Religions of the world: you are not being well-represented in fiction.
the Dream Warner:
While they never actually say the words "Tibetan Buddhism" in either of Thun-Dohr's two appearances, he was brought up in a lamasery in Tibet and is personally mentored by the Dalai Lama (though not the one you're thinking of), so I think that we can extrapolate and assign the Dream Warner to that religious tradition. Though it does not actually appear on-panel, the Dream Warner does give the Dalai Lama an accurate heads-up on the machinations of the villainous Sin Khaii, so me must conclude that it actually exists. It also has a very fun if on-the-nose name.
God Style: Real (Silver Streak Comics 014, 1941)
Ratzinatzi:
In Cloud Curtis' final adventure he sets out alone to solve the mystery of some mysterious disappearances and air raids across South America, and ends up crashing his plane in the middle of the jungle. There he stumbles upon an idol to "Ratzinatzi, the Demon-God of the Ancient Incas" and is seemingly about to enter a chamber that opens up underneath it when the story ends. Sadly for all the completionists out there the story never concludes and so we never learn what kind of pseudo-Nazi air base or whatever lies below, though I think that we can safely assume that it continues to be pretty disrespectful to the Incas.
God Style: Idol (Silver Streak Comics 017, 1941)
the Devil-Flower:
Trojak the Tiger Man's friend Edith's brother is sick, and according to the nearest wise man the only thing that will aid him is the juice of the sacred Devil-Flower, as worshipped by the Gemba tribe.
Trojak and Edith brave fanatical cultists and flower-charmed animals until they are able to harvest the sacred juice and seemingly kill the plant. One can only hope that the Devil-Flower, which not only has magical powers but also seemingly some degree of self-awareness, had the foresight to do a little precautionary propagation.
God style: Animist (Real?) (Daring Mystery Comics 005, 1940)
Mars:
Seen overlooking the Axis war machine in an image I would say is meant to be purely allegorical if it wasn't from the origin of Marvel Boy, a reincarnation of Hercules in whose story Jupiter figures prominently. Were the Marvel Boy stories to have continued I'm sure that this version of Mars would have gotten a sock on the jaw in due time.
God style: Real (Daring Mystery Comics 006, 1940)







No comments:
Post a Comment