Random synapse-firings about and from the author of Howard the Duck, Omega the Unknown, Thundarr the Barbarian, and untold suffering for friends and family alike.
I didn’t get a chance to finish the long second post about Zauriel tonight. Give me another day or so, okay?
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There’s a treatise sometime to be written on the theology of the DCU.
Because, even if the Judeo-Christian-Muslim single deity exists in the DCU, so do Zeus and the Titans of Greco-Roman mythology. (I don’t know of any stories that tried to link the two, but they might be out there. I certainly haven’t read EVERY DC comic ever published.)
Indeed, Wonder Woman is an earthly representative of that pantheon. And isn’t Hawkman tied to the Egyptian collection of gods and goddesses? And what about The New Gods? (Well, that’s kind of a stretch …)
I wouldn’t expect the Great I Am to intervene whenever a supervillain showed up, seeing as how there is no presence during hurricanes, earthquakes, or intergalactic shootouts. (However, the Spectre is on hand for every alleyway homicide. Go figure.)
Let’s not forget how many times the universe/multiverse has been destroyed and recreated by some near-omnipotent being or beings, from Krona to the Anti-Monitor to whomever was behind Zero Hour to Earth-Three’s Alexander Luthor. I’m reminded of Edward G. Robinson in ‘The Ten Commandments’ — “Where’s your savior NOW, Moses?”
The question isn’t whether God exists — it’s whether He’s, ummmm, canon.
I liked the pecking order shown in Sandman: Season of Mists (“By whose authority?” “Whose do you think?”).
Still, I think it’s a mistake to make all writers follow a rulebook on mystical/spiritual experiences re: a comic book shared universe. It’s too subjective. If you get to the point where you’re checking to see how many pounds the Buddha can bench press under duress, an important point has been missed. A Denny O’Neil Question story and a Michael Fleischer Spectre story can make opposite points about grace and forgiveness, but do not by any means cancel each other out.
Actually, there was a whole DC series a few years back…”War of the Gods”, or something similar…where we had various pantheons in the DC universe being shown.
What really was the most interesting point of that series was where the Super-Heoroic ideal REALLY drew from…and it was shown by Shazam, the Wizard, actually talking to King Solomon and hearing of the Messianic ideal..and indeed a lot of the Torah principles, from which the idea of “protection of the innocent” most derives from.
I remember a lot of Michael Fleisher’s Spectre stories and how he made the Spectre just a little too vengeful…I was never really comfortable with that particular view of the Spectre.
The interesting point about “Justice” in the original Jewish view of the concept is that it involves BOTH the Strictness AND the Mercy. BOTH the masculine AND the feminine.
Ironically…in the Christian cultures, societies veer too much one way OR the other, never balancing the concept. Too strict one time, too lax the other. Never the middle ground which involves BOTH sides of the concept.
However, it was a Marvel Comics Avengers story where an Asgardian actually took off his helmet in a church and acknowledged a greater deity than himself.
One thing I would like to point out is that Judaism and Christianity are NOT identical. Although Christianity claims its roots are in Judaism, it veered away from a lot of the original understanding.
And just as an intriguing aside…Judaism only EVER did ONE forceful conversion of another people…almost one century B.C…and the result of that was SO bad they NEVER wanted to repeat it EVER again. From the converted Idumeans, they got a creep called Herod. Would that Christianity and Islam could learn from their own experiences never to repeat such things themselves.
Actually, Tom, that “scholarship” came from sitting in the country where it all started for a couple of years. One spends ANY amount of real time in Israel, one picks it up.
It’s one country where politics, religion and history are normal topics of conversation.
And never a dull moment.
And just to clarify, I’m gentile, not Jewish and I still picked it all up.
Protect the INNOCENT is a big thing with the Israelis, though you have to look deeper into the place to see it.
OK, I HOPE this comes out OK (as there is no editing for comments). If it doesn’t, I’ll follow up with a correction. In any case, The Unauthorized Chronology of the DC Universe (if I did that right, that should be a clickable link) depicts a theological view of the DC Universe taken from the occult ideas of the early New Age (Theosophy, Golden Dawn, real Kaballah as opposed to the stuff the failed insurance salesman sells to celebrities, etc.). Luckily, there are a lot of comic writers who actually know their stuff (as opposed to those influenced by the current day shift from altruism and evolution to selfishness and empowerment; I can and have given a 90 minute lecture on the subject, and THAT was incomplete).
January 12th, 2007 at 5:30 AM
Take your time, Steve. I’m going away this weekend anyway :).
January 12th, 2007 at 3:45 PM
Take your time, Steve. Mario is going away this weekend anyway. 😉
January 12th, 2007 at 5:40 PM
There’s a treatise sometime to be written on the theology of the DCU.
Because, even if the Judeo-Christian-Muslim single deity exists in the DCU, so do Zeus and the Titans of Greco-Roman mythology. (I don’t know of any stories that tried to link the two, but they might be out there. I certainly haven’t read EVERY DC comic ever published.)
Indeed, Wonder Woman is an earthly representative of that pantheon. And isn’t Hawkman tied to the Egyptian collection of gods and goddesses? And what about The New Gods? (Well, that’s kind of a stretch …)
I wouldn’t expect the Great I Am to intervene whenever a supervillain showed up, seeing as how there is no presence during hurricanes, earthquakes, or intergalactic shootouts. (However, the Spectre is on hand for every alleyway homicide. Go figure.)
Let’s not forget how many times the universe/multiverse has been destroyed and recreated by some near-omnipotent being or beings, from Krona to the Anti-Monitor to whomever was behind Zero Hour to Earth-Three’s Alexander Luthor. I’m reminded of Edward G. Robinson in ‘The Ten Commandments’ — “Where’s your savior NOW, Moses?”
The question isn’t whether God exists — it’s whether He’s, ummmm, canon.
January 13th, 2007 at 12:22 AM
I liked the pecking order shown in Sandman: Season of Mists (“By whose authority?” “Whose do you think?”).
Still, I think it’s a mistake to make all writers follow a rulebook on mystical/spiritual experiences re: a comic book shared universe. It’s too subjective. If you get to the point where you’re checking to see how many pounds the Buddha can bench press under duress, an important point has been missed. A Denny O’Neil Question story and a Michael Fleischer Spectre story can make opposite points about grace and forgiveness, but do not by any means cancel each other out.
January 13th, 2007 at 12:53 AM
No worries, Mate. I hope you’re feeling a lot better. You have a lot more comics to write for us all to enjoy!
January 13th, 2007 at 6:14 AM
Actually, there was a whole DC series a few years back…”War of the Gods”, or something similar…where we had various pantheons in the DC universe being shown.
What really was the most interesting point of that series was where the Super-Heoroic ideal REALLY drew from…and it was shown by Shazam, the Wizard, actually talking to King Solomon and hearing of the Messianic ideal..and indeed a lot of the Torah principles, from which the idea of “protection of the innocent” most derives from.
I remember a lot of Michael Fleisher’s Spectre stories and how he made the Spectre just a little too vengeful…I was never really comfortable with that particular view of the Spectre.
The interesting point about “Justice” in the original Jewish view of the concept is that it involves BOTH the Strictness AND the Mercy. BOTH the masculine AND the feminine.
Ironically…in the Christian cultures, societies veer too much one way OR the other, never balancing the concept. Too strict one time, too lax the other. Never the middle ground which involves BOTH sides of the concept.
However, it was a Marvel Comics Avengers story where an Asgardian actually took off his helmet in a church and acknowledged a greater deity than himself.
One thing I would like to point out is that Judaism and Christianity are NOT identical. Although Christianity claims its roots are in Judaism, it veered away from a lot of the original understanding.
And just as an intriguing aside…Judaism only EVER did ONE forceful conversion of another people…almost one century B.C…and the result of that was SO bad they NEVER wanted to repeat it EVER again. From the converted Idumeans, they got a creep called Herod. Would that Christianity and Islam could learn from their own experiences never to repeat such things themselves.
January 13th, 2007 at 6:49 AM
But seriously, folks, getting back to the comic plots…
I’m looking forward to BOTH Zauriel AND the Dr. Fate series…
And I’m looking forward to how an angel handles the Fate/Magic thing.
As a story plot, it should be worth reading AND very interesting, especially the way Steve writes things.
January 13th, 2007 at 10:41 AM
George: I’m enjoying your scholarship!
Thanks.
January 13th, 2007 at 8:43 PM
Actually, Tom, that “scholarship” came from sitting in the country where it all started for a couple of years. One spends ANY amount of real time in Israel, one picks it up.
It’s one country where politics, religion and history are normal topics of conversation.
And never a dull moment.
And just to clarify, I’m gentile, not Jewish and I still picked it all up.
Protect the INNOCENT is a big thing with the Israelis, though you have to look deeper into the place to see it.
January 14th, 2007 at 7:31 AM
OK, I HOPE this comes out OK (as there is no editing for comments). If it doesn’t, I’ll follow up with a correction. In any case, The Unauthorized Chronology of the DC Universe (if I did that right, that should be a clickable link) depicts a theological view of the DC Universe taken from the occult ideas of the early New Age (Theosophy, Golden Dawn, real Kaballah as opposed to the stuff the failed insurance salesman sells to celebrities, etc.). Luckily, there are a lot of comic writers who actually know their stuff (as opposed to those influenced by the current day shift from altruism and evolution to selfishness and empowerment; I can and have given a 90 minute lecture on the subject, and THAT was incomplete).
January 14th, 2007 at 11:45 AM
Well, if you want to see how I reconciled some of these issues a decade ago, here’s a link to that Fanzing article:
http://www.fanzing.com/mag/fanzing03/vanishpt.shtml