Prophet (character)

Fictional character biography

John Prophet, a poor and homeless man living in the World War II era, volunteers to participate in the medical experiments of Dr. Horatio Wells, a time-traveling scientist from the future. He uses DNA-enhancing methods to transform Prophet into a supersoldier. Prophet is engineered to serve the evil Phillip Omen and programmed with murderous instincts. Wells has a change of heart, though, and changes Prophet's programming from evil to a strong belief in God. Wells plans for Prophet to be placed into stasis for many years and then re-emerge in the future to help Wells' people fight the evil Disciples. Eventually found by Youngblood, Prophet awakens disoriented in a world he does not recognize, mistakes Youngblood for the Disciples and attacks. |url-status=dead

It is later discovered that Prophet was not always in stasis after World War II, and was used as "a mindless weapon of war" in Vietnam. Stephen Platt, Prophet artist from 1994 to 1996, explained that the character "feel[s] responsible for the things that people forced him to do, even though he can't remember them. He's always thought of himself as a good person, and now he's discovering that the things he did were hideous by all standards of human decency. He's going to [...] take a spiritual journey to discover who he really is."

Despite his enhanced DNA and ability to communicate in all languages, Prophet was described as "very childlike" by Platt. "He doesn't know the social workings of the world that most of us take for granted: he can't hail a cab, and he eats ice cream too fast and gets a headache," Platt described to Wizard.

Publication history

Creation and introduction (1992–2000)

Rob Liefeld told Wizard magazine in 1994 that he was inspired by Gene Roddenberry and Steven Spielberg to create Prophet. The character first appeared in Youngblood #2, released by Image Comics in July 1992. Prophet was originally intended to appear in the pages of Marvel Comics' X-Force. Liefeld explained to Wizard: "He was going to show up around #6 or #7 in my original plans, and the cover to Youngblood #2 originally had X-Force members looking on instead of Youngblood members. I soon decided that I was going to work on stuff that was creator-owned, so I pulled the character of Prophet and saved him for later."

The storyline in Youngblood led directly into Prophet's own title, which lasted eleven issues (including a zero issue). A second series, written by Chuck Dixon, premiered in 1995 and lasted eight issues. A one-shot was released in 2000 by Awesome Comics.

Image revival (2012)

Image Comics announced at the 2011 New York Comic Con that Liefeld's line of Extreme Studios comics would return with the revival of five titles, including Prophet. Written by Brandon Graham with art by Simon Roy, Prophet continued the numbering of the previous series and launched with issue #21 in January 2012.{{cite web| last=Dietsch

Prophet features a four-man rotation of artists: Roy, who drew the first three issues of the revival; Farel Dalrymple, who drew issues #24 and #25; Giannis Milonogiannis, who is illustrating six issues; and Graham, who drew issue #26. Each artist, Graham told website Newsarama, will focus on one main Prophet. "So when [Roy] returns on #32 he'll be drawing the same Prophet that he drew in his first issue. [Milonogiannis] will draw the old man Prophet's story and Farel Dalrymple is doing all the issues about the Prophet with a tail. I like the idea of each artist's style representing how the character they're drawing sees the world(s) around them."

The series concluded in July 2014 with issue #45, and the story continued in a new series called Prophet: Earth War, which began in January 2016 and ended with the sixth issue in November 2016. The entire storyline has been reprinted in 5 volumes, including the 2 issue Prophet: Strikefile miniseries.

Critical reception

In a review of Prophet #21, Newsarama's Scott Cederlund wrote that "Graham and Roy's revamping of an old Rob Liefeld character has a wild, untamed vibrancy that makes it more of a comic of today and not a rehash of a 15-year-old concept that only lasted for under 20+ issues." Charles Hatfield of The Comics Journal, in a review of issues #21 and #22, remarked that despite the book's "many obvious points of reference, Prophet casts its own spell, evoking its own fantastical reality."{{cite news| last=Hatfield| first=Charles| url=http://www.tcj.com/reviews/prophet-21-22/| title=Reviews: 'Prophet' #21-#22|newspaper=The Comics Journal The editors of Amazon.com named Prophet, Vol. 1: Remission – which collects issues #21-#26 – the fifth best graphic novel of 2012.

Collected editions

Trade paperback (1993 series)

Trade paperback (2012 series)

In other media

Film

In 1995, TriStar Pictures acquired the film rights to Prophet. A live-action film was planned with Rob Liefeld as a producer, but the project did not proceed beyond pre-production. In 2018, Studio 8 acquired the film rights to Prophet. In May 2020, It was announced that Marc Guggenheim will write the film's script. On October 7, 2021, it was announced that Jake Gyllenhaal would star in the titular role with Sam Hargrave directing. On October 21, 2022, it was revealed that Kurt Johnstad will write a new version of the script. On March 18, 2024, it was confirmed by Rob Liefeld that Gyllenhaal is no longer attached to star in the film.

Merchandise

Fleer/SkyBox International released a "Prophet Collection" series of trading cards in 1996. Approximately half of the set's 90 cards were created by Stephen Platt. Additional artists included Liefeld, Jim Lee, Todd McFarlane, and Mike Deodato. A Prophet action figure was produced in 1997 by Awesome Toys, a division of Liefeld's Awesome Entertainment.

References

References

1. Arrant, Chris. (June 25, 2012). "Liefeld & Graham Talk Prophet vs. Prophet". [[Newsarama]].
2. Cederlund, Scott. (January 17, 2012). "Best Shots Advance Reviews: 'Prophet' #21, 'Wasteland' #33". Newsarama.
3. Melrose, Kevin. (November 13, 2012). "Amazon names best comics and graphic novels of 2012". Comic Book Resources.
4. Pearlman, Cindy. (June 7, 1995). "Drawing from Success". [[The Gainesville Sun]].
5. Hodari Coker, Cheo. (October 1, 1996). "Coloring for the Big Screen". [[Los Angeles Times]].
6. Couch, Aaron. (11 July 2018). "Comic Book Movie 'Prophet' in the Works From Deadpool Creator and Studio 8". The Hollywood Reporter.
7. Couch, Aaron. (May 7, 2020). "Marc Guggenheim Set By Studio 8 To Script 'Prophet' From Character Hatched By 'Deadpool' Creator Rob Liefeld". Deadline.
8. (7 October 2021). "'Prophet': Jake Gyllenhaal To Star In Studio 8 Superhero Pic From Director Sam Hargrave".
9. Kit, Borys. (October 21, 2022). "'300' Writer Kurt Johnstad Tapped to Write Jake Gyllenhaal Comic Book Movie 'Prophet' (Exclusive)".
10. Burlingame, Russ. (March 18, 2024). "Rob Liefeld Reveals Jake Gyllenhaal No Longer Involved With Prophet Movie".
11. Szadkowski, Joseph. (January 27, 1996). "Small things mean a lot: Welcome to the world of miniature art galleries". [[The Washington Times]].
12. (September 25, 1997). "Get the Shaft from Awesome!". Toymania.