Graphic Mythology: Invasion

On December 7, 1941, Pearl Harbor was attacked. One of my uncles (Bud on my mother’s side) was actually there and survived to tell about it. That same month, American comic books were invaded by the gods (well, a demigod, anyway) when Wonder Woman debuted in an issue whose company would eventually merge with another to form DC.

I must be out of my mind. One mistake, one vital piece of information missing, and veteran comic book fans will eat me alive. Cries of “Charlatan!” will resound through the blogosphere. Sins of omission will go unforgiven. To my future detractors, I resign myself to my fate and offer this acknowledgement of my inferiority: do your worst.

Similar invasions have occurred since then. Thor first appeared with Marvel in August of 1962, and other gods have entered the graphic atmosphere like an ongoing meteor storm. Many of these gods are technologically or “scientifically” explained, but the best examples hark back to the roles played by gods in Greek and Norse mythology (hopefully minus some notorious examples of very bad behavior). I will make no effort at doing a comprehensive job of this. I have simply found that certain characters in certain comics have grabbed my attention, and I would like to put my own spin on them. Remember, you have entered MY universe. More next week.