By Patrick Wolf
Prometheus is the ancient Greek Titan who stole fire from the gods and gave it to humankind. In many ways, creator Ryan Little and his team are trying to do something similar in bestowing the public with some good old-fashioned revenge entertainment. While Little’s work isn’t quite as grand as the advent of fire, it’s still pretty good and certainly worth a flip-through. I just hope his Prometheus doesn’t meet the same fate as the Titan who inspired it.
After enduring eons of torture from the gods, the mythical Prometheus returns to Earth only to discover humankind has done little with the gifts he bestowed upon them. Now, he’s on a mission to find the old gods to take back what’s his. But the old gods have changed, and the new world’s not what Prometheus expected. Can he adapt to a culture that’s moved-on long after his downfall?
As the Synopsis suggests, Prometheus is a pretty solid read. It’s a well-structured, entertaining story that follows all the rules and makes no mistakes. If you read this title, I guarantee you won’t hate it, but you won’t love it either. The problem is Prometheus just doesn’t pack enough emotional punch to make readers want more. All we get is a bloodied demigod who wanders around the city and beats up various people. At one point, we get a flashback of some of his torture scenes, but since he endures punishment with little less than a shrug, our sympathy for him is significantly diminished. Perhaps in future issues, we’ll be able to identify with him more, but for now, he’s just another stoic tough guy out for revenge.
Speaking of revenge, it’s not even clear if that’s Prometheus’ goal. Throughout the issue, Prometheus just wanders about aimlessly—almost like a Spawn-type character who ‘just wants to be left alone.' Yet, later in the issue, he tracks down Apollo and smacks him around. So, you start thinking; he’s out for revenge. But, then, at the end of the story, Prometheus declares he’s “Going to get his fire back!” So, which is it? Does Prometheus want revenge, his fire back, or to be left alone? Maybe he wants all three? The problem is it’s never clear what his goal exactly is, so we’re not really sure what the story’s about. Perhaps in the next issue, we’ll find out, but for now, we’re in the dark.
Another element that’s also a little shady is the credibility of the plot. There are just way too many coincidences and ‘nice people’ for the narrative to be believable. Throughout this first issue, Prometheus—a bloodied, menacing-looking guy—runs into several people. Scary, right? Not in this world. Here, everyone does whatever they can to help him. One of the guys even lets Prometheus to stay at his home. I don’t know about you, but if some homeless guy came to my house covered in blood, telling me he’s a god, I’d be slamming the door pretty quick.
But, perhaps the biggest coincidence occurs when Prometheus asks some random guy to tell him who’s the ‘true god’ of Earth. The guy’s answer is pretty funny because in the next scene we see Prometheus outside an investment bank. At first, I chuckled—thinking, ‘Hey this story has a sense of humor,' but then Prometheus actually goes to an investment bank and finds Apollo there. I’m sorry, but if someone’s going to add detective elements to their story, I’m going to need more slightly more complex deductions to tickle my fancy. I sorry, but ‘Hey bro, where do gods hang out?’ just doesn’t cut it for me anymore.
I know I’ve been a little harsh with this comic, but in all fairness, it’s actually a fairly decent story. I just wish the narrative did a little more to grab my attention. Otherwise, Prometheus is a solid read that may prove to be more exciting in future issues. If you’re interested in funding the Kickstarter, I’d say go for it as long as you’re okay with Greek-gods and shaky starts.
SCORE: 3/5
Prometheus #1
Writer: Ryan Little
Artist: Chris Shehan
Colorist: Yuan Cakra