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Underground > Comic Books >

A newbie asks for advice- Doom Patrol, Promethea?

All Acting Regiment

21:18 / 21.11.03

yo-

So I've never read these and think I should, but I really need to know stuff about stuff before I can decide to read- so what's the crack? Are they like the invisibles, which this newby liked? sorry thats my only point of reference- I'm a newby.

16:56 / 22.11.03

The first Doom Patrol trade is due to be republished with some missing pages (which are available to look at online somewhere) included, by and large these are just foreshadowing of the "Brotherhood of Dada" storyline. The original trade is probably still available though, as are some individual issues.

Its an excellent series that takes an old team-based comic best known for high weirdness during the 60's and turns it and all notions of what comics should be on its ear. Many (myself included) would say its Morrison's best work, period. Very surreal, very postmodern, very fun indeed.

Promethea has four trades out now (3 TPB, 1 in hardcover format), and back issues should be readily available. Its Alan Moore's dayglow book of practical "How-To" advice on magick, conveniently presented in the form of a comic book. (Though the story is fun as well!) Moore rarely dissapoints...If you liked The Invisibles, you'll like Promethea, and Doom Patrol for that matter.

Go. Spend. Money. Now.

17:22 / 22.11.03

I'll have to be the voice of dissent here: it's unfair and disingenuous to say "If you liked THE INVISIBLES, you'll like PROMETHEA." I loved THE INVISIBLES, but PROMETHEA left me cold.

The two books share some themes, but while INVISIBLES used magick as one element in the overall plot, with PROMETHEA magick is the be-all and end-all. The start is pretty promising, but after a while it becomes almost entirely a didactic work--a textbook, in other words, albeit an engagingly-written and beautifully-illustrated one. As such,it left me cold. If you're a hard-core magickal hobbyist or lifestyler--which I'm not--you'll likely enjoy it tremendously.

DOOM PATROL, on the other hand, is indeed a great book for all audiences. Has quite a few DC Comics in-jokes, but foreknowledge of the DC Universe is not a prerequisite for enjoyment. Chock full of fascinating ideas, quotable lines, and engaging characters, and succeeds in being funny, thought-provoking, scary, and deeply moving: that emotional engagement is, for me, what sets Grant's DOOM PATROL head and shoulders above Moore's PROMETHEA.

23:09 / 23.11.03

I was about to say the same thing before I read Jack's post because Promethea was a huge disappointment for me. I'm not very interested in magick and need the ideas to be saturated with interesting ones to be fascinated. To me, the plot and premise are not interesting at all. I am of the opinion that it's fans are interested in the messages and the inventive art rather than an actual story. But that's my opinion and I'll gladly disown it if someone threatens to bite my head off because I don't really care about the book.

Doom Patrol I've only read a few random issues of and my God it's the funniest thing Grant's done. It's very clever. It has a heart too. I've only had a taste and I know it's going to give The Invisibles a run for it's money if not best it.

Invisibles Vol 1 was the shit.

03:02 / 24.11.03

If you're a hard-core magickal hobbyist or lifestyler--which I'm not--you'll likely enjoy it tremendously.

Just to amend Jack's post, I'm a hard-core magickal hobbyist and I don't really like Promethea because I don't like Moore's esoterica, leather-bound-book styled magic. He's a good writer, but sometimes cringeworthy with his fists of ham.

05:34 / 24.11.03

Buy Doom Patrol. Buy the key issues. 19-32, late 30's through 50's. Basically buy them all. Excellent visuals. Excellent writing. Rebirth of Flex Mentallo, or Mr. Arms-On-The-Table. You will not regert this investment. The final storyline is excellent. Niles Caulder-Machavelli?? Adventures in Space, What the Butler Saw, The bROTHERHOOD of Dada, and most important The Epic of the Candlemaker.
Promethea is another excellent buy. Buy the issues if you can afford them, the graphic novels if they are cheaper. Some of the graphic novels have extra footage that was eliminated because of censorship. Excellent explanation of the Tarot, Excellent explanation of the kaballa.

11:17 / 24.11.03

I think Promethea is probably one of the best elucidations of western Quabala that I've come across. It's an extraordinary peice of work and a very interesting exploration of what can be done with the comics medium. But if you're approaching it as a comics narrative, rather than a treatise on magic, you probably won't get on very well with it.

Doom Patrol is worth every penny. In retrospect I much prefer it to The Invisibles, and think it's a stronger peice of work. I think of it as Grant Morisson when he was still hungry, not properly established as the big name he is today. There's an energy and, as was said above, an emotional engagement in the Doom Patrol that The Invisibles only touches on.

12:25 / 24.11.03

I'm going to join in the fanfare for Doom Patrol as I re-read some of them last week. What gets me is they are just the most stupid silly funny ass stories ever - The Beardhunter! The Brain and Msr. mallah! "Back at school, when all the other kids would laugh at me because I was a brain in a tank" - swoon - as well as great dark drama and allegory - the alchemical issue has to be one of my favourite comics ever, period. I think it's actually a more cohesive work than the Invisbles - which much as I love it, it is a bit epic, has a buit of a "concept album" feel. I'm a huge fan of Prometha as well, but it does depend on how much Qabalah you want to read.

Another question, Tom Strong trades - worth buying?

14:26 / 24.11.03

I gotta chime n here and say that reading Promethea actually helped me understand The Invisibles better. Granted, I was reading A Brief History of Everything and Technopoly too, so I was seriously brain fucked for a while there.

Like Jack said so well: the “story” is much more solid in The Invisibles. Promethea doesn't feel so much like a novel as it does a contemporary fable. From the fictionsuit standpoint of the reader, I could jump into Sophie's shoes much easier than I could Dane's, and that ease was Promethea's point entirely.

A lot of people were and still are put off my the Kabbalah episodes, but I loved them. Not for the lack of action, we had the Stacia/Grace subplot thing for that. A lot of comics skirt the topic of almighty, the "why"s and "how"s of the universe, and the exact nature of Goodness. A lot of people might say they just want a good story, but eventually, all of it boils down to those three things. Invisibles confronted it after several trades and tended to rely on "altered states" when face to face with it. Promethea engaged them head on without the characteristic arrogance and selfhood of most heroes. While this sounds like I'm choosing Promethea over Invisibles, I gotta say again: reading Promethea actually helped me understand The Invisibles better.

As for Tom Strong... I bought them, and I like them cuz they feel warm and smart. And that's a nice thing to feel when you think all that exists is cold and hyperintelligent books like The Invisibles, warm and stupid books like Uncanny, and cold and stupid books like Spawn. Tom's the kind of hero who's past being cool. He doesn't have weaknesses.

10:52 / 25.11.03

Tom Strong: I bought the first ten issues a year ago and...well it delivers what it promises. A reasonable pre-superhero action/adventure. I thought that the autogyro short story in the tenth issue was very good. That said...
Borrow.