The living legend inhabits the body of an ordinary girl.

December 16, 1999

ISSUE #5: No Man's Land
	REVIEW: Promethea just keeps getting better and better. The art is consistently gorgeous, and the unconventional layouts mesh perfectly with the twisty, ponderous discussions of imagination, reality and the tenuous line between the two. Plus, the lovely Sophie Bangs is proving herself to be a heroine worth following -- she's a bit like Alice, pulling us completely into her fanciful journey through Wonderland. Only for Sophie, the journey is internal as well -- her better understanding of Promethea will hopefully lead her to a better understanding of herself. This month, Sophie visits the dying Barbara, the Promethea before her. As she stands over Barbara's bed, she allows herself to slip into Immateria, where she encounters a previous Promethea to guide her along. What follows doesn't do a whole lot to advance the overlying storyline -- it's basically a rumination on fantasy, muse and existence, but it's rendered in such a beautiful, topsy-turvy way, and we feel Sophie's growing confusion so acutely, that it ends up seeming absolutely necessary. In fact, the whole thing has a nice sense of movement to it, and there are so many tiny details -- bats with multi-colored wings, random umbrellas, errant tiger/bee creatures...that each page has to be explored in depth. This isn't a comic book that you can read in five minutes flat, then toss aside because there's a rockin' TNG re-run on. I love that. --Sarah Kuhn
	Recommendation:	BUY IT!

ISSUE #4: A Faerie Romance
	REVIEW: Only four issues in, and Alan Moore's spectacular Promethea is already shaping itself into a glorious modern fairy tale. In this issue, Sophie Bangs, the latest human to bear the mantle of the living story Promethea, heads to the library to read up on those who have come before her. The tale she happens upon is that of 18th Century New England poet Charles Sennet, who was inspired when his housekeeper/mistress Anna took the form of Promethea. In a nicely-employed device, all of the previous Prometheas watch over Sophie as she reads the story and attempts to deal with her new life. They're quite the sassy lot, and make plenty of MST3k-style comments while observing life on earth (on Sophie's annoying friend, Stacia: "Oh, look, Miss Smart-Ass is going to get donuts." "Good, she got on my nerves."). Also, the art and layouts are just flat-out gorgeous -- a lovely 8-page sequence by Charles Vess (the artist who collaborated with Neil Gaiman on Stardust) is an especially nice bonus. The coolest thing about Promethea, though, is that it deals with an epic, sweeping story, but never feels too grandiose or impersonal -- we are just as engaged in Sophie's own quest as we are in the tale as a whole. I do hope the other Prometheas pop up now and again, though. Their acerbic interchanges are -- dare I say it? -- almost on par with those of The Endless. --Sarah Kuhn
	Recommendation:	BUY IT!

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