The Tom Strong stuff seems almost out of place in the big picture of the series and the philosophical stuff seems just like a repeat of Sophie an...more
Promethea really is a great series of Graphic Novels, this last book in my opinion lets it down slightly but as a whole it is brilliant and I'd recommend it to one and all. That said, it's a series you're either going to love or hate. In some people's minds it's too preachy and it could be said to be more of a treatise than a story, in actuality it is both a treatise and a story and it benefits greatly for it. It's central theme both generalised and simplified is, All Fiction is Reality, a notio...more
Holy...
Alan Moore is a genius, yeah yeah we know.
But have you read Promethea? This series has it all, Superheroes, mystical quests, the Apocalypse. I mean THIS is why we read: To be taken to another level of insight, bringing us closer to humanity. Right?
Read it.
Alan Moore is a genius, yeah yeah we know.
But have you read Promethea? This series has it all, Superheroes, mystical quests, the Apocalypse. I mean THIS is why we read: To be taken to another level of insight, bringing us closer to humanity. Right?
Read it.
Once I started this one, I pretty much had to keep going until the very end. In part, it was not as profound as the previous volumes, so that made the reading pace a bit quicker. Most of the in-depth meditation of the series was already out of the way. The nice thing about the ending, which I think is a stroke of genius for Moore, is that it leaves you with an uplifting sense of hope. And yet, you get the idea that the story will go on. This was definitely a good way to wrap up this very good an...more
Should've liked this one: Alan Moore + cool combination of ancient mythologies + killer art. Sadly, the stunning drawings are all that's worthwhile here - Promethea is crushed under the weight of Moore's worst tendencies: pages upon pages of masturbatory mysticism, some really weird/gross sex scenes, and aimless plotting.
The story itself (college student Sophie Bangs becomes the reincarnation of a mythical goddess whose destiny is to bring about the end of the world) should have really been a l...more
The story itself (college student Sophie Bangs becomes the reincarnation of a mythical goddess whose destiny is to bring about the end of the world) should have really been a l...more
This was without a doubt my favourite of the Promethea books. I was a little put off to start with. Everything was dingy and it seemed like they were in the real world not the Promethea world of science heros and weeping gorilla and it was all a bit confusing. Then Tom Strong showed up and I was confused all over again. (Tom Strong I tried to read but gave up after a few issues as I just found it terribly dull and was the reason for me realising as much as Moore is my favourite living writer I j...more
Wow.
My mind ... is kind of blown. Scratch that, it is blown. Holy. Fucking. Shit.
In the beginning, I was torn between giving this 4 or 5 stars, but by the third volume I knew it could only be 5 because this is amazing.
"Promethea."
An imaginary fictional character who manifests in reality through the artists and writers that tell her story. Obviously, the name's a feminine version of Prometheus, which means "forethought"... which means "imagination". [...:]
Imagination... tumbling, spinning... i...more
My mind ... is kind of blown. Scratch that, it is blown. Holy. Fucking. Shit.
In the beginning, I was torn between giving this 4 or 5 stars, but by the third volume I knew it could only be 5 because this is amazing.
"Promethea."
An imaginary fictional character who manifests in reality through the artists and writers that tell her story. Obviously, the name's a feminine version of Prometheus, which means "forethought"... which means "imagination". [...:]
Imagination... tumbling, spinning... i...more
I read this ages ago, except for the long, long chapter at the end. I tried to read it, but it made my eyes tired. That probably means that Alan Moore is somewhere in his English cave, twisting his rings and scowling at his voodoo doll of me, but large amounts of tiny font in front of tie-dye-ish backgrounds just doesn't work for me. And thus, I ignored writing a review or even saying I truly finished reading this series.
Okay, so what do I remember? This was a pretty good ending. It was a coming...more
Okay, so what do I remember? This was a pretty good ending. It was a coming...more
A fitting wrap to the series, this segment is more action-oriented, and less of the exposition of the previous volumes. The art is stunning, and the writing very thought-provoking. I have especially enjoyed this series in that I feel it has really been mind-expanding......while entertaining at the same time. This doesn't have any segments that drag, as in the last couple but the last issue is a bit of a repetition.
Alan Moore's new-age vision of the apocalypse is beautifully drawn and well scripted. In a few places I did find it difficult to figure out which direction to continue reading as each new page would shift from left to right across both pages to left to right and down on a single page. Overall though it is a stunning piece of work that clearly took tremendous effort to produce. Alan Moore never seems to disappoint me.
Five days between the time I finished vol. 4 to when I was finally able to get a copy of vol. 5 (out of stock, all checked out, hard to get!) and that gap was appropriate seeing as how this book takes place three years later, and it felt disorienting and that disappointing feeling you initially feel upon learning how much has changed. I was like, why does Sophie look like Stacia (her skin is more pale and her face seems to have changed, then at the end of the book: why does Sophie now look like...more
overall (that is, the whole promethea series) has great art, a great concept but not so great writing. alan moore does get too new agey from the middle of the series and religious and mythological concepts are all jumbled together. his writing of dialogues get shabby too. but in terms of the concept of promethea, the immateria (esp. in a graphic novel), and the wonderful art itself, promethea is a must read (and own.)
This series is pretty much a collection of Alan Moore's belief about the power of imagination, story, magic, and well, tarot. If you're not really into the subject, please grab another book. Me myself got kinda bored (read: didn't have no clues) in the book 3-4, when he explained about every single path in tarot. But the ending and the idea is just marvelous.
For some reason I wasn't able to get into this series as I was "League of Extraordinary Gentlemen". Moore presents so many interesting ideas and themes but unfortunately I never quite "got it", which is a shame and probably my fault for reading too fast. The Kabbalah elements were really interesting to me so perhaps I will have to go back and re-read the series when I can really invest some time into it.
I was sad to see Promethea end after just five books, but this is hands down one of the most kick-@$$ stories I have ever read (this goes for the series, not just this book) and the series is a cherished part of my graphic novel collection - and I am picky! The ending caught me off-guard, but in a way it almost seems fitting the way it ended.
this series was a-mazing. books 1 and 2 were good, but books 3-5 were better. very thought provoking... exploring how we relate to ourselves and others and our concepts of reality. are we able to shift our realities? what happens when the apocalypse comes and the world ends? what does that even mean? love love love it.
huh ... guh ... wha?
pretty.
It seemed fitting that I read this right after Carl Sagan's Cosmos.
Well, there's plenty of beautiful artwork and suggestive arcane philosophical notions...as well as plenty of suggestive artwork and beautiful arcane philosophical notions. I wish I could see this issue pulled out into two giant posters. I am thoroughly impressed by the structure and symmetry of both the writing and imagery of the series.
pretty.
It seemed fitting that I read this right after Carl Sagan's Cosmos.
Well, there's plenty of beautiful artwork and suggestive arcane philosophical notions...as well as plenty of suggestive artwork and beautiful arcane philosophical notions. I wish I could see this issue pulled out into two giant posters. I am thoroughly impressed by the structure and symmetry of both the writing and imagery of the series.
The final volume to an ambitious series focusing on esoteric mysteries. I wish it could have had a clearer point at the end, i was disappointed that it seemed to fritter itself away in endless loops. But i suppose that was the point, and kudos to them for attempting to make that into a comic book at all. The art was top notch as always, exploring viewpoints and varieties of finish that i had not seen used as a way of intimating the questioning of reality itself.
I reeeeeeeeeeeeally like this series. Reeeally really like it. I love how beautiful it is to look at, I love how mystical and rad the story is, I love Sophie and Promethea and Bill and the Science Heroes . . . I just love love love it, like the very breath of God.
Sep 06, 2011
Sofia
rated it
5 of 5 stars
Recommended to Sofia by:
André
Shelves:
graphic-novels,
favorites
I really liked this series. The themes might not be for everyone, but then again, nothing is. If nothing else, it's thought-provoking and very effective (not to mention beautiful) as a graphic novel. The final issue is pure genius. Highly recommended.
Promethea is... well, Promethea.
Awesome. Confusing. Complicated. Filled with words and ideas and subtext (and subTEXT). It's a glorious mess and I love it.
I guess some of the urgency in the book was lost because, well, I began reading this book already with the notion that "End of the world" doesn't necessarily means "the end of everything". Rather, it can mean "the end of the world as we know it" and I had guessed it was what it meant. So Promethea's\other character's plight and urgency were ki...more
Awesome. Confusing. Complicated. Filled with words and ideas and subtext (and subTEXT). It's a glorious mess and I love it.
I guess some of the urgency in the book was lost because, well, I began reading this book already with the notion that "End of the world" doesn't necessarily means "the end of everything". Rather, it can mean "the end of the world as we know it" and I had guessed it was what it meant. So Promethea's\other character's plight and urgency were ki...more
Dec 10, 2009
Christian Lipski
rated it
5 of 5 stars
Recommends it for:
People who read Robert Anton Wilson, Illuminatus!
Interconnectedness, hermetic knowledge, alchemy, kabbala, tarot and superheroes.
It was much more readable than I'd feared, but maybe that's because I read all the crazy R.A.W. books years ago. It's all happening.
It was much more readable than I'd feared, but maybe that's because I read all the crazy R.A.W. books years ago. It's all happening.
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Alan Moore is an English writer most famous for his influential work in comics, including the acclaimed graphic novels Watchmen, V for Vendetta and From Hell. He has also written a novel, Voice of the Fire, and performs "workings" (one-off performance art/spoken word pieces)...more
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Alan Moore is an English writer most famous for his influential work in comics, including the acclaimed graphic novels Watchmen, V for Vendetta and From Hell. He has also written a novel, Voice of the Fire, and performs "workings" (one-off performance art/spoken word pieces)...more
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“Consciousness, unprovable by scientific standards, is forever, then, the impossible phantom in the predictable biologic machine, and your every thought a genuine supernatural event. Your every thought is a ghost, dancing.”
—
23 people liked it
“The only reality we can ever truly know is that of our perceptions, our own consciousness, while that consciousness, and thus our entire reality, is made of nothing but signs and symbols. Nothing but language.
Even God requires language before conceiving the Universe. See Genesis: “In the beginning was the Word.”
—
14 people liked it
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Even God requires language before conceiving the Universe. See Genesis: “In the beginning was the Word.”
May 27, 2009 06:28pm