Comics Trey Didn't Buy: Prophet 22

Shaun's back with another review of a book Trey has chosen to unfairly ignore. This time: Prophet #22!

There is something unabashedly cool about watching the journey of a lone human in an Earth landscape free from our machinations.  Issue two of Brandon Graham and Simon Roy’s Prophet sees our protagonist coming face to stink hole (John gets a job shoveling the waste of what can best be described as a giant elephant/insect hybrid) with a roving caravan of the planet’s denizens.  The barren wasteland that Roy draws definitely reminded me of Hayao Miyazaki’s masterpiece Nausicaa: Of the Valley of the Wind, which portrays  a future in which insects have evolved into the dominant species of the planet. The delight of this series is its sheer mystery.  What happened to the humans? Why did John come from the center of the Earth? Who is John’s mysterious benefactor?   All these questions, coupled with the wonderful world Graham and Roy have created, continue to make this series a must-read monthly comic. 
               
Most of issue 22 explores John’s interactions with the creatures that inhabit the world.  They don't seem particularly threatened by his presence; however some express a growing interest in him.  They, like the audience, want to know the intentions of this human sojourner.  This unease grows to a crescendo at the end of the issue when John upsets a cultural norm of the caravan.  What is wonderful about this scene is that John does something that not only surprises his alien companions, but his own feelings toward the situation astonishes himself.  He knows the ceremony he interrupts should not bother him, but he is overcome with emotion and acts decisively.  After much scuffling, the penultimate page of the issue shows John discovering a long dormant human machine that still works, and his glee brought a smile to my face.  Go human race! Errr…in any case, this series will not disappoint.  It is same-day digital as well, so you have no excuse dear readers. Get it!