The many Gods of Wonder Woman General Discussion

[WonderScott]

I enjoy it most when the Olympians show up in multiple forms, depending on what they’re doing and which mortals they are messing with… there’s something interesting there potentially about the powers and abilities they have in different forms.

My preference is for the gods to be a part of the Wonder mythos, it also rooted in a superhero world.

What do the Olympians think of Circe? What happens when Eros comes to town and starts messing with Steve? Does Dionysus have a favorite mortal bar? Do all the trickster gods get together for a competition against one another using mortals?

Last thing is I’d like to see more divinities show up for us to get some sense of their relationships with each other. The Egyptian gods, etc. Many gods were combined across the Mediterranean (at least) when different cultures interacted and each learned about the gods each worshiped.

Last, last thing is that I’d starting sorting out the abilities of the gods in relation to one another - especially the New Gods. I’m not saying they all have to have the same power level, but what’s the general range between them?

Are all New Gods stronger and more powerful than humans? Or are only some of them?

There’s a lot of inconsistency in how the different divinities are portrayed, so it’d be nice to get some understanding of it.

[bardkeep]

I enjoy it most when the Olympians show up in multiple forms, depending on what they’re doing and which mortals they are messing with… there’s something interesting there potentially about the powers and abilities they have in different forms.

My preference is for the gods to be a part of the Wonder mythos, it also rooted in a superhero world.

What do the Olympians think of Circe? What happens when Eros comes to town and starts messing with Steve? Does Dionysus have a favorite mortal bar? Do all the trickster gods get together for a competition against one another using mortals?

Last thing is I’d like to see more divinities show up for us to get some sense of their relationships with each other. The Egyptian gods, etc. Many gods were combined across the Mediterranean (at least) when different cultures interacted and each learned about the gods each worshiped.

Last, last thing is that I’d starting sorting out the abilities of the gods in relation to one another - especially the New Gods. I’m not saying they all have to have the same power level, but what’s the general range between them?

Are all New Gods stronger and more powerful than humans? Or are only some of them?

There’s a lot of inconsistency in how the different divinities are portrayed, so it’d be nice to get some understanding of it.

This sounds a lot like what Azzarello was doing and it's one of the few things I really liked about his run (along with the artwork). I also quite liked Rucka's modernized take (+ the arc with Zeus refusing to adapt and losing his power), and I think the concept of different pantheons interacting with each other is really cool. But Historia made me really prefer the gods as larger-than-life forces of nature rather than literal, physical beings.

The downside of that approach is that in a shared universe, you may be stuck having to address every single pantheon on every planet. But you could easily work around it by framing them as one central group of celestial beings and explaining that different pantheons are just different cultures' subjective understandings of the same gods. It also sets up the fundamental difference between the New Gods from the ancient gods - the New Gods are just powerful aliens, not the anthropomorphized forces of the universe.

That said, in general I'm very fond of mysticism and esoteric muckity-muck in my comics (Sandman and Promethea are MUCH more my speed than action-packed Geoff Johnsian superhero fare). So I'll concede and accept a more grounded take on the gods as long as they're not just glorified superheroes.

[WonderScott]

This sounds a lot like what Azzarello was doing and it's one of the few things I really liked about his run (along with the artwork). I also quite liked Rucka's modernized take (+ the arc with Zeus refusing to adapt and losing his power), and I think the concept of different pantheons interacting with each other is really cool. But Historia made me really prefer the gods as larger-than-life forces of nature rather than literal, physical beings.

The downside of that approach is that in a shared universe, you may be stuck having to address every single pantheon on every planet. But you could easily work around it by framing them as one central group of celestial beings and explaining that different pantheons are just different cultures' subjective understandings of the same gods. It also sets up the fundamental difference between the New Gods from the ancient gods - the New Gods are just powerful aliens, not the anthropomorphized forces of the universe.

That said, in general I'm very fond of mysticism and esoteric muckity-muck in my comics (Sandman and Promethea are MUCH more my speed than action-packed Geoff Johnsian superhero fare). So I'll concede and accept a more grounded take on the gods as long as they're not just glorified superheroes.

I think the Perez, Jimenez, Rucka, Azzarello and Chiang designs could all exist simultaneously - again, depending on what the god was choosing to do or how they desired to appear.

I like the esoteric and ethereal too… it’s just that I like a little bit of knowledge and explanation about their abilities to provide context to a story.

If Athena pops down to Earth after Mad Harriett boom tubes in, are either of them afraid of one another or think they’re in over their heads?

Hermes and Kalibak?

Ares and Big Barda?

[Sebastianne]

[John Venus]

That Hestia design is really good, one of my faves.

Glad they're going Historia route of Gods appearing however they want (although it's really a Gaiman idea that goes all the way back to Sandman).

I have seen an Artemis design I've really liked.

[Veni]

Best Design: Athena, Hestia, Artemis
Worst Design: Demeter

[Sebastianne]

[Mirai]

Since when Demeter and Appolo are black ? Aren't they greek gods ?

[HestiasHearth]

Holy...!! That Hecate design is nightmarishly creepy!

[bardkeep]

Since when Demeter and Appolo are black ? Aren't they greek gods ?

(1) Demeter has been depicted as Black at least since Rucka's first run. Apollo has been all over the place, though he was sort of a (literally) all-black ghoulish-looking dude in n52.

(2) The gods canonically present in whatever form they choose. Also in the lore they're rulers of the entire world/universe, not just Greece - the Greeks' depictions were just what was familiar to them. Artists' takes on the gods have included Hermes as a bird man, Poseidon as a giant frog/squid creature, Athena as a disembodied suit of armor, and Zeus as a giant blue ram-man with thunderstorms in his skin.

[Nyssane]

Since when Demeter and Appolo are black ? Aren't they greek gods ?

Apollo's been black since the New 52. And yeah, they're Greek Gods, meaning they can take whatever form they want.

[Mirai]

Thanks for your answers !

[marhawkman]

Apollo's been black since the New 52. And yeah, they're Greek Gods, meaning they can take whatever form they want.

Hunh? i remember that version as having.. an inhuman skin tone that looked deep purple to me.

[Nyssane]

Hunh? i remember that version as having.. an inhuman skin tone that looked deep purple to me.

[Gaius]

Hunh? i remember that version as having.. an inhuman skin tone that looked deep purple to me.

Probably the choice of lighting and inks. What Nyssane linked is how he's supposed to look.