Presence (DC comics)
From Superhero Wiki Encyclopedia
 Home Books Clothing DVDs Posters Toys Video Games |
Boards Comic Book News Comic Conventions Search this Wiki |
Gallery Features Link to us Online Comic Books |
Resources Store Superhero Wiki Wallpaper |
See DC Comics
The Presence is a fictional comic book representation of the Abrahamic God from Judeo-Christian religious beliefs.
God in DC Comics
The religious cosmology of the DC Universe is complex with many pantheons of deities co-existing alongside each other. It involves elements from multiple religions, mythologies, and modern created concepts such as the Endless. It is not always clear how the Abrahamic God fits in to this - for example one particular Wonder Woman storyline by Eric Luke featured the Greek Titans fighting Judeo-Christian angels and Hindu Gods.
DC's superhero comics have always drawn upon Judeo-Christian for plot elements - the first appearance of "The Voice" was in the 1940 origin of the Spectre - but they have traditionally used surrogate concepts and names rather than refer to the Judeo-Christian deity directly. The superhero comics are published under the Comics Code - a set of ethical guidelines drawn up in the 1950s in reaction to anti-comic book hysteria. The Code does not explicitly refer to God, but does say that "Ridicule or attack on any religious or racial group is never permissible." . Later revisions of the code are phrased in terms of respecting religious beliefs and religious institutions. That may account for the superhero comics hesitancy when dealing with God.
The lack of a central doctrine means that multiple "aspects" of God have been introduced by different writers. Significant examples of God surrogates include:
- The Voice - the disembodied Voice of the Presence that spoke to and empowered Jim Corrigan as the Spectre in More Fun Comics #52 (by Jerry Siegel and Bernard Baily, February 1940). This is the most "active" version of God seen in the comic books. At one point He even answers the Spectre's prayers by resurrecting the murdered Justice Society (Justice League vol. 1 #124). When The Voice uttererd the first word, it created The Word , it was already being traced by Destiny in his book.
- The Hand - an image of a hand appearing out of a nebula has been referenced numerous times in different DC Comics as a metaphor for the creator or the mystery that exists at the moment of universal creation. First seen in Green Lantern Vol. 2 #40. In Crisis on Infinite Earths, it was revealed that the hand belonged to the villainous Anti-Monitor.
- The Source - the universal spirit from Jack Kirby's Fourth World cosmology.
- The Presence - the unseen Judeo-Christian deity from Grant Morrison's fictional angel mythology.
Many references to similar beings appear to be obvious references to the Judeo-Christian sect's supreme deity, but they are sometimes revealed to be other entities in the DC Universe.
Some events from Judeo-Christian Mythology are assumed to be a part of the fictional timeline of the DC Universe, but they often involve significant artistic license. For example: it was Eclipso (the original agent of God's Wrath) who caused the Great Flood and it was his replacement, the Spectre, who unleashed the ten plagues on Egypt and later parted the Red Sea for Moses. The DC Universe is repeatedly shown to have been created via a variation of the Big Bang and humans evolved from apes, yet paradoxically it also has a Garden of Eden and a version of Lilith, Adam's first wife (e.g. Peter David's Supergirl series). It most likely depends on the personal beliefs of the writer.
The Presence is the most powerful entity in the DC Universe. Different stories portray it as being the "creator of the DC universe" and thus transcending all things with the Presence itself being its representation within creation. Other writers have represented God in the DC universe differently.
Vertigo Comics
In the 1980s the mainstream superhero comics spawned a series of spin off comics and graphic novels that took an very adult over the top approach to comics.
he Vertigo imprint was formed as an umbrella for these new books and to mark them as distinct from the rest of DC's superhero comics. Since then the fictional superhero and Vertigo continuities, and their representation of God, have increasingly diverged. The Vertigo Comics are not covered by the Comics Code so they can be less restrained in their treatment of the Bible and God.
Some comics like Hellblazer have been blasphemous for lack of a better word throwing away any kind of moral appropriateness from their stories. These books are extremely offensive to Christianity.
Other media
The Hand of the Creator, from the Green Lantern comics and the Crisis, made an appearance in the Justice League Unlimited episode "The Once and Future Thing, Part 2: Time Warped". It is seen towards the end of the episode when Batman and Green Lantern chase Chronos to the beginning of time. Chronos hoped that by traveling to the beginning of time he could become God.