Prophet #44 Review

Have you ever read something you didn’t quite understand but loved it nonetheless? That’s the easiest way to summarize Prophet #44 in a single sentence.

The official description from Image:

The war between the Old Man and the Empire reaches new heights when Badrock returns.

Prophet #44 offers a change in perspective, showing the universe through the perspective of one of the empire’s sisters. These things have always been wonderfully creepy in the past, but the flip side in this issue shows an alternative, more beautiful and serene take on them. This aspect comes across well in the title, as it weaves in and out of the sister’s various thoughts.

Most of this comes down to the writing by Brandon Graham. The sister’s thoughts blend easily between a youthful wonder for the universe and the dark thoughts of human supremacy. It never comes across bluntly and the overall graduation is near perfect. Additionally, the title drops in enough hints about current events to keep it relevant to the main story. It’s not the most obvious to find, but this adds to the oddly quiet nature of Prophet #44 that somehow manages to keep you tense along the way.

Visually, this change in perspective has added a few nice touches. Normally the art team – Simon Roy and Giannis Milonogiannis – get to draw plenty of wonderful yet creepy races and scenic vistas but, here, this is juxtaposed with softer imagery. The sisters, for instance, view themselves differently and the art team do a great job of capturing this with brighter colors and a simple palette that contrasts well with the rest of the world. It’s surprisingly effective and effortlessly sets the tone.

All in all, I found this issue is far more influential than it looks. It hits on all the right notes and oozes with character, all while building up for the next issue.