Orthodoxy & Comics: Is Paganism and the Old Ways being brought back via Comics?

[Gxg (G²)]

I guess I liken comics now vs. then to videogames now vs. then.

Nintendo Entertainment System and Super Nintendo and Sega Master System as well as Sega Genesis, all those had fun, clean, clever games. They were not 3-D and insanely realistic in the slightest but they were just plain fun.

The new video games have car-jackers, assassinations, blood and guts, murdering presidents and slaughtering people wholesale. The old games, when you shot your blaster or weapon, the enemy disappeared. .


It was more a game, less into realism, stark realism, that is offensive and just mind-numbing. When I've looked at comics in recent years, they have this sense of sensuality, course language, intense violence, and they're just bombastic. I prefer the 1960's to early 1990's, just my preference. I see the new stuff as junkola

Interesting..

Although I agree that there was a difference in quality of gaming design, I'm not certain I can agree with you as it concerns saying games up until the 90s were clean/clever....and I say that having grown up as a video game junkie. Mortal Kombat was one of the biggest examples I can remember with games on Sega that was VERY bloody/violent..

From Scorpion to Sub-Zero, Fatalities and many others..

And of course, there were other games....from "Killer INSTINCT" to "Primal Rage" and many others...Street Fighter as well.


But alot of the games were far less advanced than what many thing are today. I miss the days of Sonic the Hedgehog, SuperMario, Bubsy Bobcat and many other games that were rather simple...

And the same is said in regards to the comics...for there were comic series in the 1980s-90s that were quite violent. I'm reminded of the "Age of Apocalypse" saga that were very detailed in images of destruction. Apocalypse, one mutant who was exceptionally powerful and felt that mutants should naturally rule over humans since the humans had less abilities...leading to his advocating for humans to either be controlled/steralized or wiped out (if remembering the saga from the 90s called "Age of Apocalypse" )

The alternate reality known as the Age of Apocalypse was one where the ultimate fear of Professor X and humanity came to pass: a global revolution that results in a reverse-racist society where vengeful mutants turn the tables upon their one time oppressors in an orgy of violence, genocide and racial supremacy.

There was also the Weapon X saga from 1990 that was VERY intensive in terms of the violence/gore that came with it, concerning the origins of Wolverine and how he was given his adamantium skeleton:

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And of course, in the 80s, there were LOTS of scenes with death/violence...like what happened with the Mutant Massacre...a major Marvel Comics crossover storyline, which took place during the fall of 1986. What happened there was very wild, in light of what others like Sabertooth and differing groups did....with others like Angel having to have his wings amputated and eventually leading to his becoming Archangel. The Marauder known as Harpoon pinned Angel to a wall by his wings, severely damaging them. Blockbuster continued the job started by ripping out many feathers and giving Warren a heavy beating. More dead than alive, Angel was found by Thor, who drove off the Marauders and returned Warren to his teammates

That paticular saga was rather violent/got noted for being such by many. There was also the Phoenix saga itself, which depicted Jean Grey destorying the star for a Solar System that ended up killing billions...found in what's known as the Dark Phoenix Saga from 1980.

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FOr other examples of violence in comics from the 1980s, there was the 1988 death of Robin (Jason Todd) in the Batman series...as well as Joker shooting Barbra Gordon (Batgirl)/parlayzing her from the waste down:

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Many others besides that....but all of that is said to bring out the point that there has been a good dose of realism in the comic book world for a long time if knowing where to see it. There wasn't as nearly the same amounts of obscenity and sensualtiy as there is now---but there was violence and plenty of it.

 

[gurneyhalleck1]

Mortal Kombat was when I got disinterested in gaming in the early 90's....hate the blood and guts nonsense. It seems more a form of escapism for a wanna be serial killer than a game!

 

[Gxg (G²)]

Mortal Kombat was when I got disinterested in gaming in the early 90's....hate the blood and guts nonsense. It seems more a form of escapism for a wanna be serial killer than a game!

Hated the blood and guts nonsense as well. Truthfully, even when I was young, the game freaked me out---although my cousins were addicted to it and I had to watch them play it whenever they played games.

But apart from that, again, there was alot of violence in games/comics even in the 80s precedding it as well as the 70s when seeing some of the differing story lines. Very intensive..and one of the reasons why I tend to wonder why others say that comics were once "clean" in an absolute sense..for the levels may've been far less than what has come out today--but even then, there were others saying the comics were wrong and "pushing the boundaries."

 

[Gxg (G²)]

I hope it wasn't a Calvinist comic. If that were the case, only the elect could join the Avengers, the beckoning to join the team would be irresistable, and the badguys would have total human depravity! LOL

Plus there'd be so much predestination that we'd know the ending on the first page!

From what I could tell, the comic book series itself was not Calvinist

 

[gurneyhalleck1]

I was just kidding. I know nothing about it

From what I could tell, the comic book series itself was not Calvinist

 

[Gxg (G²)]

I was just kidding. I know nothing about it

Heavens..

Should have put the smiley face beside what I was saying to show where I was joking

 

[Eastern Drifter]

Easy G, we're in agreement on Ultimate Nightcrawler. It was a change for the sake of change, and to display Catholics as ignorant and intolerant toward homosexuals (to be fair, many are; but Nightcrawler had a blatantly fundamentalist attitude meant to paint Christianity in a negative light).

 

[Eastern Drifter]

On the topic of angels in fiction:

This isn't a comic book in the western sense, but there is an anime and manga that I quite like called "Trinity Blood". The main character, Abel Nightroad, is a crusnik (vampiric angel that feeds on the blood of normal vampires) that is in the service of the Vatican.

It's superhero-based, in that Abel is an unassuming priest most of the time, but once he transforms into angelic form, he takes on incredible powers to defeat antagonists.

However, he is artificially created, and relies on nano-bots in his body to trigger his transformations. The existence of God is never outright confirmed in the series universe.

Trinity Blood Crusnik - YouTube

 

[Gxg (G²)]

Easy G, we're in agreement on Ultimate Nightcrawler. It was a change for the sake of change, and to display Catholics as ignorant and intolerant toward homosexuals (to be fair, many are; but Nightcrawler had a blatantly fundamentalist attitude meant to paint Christianity in a negative light).

Not surprised, seeing how there is a bit of an agenda going on and comics---just like stories from medieval ages---are being used as the platform to train others in certain realms of thought.

 

[Gxg (G²)]

Sounds like an interesting idea, as it concerns the anime that was mentioned...

Personally, I'm not really an Anime fan--although there are some I'm very selective with. But with the angel idea, I'd probably prefer simply giving visual illustration with the things mentioned in scripture/going from there rather than trying to bring things down to the natural level as it concerns having others artificially created to become angel-like and bringing in some other elements that tend to bother me (i.e vampires). No offense...

 

[Eastern Drifter]

None taken, friend. I've always been a fan of the good vampire story, from Bram Stoker to Anne Rice. It's not everyone's preference. One thing I don't understand though is this culture's strange fascination with zombies, heh (they lack the gothic atmosphere and romanticism of vampires. They just like to wander around eating people).

 

[Gxg (G²)]

I think there's a level of darkness that one has to accept within themselves in order to either love or be fascinated with things such as vampires--paticularly when combining them with the spiritual..and I know there are many who feel that one cannot truly have a love for spiritual themes in scripture and be fascinated with things like Vampires or Zombies...although I'm not saying I'm 100% against discussion on it.

One movie I've often cried at was "The Wolfman"---but as another said to me once, there's a level of realness that's often forgotten when making cinema about such things....for at some point, it probably happened as a manifestation of the Demonic---and entertainment was made on it that makes us used to it.

 

[gurneyhalleck1]

I think most modern zombie stuff is lame. That being said, to mock George A. Romero's trilogy: Night of the Living Dead, Dawn of the Dead, and Day of the Dead, them's fightin' words! Epic, classic, HUGE fan of those flicks!

 

[Gxg (G²)]

I think most modern zombie stuff is lame. That being said, to mock George A. Romero's trilogy: Night of the Living Dead, Dawn of the Dead, and Day of the Dead, them's fightin' words! Epic, classic, HUGE fan of those flicks!

Never will understand why Zombies fascinate people. They're decaying bodies and meant to eat others...like Resident Evil. Freaked me out growing up and still does.

 

[ArmyMatt]

Never will understand why Zombies fascinate people. They're decaying bodies and meant to eat others...like Resident Evil. Freaked me out growing up and still does.

same here, they are also really boring. they groan, run, and eat

 

[Gxg (G²)]

same here, they are also really boring. they groan, run, and eat

Vampires and Werewolves seem to always be more ..stylish, like "Blade" or "Underworld" triology which placed an interesting spin on things.

Turns out that the latest thing others are fascinated by that seem trippy are Mermaids (creatures that most likely existed and may've been very complex, more discussed here and here)....and in mythology, they were pretty scarey. The best depiction yet is that shown in the Pirates triology:

Pirates of the Caribbean On Stranger Tides Mermaid Scene ​

Jack Sparrow Defeats Mermaids | Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides [HD]​

Mermaids in Pirates of the Caribbean 4 - YouTube​

 

[Eastern Drifter]

Never will understand why Zombies fascinate people. They're decaying bodies and meant to eat others...like Resident Evil. Freaked me out growing up and still does.

That's what I said!

 

[gurneyhalleck1]

Only George Romero could pull off zombies, dude. The man was a genius! Dawn of the Dead 1978 in the mall, shoot, man, one of THE greatest horror flicks ever! I watch it every summer. Day of the Dead? Man, Rhodes is worth watching in that puppy!

Never will understand why Zombies fascinate people. They're decaying bodies and meant to eat others...like Resident Evil. Freaked me out growing up and still does.

 

[Eastern Drifter]

Despite my dislike of zombies in general, The Walking Dead is a very well written television series with great character development.

Fittingly enough, it's based on a comic by Robert Kirkman, who also did Ultimate X-Men.

 

[Gxg (G²)]

Only George Romero could pull off zombies, dude. The man was a genius! Dawn of the Dead 1978 in the mall, shoot, man, one of THE greatest horror flicks ever! I watch it every summer. Day of the Dead? Man, Rhodes is worth watching in that puppy!

If folks gotta go with the Zombie theme or "Undead", one can always go with BeetleJuice...