COVER:
Unfortunately this image doesn't quite match the contents of the issue. By the time Sophie turns into Promethea Tom Strong has already removed his portable helicopter backpack and they don't both fly in the sky at the same time. However it does match the Superman vs. Spiderman cover very nicely
Thanks to Ross Andru can be read on the roof of one of the buildings
If you have Adobe Acrobat then you can view the b&w image of this cover here Thanks to John D. Coyle for the image
The cover is a hommage to this cover
Superman vs. Spiderman
The main differences are
The greatest superhero team-up of all time! becomes
The greatest science hero team-up of all time!
The Battle of the Century becomes
The Meeting of the Millenium
"Amazing" is replaced by "Terrific"
The creators names (Moore, Williams III, Gray, Cox and Klein) are now visible and the original building structure is replaced by the Stronghold
The Tom Strong Issue #21 which was published around the same time as this one had images of America's Best (including Promethea) on the cover.
Issue #21 Oct 2003 Release date 20 August 2003
It is a hommage to the cover of Fantastic Four #26 published in May 1964
Promethea gets a grand total of just 3 lines in this issue.
Answering Tom Stone saying
"...but there's another outfit I'm already committed to." by saying
"Now honey, that's just a fib! We're the only science-team since the big lay-off in 1949" pg. 12 panel 3
telling the Modular Man
"Oh, you brute! You're lucky I'm the nice Promethea!" pg 15 panel 1
and answering Tom's assertion of
"We just don't like each other, so we contrive these ridiculous brawls over cases of mistaken identity" with
"Cobweb, honey, maybe they've got a point. This is all mostly aimless violence..."
to which Cobweb replies
"Well, honestly! You say that like there's something wrong with it!" pg 15 panels 3 and 4
The cover of Tom Strong #22 (or if you prefer Tom Stone #3) entitled Crisis in Infinite Hearts is a tribute to George Perez cover for Crisis on Infinite Earths shows Tom Stone holding the dead Dahlua whilst all around numerous other members of the Tom Strong universe (including Promethea mourn her death).
It is labelled after Perez and is based on George Perez cover for Crisis on Infinite Earths cover #7 October 1985 (The Death of Supergirl issue)
Although she does not have any dialogue Promethea is seen on the top panel of page 14 battling in the air with the Americanized version of Ingrid Weiss
TITLE: Thanks to Jay Babcock for pointing out that the title is the title of a song (and the primary lyric) on the fourth
song from
the Captain Beefheart 1972 album "The Spotlight Kid." This would be a
record Alan
would be familiar with -- that's his prime music period...
Click on the link above for the lyrics to the entire album
SYNOPSIS:
Sophie turns into Promethea and evades both Tom Strong and the FBI. After saying farewell to her boyfriend she heads off for New York City. Tom Strong decided to reconvene America's Best to deal with the situation. In New York everyone gathers outside as Promethea approaches.
The original advertising blurb for this issue ran as follows
An ABC crossover, as Tom Strong makes a guest appearance! Sophie Bangs, still in Millennium City, lives a quiet but happy life. She's left the guise of science-heroine behind and now revels in routine daily pleasures. But all things must pass, and that time has come for Sophie! The subject of an intensive manhunt for the last three years, she's been traced to Millennium — where a confrontation with Tom Strong forces her to once again take on the form of Promethea...no matter what the cost!
QUOTES:
“Sophie, please. I’m Tom Strong. I don’t get things wrong” – Tom Strong, pg.2
“She doesn’t have a choice. It’s not what she intends or doesn’t intend. That’s why I’m never turning into her again. I don’t want to do it. I don’t want to end the world” – Sophie, pg 3
“I’m only, like twenty or something. I c-can’t take all this stuff…” – Sophie, pg 3
“Sophie, please. You have to believe me. I didn’t alert the media…” – Tom Strong
“You’re seven feet tall in a bright red shirt and you were chasing me! Of course you alerted the media! Now everything’s screwed!” – Promethea, pg 5
“Look if you’re serious about not wanting to be Promethea again, why not explain that to the F.B.I.?” – Tom Strong
“You are so dumb. They’re so scared of her, they’ll shoot me just to make sure.” – Sophie, pg 5
“Sophie, look, if you’re thinking of turning into Promethea…All I’m saying is, I can stop you before you have time to scribble a drawing or whatever you do.” – Tom Strong
“I don’t need all that anymore. This is on you. Y- you’re making me do this.” – Sophie, pg 7
“A-agent Breughel, somebody must have loaded our guns with…uh, well, with butterflies.” – FBI Man
“Th-those are moths” – Karen Breughel, pg 10
“I am the final fire. Make things right with yourself, Tom Strong. Make things right with God. My time is come” – Promethea, pg 10
“Our whole recapture operation is finished!”- Lucille Ball
“Agent Ball, I…I—I think everything’s finished.” – Tom Strong, pg 11
“W-we have to get some F-115’s in the air, bring her down…” – Lucille Ball
“Really? And what happens when she turns your jets into flocks of parakeets?” – Tom Strong, pg 12
“Agent Breughel, this is no longer a federal case. This is the end of the world. Go be with your loved ones.” – Tom Strong, pg 13
“No Carl, not Joey. But yes, it’s me” – Promethea, pg 14
“It’s always happening. Everything’s always happening” – Promethea, pg 14
“You’re out of my league now, right?” – Carl, pg 14
“Yes” – Promethea
“That’s Okay. J-Joey you…you always were” – Carl, pg 15
“A lot of people will hurt themselves. And yes. Yes, you deserve it. I love you so much, Carl. I love all of you so much” – Promethea, pg 14
“..you’re like the horniest thing I’ve ever seen, and.. and I feel like I’m talking with my mom” – Carl, pg 15
“…there is no afterwards. Farewell, my love. I’ll see you in time” – Promethea, pg 15
“I’m doing what has to be done. I’m going to find out if John Merritt Ray is still alive. And then I’m reconvening America’s Best” – Tom Strong, pg 17
“..and with one coalition soldier killed each day since the war’s end nearly two months ago…” – Newscaster, pg 20
“She’ll be riding sick white horseflesh, I mean Whore’s flesh, but don’t let me BABBLE ON…” – Smee, pg 21
“…hasn’t this happened before? Right before my big revelation” – Marv, pg 22
“Holy Christ, Holy Cow, Holy Grail. Holy S**! Holy Mother, Holy Bible, Holy Babble, Holy Holy Holy Lord God Almighty…” – Smee, pg 23
NOTES & ANNOTATIONS:
Slightly better but still not finished version
First online review at The Trades
Another review from the Fourth Rail giving it 10 out of 10
Note that for the first 7 (almost 8) pages the panels have a clear white background
Page 1 Panel 1: Not sure where this is supposed to be or why the men in decontamination suits are spraying the people sitting down
Note signs: 32, Smoke Player(s), PB, World Wide, FRC, ACTOR, Soda, 711
John O'Neil adds I'm guessing this is a scene in Picadilly Circus, as the 'PB' sign is
obviously a play on the 'BP' of British Petroleum. The men in white
suits
seem to be decontaminating people after some sort of terrorist
biological or
chemical or dirty nuclear attack. Another 'sign of the times.' The
reference
to BP might be meant to link terrorist action to oil exploitation, but
in
all probability, its just there to tell us this is England.
Philip Graves also points to the double decker bus and a few other interesting observations A double
decker bus that automatically suggests: London. The men in
decontamination suits could then be signifying a chemical/biological
attack. I *think* that there was a 'trial run' in the Underground
during the last couple of months.. but... could be anywhere!
Notice not just the obvious signs, but the positioning on the left.
The clocks both show 7.55 [possibly 6.55], and the left hand one is
in an arrow *pointing* to the 32!
Panel 2: This image reminds me of Kubrick’s Dr. Strangelove but it’s been years since I saw it. Does anyone know if “This is not a drill” is ever heard on the soundtrack?
Panel 4: Probably in Africa somewhere and also reminiscent of the Promethea prologue in Issue #1. Alexandria 411 AD Panel 5: Note the Zepellin in the sky
Page 2 Panel 2: Joey Estrada. Sophie took the surname of her dead father Panel 4: Note the birds in the sky
Page 3 Panel 6: Presumably MBC stands for Millenium Broadcasting Corporation Page 5 Panel 4: Note birds in the background Page 6 Panels 1 and 4: More birds in background Page 6 Panel 2: Either Sophie is lying or else she can’t remember images from her dream/nightmare in the last issue Pages 8-9: As Promethea appears so does her sun symbol, the chalice overflowing and some moths
Also note that the clear white background is finally replaced by the usually unusual Promethea background Pages 10-11: TL writes the double page 10/11 in Promethea # 27 reminds me of the story "the perils of Dhalua" in Tom Strong # 9. Dhalua has a vision ordeal in the volcano where she sees a vision of Chukultheh. Chukulteh is shown as a "chiseled crystal sphere that seemed to have too many sides, to many faces... I understood that every face was but a different way in which men know Chukulteh... And somewhere in this heavenly jewel, somewhere in the play of light and meaning through its million sides... there was chukulteh."
it's a kind of mandala, I think it stands for the divine nature of Promethea.
Page 10: Dave Clark thinks that Alan Moore must watch Buffy the Vampire Slayer as Buffy makes butterflies come from a machine gun in the penultimate episode of
season 4.
but Travis Smith has written to me that
on the DVD Commentary on the particular fourth season episode
referred to, "Primeval," the show's creators admit that they are doing
an
homage to Promethea when they give Buffy magical powers that include
turning live ammunition into doves. While she possesses these powers,
furthermore, her eyes go all white.
Page 14 Panel 1: We learn the name of Joeys’ boyfriend – Carl Middle Panel: Note the Aeon Magazine and Pizza box on the floor Page 17: "Val" = Val Var Garm Tesla's boyfriend, the living Magma creature (first seen in Tom Strong #8 [Sparks] and first named in Tom Strong #15).
"Indigo"[City]=Home of the Cobweb (and now, Greyshirt.) "Coffeeburg"=Home of Splash Brannigan.
John Merritt Ray is Johnny Future Page 18: The last time we saw the Smee was in Issue #22. He's a bit more articulate this time Page 18 bottom panel: Nice head of the Statue of Liberty
"She’ll take Manhattan" from the song Manhattan by Rodgers and Hart first used in 1925 in the show "The Garrick Gaieties" but more famous in a version by Frank Sinatra
Thanks to Philip Graves for adding the following information If you have a look at this page
it would appear that it "is a
masterpiece because of its simplicity. Of the song's 32 bars, 16 are
exactly the same." Thirty-Two, eh?! Also.. "“Manhattan” has but one
verse and one refrain, yet while the verse is sung just once, the
refrain's melody is sung four times — each with a completely
differently set of lyrics." Sounds a lot like 'She'll be coming round
the mountain'... compare the lines from pages 22-23. There are four
different sets of lyrics to She'll Be Comin' Round The Mountain, too. (Or else it's a line
from "First We'll Take Manhattan" by Leonard Cohen..)
Pages 20-21 Centre Panel: A beautiful image of Promethea. Note that her sun symbol now also has a third eye Page 20: Ari Flesicher resigned as White House Press Secretary in May 2003 Panel 3: Sophie's mother is drinking Aloha Water
Philip Graves adds Ali Fleischer apparantly announces a state of Red Alert
because of Promethea. Ironic then that Promethea now has a middle-
eastern appearance... it looks like the bottled water is 'Aloha
Water'. Interesting choice of title, since the references to glasses
and water seem to signal a "Goodbye"!
Page 21: Sick white horseflesh
sounds like one of the steeds being ridden by the 4 Horsemen of the Apocalypse. Maybe Pestilence Page 21 Panel 2: Note the signs (Heart) Love? Club, L32, Pro Panel 3: SARS stands for Severy Acute Respiratory Syndrome
Philip Graves adds SARS, like the Iraqi war was touted as being THE signal of
worldwide death and doom. Both then 'finished' with much, much less
loss of life than had been pessimistically predicted. However.
Equally similarly, both have been pronounced 'over', but keep
resurfacing..
Page 22 Panels 2 and 4: Rotten Bin Laden graffitti on the Weeping Gorilla poster
Obviously a reference to Ossama Bin Laden Panel 3: Sophie’s mother is now drinking Naive Water Thanks to Origami for pointing out that
Naive water was a joke back in the eighties when bottled water was just coming onto the market. Evian was naive spelled backwards. Panel 5: I wonder which member dropped out of the 5 Swell Guys to make it just 4?
Philip graves suggests Bob or Kenneth. Kenneth they were saying was
having marriage problems, and they thought he was failing in his
predictions. Bob seems to have been trying to chat up Roger, which
was not welcomed.. [#11] maybe s/he put her/his foot down..?!
My guess is Kenneth but I could be wrong. Middle Panel: The wall or road leading up to Malkuth is starting to break apart with Dazzling white light behind it. Page 23 Panel 2: "Holy Holy Holy Lord God Almighty..." is a Lutheran hymn by Reginald Herber. Lutheran Hymnal #246. Click on the title for the full text Page 24: I don’t recognize most of these people though the one down the bottom left looks a bit like Henry Royce
Also visible amidst T-shirt images, jackets and tattoos are a naked blonde woman, a fish, an alien face (Communion?), the number 10, a TV set, a dragon and a skull on fire. The naked man looks a bit like Steve Shelley. Anyone want to guess about some of the other people visible?
Next: Don't they know it's the end of the World
(It ended when you said goodbye)
are the last two lines of a song entitled The End of the World
with music by Arthur Kent and lyrics by Sylvia Dee. Artists who have covered it include Hermans Hermits, The Carpenters, Skeeter Davis and Vonda Shepard
