With the third volume of Prophet published, it’s much easier to see the structure of the
series. It’s uncanny just how sneaky the narrative has been since issue #21,
the first issue of the reboot. Labelled as part of the Image Revival, Prophet was rebooted by Brandon Graham
at the helm and aided by a host of collaborators. Throughout the series they’ve
all rotated on art duties and Brandon Graham, Simon Roy and Giannis
Milonogiannis are credited with the story. Graham takes care of most of the
scripting and he’s also taken on the duty of layout artist (something the other
artists also contributed to during the earlier issues but timing and deadlines
made them assign a specific person). It adds some nice consistency to the art,
pacing and storytelling. I’ve come to really enjoy the creative team on this
book. Roy and Milonogiannis do the bulk of the artwork but they’re aided by a
host of other artists, likely inkers as Roy and Milonogiannis are also credited
as colourists. The different art styles mesh together well, all complimenting
each other but also adding further variety to the strange worlds and aliens
being created as issues drawn by Simon Roy look different from those by Giannis
Milonogiannis. I’m convinced that if the whole things was the product of a
single artist many of the creatures would look similar and thus make the whole
comic look less creative and original.
It’s important not to understate the work of the artists
on this series because it’s clearly one of the reasons the series is so great.
In volumes 1 and 2 most of the story was told through narration boxes and
images. There isn’t a lot of dialogue and it gives the story a certain
distance, strengthening the idea that the events are taking place far in the
future. It’s so strange that the reader is forced to participate in the story
as the actions require interpretation by the reader; it requires we puzzle
together the short, almost sound bites style narration and the dazzling depictions
of future worlds in order to see the story fully realized. This is the best
kind of comic. It uses the medium to do something it’s good at, which is
engaging the reader in a participatory relationship with the comic. In a world where
most comics are about superheroes that inhabit worlds very similar to our own,
it's very refreshing to read a comic where everything is varying digress of
odd. The worlds and aliens imagined by Graham and his collaborators (nearly
everybody contributes to the story) are so unusual I can helped but be
thrilled, curious, weirded out and pensive all at the same time.
The choice of having little dialogue and telling the
story mostly through images and short narration boxes makes the story feel more
emotional. The thinking part of my brain is being used, but my thoughts aren't
being stimulated by dialogue. Instead the story connects with me in a more
loosely defined way, though my emotions. Those emotions mixed with the images
of what’s happening on the page make me think about what I’m reading. It’s
emotional stimulus brought on by visual aids. The third volume of the rebooted Prophet has more dialogue than the
previous collections. I think that part of it is due to the fact that the
setup, all of the establishing issues, are done. The pieces are all set and the
story is advancing at a quicker pace than it has before. It’s both refreshing
and exciting! That’s not to say Prophet
has become a dialogue heavy comic because it hasn’t. Characters still talk in
small, punchy speech bubbles and there are nearly silent pages in every issue
but Prophet: Empire is definitively
the indication that the series has entered a new phase.
The first volume established the setting, the tone and a
handful of characters. The second volume focused on Old Man Prophet and his
mission to reform his team and search for new allies. As the title suggests,
the third volume brings the focus back to the Empire and its growing army of
Prophets.
In more than one way, this volume is about both stories
coming together. The first Prophet we met in issue #21 is now known as New Father
John, one of the Prophets’ leaders. They are not the only leaders though; the
Brain Mothers and the Brain Father control the Empire with their telekinetic
powers. All young Prophets are trained and brainwashed to obey their Brain
Mothers, regardless of their instructions. Old Man Prophet wears protective
gear to prevent his former masters to gain control of his mind. He has his own
telekinetic ally, a being known only as Troll. There are some very exciting
developments between Old Man Prophet, Troll and New Father John. Other things
take place in volume 3 that are also very exciting, such as the addition of yet
another threat to this new war.
This volume is about both storylines coming together and
the creative team delivers that story in a way I hadn’t anticipated. Prophet:
Empire gives the reader a little bit of everything. It establishes even
more new elements to the series, provides further information regarding the
Empire along with Old Man Prophet and his allies. The most exciting of all is that it pits New Father
John and Old Man Prophet are on a collision course. It's going to be pretty
sweet when they meet up.
I’ve read a few reviews of Prophet online and it appears to be a very divisive series. People
who enjoyed it really enjoyed it but those who didn’t seem to loathe the “weird
art” or think that the comic “doesn’t make any kind of sense”. One reviewer
even dismisses the book after admitting he didn’t even read half of this
collection. Did he read the first two volumes? I have no idea but it’s clear to
me that he didn’t enjoy having to put any effort in his reading. He went so far
as to dismiss the series as “nonsense”. What
I like about Prophet is that it
challenges me. Readers who didn’t enjoy it critique it for the same reason I
love it. Prophet doesn’t spoon feed
the reader. What it does is provide the reader with a rich and complex story
that can withstand, I would even say encourages, multiple readings. What you
get out of Prophet is proportional to
what you invest in it and I see nothing wrong with that. That’s especially true
when the series continues to be a refreshing combination of originality,
engaging storytelling and captivating artwork.
No comments:
Post a Comment