Comic Book Resources

I’ve currently got Vols 2 and 3 checked out from the library. Never read Dr Fate, so I don’t have that to compare to. But the first volume was pretty good.

Amen!!! Never made that connection before, but I agree. Like Promethea–loved Dr. Fate. DeMatteis’ run on that book is one of the most criminally underrated and overlooked titles ever!

Promethea lost me with the pages dedicated to the examination of the major arcana of the Tarot. Frankly, I could care less about the mystic symbolism of a pack of Italian playing cards.

HOLY MOTHERFUCKING SHIT!

You just love the controversy don’t you Greg?

Although I’ve flicked through Fate, and would very much like to read it, I believe you’re way off.

Promethea showcased such a perfect synergy between writer and artist – an artist who shifted styles almost every issue – that I couldn’t care less if it was just a big discussion of magic, that motherfucker was just on another level, and a pure joy to read.

Wait a second, DeMatteis’ wrote Dr. Fate? Damn it now I have to find it.

Maybe so, but Promethea was a hell of a lot better illustrated.

Yeah, and I liked Watchmen better when it was called Squadron Supreme.

Oh wait, I didn’t, because the former is infinitely superior to the latter.

Just re-read Promethea myself recently, and there’s no comparison whatsoever, even if Williams III does much of the heavy lifting.

I think I’d be more inclined to compare Kingdom Come to Squadron Supreme.
That said, Promethea was well executed, but DeMatteis really is better at fitting his metaphysics into story form.

Sure, art-wise, there’s no comparison (even though I like Shawn McManus). But DeMatteis gets the same basic ideas across without indulging in didacticism to the Nth degree, which Moore does. In From Hell, I liked it because it was only in one chapter. In this, however, it goes on a bit too long, often saved only by Williams.

Hey, I actually did like Watchmen better when it was called Squadron Supreme. Can anyone give me some more info on DeMatteis’s Dr. Fate as this seems right up my alley.

“because the former is infinitely superior to the latter.”

Better, yes, but infinitely better? That’s infinitely overstated.

I also liked the old format where comments were numbered. It made finding new comments easier. “Not a total tangent at all, sir, thank you.”

Sean,

The “infinitely” was a reference to all of the times that Moore uses the mobius strip and repetitive panel structure that allows one to… ah fuck it, I’m just a nerd.

I’m trying to find issues of Promethea and trying to get rid of issues of Dr. Fate. I’ve not read much of Dr. Fate, but I haven’t been impressed so far.

Never really thought about comparing the two. If DeMatteis’ Doctor Fate has an advantage over Promethea, it’s that it was good from beginning to end. Consistant work from both DeMatteis and co-hort Shawn McManus all the way through.

Alan Moore and JH Williams are two of my all-time favorite creators, and Promethea was amazing up until about halfway through it’s run, when it went off the rails a little bit. Moore forgot he was supposed to be telling a story at times, and resorted to providing lectures on the occult and the supernatural, albeit VERY well illustrated ones…

I also liked the old format where comments were numbered. It made finding new comments easier. “Not a total tangent at all, sir, thank you.”

Dr Fate started out as a comedy superhero series that didn’t quite work and evolved into a rather good metaphysical exploration. Promethea started out as a really good superhero series and descended into a mess of lectures about magic with the occasional bits of story here and there.

I’m not sure which I prefer overall, but Dr Fate was better by the end. And it was also followed up by a very good run from William Messner-Loebs

Dan – I forgot to mention that I agree with that quote about the post numbers

Alan Moore seems to be the Beatles of comics in that you don’t seem to be allowed to make any criticism of him.

Personally, Watchmen and From Hell are two of my favourite comics EVER, and I fully appreciate the impact Moore’s had on the medium, but… I think V for Vendetta is actually kind of pedestrian, and that Moore wilfully misunderstood Batman’s character in Killing Joke in search of doing a controversial story with a dark attention-grabbing ending.

But yeah in general I think he’s great. Just not perfect.

Alan Moore seems to be the Beatles of comics in that you don’t seem to be allowed to make any criticism of him.

Except in this thread it seems.

Seriously I could go on for hours about how crap that final issue of Promethea was.

I think this shows that when Alan Moore is in tune, he’s utterly amazing.

When he can’t be arsed anymore, he drops down to merely good…

Towards the end of Promethea, wasn’t that when DC took over and started messing around?

Sorry if I’m incorrect, the only ABC stuff I’ve really read is LOEG…

Readers who claim that Moore ‘went off the rails’ on the last third of Promethea’s series missed the point. Her arcane journey’s “didactic” approach was meant to clarify the series’ ending. Only after reading this series all the way through the end did I realize that the “didactic” part of the series was meant to illuminate the whys and wherefores of the series’ conclusion.

And yeah, the last issue was a pain to read, but that’s what we sometimes get when reading artists who push the boundaries of the comics genre. Promethea was full of formal and thematic experimentation, like the mobius infinite-loop pages and the sex scene, and the final issue was entirely consistent with that. In a marketplace saturated with pre-digested pap, status-quo-worshipping franchises and endless reboots of old ideas, Promethea was a breath of fresh air – because comics that really challenge their readers are woefully rare. We’re accustomed to straightforward tales with clearly-understandable McGuffins and clearly-separated Good guys and Bad guys. Promethea used some recognizable tropes to disguise itself as a “superhero story” on the surface, but that was never what this series was about. I liked Promethea’s superheroic aspects too, but what set this series apart was its ambition and scope; and it’s just laughable to compare this masterpiece with DeMatteis’ wafer-thin mystic-superhero book (which was fun enough, don’t get me wrong, but it’s just not on Promethea’s league).

Seriously: Comparing Moore’s Promethea with DeMatteis’ Doctor Fate is like comparing Finnegans’ Wake with Twilight. Or comparing Fabergé eggs with regular eggs.

Regular eggs are way tastier than Faberge eggs.

I agree about the comment numbering. I know myself and a few others mentioned it way back when the site changed format. The hope at the time was that they’d be coming back soon. And hey, if we’re talking site related stuff, someone bring back Snark Free Corner. I loved that column.

Johnny Bacardi’s still alive?!?

“Moore forgot he was supposed to be telling a story at times, and resorted to providing lectures on the occult and the supernatural, albeit VERY well illustrated ones…”

Um… really? Who told Moore that he was “supposed” to be telling a story? How about this: one of Moore’s intents was to provide lectures on the occult and creativity via the trappings of a superhero story. (Although, I do agree that when it became overtly didactic, it wasn’t nearly as much fun).

@Anonymous –

In the same way that I shouldn’t be annoyed if I buy an encyclopedia and P to Z are guidebooks to Berlin.

Dr. Fate — that was the run with the cosmic guru with the huge mustache, right? Never got that part.