Prophet, Volume 5: Earth War

Prophet #5

by Brandon Graham (Writer), Simon Roy (Writer, Artist), Giannis Milonogiannis (Artist)

The epic conclusion to Prophet!
A clone general goes against his Brain-Mother overlords to gain control of an alien egg.
Collecting: Prophet: Earth War 1-6

Genres: Comics, Graphic Novels, Science Fiction, Comic Book, Graphic Novels Comics, Space Opera, Fantasy

168 pages, Paperback

First published October 18, 2016

About the author

Brandon Graham (born 1976) is an American comic book creator.

Born in Oregon, Graham grew up in Seattle, Washington, where he was a graffiti artist. He wrote and illustrated comic books for Antarctic Press and Radio Comix, but got his start drawing pornographic comics like Pillow Fight and Multiple Warheads (Warheads would go on to become its own comic published by Oni Press in 2007). In 1997, he moved to New York City where he found work with NBM Publishing and became a founding member of comics collective Meathaus. His book Escalator was published by Alternative Comics in January 2005, when he returned to Seattle. His book King City was published by Tokyopop in 2007 and was nominated for an Eisner Award. In May 2009 Graham announced that King City would continue publication at Image Comics and his Oni Press title Multiple Warheads would resume publication after a delay, this time in color. Also at Image he is the writer on Prophet, the return of a 1990s series, with the rotating roster of artists Giannis Milonogiannis, Farel Dalrymple, Simon Roy, and himself.

(Source: Wikipedia)

Reviews

[Ed · Rating 5 out of 5]

Beautiful, baffling science fiction space opera. I could never tell what was going on and I loved every second of it.

[Alex Sarll]

The grand finale to the fabulously strange far-future epic, though more of it is lower key than I'd expected, given the scale of what we've seen before. I'm going to miss this comic, though far better it make a suitable ending like this than ever allow its cavalcade of weird wonders to stale.

[Anton · Rating 4 out of 5]

What a magnificent end to the series. Graham does not compromise one iota in terms of the qualities that made the first volume so compelling for me, qualities I wouldn't exactly describe as "commercial." The conclusion opens new vistas and introduces new species of weirdness, while still providing a satisfying enough sense of closure. A series as engaging and imaginative as this doesn't deserve a neat ending, a tying up of loose ends, an answer to all its questions. It deserves something grander: Space to make the universe feel even bigger and weirder. Which Graham delivers.

[Jesse A · Rating 5 out of 5]

A wonderful end to a crazy as hell series.

[Craig · Rating 2 out of 5]

It's pretty, though the art can be incredibly variable from one page to the next. I've appreciated the attempt throughout this series to come up with something truly weird, truly alien. Not sure it's always worked that well, though. Much of Prophet has skirted the edge of the incomprehensible, and I'm not sure this conclusion really sticks the landing.

[Jesús · Rating 3 out of 5]

The final volume is a step backwards for what has been a wild, weird ride overall. More of a coda or epilogue rather than a proper conclusion, Earth War returns to the familiar weirdness of the first volume, but with little of the first volume’s inventiveness or brilliant shocks.

[fonz · Rating 2 out of 5]

Una de las mejores series de ciencia ficción y superhéroes de los últimos años queda "resuelta" de una forma apresurada y absurda. Arranca con una subtrama metida con calzador, la de los Cristales, que se come lo que se supone era la trama principal, la batalla final entre los Prophets libres y el Imperio, y finaliza con uno de los más burdos "deus ex machina" que haya visto en muchos años. Completamente inexplicable para mí como Graham y compañía han cerrado la serie (aunque el final queda abierto para posibles continuaciones) de esta manera tan apresurada y tan de cualquier manera, sinceramente no entiendo lo que ha podido ocurrir a no ser que otras tareas o proyectos les hayan quitado el tiempo necesario para terminar Prophet como Dios manda. Queda algún buen momento, como la aparición de una Glory salida del interesante reboot de Keatinge y Campbell, y, sobre todo, las nueve páginas finales del último número, páginas que recuerdan los hitos de esta historia que ha abarcado decenas de miles de años y un escenario inmenso, un cosmos tremendamente extraño, fascinante y enormemente imaginativo, en el que han convergido el manga, los superhéroes, Jack Kirby, los "primitivos cósmicos" y el tebeo de ciencia ficción a lo Metal Hurlant. Nueve páginas maravillosas que agudizan la decepción que produce el resto del volumen, porque la trayectoria de la serie hasta este último número era una progresión ascendente de locura y potencia imaginativa como hacía tiempo no veía en un tebeo de ciencia ficción.

[Allie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Brandon Graham's run on Prophet was one of the best ongoing series I've ever read - taking a defunct Rob Liefeld property (yes, that Rob Liefeld) and running it through a transformative filter of art comics and experimental sci-fi. The superlative art, writing, and visual structure of Prophet really shows what comics can do, and how at their best they can tell stories in a way unique to their medium.

This final volume of Prophet, which I collected far after the series ended and as I was scrambling to find those final issues, maintains that beauty and structure but is slightly weakened by a relatively anti-climatic ending that undercuts the complex, building tension of the earlier series. But, in the end, who really cares about plot when we're left with a world so distinctive and enduring?

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[Shannon Appelcline · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ah, Prophet, it's hard to know what to think of ye. This is certainly a conclusion, but this was a comic so complex and convoluted that it's hard to really understand what's going on. Maybe if I read it another time? I dunno.

I think I liked it. There were certainly great ideas and magnificent concepts that melded science-fiction and superheroes. It was like reading a Heavy Metal comic split up over three years.

But it was also weighed down by its own complexity.

[Justin Covey · Rating 4 out of 5]

I again use the final TPB as a synecdoche for the whole run. Top notch stuff, possibly the only comic I've read to out-weird Grant Morrison without nosediving into incoherence. With stronger characters it would have been a 5-star.

[Joseph · Rating 5 out of 5]

Always sprawling. Always baffling. Always Brilliant.

[Leif · Rating 4 out of 5]

Excellent ending to something I am actually comfortable calling "epic".

[Kars · Rating 5 out of 5]

I somehow never got around to finishing Graham’s run on Prophet. Back when I discovered the series the guy almost singlehandedly rekindled my love for the form. Funny, sexy, humane, brutal, with a range of art that is always interesting to look at, this remains a favourite sci-fi epic to dip into. A shame it’s over.

[Jason Scott · Rating 5 out of 5]

does the resolution to the story live up to the journey? No, not really. But the concluding montage is just perfect in that it shows that this story is just part of the endless story of history and that it really has no beginning and now end.

Yeah, I'll probably check out anything Brandon Graham writes. The characters are enigmas but yet there's a depth to them that is shown in subtleties.

This series just worked, even though it was crazy and you kind of read it not know what what going on it.

Even though I never read Youngblood, I love how he took the constraints of that story and just went out there.

[C. Varn · Rating 5 out of 5]

A great run

This re-imagining of Prophet gives the arcs a story that feels like the wilder and more inventive periods of French sci-fi comics, and this arc gives this run of Prophet a proper ending. The art is great and consistent with Graham's vision. Highly endorsed.

[Kenny · Rating 4 out of 5]

Thus endeth the millennium spanning epic of the Prophet. Mindblowing Druillet style.

[Matt · Rating 5 out of 5]

I don't think I was meant to understand this.

[Titus · Rating 3 out of 5]

I have to say I'm a bit disappointed with this, considering how much I've loved the rest of the series. This final volume feels kind of rushed – a jarring contrast with the meandering pace hitherto. Loads happens with too little time taken to build atmosphere or tension, or to really get me invested. The ending also just feels a bit flat. I guess I shouldn't be surprised that the series's culmination and conclusion don't wow me, considering that the overarching plot has always been the least interesting aspect to me, and to be honest I've barely been able to keep track of it.

Nevertheless, this isn't a total car crash. Awesome artwork and some cool concepts manage to keep the whole thing moderately entertaining. It's not on a par with what came before, but it's still pretty good, and it definitely doesn't ruin the series as a whole, which I still highly recommend.

[Rick Ray · Rating 3 out of 5]

The immense world-building of Brandon Graham's take on Prophet comes to a head with "Earth War", a six-issue miniseries meant to serve as the coda to the main run. The many clones of John Prophet have served as both savior and villain throughout the series, as we learn about the history of the Earth Empire through the lens of different version of Prophet. The culmination of all this is a epic clash between factions, heightened by the eclectic sci-fi concepts created by Graham and company. The story here is a bit rushed and convoluted, though the ending itself is pretty good. I do think this series has benefitted more from intriguing concepts and great ideas more than it has from plot and characters, so asking for an emotionally resonant conclusion is asking for a bit much. Nonetheless, the final volume caps off a solid ending to one of the all-time great sci-fi comics.

[Devero · Rating 3 out of 5]

Ok, sembra che il personaggio, nel nome, sia quello creato da Liefeld.
La storia è tutta un'altra cosa. Vero che essendo il quinto volume e non avendo letto ne saputo nulla dei primi quattro si fa un poco di fatica, all'inizio, a capire come stanno le cose. In realtà è una storia di fantascienza abbastanza hard e con molta biotecnologia. Diciamo che trasmette sensazioni sia del Miyazaki di Nausicaa, sia della mia recente lettura dei Custodi Del Maser di Frezzato. Questo sopratutto nello stile dei disegni, comunque ispirati anche a Moebius. E nel linguaggio, volutamente costruito in modo tecno-biologico e alieno.
Comunque si è dimostrata una buona lettura e, considerando lo spiazzamento iniziale, merita le 3 stelle. Magari risicate, ma le merita

[Bob Comparda · Rating 4 out of 5]

The final volume in the Prophet saga had a little bit more of a storyline than the previous volumes, centered on the Earth War, but that doesn't mean it was any easier to figure out what was happening. Wildly imaginative sci-fi series, Brandon Graham and Simon Roy come up with concepts far beyond what most of us ever could. The tools and technology that are in this comic that don't exist (yet) are mind boggling. The alien species are gnarly. The story is complex but even if you're having a hard time following along you can still appreciate and be mesmerized by the incredible artwork. I could not recommend this series more to fans of sci-fi.

[Sean Edgar · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'm not sure how much I understood this volume beyond the broad strokes, but this ends on a nice note of ambitious multi-millennia storylines converging. This entire project was a heady Moebius/Jodorowsky-fueled experiment, filtered through American comics hyperbole. In my last review I noted that having a core group of rotating artists helped immensely with the storytelling (one style per set of characters). Grim Wilkins is a great addition, though, whose style shares a lot of the soft European curves of Graham.

[Mike · Rating 5 out of 5]

This might be as close to a perfect comic series as any mine can get!! The story is mind-blowing and blue reveals the reader to the universe that is being created as it’s read. By volume 4, everything comes together more clearly while still leaving lots of mystery. The characters are brilliant, the universe that is created is brilliant, the battle of protagonists, antagonists and those just caught in the middle is brilliant.

The artwork is unbelievably great!! I originally picked this up because the picture of John Prophet in the underground pod looked like Nathan Explosion (from Metalocalypse) in a spaceship. Vol 1 does a great job introducing different prophets and each artist unique style with each storyline written by a different author. By Vol 3, the art and storylines are blended together is a wonderfully psychedelic way to create one of the best space operas I’ve e we experienced. This series could very well be the GOAT of graphic novels!!

[Gabriel · Rating 5 out of 5]

Este libro tiene la mejor frase de este viaje de más 800 páginas de sicodelia: Diehard le dice a Rein-East "Yo no quería hablar con la voz de una máquina" y el peso que tiene esa frase y la sutileza con la que se construyó la relación entre esos dos personajes valen 5 estrellas y la lectura de cada tomo de esta locura.

Las últimas 10 páginas son una verdadera belleza.

[Laura · Rating 3 out of 5]

I think this was interesting. Crazy artwork. Lots of interesting elements. I checked these out from the library, so couldn't go back to the first several volumes, and I felt a bit like I forgot things.

[Berslon Pank · Rating 2 out of 5]

No, it's cool. The final confrontation will just resolve itself. Okay, so it's a cycle but even if things repeat they aren't the same so show us what's special about this one part of the cycle you chose to focus on.

[John Huppenthal · Rating 5 out of 5]

Brandon Graham has a weird brain.

[RND · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good, satisfying, expansive end to what has been a great run. Bravo to all involved.

[Bookthreat · Rating 5 out of 5]

Read our review at https://bookthreat.com/2017/05/22/clo...

[James Baker · Rating 4 out of 5]

Boux!