# Marvel comics, the gods, \*the\* God, and where did humans come from? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [July 23, 2005, 5:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/marvel-comics-the-gods-the-god-and-where-did-humans-come-from/313817 "2005-07-23T17:25:25Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 9\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2012, 12:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/marvel-comics-the-gods-the-god-and-where-did-humans-come-from/313817/61 "2012-06-07T00:33:19Z")
> [@Fish](#): > > I don’t think Marvel has used God as a character because their lawyers told Marvel they couldn’t copyright him. They just had to [change the name.](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eternity_(comics)) ---
**Author:** ![Reloy3](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c68b51/32.png) [@Reloy3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Reloy3)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2012, 10:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/marvel-comics-the-gods-the-god-and-where-did-humans-come-from/313817/62 "2012-06-09T22:10:10Z")
Adherents has a page on the religious affiliations of comic characters: [http://www.adherents.com/lit/comics/comic\_book\_religion.html](http://www.adherents.com/lit/comics/comic_book_religion.html) ---
**Author:** ![Fenris](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fenris/32/498_2.png) [@Fenris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fenris)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2012, 10:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/marvel-comics-the-gods-the-god-and-where-did-humans-come-from/313817/63 "2012-06-09T22:21:15Z")
> [@foolsguinea](#): > > 😕 Gaiman largely used ancient pagan European mythology in his stuff. Yeah, but subordinate to the “True” god. Bast, Odin, their power came from belief. Gaiman, Moore, Ostrander made it clear that the Judeo-Christian God was _GOD_. Which is _fine_. At least it’s coherent. DeMatthis kept trying to say "No, Buddah and one of the Hindu Gods (Vishnu?) were _also_ The _GOD_ which…doesn’t make sense. It doesn’t fit with the Judeo-Christian Mythology. Ostrander’s run of The Specter, Gaiman’s Sandman (where all the “lesser” Gods are petitioning Dream for the key to Hell, The J/C God says “Nope, it goes to these two Angels” and no-one argues. Moore’s Swamp Thing where the shadow God cast after saying “Fiat Lux” came to life and had to merge back with God (circa issue 50), not to mention the whole Lucifer series (yeah, it’s Vertigo, but it has it’s roots in DC) all point to the Judeo-Christian God being the Creator. > [@](#): > > (Seriously, you think I’m going to side with Marv Wolfman over Chris Claremont, even on Marv’s own characters?) Why not? Wolfman’s a far better writer and frankly, his 60-some issues of Tomb of Dracula are far better than _anything_ Claremont’s ever written (except maybe some of the X-Men that Byrne co-wrote with him). ---
**Author:** ![Ura-Maru](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/51bf81/32.png) [@Ura-Maru](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ura-Maru)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2012, 12:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/marvel-comics-the-gods-the-god-and-where-did-humans-come-from/313817/64 "2012-06-12T00:42:40Z")
> [@Reloy3](#): > > Adherents has a page on the religious affiliations of comic characters: [Gscoblog | UFABET เว็บพนัน ฝากถอนโอนไว ยูฟ่าเบท เว็บแท้ 100%](http://www.adherents.com/lit/comics/comic_book_religion.html) An interesting project, though some of the entries are a bit forced. I’m no theologian, but I’m pretty sure that Nazi, Freudian, LGBT, and Feminist aren’t recognized religions, though I’d be willing to concede if there’s, say, some Nazi USMC Chaplin who wants to correct me. Points given for being willing to laugh at themselves, J. J. Jameson has ‘Hates Spider-Man’ listed. At least, I hope that was supposed to be a joke. JJJ trying to claim the Daily Bugle as a religion for some kind of tax dodge? Absurdly out of character. That would be like him knowingly printing false stories to frame other superheroes that asked him to get off Spidy’s back. Which is so ridiculous that I can’t believe I just typed it. Though a huge list of comic book characters with (sorta) established religious afiliations does kind of undercut the quotes on the sidebar and the top of the page . . . – On the plus side, the sidebar serves the helpful purpose of letting everyone know that Terry Moore is a pompous douche, otherwise one would have to read one of his comics to establish. Or one of his books on how to draw. Or read a transcript of an interview. ---
**Author:** ![Mister\_Rik](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mister_rik/32/491_2.png) [@Mister\_Rik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mister_Rik)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2012, 1:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/marvel-comics-the-gods-the-god-and-where-did-humans-come-from/313817/65 "2012-06-12T01:21:31Z")
> [@Ura-Maru](#): > > Points given for being willing to laugh at themselves, J. J. Jameson has ‘Hates Spider-Man’ listed. At least, I hope that was supposed to be a joke. JJJ trying to claim the Daily Bugle as a religion for some kind of tax dodge? Absurdly out of character. That would be like him knowingly printing false stories to frame other superheroes that asked him to get off Spidy’s back. Which is so ridiculous that I can’t believe I just typed it. Though I did like the fact that Marvel finally explained JJJ’s obsessive hatred of Spidey, and the explanation actually made sense and made JJJ seem less of a nutjob. Ironically, I don’t think it was in a Spider-Man comic, it was in a different title (I think it was one of the mutant books, and Spidey and JJJ had cameos). The gist was that, as a boy during WW2, JJJ idolized Captain America, and like many other boys of his era, he wanted to be Bucky, Cap’s sidekick. _And then Bucky got killed in action._ And it took the shine right off Captain America for JJJ when it registered that Cap had been taking a _kid_ into combat, and had gotten him killed. JJJ’s anger is actually directed at _all_ superheroes; Spider-Man is just the poster boy because he’s the closest target. ---
**Author:** ![Ura-Maru](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/51bf81/32.png) [@Ura-Maru](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ura-Maru)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2012, 5:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/marvel-comics-the-gods-the-god-and-where-did-humans-come-from/313817/66 "2012-06-12T05:29:50Z")
Ehh. I hadn’t heard that explanation (Was it Ultimates? Brubaker? Sounds like Brubaker. Because everything’s about his precious Barnes, isn’t it?) but I don’t think I like it. I mean, it’s better than the original “I’m a small weak man and I will conspire to bring down the Great Man because I’m written by an objectivist” explanation, but not much. What’s wrong with the simple explanation? He jumped to the wrong conclusion when Spidey first appeared, made a lot of noise about it, and could never admit to himself that he’d been wrong? Even so, the core of JJJ’s personality has always been that he was a) a colossal jerk, and b) an honest journalist who believed in the power and responsibility of the press. That’s why he had so many decent people working for him, dispite the tantrums and the Hitler moustashe and the fact that his office probably smelled like Castro’s ashtray. Deliberately printing stories he knew were false? That would be as absurd as Captain America throwing around casual insults towards the Europeans who fought by his side in WW2, or telling a superheroine to go make him a sandwich. And then refusing to own it with ‘I don’t know why I said that,’ because weasling is what Cap’s all about. In other words, preposterous and unthinkable. – Note to Brubaker: There’s only one Bucky as far as I’m concerned. And his name is Monroe. Well, was, anyway. ---
**Author:** ![Bakhesh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/3da27b/32.png) [@Bakhesh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bakhesh)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2012, 10:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/marvel-comics-the-gods-the-god-and-where-did-humans-come-from/313817/67 "2012-06-12T10:53:02Z")
In the four issue limited series ‘Lobo’s Back’, Lobo gets killed, and ends up in heaven (after he proves too unruly for Hell). God only appears twice IIRC, both times off panel (Once as a giant hand pointing down at a grovelling employee, and another time enjoying watching Lobo’s antics drinking a beer). Seeing as Lobo is part of regular DC continuity, that would seem to confirm his existence in the DC universe at least. ---
**Author:** ![Bakhesh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/3da27b/32.png) [@Bakhesh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bakhesh)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2012, 10:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/marvel-comics-the-gods-the-god-and-where-did-humans-come-from/313817/68 "2012-06-12T10:55:21Z")
Also, didn’t Marvel imply that God was Jack Kirby in the Fantastic Four once? Or was he just some lesser cosmic being? ---
**Author:** ![Lightray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lightray/32/391_2.png) [@Lightray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lightray)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2012, 12:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/marvel-comics-the-gods-the-god-and-where-did-humans-come-from/313817/69 "2012-06-13T12:55:36Z")
> [@Bakhesh](#): > > Also, didn’t Marvel imply that God was Jack Kirby in the Fantastic Four once? Or was he just some lesser cosmic being? IIRC, he was explicitly _their_ creator. Not _The_ Creator. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/marvel-comics-the-gods-the-god-and-where-did-humans-come-from/313817.md?page=3)