Comic Anthropology 101 (20) The Supernaturaland Spirituality

Taiwanimation · Post by **Taiwanimation** » Mon Dec 02, 2002 8:32 pm

Discussion 20: The Supernatural and Spirituality

While the supernatural and spirituality can show up in all types of comics, they are most common in the fantasy type. Some fantasy comics are rooted in researching of existing religions and folklore (such as Mixed Myth) while others are mostly invented.

What role do the supernatural play? Are they just another character, or do they have elevated status?

Also, for those non-fantasy comics that make extensive use of this theme, what purpose does it serve? Plot device or background?

Kevin Wolf · Post by **Kevin Wolf** » Mon Dec 02, 2002 8:45 pm

"Mythocorp" had a bit of the supernatural in it (magic, imps and whatnot), but it was just for goofing around with. I didn't have any sort of framework or background. I don't expect that "The Hamish MacCreagle Action-Adventure Hour" will have much of a supernatural element in it, but if it does, it will once again be for the purpose of the story and nothing else.

My current Gripping Tale of Men is a sci-fi detective noir and will have no supernatural aspects at all.

Saganaki · Post by **Saganaki** » Mon Dec 02, 2002 9:22 pm

In the case of Kari & Doug, the supernatural is a part of the world the characters inhabit. Most of the characters who've put in appearances have had some kind of supernatural aspect, be it "traditional" magic abilities, enchanted items, or simply being creatures whose very existence defies evolution.

As for how they're treated, it varies. Kari's magical abilities, for example, are an inherant part of the Arbenheithutian aristocracy. On the other hand, Doug's posession of an enchanted weapon has no effect upon his status among the inhabitants of Billton. It varies greatly, at least within the Outer Realms (the Southern section of the island upon which the comic takes place).

Of course, move to the central island and you'll see a real clash of contrasting interests, magically speaking. In the West, the Monarchist Domain of Correctly Political Perspectives (MDoCPP) has outlawed magic (save among the elite of the rulership) and made attempts to dissuade the worship of six of the island's seven gods (only Krysa, goddess of Order, is worshipped). In the Eastern Kingdom of Manners, one would see a rich magical history, including a lengthy tradition of worship for Dheela, goddess of Magic, and Phrex, god of Mystery.

Which brings me to the spirituality of the island. Every different religious sect on the island is bound by worship of seven deities, representing Chaos, Innovation, Life, Magic, Mystery, Order, and War. Even the names used to refer to them are fairly universal (respectively, it's Kilane, Mefli, Shelinca, Dheela, Phrex, Krysa, and Grug). The reasoning for this is that these gods and goddesses are real and make sure their followers know this, occasionally meddling themselves in human affairs for a lark.

Somehow, probably out of fear, they are still worshipped.

Careksims · Post by **Careksims** » Mon Dec 02, 2002 9:47 pm

There is none what so ever in my comic ^^;; Just real world stuff.

KedaDibandion · Post by **KedaDibandion** » Mon Dec 02, 2002 10:01 pm

Well, for TPR, I haven't really decided the extent of the supernatural, and as far as spirituality goes, I don't have any definite plans. I'm not running a philosophical comic, I'm running a story!

Soon in the future, the first appearance of the Hyperdimensional Beings will occur; I kind of think of them more as lame-o Sci-fi devices than as supernatural, but they could be called either. They're kind of superbeings, but they have to follow the rules too. There are also fairies and stuff, but they all turn out to be robots.

Taiwanimation · Post by **Taiwanimation** » Mon Dec 02, 2002 10:31 pm

Saganaki, you raise an interesting point about how Kari has magical abilities while Doug has a magical weapon. Are Kari's abilities learned or are they hereditary?
As i see it there are a few main types of supernaturality (is there such a word?- there is now.)

Divine being based- there exist certain supernatural beings who grant supernatural powers to others they choose.

Genetically based- Magical abilities are hereditary.

Education based- Magical abilities can be learned by anyone. Sometimes this is mixed with genetically based in such that all beings of certain descent have the potential but it needs to be learned to achieve.

Object based- Certain artifacts are supernatural.

Manufacture based- Certain combinations of otherwise more or less mundane objects yield magical abilities. AKA alchemy, fantasy science, etc. This is sometimes related to object based or education based.

I probably missed a few, post any other types you can come up with.

Often the most vibrant fantasy environments use many of these forms. Most organized religion is divine being based, while science resembles manufacture based.

Patach · Post by **Patach** » Mon Dec 02, 2002 10:43 pm

Since my comic is Political and Social, I use many references of real religions, such as Christianity, Buddhism and Islam to name a few. Though I haven't involved much more than the ordinary faiths of the world, no "chosen one" or "super God-induced Miracle" yet.

Patach · Post by **Patach** » Mon Dec 02, 2002 10:44 pm

Since my comic is Political and Social, I use many references of real religions, such as Christianity, Buddhism and Islam to name a few. Though I haven't involved much more than the ordinary faiths of the world, no "chosen one" or "super God-induced Miracle" yet.

Patach · Post by **Patach** » Mon Dec 02, 2002 10:46 pm

Since my comic is Political and Social, I use many references of real religions, such as Christianity, Buddhism and Islam to name a few. Though I haven't involved much more than the ordinary faiths of the world, no "chosen one" or "super God-induced Miracle" yet.

Patach · Post by **Patach** » Mon Dec 02, 2002 10:48 pm

Holy shit, I'm so sorry, I didn't mean to post 3 times, damn forum server!!!

Friend · Post by **Friend** » Tue Dec 03, 2002 4:03 am

It's kind of funny - a few Comic Anthropologies ago... the exam one, I think... it was said that McVille could exist in the real world. I thought it was fine until a few hours later when I realised that one of the main characters has a giant axe-thing in his head and not one but two of the characters are demons. (well, three now)

So, trans-dimensional travel is a bit of a supernatural theme, and the whole undead thing. I guess it's because it's accepted with such casuality (is that a word?) by the other characters that nobody really notices that demons don't actually exist in real life.

McDuffies · Post by **McDuffies** » Tue Dec 03, 2002 5:13 am

If you exclude anything that can be loosely explained by science, and I count giant mutated rats into it, mcDuffies has only one character that supports supernaturality. It's doctor Solomon. He is a kind of froad - you know, tv-prophets who actually cheat people - but he manages to fix the problem, maybe by pure luck, maybe because the character is a little out of my hands.
He was created as a plot solution for "Double functionality" story, I kept him for the purpose of mocking that kind of people, which is half-succesfull. I will introduce one physics professor soon, who will be a counterweight to him.
There are some supernatural things in plans, but since I find out some people here actually read my comic, I'm not so keen on giving out plans and spoiling surprises.

Sortelli · Post by **Sortelli** » Tue Dec 03, 2002 5:39 am

Since Elf Only Inn is just a bunch of people playing make believe, the supernatural is totally up to the individual characters. So far as issues of spirituality in the comic, the Lord of Dorkness is just so rad for being satirical towards religion. Ho ho ho!

When Path's End story finally gets rolling, it will be all about the supernatural. The story takes place in a fantasy world complete with its own pantheon of gods that I had to create for the story. The only one mentioned in the few pages showing is Destiny, who controls the fate of everything--even the other more powerful and important gods. The main storyline will be centered the conflict between Destiny and an unknown being called the Chaos which is unravelling his carefully scripted plans, a conflict which will effect everything from mortal affairs all the way up to the ranks of the chief gods.

Into the fantasy world of my own making I'm throwing in some mythological figures such as Loki and Anubis, who are only able to enter the world because Destiny's tight control has been lost. Thanks to the Chaos, gods from other worlds can have a bit of a holiday outside their own domains. As outsiders, Loki and Anubis will be extremely limited in what they can do--they're playing in someone else's backyard. That puts them on a more accessible level to the mortal characters. Of course, that might also mean that Loki, Anubis, or any other god making an appearance in Destiny's world might turn out to be the driving force behind the Chaos.

So I'll be doing a bit of everything, engineering my own mythology and fantasy religions and then mixing in elements of historical mythology, and portraying gods and supernatural beings as both elevated beyond the scope of the characters or mixed in right alongside them.

Sortelli · Post by **Sortelli** » Tue Dec 03, 2002 5:44 am

Since Elf Only Inn is just a bunch of people playing make believe, the supernatural is totally up to the individual characters. So far as issues of spirituality in the comic, the Lord of Dorkness is just so rad for being satirical towards religion. Ho ho ho!

When Path's End story finally gets rolling, it will be all about the supernatural. The story takes place in a fantasy world complete with its own pantheon of gods that I had to create for the story. The only one mentioned in the few pages showing is Destiny, who controls the fate of everything--even the other more powerful and important gods. The main storyline will be centered the conflict between Destiny and an unknown being called the Chaos which is unravelling his carefully scripted plans, a conflict which will effect everything from mortal affairs all the way up to the ranks of the chief gods.

Into the fantasy world of my own making I'm throwing in some mythological figures such as Loki and Anubis, who are only able to enter the world because Destiny's tight control has been lost. Thanks to the Chaos, gods from other worlds can have a bit of a holiday outside their own domains. As outsiders, Loki and Anubis will be extremely limited in what they can do--they're playing in someone else's backyard. That puts them on a more accessible level to the mortal characters. Of course, that might also mean that Loki, Anubis, or any other god making an appearance in Destiny's world might turn out to be the driving force behind the Chaos.

So I'll be doing a bit of everything, engineering my own mythology and fantasy religions and then mixing in elements of historical mythology, and portraying gods and supernatural beings as both elevated beyond the scope of the characters or mixed in right alongside them.

Sortelli · Post by **Sortelli** » Tue Dec 03, 2002 5:49 am

Since Elf Only Inn is just a bunch of people playing make believe, the supernatural is totally up to the individual characters. So far as issues of spirituality in the comic, the Lord of Dorkness is just so rad for being satirical towards religion. Ho ho ho!

When Path's End story finally gets rolling, it will be all about the supernatural. The story takes place in a fantasy world complete with its own pantheon of gods that I had to create for the story. The only one mentioned in the few pages showing is Destiny, who controls the fate of everything--even the other more powerful and important gods. The main storyline will be centered the conflict between Destiny and an unknown being called the Chaos which is unravelling his carefully scripted plans, a conflict which will effect everything from mortal affairs all the way up to the ranks of the chief gods.

Into the fantasy world of my own making I'm throwing in some mythological figures such as Loki and Anubis, who are only able to enter the world because Destiny's tight control has been lost. Thanks to the Chaos, gods from other worlds can have a bit of a holiday outside their own domains. As outsiders, Loki and Anubis will be extremely limited in what they can do--they're playing in someone else's backyard. That puts them on a more accessible level to the mortal characters. Of course, that might also mean that Loki, Anubis, or any other god making an appearance in Destiny's world might turn out to be the driving force behind the Chaos.

So I'll be doing a bit of everything, engineering my own mythology and fantasy religions and then mixing in elements of historical mythology, and portraying gods and supernatural beings as both elevated beyond the scope of the characters or mixed in right alongside them.

Netrek · Post by **Netrek** » Tue Dec 03, 2002 6:31 am

Well, aside from NeTrek taking place almost entirely on the Web, VanaRo (an upcoming character) is a somewhat wicked sorceress who pragmatically uses her magic to achieve her means - often selfish or selfishly helpful. Feronani (very far in the future) is no more magical than her extreme petiteness, her little wings, and the 16-lb. sledge she can hide in her purse.

--Sij

Nd · Post by Nd » Tue Dec 03, 2002 8:10 am

Well... um... I suppose there HAS to be spirituality and supernatural elements to Hotel Grim. Um... So, yeah.

They're fairly important to what I intend with the strip, but not really all that important to the reader. Set in Purgatory, populated by characters from various religious splinter groups... Yeah. Except for the Pirate. The only spirits he cares about are in a bottle.

Nd · Post by Nd » Tue Dec 03, 2002 8:12 am

Well... um... I suppose there HAS to be spirituality and supernatural elements to Hotel Grim. Um... So, yeah.

They're fairly important to what I intend with the strip, but not really all that important to the reader. Set in Purgatory, populated by characters from various religious splinter groups... Yeah. Except for the Pirate. The only spirits he cares about are in a bottle.

Sidwood · Post by **Sidwood** » Tue Dec 03, 2002 12:30 pm

Absolutely zero spirituality. As for the supernatural, not much. It's only there sparingly for either comic effect or to move the story. (i.e. Rash is a talking, humanoid lizard; a tofu-beast has once appeared in the strip.)

Saganaki · Post by **Saganaki** » Tue Dec 03, 2002 4:17 pm

Well, so far as things go with Kari, magical talent is a common trait among the upper class of Arbenheithut. However, it usually only manifests with training and hard work. Those with natural magical abilities, like Kari, have more raw magical power, but this is counterbalanced by a general lack of the discipline needed to coax out latency.

In other words, those who are born able to use magic are usually irresponsible when compared to those who had to learn it.

Can any K&D readers guess which side of the equation Gherian fell towards?