Four Color God!

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Not New Gods, not Cosmic Entities, Not Elementals or Eternals, but like G-to-the-O-to-the-muh-fuh-D, y'all.

I'm going to start with the Spectre. Who is the disembodied embodiment of the Wrath of God, and has made reference to being around for the O.T.

― Huck, Friday, 13 August 2004 16:56 (twenty-one years ago)

Comic book theology basically comes down to a vague feel-goodism of the same sort as the "what if every religion was right except for the part where it says this statement isn't"-ism of a lot of kids these days: despite the gods running around making Wonder Women and slapping their canes around and whatnot, the Big Two have always made at least occasional reference to some kind of Creator God or God-of-Gods above all that, without ever fleshing it out (this God is pretty much defined by not being fleshed out, as opposed to the many overlapping cosmologies of the others). Thor takes his helmet off when he goes into a church; Firebird/Espirita apparently had genuinely God-given powers, unless something has come along to contradict her WCA depiction; Superman has made feel-goodist mouth noises here and there; etc.

As far as specifics, two of the Phantom Stranger's possible origins riff on Christian folklore -- the Wandering Jew, and the fencesitting angel.

― Tep (ktepi), Friday, 13 August 2004 17:09 (twenty-one years ago)

(To sum up that first paragraph very quickly: the DC and Marvel universes are essentially Deist.)

― Tep (ktepi), Friday, 13 August 2004 17:12 (twenty-one years ago)

The big G made a couple of appearences (manifestations?) in Preacher as a yellow bloke with a beard. Can't find a jpeg.

― Wooden (Wooden), Friday, 13 August 2004 17:20 (twenty-one years ago)

Even the Vertigo edgy-religious books are basically dealing with this Deism, now that you mention it. Preacher was "God, why have you forsaken your creation you asshole, I'm going to give you a good ol' fashion beatin' until you stop being a deadbeat dad," and Lucifer has mostly had the angels making a mess of things in the absence of any guidance or twitch from God (and in the current storyline, God has split town and left creation to decay. Probably to play skiball.).

(x-post)

― Jordan (Jordan), Friday, 13 August 2004 17:26 (twenty-one years ago)

Bud Cort why hast thou forsaken me?

― David R. (popshots75`), Friday, 13 August 2004 17:28 (twenty-one years ago)

Yeah, modern comics -- modern fiction in general, to be fair; not all of it, but it's the default -- don't like the idea of a God who's still around. At a minimum, the age of miracles is passed; more often than not, God is just this impersonal force who created things and set down rules that can make for interesting plot devices, sometimes an impersonal force with irrational and convenient fits of benevolence or pettiness. The Vertigo take is pretty compatible with the more mainstream comics'.

― Tep (ktepi), Friday, 13 August 2004 17:31 (twenty-one years ago)

Actually, I was thinking about what Tep said about the presence of an active God/Faith in fiction in general, and the only recent book (excepting Christian lit.)I can think of that has dealt with this, in a crisis of faith aspect, is "Blankets". While not 4-color or mainstream, it was interesting to see this addressed in comic form.

― jocelyn (Jocelyn), Friday, 13 August 2004 17:53 (twenty-one years ago)

I don't know Blankets! Who's it by/what's it about?

― Tep (ktepi), Friday, 13 August 2004 18:06 (twenty-one years ago)

Craig Thompson! One of the biggest comic success stories of the year! Mainstream coverage type of success! Here's a preview!!!

(Leee, does this fill our weekly indie content quota, or should we discuss _Super F*ckers_, too?)

― David R. (popshots75`), Friday, 13 August 2004 18:11 (twenty-one years ago)

Blankets' greatness seconded! Fine interview with Craig Thompson here.

― Chris Hill (Chris Hill), Friday, 13 August 2004 18:15 (twenty-one years ago)

Quotas are UNCONSTITUTIONAL! I call REVERSE INDIE GUILT!

(For an absurdist/satirical example of the most superpowered Hero of them all, Tom the Dancing Bug's) God-man to thread.

― Mr. Tony Plow (Leee), Friday, 13 August 2004 19:45 (twenty-one years ago)

Didn't God show up in Savage Dragon?

Vic Fluro and I did a gag strip on these lines whereby superhero meets Christ and (of course) they misunderstand and have to FITE. "I'm going to nail you once and for all, Jesus" "Oh no, not again".

― Tico Tico (Tico Tico), Sunday, 15 August 2004 07:05 (twenty-one years ago)

one year passes...

EVERY COMIC CHARACTER EVER'S RELIGION DECODED:
http://www.adherents.com/lit/comics/comic_book_religion.html

― Huk-L (Huk-L), Tuesday, 7 February 2006 18:36 (twenty years ago)

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