Alan Moore's PROMETHEA

Greg Stanton

I asked this on another thread, and I've never it mentioned here before:

Have you read Promethea? If you like comics, it's an absolute must for a tarot enthusiast. Here's some info on it from Wikipedia:

"Promethea is a comic book series created by Alan Moore and J.H. Williams III with Mick Gray, published by America's Best Comics/Wildstorm. Serialized in 32 issues on an irregular schedule from 1999 to 2005, the series explores Moore's ideas about art and magic, combining elements of superhero action, metaphysical theorizing, and psychedelic revelation, all focused on the adventures of Promethea, a metafictional character that possesses magical power over the real world. Promethea is also notable for wide-ranging experimentation in visual style and storytelling technique on the part of Williams and Moore."

"Issues dealt with in this series include tarot and Hermetic Qabalah, and the comic is laden with and studies mythological and archetypal symbolism. Real people who appear in Promethea include Aleister Crowley, John Dee, Austin Osman Spare, and John Kendrick Bangs (who in the comic is distantly related to Sophie Bangs)."

Moore's slant on Kabbalah/Tarot is definitely Crowleyesque (not my thing, but interesting). Each sephirot has it's own issue in the series -- and the artwork, along with Moore's grasp of the material, really helps explain a difficult subject well.

Promethea has been collected into five books, and is available on Amazon.
 

Gazel

Yes. I have all five volumes, and have so far read two of them.
I really like them. I read about them in a book by Rachel Pollack.

I'm not into comics, but I like Promethea, and Alan Moore.

My husband is quite satisfied, thinking that there is hope for me, since I've never before showed any interest in his comic books.

Love, Gazel
 

BrightEye

These are on my 'must read' list. Rachel Pollack mentions them a few times in her book The Kabbalah Tree.
 

Scion

Spectacular! A must-read for Tarot folk and magick-interested folks alike. And at the end of the series you realize the entire run was designed as a kind of curriculum if you can read it properly. Fab. Moore is a F@$#^$g genius.

S
 

Hooked on TdM

It sounds awesome! When I win the lottery I will run out and get these! ;) Until then I'll keep my eye out for bargains. LOL

Hooked
 

Sar

Read volume one, the rest did not come out in norwegian.
 

Greg Stanton

If you get the paperbacks on Amazon, they only run around $12.00 a pop. I have the set in HC, but I collected it over time, so the sting wasn't so bad.
 

Lleminawc

I'm big fan of the Promethea series - so much so that I actually bought vol 5 in hardback, rather than wait for the paperback to come out.
 

Greg Stanton

The used prices on the HC are quite impressive, considering they are not that old (though comics prices tend to be high). Vol 1 goes for around $100, 2 for around $75, 3 for $50, and 4 & 5 for around $25 (the original price). This is for books in fine condition with the dustjacket, of course. Someone on ABE books is trying to sell Volume 1 for $200!

Luckily, these are still in print in PB!
 

BrightEye

Sar said:
Read volume one, the rest did not come out in norwegian.
Found Vol 2 following today. Damn it! What's Vol 1 about?