As I was searching for more information on Promethea I came across a very interesting essay entitled "Promethea: Comics as Spiritual Tool." In her essay, Christine Hoff Kraemer quotes Trina Robbins with Promethea is "what Wonder Woman should be if she hadn’t been destroyed by generations of idiots." I agree with this statement because Wonder Woman has the potential to be more like Promethea. Wonder Woman is strong and intelligent but her comics are filled with stereotypes that prevent her from being as mentally and physically powerful as Promethea.
Obviously Wonder Woman comics and Promethea comics are on completely different levels. Kraemer says in her essay, "While most readers are accustomed to reading comics for fast-moving plot and broadly drawn characters, these issues require slow meditation and immersion in the art." This really goes along with what we have been talking about in class because just one page alone can be analyzed for days. This comic book contains so much insight and symbolism and can almost be considered a more mature version of Wonder Woman comics. While Wonder Woman can entertain you for an hour or so, Promethea can keep you thinking for weeks and even years.
This is an interesting comparison between Promethea and Wonder Woman. I have never really thought about Promethea being the more advanced, modern interpretation of Wonder Woman, but in a way she could be. Promethea has never been tied down by stereotypes in the same way as Wonder Woman, so she is free to be a more liberated woman. But it seems that some of this is related to the characters themselves just as much as the writers. Though Alan Moore does seem to be more progressive than Charles Moulton, Wonder Woman has a different persona than Promethea as a more hokey, family-friendly kind of heroine rather than a social commentary as Promethea is in many ways. Wonder Woman is meant to be entertaining more than she is deep, just as Promethea is the other way around.
ReplyDeleteAdding on to Rachel's point, it must be noted that Wonder Woman was created in 1941 by Charles Moulton while Promethea was created in 1999 by Alan Moore. Both the age in which these two super heroines were created as well as the author's upbringings definitely played a role in the characters' personalities. I think that newer versions of Wonder Woman, such as "The Circle" by Gail Simone that we read in class, are portraying a new stronger and more intelligent Diana Prince. While I think it might be hard to have Promethea as Wonder Woman's role model, I definitely think Promethea could be used as a role model for future super heroines to be created.
ReplyDeleteI completely agree with Winnie's comment about how Promethea would be a good role model for future superheroines. Although Promethea seems to be a much deeper character than most other superheroines, she is composed of multiple individuals, and therefore has knowledge and ideas spanning centuries. Because of that alone, it's quite hard to compare Wonder Woman and Promethea.
ReplyDeleteI'm not sure if we can put Promethea and Wonder Woman next to each other. The purposes of these two comics seem completely different. Wonder Woman is the typical super hero whose purpose is to be strong and impressive and save the world from evil. Promethea focuses more on the concepts of the Material world and the Immateria and reality. The superhero aspect is almost secondary.
ReplyDeleteTo me, this seems a little bit like when people try to compare Twilight to Harry Potter. Since they're both such big book-to-film franchises, people seem to categorize them together, even though they're incredibly different. Twilight's story takes place in our present world, whereas J.K. Rowling (author of Harry Potter) creates a whole new world through her books. In this situation, Wonder Woman seems a little like Twilight, and Promethea like Harry Potter. Wonder Woman is a character incorporated into our world that provides entertainment and some empowerment for women. Promethea provides for new ways of thinking, creates new worlds, and is much more intellectually stimulating.
ReplyDeleteI think the comments posted here accurately point out that Wonder Woman shouldn't be compared to Promethea. However, I just want to further support such a statement by adding the idea that the authors' motives behind creating these two respective comics differed greatly and most probably also contribute to the major character differences.
ReplyDeleteWonder Woman is the prototype that Promethea is based off of. Both of them are mythologically-based superwomen, both are more than and less then human- WW is a essentially a golem, shaped clay given life through the blessing of Greek Gods. Promethea is mythology cloaked in human flesh. As a result, they both seem to be too perfect for the world they live in.
ReplyDeleteThere are many pastiches of Superman, Batman, and to a lesser extent Spider-Man. But very few attempts at create a modern interpretation of WW.