Promethea


 
 

Promethea is the fictional title character in the series created by Alan Moore and J.H. Williams III, and published by Wildstorm and America's Best Comics imprint. The series was inked by Mick Gray. The series ran for thirty-two issues on an irregular schedule from 1998 to 2005.

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Promethea

Promethea is a young girl whose father is killed by a Christian mob in Alexandria in 411 AD. She is taken in hand by the twin gods Thoth and Hermes who tell her that if she goes with them into the Immateria - a plane of existence home to the imagination - she will no longer be just a little girl but a story living eternally. "Promethea" then is manifested in a series of avatars over the 19th and 20th centuries, culminating in the involvement of the lead character, Sophie Bangs.

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People become incarnations of Promethea when they or someone close to them channels their identity into an artistic representation of Promethea. At any one time, only one human can carry the consciousness of Promethea. All of Promethea's avatars live on forever in Immateria, retaining their memories and contributing to the consciousness of the active Promethea.

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Anna

The poet Charlton Sennet, in the 1770s was able to imagine Promethea's likeness onto his housemaid Anna, transforming her into his dream lover. This Promethea bore him a child but the baby evaporated on birth since in a sense it was only a dream or imagination.

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Margaret Taylor Case

The writer of a William Randolph Hearst syndicated comic strip titled "Little Margie in Mystic Magicland", Case wrote Promethea into her comic book as a helpful spirit, and ended up personifying Promethea to help soldiers on the battlefield from 1900-1920.

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Grace Branagh

A pulp fiction cover artist, who illustrated fantasy novels written by various men under the pseudonym "Marto Neptura", Branagh was the most proficient fighter of all the Promethea's. She held the mantle from 1920-1939. She would eventually merge with Stacia.

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William Woolcott

A homosexual comic artist who became Promethea by illustrating her. He was the longest standing Promethea, from 1939-1969. He is shot in the head by Promethea's lover, Dennis Drucker, who is unable to deal with the revelation that his lover was actually a man. Woolcott is the only male to assume the role of Promethea. Drucker spent several decades in an insane asylum tortured by guilt for having killed Promethea, while Promethea spent similar time in the Immateria blaming herself for not having told him the truth.

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Barbara Shelley

The wife of a comic book writer Stephen Shelley, Barbara became Promethea when her husband begins projecting her characteristics onto the Promethea character that he is writing about. After Stephen's death, Barbara maintained the mantle of Promethea, but was not adept at keeping her image alive, as it was fueled by Stephen's imagination.

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Sophie Bangs

The main character of the series, who becomes Promethea after studying her mythos for a college paper. Her mother is an alcoholic and has trouble keeping long term relationships. Though her personality as Sophie is weak, she is extremely powerful as Promethea.

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Stacia Van der Veer

Sophie's best friend, an extremely cynical and sarcastic college student. During an attack, Sophie was forced to turn civilians into Promethea, and Stacia was "merged" with Grace to help the fight. While Sophie went on a trip to Immateria with Barbara to find Stephen Shelley, Stacia/Grace served as the acting Promethea. Afterwards, the merged Stacia/Grace personality refused to relinquish the Promethea title, and battled Sophie for it. Sophie eventually won through a ruling in an Immateria court, and Stacia and Grace were separated; upon returning to the Earthly plane, Stacia was shot and put in a coma.

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Alan Moore: Alan Moore (born November 18, 1953, in Northampton, England) is a British writer most famous for his work in comics. He is the co-creator of some of the most acclaimed comic books in history, including Watchmen, V for Vendetta and From Hell....

J.H. Williams III: J.H. Williams III is an comic book artist and penciller. He is best known for his work on titles such as Chase, Promethea and Desolation Jones....

Wildstorm: Wildstorm Productions, or simply WildStorm, is an American publisher of comic books. It began as Jim Lee's personal company under Image Comics, but it is currently an imprint of DC Comics with Jim Lee as the imprint's editor....

~ Table of Content ~

Introduction
Characters
Series
External Links
 


 

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