READING PROPHET is an act of acceptance: The far-future Earth you find yourself in won’t make sense, in part because it’s moved so far past mankind that it’s unrecognizable. Strange and terrifying predators stalk arid badlands; elephantine behemoths march in caravans, feeding on each other’s shit; creepy vagina monsters demand sex; aliens with crystallized brains serve mysterious masters; and the ghosts of girls float through derelict spaceships. Reading Prophet is to give in to culture shock—because what you get in exchange is a rush of astonishing, thrilling imagination.
Written by King City‘s Brandon Graham and illustrated by a rotating cast of indie artists—this first volume boasts Simon Roy, Farel Dalrymple, and Giannis Milonogiannis—Prophet focuses on John Prophet, a relic of a supersoldier from a long-forgotten Earth empire. Armed with little more than a knife, basic survival supplies, and his brain, Prophet emerges from hypersleep, vomits, and sets off on a nebulous, dangerous mission requiring exploration, feats of supersoldier strength, and a willingness to have sex with creepy vagina monsters. Graham doesn’t give up any backstory easily—neither Prophet’s nor Earth’s—so this soldier’s long, strange voyage is ours, with just about every page holding something weirder than the last. And all of it is beautifully, jarringly inventive, cool, and creepy. If you can give yourself over to Graham & Co.—if you’re willing to head into the far-future and try to keep up—you’ll find yourself one hell of a read.
