Tim's comments
Tim's comments from the Magick Talks... group.
Note: Tim is no longer a member of this group.
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Promethea is a remarkable achievement and I highly recommend it.
In a way, it is a comic book for esoteric insiders with remarkable shifts in graphic style throughout and some moments of startling bravery in tackling difficult 'spiritual' issues. I do not blame Fredstrong at all for finding it difficult to express its content in words because the hidden references and the graphics take it a step beyond usual narrative.
The effect of manga on my kids is similar and I suspect that a new generation is emerging that thinks as much in images as words. They will read and re-read the same text over and over again in order to incorporate it into themselves and then use it as a basis for rehearsing their own ideas of right and wrong. As learning tools, the nearest analogy that I can think of is medieval church art - only extended for page after page.
Reading Moorcock's Jerry Cornelius series from the 1960s recently, I can see why he is claimed to be an influence on Moore but I can also see how his early fantasy begs to be drawn and that, ultimately, the first two books at least are 'failed experiments' because they are tied to the printed page. Promethea gives a hint of the potential for graphic literature once it can begin to move away from the adolescent themes necessary for its initial marketplace.
What those without some esoteric learning might feel that they need is a guide and it would be good one day to have an 'annotated' version - but the story line and the graphics do stand on their own. Anyway, as you can tell, I am an enthusiast and I think it is Alan Moore's finest work since his classic British dystopian tale 'V for Vendetta'.
