Grrl Power #391 – Melodramatic fanatic
Well. This seems evil. But maybe Deus just has a flourish for the dramatic. Or at least dramatic lighting.
You think supervillains have a bunch of sweet one liners ready to fire off depending on what set up line the hero give them? I would. If you can afford to build a death ray, you can hire some writers.
There’s a Mitchell and Webb sketch that sort of plays on this but I couldn’t find it on youtube. Here’s a link to it on VideoBash? Never heard of them so no guarantees you’ll be able to view it wherever you are. Basically just watch all of That Mitchell and Webb Look, cause it’s the best.
Not too much else to say about this page other than we’re almost done with this scene, so hang in there if it’s not punching your goofy nerd woman-child card.
I have a draft of what I’m thinking about using for the cover for the book posted over at Patreon. I mean it’ll probably be the cover, I don’t have a lot of time to do a bunch of alternates, though ones that mimic some other classic styles or a Liefeld-esque one with lots of cross hatching and pouches and foil embossed would be pretty funny I think. No idea what that would cost to actually print but it could make an amusing stretch goal.
Speaking of the book, I have all the comics laid out in it, but I have to figure out what to do about some of the double pages. Some break across facing pages, which is ideal, but some wind up back to back. It’s not a big deal in most of those cases since it’s just action spread across multiple pages, but there’s one or two pages that it’s pretty critical they face each other. The only way to nudge them is to insert something before them that breaks up the story, like a pin up or a title page, but that’s not ideal. It may be the only option though. I’ll figure it out I suppose.
I still need to scan some old art and write up goodies for bonus material. I’d really like to have finished books ready in time for A-kon this year which is in June, but honestly I don’t know how realistic that is. Kickstarters take 30 days to run and I’ve no idea how long it takes to print up proofs of a book then do a whole run. I’m sure it depends entirely on the printer you use and the size of the run.
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I had a belated question on Deus having his own menagerie of minions. It can be dangerous employing someone potentially more powerful than yourself (as pointed out in several of the God/Satan comments).
In the current comic’s situation Deus is basically saying “You have to agree to my demands. These guys have the power to kill any rich and powerful individual and take all of their wealth and power for someone else. Now if you will excuse me I have to return home and get back to all my own wealth and power.”
What safeguards does Deus have to keep his own supers from staging a coup against himself?
If he’s not a super himself, then he probably has all sorts of safeguards in place to protect himself from his own minions. I recall Lex Luthor in the DCAU having all sorts of measures against fellow members of the Legion of Doom, ranging from failsafes he secretly implanted into metahumans while powering them up, to some kind of medallion that turned magic back against its caster (“You wouldn’t believe how much this cost me.”). Deus is probably in a similar situation.
“Having money is the best superpower.”
With powerful minions, it’s customary to pay them extremely well, in addition to granting them special comforts & privileges. Keep them happy with their job (& whatever down-time you give them) to ensure greater loyalty.
Keep in mind, the gravy train they are riding is one that no one but deus could conduct. Or another way, if they wacked him and took as much money as they could the corp would fall apart and in the long term get less money, and esspically less security as not all the minions would feel the same.
That requires them to all be interested in looking at the long term picture. All too often, humans are quite willing to screw themselves in the long term for a short term advantage.
I’m assuming he screens for that in the interviews with them.
But the massive pay check should ensure they have more than enough money in the short term as well
Because his supers aren’t all one big group. They aren’t all going to join up in a coup so even if one or two gets too big for their britches the rest aren’t gonna join him.
That’s the thing with digital currency and public power. It can’t be stolen unless your their is a really good hacker. Telekinesis and “Death Stare” can’t give you money that’s not physically there. Deus likely has all his money in a bank like any other billionaire. The movie Richie Rich spoofed this. So what’s easier? Having a legitimate job or explaining the money that somehow got deposited into your bank account? Deus doesn’t need super powers, he already has the best one, “Rich as balls American”.
Thief* holy hell spell checker…
As The Revenent said, sometimes I think that access to money is the greatest superpower of them all.
Considering his build and appearance, it would not shock me if Deus were some variety of super himself. Besides, that’s like asking why every mob grunt doesn’t turn around and just strangle their boss- if you’re already on the inside, you’ve probably had to demonstrate your loyalty in some way, and aren’t looking to go pissing off the people you worked so hard to impress.
Deus is a smart dude, he wouldn’t hire someone if he didn’t think he couldn’t trust them to do their job. He might use money or other job benefits (of varying legality) to keep them on board, or he might blackmail them, or he’d just tempt them with promises of DRAMATIC LIGHTNING. I mean, wouldn’t you kill for a guy who can make a thunderclap at a whim?
Maybe one or more of the most powerful are unreasonably loyal? Vale could be his daughter or maybe he saved Cthillia’s life early on.
I would think success would be its own safeguard. He’s rich and powerful by virtue of what he owns, which could not be easily transferred en masse without raising red flags, at least for whatever Western nations he holds assets in. Following him is a little like being a General under Alexander the Great: while he’s succeeding, he’s advancing your fortunes as well. Rocking that boat is likely to earn the boat-rocker the enmity of a lot of powerful subordinates who are likewise seeing their fortunes rise under his leadership.
I can’t answer that without spoiler. :)
If I were gambling, I might put forth that the one on the balcony is the only one Deus might have to worry about, as it would appear that one is more or less projecting the others (and their powers) to this location. The others might even be in completely different parts of the world, and/or not really know each other very well.
It’s Lex Luthor sort of super powers, isn’t it. That would so totally fit. I’ll put my money on that B-)
Look at the elephantiasis of the ego on Deus!
…What are the chances of ever seeing the behind-the-scenes doodle as a completed background vote incentive thing?
Love the eyeroll expression.
I bet that Deus can guess the weight of a fruitcake better than any other man alive.
You are the devil says the guy that went for the crown as soon his father died instead of cheeking to see if he was ok.
You mean the guy who wanted to rush to his father when he saw the danger, but now has every single gun in the room pointed at him.
https://www.grrlpowercomic.com/archives/1964
And that crown rolling to him like that is clearly influenced by some kinetic super. Deus wants the man to pick up the crown. If the man holding absolute power over a room wants you to pick up the crown, you pick up the damn crown
The irony here is the Trinity knot he has in his tie while saying this. Speaking of, that would probably be his one weakness ‘Your tie is crooked’ and he’s be too busy trying to straighten it to notice thath is fifteeen minutes of fame flew by when he was tied up.
As for versions of the devil I like this one best:
https://tapastic.com/episode/63596 Poor sod.
On the double-page spread thing- that’s what professional publishers use those one-page advertisements for- maybe you could throw together some in-universe fake ads to put on? Things that would provide a little bit of background to the world the characters inhabit without being either spoilery or critical-to-know information?
Also, you used the wrong word in your alt-text: You want “Cue”, not “Queue”- the first is a moment of happening, the second a lining up to happen later.
Exactly! He planned all this out, so he would have queued the DL on the DL: first the speech, then the ultimatum, Senior attempts to have him thrown out, he reveals his team and ‘abdicates’ Senior, then he confronts Junior as the DL goes off :P
In universe “Arianna” style marketing. :P
IRONY: INITIALIZED!
(Deus means God/gods in latin)
Now THIS guy is a Practicable Villain no pointless talking upfront and if you don’t go with what he asks well no issues with killing you as they well be doing that at some point anyway. :3 I like this guy all ready even if he isn’t a true villain I like him all the same.
Oh no, he’s a villain all right, just whether he is evil or not is still up for debate
Dunno if it’s been said already, but to break it up you could do something like an updated cast page – basically, a short bio of a single character, along with a few sketches or images of said character. This is a good way to break the story without having to make a title page.
Another option is to do more of Dabbler’s Science Corner.
But… Satan/Lucifer was cast out of heaven for rebelling against God, although Deus is obviously a megalomaniac, and probably only knows the bare bones of biblical stories. Just enough to misquote scripture to his advantage, I’d bet.
Deus is a bastard, and even if he does good things, he’s still killing and taking power for himself. No matter what the good intentions he’s starting with, he’s going to end up going down the wrong path and causing pain and suffering in the long run.
Hopefully, the good guys can salvage what good he does do for better purposes.
You do realize that there are almost no references to Lucifer/Satan/the devil in the Bible, right? Pretty much everything about the character in Christianity comes from other sources.
Even if there aren’t many, there ARE still passages about Lucifer being cast out of heaven, and they, though few, make it pretty clear that it’s due to his narcissism, ambition, and heart for violence (all things we see in Deus), not because he loves god too much. I guess I’m just not sure where Deus’s version of events came from.
I saw that too. “Loved god too much”?
It was not that Lucifer loved God too much; he loved God’s power too much, and wanted it for himself. That did not go over too well, despite getting about 1/3 of the angels to follow him.
Yeah, pretty much what DragonTech said. I couldn’t find any passages in The Bible referencing Lucifer/Satan that matched up with Deus’ point of view.
It’s more likely that Deus got his point of view from a philosopher’s opinions on The Bible/Satan that are presented as fact, instead of actually reading The Bible.
“Loved God too much”? No no no…
Isaiah 14:12-15 covers the fall of Lucifer…
In short, Satan was cast out for loving himself too much.
A failing which Deus has. In excess.
Perhaps Deus didn’t check the facts? Perhaps another failing in his character?
The “Lucifer” spoken of in Isaiah is a king (or perhaps the line of kings) of Babylon, the nation which had conquered Jerusalem and held the Jews captive, and who was prophesied to be killed when God sends a messiah to destroy the oppressor and restore Zion. Satan’s association with the name Lucifer didn’t come until much later.
No, clearly the devil, also known as the snake, Lucyfer, Satan, or the black fascist communist jewish hippie illegal gay muslim immigrant athiest, is all the same individual, as evidenced by the words of God’s one and only son on Earth… Billy Jole Daughtery the second coming…
“The Devil, known by many names, will be struck down by Jesus, also known as Donald Trump in the last days of the revelation… also known as the Obama Presidency.”
~ Murica
Land of the free republicans, home of the brave men with guns protecting everyone from people without guns, founded by Moses
i’m 97% sure you are joking, but that 3 percent margin for error keeps me up at nights
Lucifer/Satan is the power behind those kings, and the one that is spoken of in Isaiah 14:12.
The argument that the king of babylon is lucifer ignores other passages of the Bible, and (mis)quotes/quotes out of context different passages of the Bible too.
… Aaaand he is now one of my most favorite villains, just for his growl.
I would suggest that you be careful when dealing with god/devil subjects or anything that crosses into religion. People can be very protective of their religious beliefs, if you do still want to use devils and such I suggest you handle it non-religiously. Demons are aliens or dimension travelers.. Lots of ways to have them without getting to religious. If you absolutely want to get into religion just realize you are going to loose followers and you will ignite flame wars with some very nasty things being said
And I suggest that you point and laugh at religion at every opportunity. Sure, people can be very touchy about the fact that they believe in nonsense superstitions, but that just makes it all the more funny.
And some people think they are somehow smarter and more enlightened by mocking other people for having different beliefs than themselves not realizing how look silly and immature it makes them look. That being said nothing is harmed by showing any sort of views on religion as long as one doesn’t go out of their way to cruelly and insult mock people’s beliefs or lack there of.
Ah, I do so love discussing the myths they believe in with those who actually believe in them. It brings out the best in such people, as when they begin a post by chastising me for “mocking” then, and then roll right into calling me “silly and immature.” Seems like mocking isn’t just for atheists, eh? I find hypocrisy to be absolutely refreshing, don’t you? I mean, as a means of laying bare the very character flaws which lead them to continue to believe in their chosen myths in the first place it ranks right up there with so called “Christians” shooting dead abortion doctors and so called “Islamists” blowing themselves up for political reasons. :-D
Just as soon as any religion, anywhere, can demonstrate the factual basis for their myths, I’ll shut up about it. But just as those who believed in the Norse gods had to invent Thor riding around in his chariot and flinging lightning bolts as the explanation for thunder and lightning, Christians (and the Jews before them) invented their gods out of the same cloth from which Thor was invented: An ignorance which led to making up bullshit since they did not understand the world they lived in.
I should be shocked that in this enlightened period with so much proven science available that people still feel the need to go to a 3,000 year old book for myths instead of the truth, but then I look at people like you who both lay down the law and pick it up within the space of a single sentence and it makes a sick sort of sense after all.
Don’t fool yourself any longer. This isn’t about “having different beliefs.” This is about you believing in a myth which is just as laughable as Thor causing thunder and lightning. You and I don’t differ on something such as which restaurant serves the best steak, that would be a matter of opinion and irrefutable. I can disagree with you on that subject and yet still respect you. We differ on whether to believe in utter nonsense or not. I do disagree with you on that, but if you insist in persisting in believing in nonsense such as Thor or the Tooth Fairy or Santa Claus or God (or gods) I cannot respect you. Because most children outgrow a belief in the Tooth Fairy or Santa Claus, but somehow the exact same belief in the fairy tale of God is supposed to be considered to be just a “different belief,” and not the childish indulgence which the continued belief in adulthood of such a fantasy actually is.
recap: “if you believe in something i don’t believe you are an idiot”.
Yep coupled with arrogant self-righteousness, demonizing others for self justification and the zealotry of a fundamentalist.
The zealotry of a fundamentalist? That is an amusing comparison. Rather, the zealotry of a person on the side of an argument who has all the fact and all the evidence to support their side.
Don’t try to assign some kind of false equivalency here, there is no “middle ground” that can be reached between a person who believes without evidence that Thor exists and those who know that thunder and lightning aren’t caused by some invented deity rolling around in the clouds in his chariot pulled by two goats which he eats every night but are miraculously resurrected each morning.
There are other, similar myths about miraculous resurrections, but then they are just as foolish as is the belief in Thor.
No, not quite. As I said, you are free to believe that X serves a better steak than Y. That’s all fine and dandy. We can disagree on matters such as this all day long and I’ll still respect you.
But when you decide to believe in a myth. And I don’t mean “Hey, this is just a fun thing to play pretend about,” but really, actually believe in it, that’s when I get to feel free to point and laugh at you for being a demonstrable, gullible idiot, one who proudly proclaims that you are incapable of shrugging off childish fantasies such as the Tooth Fairy, Santa Claus or a belief in other, similar myths. A rational person would just slink away and feel rather foolish, but religion brings about a whole different level of self-delusion such that even pointing things out to you people only results in your heads going even further under the sand as you double down on the idiocy.
Oberon, I contend that you are not so much an Atheist, which believe there is no higher power, but more of an Anti-Theist, that are offended by the very thought that others believe what they do not or can not believe in. Most vocal Atheists, that take almost every opportunity to belittle people who Believe, are either bitter at the church for some reason or are scared of those that appear to know something they cannot themselves conceive. A true Atheist, Like Penn, look upon believers with respect (when due) for their moral code but laughs to himself at their apparent foolishness.
You may assign to me any label you choose. If your only distinction is that some atheists (it’s not a capitalized word, by the way, so try to get it right. Religious persons often try little tricks like this to try to support their claim that atheism is a religion. It is not) privately criticize religion while I’m doing it publicly, then you are really just splitting hairs.
I, however, think that pointing and laughing at those who believe in myths is a fairly natural thing to do. I mean, really, when a young child talks excitedly about how Santa Claus is going to come and leave presents at Christmas, it’s adorable. But the child will continue to grow up, their ability to apply rational thinking will get better, and eventually they will come to realize that there is no such thing as Santa Claus, and that the adults were just making it up. If that same child were to profess to still believing in Santa Claus as an adult, not many would defend anyone who ridiculed them over this belief.
But when an adult talks excitedly about how a dead guy is going to come back down from his wonderful home in the clouds and make everything perfect for those who believe in him, somehow that should get a pass? No, not at all. It’s the exact same belief in something which, if looked at closely and not through the naivete of a child, is easily seen to be a lie, a fantasy, a myth.
And then there is the great book of lies, that tell the followers of this perfect person to do horrific things in his name. Kill people for working on his so-called holy day, etc. I’m sure you’ve heard the litany of horrible things any follower of Christianity is supposed to do, and the only real argument I’ve heard excusing this is that some of them, but not all, simply choose to ignore those parts while following other parts. I simply choose to ignore it all, except as an interesting historical work. So how is my behavior any different from a Christian who simply chooses not kill their neighbor for working on Sunday, or doesn’t go into banks and start whipping the tellers for the usurious interest rates? I contend that there is no difference in behavior at all, and that the only real difference is that I don’t believe in fairly tales while they do.
Don’t capitalize Believe. the word is not special. i don’t believe in evolution or abogenisis or gravity, i understand why they are true. Believing is just a way of making a virtue out of not thinking.
I really feel the need, as an Athiest, to apologize for this fuckwit. I am very sorry that you have had to endure his belligerant attitude and would like to assure you we’re not all like this.
Oberon, shut the hell up. You’re picking fights for no reason and being remarkably zealous about it. Just stop. Your attitude as an attempted representative of atheism has literally left me unable to sleep until I addressed this.
I’m not sure whether to laugh or cry. He has no sense of irony nor capacity for self-examination. Again, I implore any Theists out there reading this to understand that we are not all jerkbags weilding atheism as a cudgel.
If you’re really an atheist, stop capitalizing the word. Only a “fuckwit” would do so.
Enjoy your sleep, tool.
People are very easily insulted. Did you know muslims are required to kill people who speak poorly of their religion?In fact, those who refuse to convert to Islam are to be killed as infidels or heavily taxed for being non-believers. It’s part of sharia law.
In christianity, you’re supposed to view non-christians as unforgiven sinners, and treat them as such. You know, they’ll burn in hell an all that nice stuff in the bible.
In buddhism, non-buddhists are “unenlightened” and so not even worth your time of day.
Thus, Aline, let me paraphrase your last sentence.
That being said, nothing is harmed by showing any sort of views on religion, as long as nobody hears those views.
More like there is nothing wrong about poking fun at religion as long as you aren’t mean spirited about it or attack the people who hold such beliefs. Tolerating people’s differences makes the world a better place while mistreating people makes it worse..
There’s line to be drawn though. Tolerating those who tolerate is one thing, but tolerating intolerance is another.
Kind of like tit for tat.
Tolerate groups until they’re intolerant towards you, then you can be intolerant towards them. As most religions are highly intolerant, most religions are allowed targets for mockery.
Two wrongs do not make a right and i would argue that its only a minority that are intolerant but that is used by some to paint entire huge groups of people all in the same brush to justify behavior towards people who have done nothing which is both unjust and dehumanizing.
“i’ll be a intollerant fanatic to all xxx people because some of them are intollerant fanatics.”
sadly many live this way
Ah, but poking fun at idiots who believe in fairy tales is just so much fun!
Intolerance is a very broad word. It is one that almost all Christians would fail to apply equally to things which do not apply to their own special category, and yet demand that others apply to them.
No. I will not apply tolerance towards an idiot who claims that someone rose from the dead, I will instead mock them as they so richly deserve.
I would also mock someone who claimed that Elvis was still alive, or that aliens were running our government, or that Obama was born in Kenya. And in fact, I do so mock those idiots. Don’t ask for or expect a pass just because your brand of idiocy is more widespread…
Ah, the “Atheism is better because we don’t believe in God.” argument.
Been a while. Have you considered that one of the core messages of the New Testament is, simply put, “Don’t be a Hypocrite”, paired with a variety of messages to hold faith/believe in God and to make the world a better place by helping your fellow man?
What does it matter what we believe in, if we’re all working to make the world a better place? Why point and laugh at us for having faith in a higher power when you don’t?
No, it’s the “Thinking rationally like and adult is better than believing in the fairy tales and myths you may have believed in as a child is better” argument.
Don’t try to change the subject or set up a straw man in order to tilt against a position I never professed.
The problem with generalizing “the core message” of the New Testament is that once you profess to be a follower of Jesus you have to follow everything he says, or you fail to follow him at all. So when he says “Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them, but to fulfill them. For truly I tell you, until heaven and earth disappear, not the smallest letter, not the least stroke of a pen, will by any means disappear from the Law until everything is accomplished.” then you must also as he just commanded follow all the laws in the Old Testament, because they were not abolished by the very words of Christ himself. Fail to do so, and you are simply picking and choosing which words of Christ you want to follow. This destroys the “New Covenant” argument I have heard so often from those who are asked about all the horrible things in the Bible, that Christ somehow changed that by his manifestation as a man and sacrifice. But Christ himself says that this is not the case, so those who make this claim are by definition not Christians and will be burning in the lake of sulfur for all eternity.
That’s an easy one. Because you don’t, either. And pointing and laughing at an adult who believes in a myth comes naturally. But hey, if I’m wrong I’ll just be on the side of the giants at Ragnarok. Right beside you in fact, because you also picked the wrong gods to worship or not worship. Do you see how that works?
It’s a work of fiction. If people want to start clutching their pearls and collapse onto a fainting couch because a fictional character was less than respectful to their religious beliefs, it’s their own problem.
Bah. I want to thwack Deus upside the head with a metaphorical fish, not find a fainting couch.
He’s a deluded megalomaniacal killer who’s probably going to end up either in a jail cell that has no exit door, or dead.
Also, see my above comments. I’d rather people just know the accurate side of what’s being talked about, instead of the villain’s deluded misquoting and distortion.
This isn’t a religious statement, it’s a sign of Deus showing how absolutely bonkers he is. If you can think of a better way for a megalomaniac to demonstrate his megalomania than by comparing himself to God/Satan, I’ll be impressed.
Nah, as a Christian I couldn’t care less what you *say* about God. It’s my job to tell you what God says, not to make you believe it. Besides, Deus is villain, which doesn’t exactly lend credibility to his opinions on God, or even Satan for that matter.
This is too evil for me.
That is a magnificent choice of Gravatar for that declaration. Just sayin’.
One-liners? Hiring writers?
A really savvy supervillain not only does that. That approach is inherently limited.
They also study very, very hard to broaden their knowledge. AND they take improvisation and oratory classes from the best tutors.
Deus may be a self-professed “Not megalomaniac because it’s warranted for me”. I think a prominent part of his character is the need to excise perceived imperfections from himself. An inability to provide one-liners as needed? Totally an imperfection.
Some people want to grow up to be Batman. Some people want to be Lex Luthor.
And as Alfred said in one movie, some just want to watch the world burn.
That would be more Vehemence’s schtick, wouldn’t it?
The “cue dramatic lightning” line made me laugh out loud!
Well, it looks like Deus has finally mastered the dramatic lightning technique. Wonder how long it took him to do that, seeing the problems he had with the “dramatic lightening” tech he has?
You realise this is set over ten years before the Lightning Clicker, don’t you?
I have to say, that is some great villain dialogue.
Go for that classic feel and put an ad in them.
Personally, I think Dr. Doom would be genuinely competent at ruling the planet and at protecting it from attackers, be they from human threats, outer space, godly dimensions or hellish planes. He’d have a plan to make the world prosper, his Latverian people actually LOVE him: the former ruler was a tyrant and a schmuck, Doom is a meritocrat, patron of the arts, he is obviousltnot an atheist because he VIVISECTS ACTUAL GODS. has access to supernatural health care, and if he screws up big time, he invented time travel before Reed Richards so he can fix anything. His doombots are highly precise drones that can repel even superheroes and his country has very low crime rate, because, seriously, would you take a chance at desintegration? Doom for 2016!!!
That’s the only reason why he’s trying to rule the world, he’s seen literally every possible future and the only ones that aren’t terrible are the ones where he rules the world.
Doom also has an insane ego, absolutely can not handle anyone pointing out an error in his calculations, because that would imply said person is actually smarter than himself, as opposed to say… actually double-checking his work, and is prone to making stupid, careless mistakes, like grabbing Flash Thompson in a Spiderman suit while ignoring the REAL Spiderman who just walked by. In addition, Dr. Victor Von Doom makes plans that are overly complicated, convoluted, and just plain needlessly senseless to make himself seem smarter than he really is, and when even one of those variables doesn’t go the way he wants, the whole thing comes crashing on his head, and he screams that it’s all Reed Richard’s fault! Dr. Doom’s greatest enemy is not Reed Richards or the Fantastic Four. Dr. Doom’s greatest enemy is Dr. Doom himself.
“Doom’s greatest enemy is Dr. Doom himself”
Frankly, I was going to say squirrels.
https://biobreak.files.wordpress.com/2015/08/doom.jpg
It takes some serious writer interference and handing of the Idiot Ball to him to allow Dr. Doom to be beaten by Squirrel Girl and her pack of squirrels. If a dozen human thugs were jumping him he could simply electrify his suit, or lay down a flamethrower-like effect. Both of which would be perfectly capable of killing the squirrels in lot numbers. And yet I guess he forgot about those capabilities. No doubt he was distracted by Squirrel Girl’s *ahem* tail.
And, even forgetting about those capabilities, no squirrel is going to be able to harm him in his armored suit. He could simply ignore them and they could do nothing to him.
He can also fly, an ability neither Squirrel Girl nor squirrels posses, despite the so-called “flying squirrel.” So moving the fight to an arena in which he holds all the cards, him flying above them and fully able to hurt or kill them without any response on their part even possible, would be a trivial task for him.
This has been discussed as the real super power of SG, the ability to nerf other supers’ powers either consciously or unconsciously. I mean she defeated Galactus a few issues back, and then even told him how he keeps getting defeated by Earth’s heroes, and why.
She has the power to hand people the Idiot Ball? That is a lot more powerful than commanding an army of squirrels, that’s for sure!
But it seems she is a bit of an idiot herself. Now that she’s told Galactus how he keeps getting defeated by Earth’s heroes, and why, he can try again with this new knowledge that apparently even his incredible intellect was unable to fathom. Because knowing is half the battle!
Two points to make (one was brought up already, but I didn’t see the other when using a Ctrl+F search)
1) Satan was not cast out of heaven for ‘loving God too much’, he was pushed out for rebelling against God and essentially wanting to take his job.
2) Why would you use a Christian metaphor in an African region? Especially in a smaller country like this where Christianity is most likely (if not definitely) seen as being the religion of their oppressors? They’d probably have an African religion and have no idea who this ‘Satan’ fellow was or what ‘Heaven’ is.
The prince specifically called him “The Devil” would be my guess.
You realize that a fair amount of religions have an overarching evil entity right? Satan is ‘The Devil’ for Christianity. For Buddishm it’s Mara, For Egyptians you have Set. So forth and so on. Africa is home to a myriad of religions, after all it’s where humanity originated, so I’d expect more than a few to have a demonic archtype who could be called, ‘The Devil’. Do we even know what language they’re speaking? The DRC’s official language is listed as French, but as ‘Galytn’ split from them would they revert to an African dialect? I can’t see them even considering adopting English.
Large parts of Africa are members of one of the three major religions. The traders came to exploit the people for cheap labor and natural resources they could steal, the colonists came to exploit the people for cheap labor and the land they could steal, and the missionaries came to exploit the people for cheap labor and the riches they could steal for their churches.
Very true, and the DRC is predominantly Catholic. But apparently Galytn was formed prior to the DRC , so how much did they adopt from those they wished to distance themselves from? Especially when considering that the church is responsible for the majority of the construction and upkeep of the DRC’s infrastructure (something that Gatlyn is sorely lacking) I can’t see Christianity in any form being the favored religion.
Actually, the views on the devil is one of the key differences between the abrahamic faiths of Judaism, Christianity and Islam.
Judaism holds that when God handed laws to live by to humans the first of the angels stood and stated that humans would never be able to live by any law. God promptly handed him the duty of testing the faith of man. In orthodox judaism then, the devil is just doing his job of being the adversary and accuser of mankind.
Islam holds that god created three races. Angels made of smokeless fire, Jinn made of smoking fire, and man, made of clay. Iblis is the chief Jinn and was cast out for the sin of pride – refusing to obey god when commanded to bow to a creature made of mere clay.
And christianity is the latest iteration which puts the first of the fallen as a rebel directly challenging his creator. Que the “Better to reign in Hell than serve in Heaven” bit here.
The predecessor of the abrahamic faith – zoroastrianism – again has a different take on this as the chief creator deity Zurvan is neutral and the conflict is between his two chief administrators Ahriman and Ahura Mazda.
Which is a quote from Paradise Lost and can not be found in any even remotely similar form in any bible version I am aware of.
Correct. Christianity has the most muddled “accepted” mythology bar none of the aforementioned faiths. So much of what is taken for granted by both the major branches (catholicism and protestantism) is just a collection of cultural anecdotes and popular mythology. This is one reason why christianity can toss up a thousand radically diferent sects where Judaism – far more ordered in that regard – has very few and those mainly differing over minor issues of interpretation.
I assume this is why you put the Christian version–which is so heavily influenced by Dante–after that of Islam in your chronology (the actual Biblical references to Satan obviously predate Islam by a considerable margin)?
Correct. Although Islam obviously draws on tribal myth to some extent it absorbed the old testament largely unaltered.
Christianity was recompiled in the 12th century by some pope telling a few thousand priests to cherry-pick the various scripture they had laying around into one big book which means the old testament, in addition to being mistranslated into oblivion, is more of an afterthought. Most christians today simply assume the old testament is irrelevant (which is of course contradicted by Jesus Christ saying that “no it’s not”).
Islam doesn’t differ in any marked regard as to the importance of various parts of the Qur’an, instead the different sects assign different importance to the various interpretations of it.
Judaism and Islam are based on the idea that God Is Law. There are rules, follow them or else.
Christianity is based on the idea that God Is Love and rule infractions aren’t too serious since they can always be forgiven. And that created the understanding that as long as you did your best god would forgive you if you weren’t clear on the particulars.
Let’s see:
Enjoys the fear and pain of others on a regular basis? Check.
Uses criminal means when he could just walk away and take a less ‘optimal’ but legal route? Check.
Wants to change the status quo so that it is better for him, regardless of the will of the population? Iffy, but check.
Yep, he is not only a villain, but a Villain, and an evil one, to boot.
However, I am not yet sure he is an antagonist.
I am also not sure what it means that a man who calls himself Deus claims not to love god (too much).
It’s funny how all those things that are basically synonyms for bad guy all have slightly different meanings, and you can be some of them while not being some others
Please, show me where he ‘enjoys the fear and pain of others on a regular basis’
Fairly sure the population won’t be mourning (at least not willingly) the abdication of Indignant Senior, and having improved infrastructure (including roads, education and health care)? Betting heavily that ‘the will of the population’ will be supportive of that
Granted, he did seem to be reluctant to kill Senior and and did not seem to enjoy the actual killing. He even turned away (but he does that, so whatever).
However, he does seem to be enjoying the fear of Deus he is putting into Junior here.
As far as improving the infrastructure of the area? Enjoying the fear and pain one puts on others does not preclude one from enjoying doing good as well.
I am not saying that the population won’t like what he does. I am saying he gave them no choice.
The son seems more put out by his father’s death than truly angry…probably because he didn’t get to grab the golden ring–I mean, crown.
But is Indigogirl actually dead? His eyes are still open. Not that that is a medical diagnosis or anything, but until he is pronounced dead there is still room for him to be alive. Especially given that the genre of this work is well known for resurrecting people or killing duplicates in their place.
This whole scene reminds me of one from the tv show Firefly that involved kicking someone into a running starship engine.
Two things. Satan is not Lucifer. I know modernists tend to say that, the real translation for Satan is Adversary.
The other thing is I feel Lucifer was either asked to guard Hell or volunteered. He was the most powerful and intelligent Angel, yes, but his Father/Creator is supposed to be omniscient and omnipotent. No rebellion against him would EVER succeed, Lucifer knows this. I find it easier to accept he and his volunteers are trying to help redeem souls from Hell. It is said in the Bible to leave Hell all you have to do is be truly repentant and ask Him.
I’d be curious to lean where this is written in the bible, and which bible indeed. Every verse I recall about hell, or the “burning lake of sulfur”, or other similar descriptions, indicate that it is a permanent abode for sinners and those who practice magic. Words such as ‘eternal’ are often used when describing this punishment, and that does not seem to me to suggest something that can be escaped.
Lucifer is basically the Prometheus myth for the Romans minus the chained to a rock and getting your liver eaten every day, He brought agriculture and medicine and knowledge of government to the Romans, who then devoted a cult to him. That had to be broken, and what better way to break a cult han to name the worship item as the greatest enemy of your deity that must be destroyed in order for Good to Prevail… And given that the Original Sin was Learning Things (by eating of the fruit of Knowledge of Good and Evil), making the guy that taught people those things the Bad Guy was good marketing.
If this is all happening 10 years ago, are we going to see a teenage Sydney cameo before it goes back to the present?
I have no idea how you could work that in. Maybe have her in school giving an oral report on the country of Galytn, of which she knows little to nothing about.
I got chills.
Are they multiplying?
Are you losing control?
according to some stories of what the devil is… there could not be a more apt description of him. filled with pried, tried to call himself GOD. got cast out of heaven, and in these stories there is no such thing as the king of hell. hell is a lake of fire and brimstone, a place of weeping and gnashing of teeth.
It would be interesting to keep contrasting the satanist take the devil (what Dias references) with the Christian take on the devil (what the prince/new king references)
Dangit, took my idea!
Seriously, though, make up ‘mock ads’, similar to the old ads in comic books. Some ideas:
Event Horizon Comics
Ads for the restaurants in the Arc Tower (Cupps, Luftwaffles, Fusion)
Taste of Siam Restaurant
Harem for Doublemint Gum
Dabbler being ‘seduced’ by Hostess Pies (remember those ads?)
ARCSwat action figures (Thank you, Arianna!)
Machina Industries
Galytn Tourism Board
Anyway, just a couple of ideas…
For some reason I’m imagining Deus remembering all of this while he’s being interviewed, so minutes at a time are eaten up while he sits there with a shit-eating grin on his face then starts cackling for no reason while the anchor just kind of has an uncomfortable expression.
Lucifer got kicked out of Heaven because he wanted to keep all the glory for himself and didn’t like just conveying it to God. He convinces 1/3 of all the angels to join him in the coup and fails. That’s what happened. It had nothing to do with Lucifer “loving” God, except maybe him loving the thought of *being* God.
“Loving God too much”
… no, he got cast from heaven because he was proud >.>
Wow, Deus has had some pretty slam-dunk lines!
I’m back on this page because of the linked reference from #530, and I can’t believe I missed this opportunity the first time:
Now he’s an Indinge-in-heap…*I’ll see myself out*
(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Imogen_Heap)
Deus is rapidly becoming my favorite character in this comic.
Deus is rapidly becoming the most annoying character in this comic. If I had to be around this guy on a regular basis in real life I’d end up moving to another city to get away from him. So full of himself.