Brandon Graham’s Prophet

Emperor · 26 December, 2011, 04:30:41 PM

Spotted this a bit ago and was meaning to start a thread as it sounds like it could be right up a 2000AD fan's alley:

QuotePROPHET was a comics series by Rob Liefeld in the 1990s, from Image Comics. I've never read it. It ended at issue 20.

Recently, Rob Liefeld licensed a bunch of his old properties, including PROPHET, back to Image, where Eric Stephenson began matching them to creative teams with carte blanche to reimagine them.

I was, shall we say, skeptical. And possibly slightly scathing. Then Eric emailed me and told me exactly who he'd convinced to reinvent these properties. Which did actually shut me up a bit.

Brandon Graham is the writer/artist of acclaimed comics like KING CITY and MULTIPLE WARHEADS. Simon Roy is the writer/artist of the justly applauded JAN'S ATOMIC HEART. Both of these are off-kilter, very modern urban science fictions. In PROPHET, Brandon writes for Simon, and what is produced is something as close to classic French science-fiction comics as I've seen in a long time, with a hard edge of contemporary strangeness ground into it.

And it's very, very good comics.

...

What PROPHET by Brandon and Simon is, for me, is the best new science fiction comic since CASANOVA. It's more linear than that book, and not as highly compressed, but it is rich, highly inventive, lustrous and a completely entertaining reading experience. I really hope it finds an audience, because I want more of this book, and I recommend it to you without reservation.

www.warrenellis.com/?p=13549 - also contains lots of pictures

I'm sold.

Emperor · 26 December, 2011, 04:34:17 PM

Preview pages:

www.comicsalliance.com/2011/10/18/prophet-preview-brandon-graham-extreme-studios/

Interviews with Brandon Graham:

www.comicbookresources.com/?page=article&id=35435
www.imagecomics.com/blog/14512668152/brandon-graham-talks-prophet

The Adventurer · 26 December, 2011, 09:06:16 PM

Brandon Graham is a god damn genius (those that haven't read his Image series King City need too) I generally avoid Rob Liefeld productions like the plague, but with Brandon Graham on the case I'm all over this. Definitely a series for the 2000 AD set.

Spikes · 26 December, 2011, 10:40:32 PM

Never come across this title before, but it looks great. Gonna have to investigate this further methinks.

Emperor · 27 December, 2011, 02:07:15 AM

Quote from: The Adventurer on 26 December, 2011, 09:06:16 PM
Brandon Graham is a god damn genius (those that haven't read his Image series King City need too)

Pity it is going for big bucks on Amazon

[edit: Ah there is a no edition coming out in March but this one collects the complete series:

www.amazon.com/KING-CITY-TP-Brandon-Graham/dp/160706510X/

The Adventurer · 27 December, 2011, 03:10:01 AM

Yeah there's a collected edition solicited this month. Should be a really nice chunky trade. Also, he had a short story in this month's Dark Horse Presents(7) that was really really clever.

ghostpockets · 28 December, 2011, 03:47:10 AM

So excited for this! Brandon's drawing one of the issues himself and this just popped up on deviantart.... http://royalboiler.deviantart.com/art/Prophet-map-276055692

Emperor · 10 January, 2012, 06:15:59 PM

Here is a bit of background on how it all comes together:

www.warrenellis.com/?p=13601

Evil Pants · 12 January, 2012, 06:00:28 AM

Just saw Brandon today....he mentioned that starting soon (didn't say which issue this would start with), there's going to be a back-up feature in each issue. It'll be done by a different creator in each issue, and the subject matter will be subject to that creator's discretion, and will be NOT connected to Prophet at all. He also mentioned that Giannis Milonogiannis would be doing 6 issues in total. He seemed to be excited about it coming out next week.

Davek · 12 January, 2012, 09:36:48 AM

Prophet sounds good. This will be the first ongoing comic title I will begin buying after a long break (have only read collected stories and one-shots in recent years).

Evil Pants · 16 January, 2012, 06:17:07 PM

Only 2 days left...Preview is now up at CBR:

http://www.comicbookresources.com/?page=article&id=36435

Evil Pants · 18 January, 2012, 10:21:20 PM

Just read it. And it's gorgeous.

I think that for people who love 2000AD (so basically anyone reading this), this is a no-brainer. It's the beginning of a straight forward, though compelling, sci-fi adventure story, but Graham resists the urge to fill the book with exposition. John Prophet's current journey is what's important here, and so we must be satisfied with following that. The rest will come later, but thankfully Graham gives us just enough to make us trust him that more info is forthcoming.

The art is quite beautiful. There's some Moebius, some Guy Davis, and Simon Roy shows that the talent he showed in Jan's Atomic Heart was just the tip of the iceberg.

In short, I kind of loved this book. I'm a little stunned that we now have 3 (along with Casanova, and Spaceman) top notch North American sci-fi comics on the market.

Davek · 18 January, 2012, 11:25:19 PM

Have been assured that this will be at my LCS to pick up on Saturday. Looking forward to it.

The Adventurer · 20 January, 2012, 10:07:33 PM

Finally took a moment to read this (I'd been sitting on in since Wednesday trying to savor it). And gat'DAMN did it not disappoint. Brandon Graham is in rare form, you can feel his King City style of storytelling oozing out of every scene, and Simon Roy manages to capture that particular style to a 'T'. Which is quite impressive in its own right.

This book just ticks every box for me when it comes to Science Fiction. Well thought out world building? Check. Reeks of Pathos? Check. Completely bonkers characters, places, and creatures? Check. Mystery and adventure and action? Check. Check. and Check!

Everything about this book excites me. The fact that this sort of book exists, and is pulling down some serious hype, excites me. 22 can't come fast enough.

Evil Pants · 21 January, 2012, 12:21:29 AM

Quote from: The Adventurer on 20 January, 2012, 10:07:33 PM
Finally took a moment to read this (I'd been sitting on in since Wednesday trying to savor it). And gat'DAMN did it not disappoint. Brandon Graham is in rare form, you can feel his King City style of storytelling oozing out of every scene, and Simon Roy manages to capture that particular style to a 'T'. Which is quite impressive in its own right.

This book just ticks every box for me when it comes to Science Fiction. Well thought out world building? Check. Reeks of Pathos? Check. Completely bonkers characters, places, and creatures? Check. Mystery and adventure and action? Check. Check. and Check!

Everything about this book excites me. The fact that this sort of book exists, and is pulling down some serious hype, excites me. 22 can't come fast enough.

Nice! You should check out Simon's Jan's Atomic Heart if you get a chance. Beautiful black and white sci-fi graphic novel...the guy is a fantastic storyteller.