On Promethea

Upon reading Promethea, I noticed a lot of allusions to myths and legends that I've read about before. The first thing that struck out to me as an important symbol was the Sun symbol on every single page. Looking back now, it seems that its expression changes depending on the page's content. Before Sophie's awakening, its eyes are shadowed; in flashbacks, its eyes are open and glowing; after she discovers her new powers, its eyes open once again (brown instead of gold for a distinction between past and present). It seemed a little strange to me that it was so heavily used, as I associated the sun more with other cultures instead (namely the Aztecs, whose religion focused greatly on it). Even more interesting were the symbols or items in Promethea's possessions. The Caduceus, for example, was a staff that belonged to Hermes and used more for the sake of symbolism than any direct purpose. I also noticed a Scarab and an Ankh on Promethea's clothing. Interestingly enough, while the Caduceus is an item associated solely with Hermes, both the scarab and the Ankh are associated with Egyptian Gods in general (and not just Thoth). The Caduceus symbolizes the presence of Hermes, God of trades, travel, and occupations; the Scarab symbolizes death and rebirth, and the Ankh represents the Symbol of Life. I also found it quite interesting that Promethea's patron gods were Hermes and Thoth, rather than the two sun gods of both religions, Apollo and Aten respectively.

My favorite part about Promethea thus far was on how the title of Promethea was passed down across the generations. Her origin story didn't strike to me as anything spectacular or original, but I liked the concept of the way Promethea as a title was passed down person to person by sheer belief alone. It ties in with the whole concept of death and rebirth, a la the Scarab and the Ankh. The concept that Promethea would never die as long as someone believed enough in her that they would become her next vessel was quite fascinating. It also accounted for the inconsistencies among each fable Sophie has heard about thus far, because each Promethea was a different individual. I thought it was a nice touch. I also liked how Sophie, for all of her powers that she would later possess, started off as a really normal college student. She isn't depicted as some kind of bombshell, or someone particularly special - just an average college student worried about her next assignment. Another minor detail that I appreciate is that she isn't introduced with a love interest. I'm not sure now much that will change in the next chapters, but the fact that she is shown thus far as having no real relationship with anyone in particular means that the artist and writer will have time to develop the bonds she'll make with her other friends in future volumes.

Personally, I wouldn't know what medium to change it into. I think it works best as a comic, as that is where the symbolism (like the changing sun) can be shown the most prominently. If I had to change the medium, however, I believe that it could also work as either a live-action movie, or a cartoon. For the former, I would focus more along how she obtains the title alone, and maybe bring elements from the second volume if I wanted more content. Obviously, it would be difficult to emphasize the symbolism as much. I would also show most of the origin story in the beginning, possibly even all at once, just so there aren't too many jumps in narrative and timeline that would be sure to confuse viewers. There would also be the issue of costume and props. The Caduceus is relatively easy to draw on paper, but would be a fairly difficult prop to replicate in real life. I think it would be better as an episodic cartoon (like the Justice League or any of the Batman cartoons) simply because it removes the problem of having to translate a cartoon object or human into real life. Also, if the comics have one strong plot line per volume, it would be very easy to change it into an episodic cartoon. Things like continuity among times and places would also be easier, as there could be an episode set in the past and a completely different episode set in the present day as two completely separate events rather than trying to connect them. Of course, the cartoon characters will have to be simplified; the comic book rendering and character detail will have to be lost for the sake of efficiency. The comic seems to lend itself pretty easily into being an episodic cartoon already, in my opinion. I would probably look forward most to seeing the fight scenes being animated, and depending on how nicely its done, there is potential for Promethea to become a truly stunning animated work.