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The latest version of Opera doesn’t keep any cookies, including passwords. Getting back here took much time. Now I’m very late!
Opera’s loss…
Some are amateur in both art and writing, but the others can fit the idea.
The Legion of Superheroes
I’ve been a fan of this for more than three decades, but it’s been around since 1958. They were created by SF legend Otto Binder and artist Al Plastino. Over the years, many others have both written and drawn them.
Readers know ultimately Computo is an evil being, kills one of Triplicate Girl. Mordru is an ancient sorcerer with a fear of being underground… for stories set in the far future they have quite a past!
Some could argue these stories are known only to their readers… but outside Norse myth fans and readers of the Thor comicook is Ragnarok common? How about the Fenris wolf? Ygradsil, the World Tree?
Different song, same dance.
Superman
Some say there are many Jesus metaphors in Superman. I find that funny. Like me, the creators of the character, Jerry Siegal and fellow Canadian Joe Shuster, are also Jewish. So’s Jesus… but this isn’t meant to be a theological debate.
More people know Superman than the Legion. Ask many strangers and they’ll know Superman, Lois Lane, Lex Luthor, and Kryptonite. A big chunk of them will know Jimmy Olsen and Perry White. The Daily Planet is a modern–day Mount Olympus.
As I said, he has Jesus metaphors thanks to his death and resurrection to life. He’s also the first superhero, the inspiration for all to come.
Superman has become part of our zeitgeist the way Zeus was to Ancient Greece. The exact stories aren’t important, but we remember the characters.
Retcons
“Retroactive Continuity” is when due to an event everything you knew about a character is suddenly changed to reflect a new interpretation. The killer of The Bat-Man’s parents changed often like this, and whether they’re caught. Superman’s power level was sometimes lowered, or some abilities removed, some events (like the deaths of Ma and Pa Kent) get changed too.
Mythology is like that. I’m not an expert, but I took some Mythology classes at University. This was over 30 years ago. Correct me if needed :
In the Greek Pantheon, many of the goddesses now called Zeus’ daughters were his wives first. They were the goddess of a region until Greece conquered them. To smooth over the takeovers, Zeus became their spouse.
Over time, the mythology got rewritten and changed.
Many years from now, some comicbooks may be unearthed and thought of as our modern mythology.
One Comment
I’ve no doubt that superhero comics and related films either are or will be considered as mythology. I’m well aware of the Jesus metaphors that have been used for Superman – not to mention Aslan of the Narnia books, among other works. I myself have been toying with the idea of a character thrown out of time to a world that has a completely different pantheon, and using the stories of Superman and Star Wars to describe her world’s own myths.