Okay, I often hear comments along the lines of "comics are for kids, right?"
psh....whatev.
Steve at Clifton Comics recently convinced me to buy about 10 issues of Justice Society. And I read them all in about 45 minutes. It was awesome.
For any of you in the know with comics, this latest storyline of JSA has been pretty much a sequel (or prequel) of Kingdom Come. So basically a Superman from an alternate Earth has been sent to OUR Earth (or I guess I should say Earth 1....do we have a number for our Earth?) in order to prevent the apocalypse of the superheroes. Easier said than done.
In Kingdom Come we were introduced to Magog, who was the Herald of Gog. Well now we have finally met Gog (right).....and he's basically God.
Okay, maybe not God. But at least A god. He can do anything. Basically.
But the JSA discover (through the new Sandman...who might have some of the coolest powers ever.) that he is forming a Symbiotic relationship with the Earth....which will eventually destroy it. So they have to kill God.
Now, the killing God concept.....I've seen that done before. Specifically in The Authority, but also somewhat in Earth X, both of which were awesome. And let's face it....killing God has a whole mess of deep psychological sources to it......let's not get into that.
Besides, Gog is A god. Not THE god. In fact, he used to be pals with a bunch of other "god-like" beings. They're all dead now. So let's look past the blasphemy issues then.
And this brings me back to my point. Comics are definitely an artform that has moved beyond it's original routes as a medium mainly geared towards children. This Gog storyline has had some heavy concepts. Concepts well beyond the scope of a child's perceptions. It deals with the concept of faith, and where does our faith really come from. And not just faith in a deity....but faith in ourselves. And faith in each other.
Good Gog....did I seriously just say that?
The one story I thought was very powerful was the sub-plot with Dr.Mid-nite. For those of you who don't know, Doc is blind. And a physician. And a devote Christian. Gog is all powerful....and so he "fixes" him. Gives him his sight back. Here is someone with an affliction who has been a faithful person all his life, and never had the need, nor the expectation, of God to fix his "problem". And now...here comes this new god...and instantly rewards him....for really nothing at all.
The question this brings up then is faith more powerful WITHOUT proof? Does proof in itself detract from faith? I mean what is so amazing about BELIEVING the sky is blue, for example, when I can just look up and see it? Am I really making a conviction of any sort? So when some of the JSAers decide to take up and follow Gog (only AFTER he proves himself mind you)....what are they really doing? Do they "believe?" Or are they just seeing? And what the hell is so special about that?
Now, I am not a very religious person. I would consider myself a spiritual person, but when I use that term, I mean that I trust in morals, and humanity. I guess I'm not spiritual, that doesn't make sense. The very source of the word suggests something otherworldly. I'll decide on what word describes what I mean and get back to you.
But while I don't consider myself religious, I do respect those people who have faith. And I contend that true faith does not need any proof, or any evidence, and in fact (this I think is the most important part) does not even LOOK for it.
I saw a thing on Facebook the other day. It was one of those YouTube videos where people just show scrolling text telling a story, with music behind it. (OKay, side note. WTF?!?! why would you use a visual, kinetic medium to write a bunch of TEXT. Good Gog....I could have read it about 50 times faster than it was playing. Just write the damn thing down, don't waste your time pretending to be a "film-maker". Sheesh)
Anyway, it was a story about some kid who stood up for his faith, and that meant a piece of chalk didn't break. That's right. A piece of chalk did not fall on the floor, but happened to fall in the perfect way so as to not break. And this was supposed to be the ultimate "proof" of faith.
Okay. Let's think about that.
Your God decides to show himself to you by...saving a piece of chalk. Instead of....you know....maybe a person? Or the planet? OR a DOG?!?! maybe something that actually breathes? What the hell does that prove? And why do you need proof?
You need proof because your faith is not that strong. But you're afraid to admit it. The truly faithful people don't need proof because they have.....wait for it......FAITH. duh.
See? All of this came straight from reading a comic book. Proof enough for you (haha....)?
Speaking of Proof....maybe I'll talk about that book the next time.
-C
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