Prophet 1: Remission

Comic Info

Prophet (4) #21 (Variant Cover)

Reprints Prophet (4) #21-26 (January 2012-June 2012).  John Prophet awakens on an Earth that has been overrun by aliens.  His mission is to reawaken the Earth Empire by traveling to the Towers of Thauilu Vah.  His journey across the desolate planet leads to a change in the galaxy and the revival of a series of Prophets…but not everyone is happy about the Earth Empire’s apparent return.

Written by Brandon Graham (who also illustrates Prophet (4) #25 (May 2012)), Prophet Volume 1:  Remission also has the rotating artists of Simon Roy, Farel Dalrymple, and Giannis Milonogiannis contributing to the story.  The series continues the numbering of the original Prophet series which ran #0-10 (October 1993-January 1995), a second series that ran #1-8 (August 1995-July 1996), and an Awesome edition which had a one-shot in March 2000.  The series was well received by critics and received an Eisner nomination for Best Continuing Series.

I didn’t read Prophet when it was out in the ’90s.  The character was a generic Rob Liefeld character who first premiered in Youngblood (1) #2 (June 1992) and then spun off into his own series.  Like many Image titles of the period, the comic was more about art and less about substance, and I never had a real feel for the character.  Here it is solid art with a very, very complex story.

Prophet (4) #25

Prophet is a series that almost needs to be read and then re-read.  It isn’t generally text heavy, but so much is said with the few words and the story is very dense.  The comic itself was supposed to be comparable to Conan, but I almost found it more like John Carter, Warlord of Mars due to the exotic locations and strange alien characters.

I have to admit, I don’t know entirely what is occurring in this collection.  It feels like there are a lot of threads being brought together in this collection and that the real “complete” work won’t come until later.  Despite this, I feel it is fun to take apart this tapestry of storylines and try to determine what some of it means.

I also really enjoy the art for this series.  The artists rotate each issue, but despite this, their styles are similar enough that it doesn’t feel jarring.  Occasionally, due to the lack of dialogue, it is really necessary to tell the story, and I do feel it can be a bit confusing or need extra attention to follow…still, I like it.

Prophet is a good series that I look forward to following.  The art and style of the book make it a lot deeper and more challenging than other books out there.  The series feels pretty epic but episodic at the same time which is always a challenge.  Check out Prophet for an interesting sci-fi fantasy (and a great affordable first collection).  Prophet Volume 1:  Remission is followed by Prophet Volume 2:  Brothers.

Related Links:

Prophet Volume 2:  Brothers

Prophet Volume 3:  Empire