Alan Moore's Glory #2
Written by Alan Moore
Art by Marat Mychaels, Matt Martin and Robert
Jones
Published by Avatar Press
I've referred to Glory as "Promethea Lite," because the title is being created from old Alan Moore scripts that he created before he further developed his ideas for an iconic female superheroine in his current ABC title. With this second Avatar issue, I have to reassess my opinion of the work: This issue positively sings.
Moore's script, an examination of the schizophrenic nature of dual identities, plays with and warps the conventions of superhero comics with just as much skill and surprise as Moore's other, similarly-themed works like Supreme and Tom Strong. I had serious reservations about being able to tolerate the Avatar style of artwork, yet Mychaels turns in work that is more than up to the task of supporting Moore's witty, devious script.
I've said before that Alan Moore's failures are usually more interesting than most people's successes, but this issue has me convinced that Glory is not a series likely to fail. Its plot, about an ordinary mortal man tricked into "curing" Glory's human form of its schizophrenia, is an absolute winner, and Mychaels's artwork is attractive and tells the story well.
Mychaels is not a creator that I am that familiar with, and his style is clearly influenced by the Jim Lee/Rob Liefeld-type Image artists of the mid 90s. It's not a style I would normally seek out as an entertainment choice, but Moore intended this title to be sexually provocative as a tweaking of the more bizarre aspects of the Wonder Woman mythology. It suits the title perfectly to have heroines falling out of their uniforms, and it's utterly appropriate that all the women are beautiful and all the men handsome.
One scene where Glory's human half and her boyfriend Trevor (!) are walking down the street had me amused at the way Trevor was holding the pizza box under his arm like a newspaper, and the men in the background all seem to go the same barber, but for the most part, the art on this title is a very pleasant surprise.
That Moore's script is as interesting and unusual as it is shouldn't be a surprise, and yet it is. Rob Liefeld's habit of keeping scripts under wraps for years had me suspicious of what we'd get here, and Avatar's history as a purveyor of softcore porn for deviant fanboys also played a factor in my doubts that Glory would be worth following. Thankfully, those concerns have been pretty much laid to rest; Moore's script is necessary reading for people who appreciate his particular brand of excellence, and the art has risen to the occasion as well. Anyone who enjoy's any of Moore's other recent work should definitely check out his Glory as well. It's a title that compares favourably to the uniformly excellent ABC line of comics.