Oliver Davis reviews Prophet #42…
After its terrific issue 41 (and, to be honest, every installment prior to that), Prophet #42 acts as a filler episode, taking a break from the series’ climactic battle to tell a story from Diehard’s millennia-spanning life. The comic’s usual writer and artist – Brandon Graham and Giannis Milonogiannis, respectively – have an issue-long sojourn, too, passing over story, art and colours responsibilities to Ron Wimberly.
The change doesn’t jar as much as you would think, thanks to rotating creative team Prophet has established for itself: a different artist is used to draw each of the main ‘Johns’. It lends to the book’s distinctive visual bow, to which Wimberly adds yet another string.
His style is a palette of pastels; light blues, greens, oranges and yellows. Shapes are made abstract through their lack of detail, and the frequent extreme close-ups demand a studied glance. It slows down the pace of the read considerably, making you ponder and work to uncover a meaning.
The story itself is told by Diehard, of when he had TAKEN UP WITH THE KOXO PEOPLE IN THE STEPS OF THE RELATIVELY OBSCURE PLANETOID D314159. The Koxos are a tiny race, no bigger than Diehard’s head in scale, but they have accepted him. They are in danger, though, from the Human Empire mining their planet’s MOTHER’S MILK (a hallucinogenic metaphor for oil).
Although the writing isn’t as poetic as Graham’s, the art is a delight. The Human Empire is given a tad more context as the great enemy, a positioning that is sometimes forgotten by the poetic lyricism of Graham’s issues.
#42 is a decent filler issue, but, ultimately, it is still a filler issue. Make the most of them, though. There are only three more Prophets left in this recent revival.
Oliver Davis is one of Flickering Myth’s co-editors. You can follow him on Twitter @OliDavis.
Originally published January 22, 2014. Updated November 28, 2022.
