Editing Promethea (section)

==Recurring characters==
===William "Bill" Woolcott===
The only man to assume the role of Promethea, Bill Woolcott was a [[gay]] comic artist who became Promethea by drawing her. He was the longest-lasting Promethea, from 1939 to 1969, and acted as a "science-hero" in the ABC universe with Tom Strong during that period. Bill/Promethea most resembles a 1960s version of [[Wonder Woman]]. Bill was shot in the head by Promethea's lover, FBI Agent Dennis Drucker, who reacted violently when he discovered that his lover was (in a manner of speaking) transgender. Drucker spent several decades in an insane asylum tortured by guilt for having killed Promethea, while Bill/Promethea spent similar time in the Immateria blaming herself for not having told him the truth. The two are reunited during the Apocalypse.

===Anna===
The poet Charlton Sennet, in the 1770s, projected Promethea's likeness onto his housemaid Anna, transforming her into his dream lover. This Promethea bore him a child, but the baby evaporated on birth, since in a sense it was only "half-real", an amalgamation of the physical nature of Charlton Sennet and the metaphysical nature of Promethea. Anna died in childbirth, leaving Charlton alone (his wife deserted him after finding him in bed with Anna/Promethea).

===Margaret Taylor Case===
The writer of a [[William Randolph Hearst]]-syndicated comic strip titled ''Little Margie in Misty Magic Land'', Case wrote Promethea into her comic book as a helpful spirit to the titular young adventurer, and ended up personifying Promethea to help soldiers on the battlefield from 1900 to 1920, in a manner similar to the legendary [[Angels of Mons]]. Little Margie also dwells in the Immateria alongside Case and the other past Prometheas, where she is regarded as little more than a pest who interrupts "serious" conversation with her childlike observations, styled after the remarks of the character Nemo in the early 20th-century newspaper strip ''[[Little Nemo in Slumberland]]''. Margaret committed suicide during her tenure as Promethea.

===Five Swell Guys===
The Five Swell Guys are a team of "science-heroes", and the only such team in New York City. There is similarity between them and [[Fantastic Four]], with their floating platform and their specialized members. The team meet Sophie Bangs in the first issue, and then meet Promethea in the third issue, after one is badly hurt.

===Weeping Gorilla Comix===
[[Image:Promethea Weeping Gorilla.JPG|thumb|The Weeping Gorilla from ''Promethea'' #1]]
The "Weeping Gorilla Comix" is a series of one-panel comics featuring a weeping gorilla, with a thought bubble pronouncing some thoughtful phrase, usually cynical and self-pitying in nature: "Why do good things happen to bad people?", "Who [[remaindered book|remaindered]] the book of Love?", "She gets the kids and the house. I get the car", etc. The whole concept is an industry joke about the supposed tendency for comics to get increased sales from a picture of a [[gorillas in comic books|gorilla]], a weeping character, or the color purple on the cover.<ref>As described by [[Mark Waid]] in an editorial in ''[[Secret Origins]]'' Volume 2, number 40.</ref> Occasionally Moore shows snippets of the gorilla's [[foil (literature)|foil]], the Chucklin' Duck, who is happy-go-lucky and naively optimistic, with smug saying such as "Heh heh! I got out of internet trading just in time!". Both the Weeping Gorilla and Chucklin' Duck [[Motif (narrative)|motif]]s were used in the ''[[Greyshirt (comics)|Greyshirt: Indigo Sunset]]'' series by [[Rick Veitch]], and a Weeping Gorilla Comix panel makes a [[cameo appearance]] in the story "King Solomon Pines" in ''[[Tom Strong's Terrific Tales]]'' #5 (scripted by [[Leah Moore]] and illustrated by [[Sergio Aragones]]). The ''[[Tesla Strong]]'' miniseries included, amongst various versions of Solomon, one who resembled the Weeping Gorilla.
<!-- ditto
===Cover references===
''Promethea'' features countless visual references as well as textual ones. For the majority of the series, each issue's cover features an imitation of a particular artist or style. These imitations were often explicitly credited by Williams next to his signature:

:Issue #1 "The Radiant Heavenly City"
:Issue #2 "The Judgment of Solomon"
:Issue #3 "Misty Magic Land" - according to designer Todd Klein, "inspired by the famously surreal newspaper strip ''[[Little Nemo In Slumberland]]'' by [[Winsor McCay]]"<ref>[http://kleinletters.com/PrometheaCovers.html]</ref>
:Issue #4 "A Faerie Romance" - "after [[William Morris|Morris]]"
:Issue #5 "No Man's Land" - "after [[J. C. Leyendecker|Leyendecker]]"
:Issue #6 "A Warrior Princess" - "after [[Margaret Brundage|Brundage]]"
:Issue #7 "Rocks and Hard Places" - [[Romance comics in the United States (1946–1975)|romance comics]] from the mid-20th century
:Issue #8 "Guys and Dolls" - "thank you [[Terry Gilliam]]"
:Issue #9 "Bringing Down the Temple" - [[stained glass]] window
:Issue #10 "Sex, Stars and Serpents" - cover to [[The Beatles]]' album ''[[Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band]]'', by [[Peter Blake (artist)|Peter Blake]]
:Issue #11 "Pseunami" - according to designer Todd Klein, "wide-screen horror films of the 1950s-60s"<ref>Alan Moore et al. ''Absolute Promethea'' Book Two. DC Comics, 2010.</ref>
:Issue #12 "Metaphore" - "after [[Bonnie MacLean|MacLean]]"
:Issue #13 "The Fields We Know" - "after [[Maxfield Parrish|Parrish]]"
:Issue #14 "Moon River" - "attempting [[Virgil Finlay]]"
:Issue #15 "Mercury Rising" - "thanks [[M. C. Escher|Escher]]"
:Issue #16 "Love and the Law" - "thanks [[Peter Max]]"
:Issue #17 "Gold" - "after [[Salvador Dalí|Dali]]"
:Issue #18 "Life on Mars" - "after [[Frank Frazetta|Frazetta]]"
:Issue #19 "Fatherland" - "for love of [[Vincent van Gogh|Van Gogh]]"
:Issue #20 "The Stars are But Thistles" - "after [[Richard Upton Pickman]]" (a fictional painter created by [[H. P. Lovecraft]])
:Issue #23 "The Serpent and the Dove" - "inspired by [[Alfons Mucha|Mucha]]"
:Issue #25 "A Higher Court" - "inspired by [[Winsor McCay|McCay]]"
:Issue #27 "When It Blows Its Stacks" - "thanks to [[Ross Andru]]", specifically the 1976 comic ''[[Superman vs. the Amazing Spider-Man]]''
:Issue #29 "Valley of the Dolls" - "with admiration for [[Andy Warhol|Warhol]]"
:Issue #31 "The Radiant Heavenly City" - according to Williams, "an imitation of the tarot card 'The Judgement/The Aeon'" [http://eroomnala.0catch.com/31.html] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120205214254/http://eroomnala.0catch.com/31.html|date=2012-02-05}}
:Issue #32 "Wrap Party" / "Universe" - credited to Williams and Klein "after the end"
-->