So here I am ladies and gentlemen, doing another alternative media article, this time centering on the comic book Supergod.
Now before I continue, let me first say that I have nothing against local comics in the Philippines and I do find some of them, such as a few one-shot gems in Halimaw comics to be quite good actually. Indeed, Filipino artists aren’t to be underestimated as some of them have gone on to even work for big companies like Marvel, DC and Dark Horse. However, while I do not doubt the quality of comics in the Philippines and would prefer them over a lot of the cheesy shows we have around here, I am still more than a little disappointed at some of our mainstream superheroes like Darna, Lastikman and Captain Barbel. Now, it’s not because they look like ripoffs of western superheroes, mind you, but it’s because of how they are often portrayed in the various media they appear in. As the great Bob Ong cites in one of his works, while he also likes stories of superheroes, the common people turn out to be all too dependent on them for help and it’s more than a little sad to note that the only role the masses are given in such stories is that of victims who can only run and scream at the sight of monsters, get victimized by said monsters and thanking the heroes for saving them from said monsters. Later, I will discuss more of this but for now, let’s talk about Supergod and why I’m putting it here…
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The story of Supergod begins when three astronauts are infected by an alien fungus that transforms all three of them into a kind of monstrous biological supercomputer called Morrigan Lugus (and no, it’s nothing like Morrigan Aensland) that is more advanced than anything humans can ever hope to create. A monster comprised of the bodies of three (presumably dead) astronauts infested with a bizarre space-faring colony of mushrooms, Morrigan Lugus produces substances that make the people around it worship it in frenzied ecstasy and less wholesome activities. However, what makes Morrigan Lugus so interesting is that, as an alien supercomputer, it allows human scientists to advance human technology beyond imagination. And, in doing so, many human scientists decided that the knowledge provided by Morrigan Lugus could be used to create solutions for all the world’s problems. Said solutions in question translate to “superhero” or “god”, both words seeming to mean the same thing in this setting.
It is shown later that almost every country in the world creates their own “supergod” to deal with their problems. There is the blue-skinned Krishna of India who is a melding of nanotechnology and human DNA, Jerry Craven of the United States who is essentially a resurrected cyborg supersoldier, Maitreya of China who is able to transform and control the flesh of other living beings and there are quite a few more throughout the story. I only find it surprising that the Philippines did not produce its own “supergod” considering our sheepish mentality and over-reliance on authority figures to solve our problems for us instead of each of us doing our part to better our country as a whole.
However, it doesn’t take much before things start getting bizarre and out of hand. As it turns out, humans created the supergods to solve all their problems but didn’t bother at all to make their creations humane or factor the sentiments of human beings into the equation. What follows is a series of nightmarish disasters all caused by the arrogance, negligence, insanity, immorality or any combination thereof of the supergods who justify their horrific actions with doing it for their country/humanity. Examples of said atrocities include Krishna committing genocide against 90% of India’s population to solve its “population problem”, Maitreya combining and transforming the flesh of countless Chinese so that they may better serve the country such as turning them into musical instruments and a biological space probe, Malak delivering God’s justice upon the people of the world through destruction and Dajjal destroying the world simply because it will become “too boring”. These are just a few of the more horrific parts of the overall comic and I assure you that things only get worse from there.
Why This Is Relevant To Us
Well, to be honest, Supergod is probably one of the most disturbing comics I’ve ever read. However, I wouldn’t be putting it up here if wasn’t relevant to us and our dysfunctional culture. What’s sad is that I’m sure some of you out there will react negatively again and call me childish or immature without bothering to understand what I’m actually trying to say here.
Oh well, there’s no harm in trying…
You see, the problem with the common Pinoy, and I have indeed mentioned this a couple of times, is that they actually don’t want leaders, what they want are masters. They don’t want good men and women who will lead them to a brighter tomorrow for them and their children, they want to be carried to that brighter tomorrow. Walking does after all require effort and following an actual leader requires presence of mind.
As I’ve said before, it doesn’t really matter to me who you follow in this country, so long as you follow wisely with full understanding of the repercussions and consequences involved. Look at what happened with Tuwid Na Daan, people simply left everything up President Aquino, believing he is supposed to be some kind of savior come to lead the Filipino towards progress and prosperity as he is, after all, the son of an alleged hero and an alleged saint. Unfortunately, what has he shown so far? Again, like the supergods, only President Aquino seems to be aware of where his “Straight Path” is supposed to lead while the people remain utterly clueless and trapped in misery.
All I’m saying is that when we choose a leader for 2016, let’s learn to work with who we vote for, not just hope that they’ll take us to where we want to go. Remember that democracy goes both ways, it is a cooperative effort between both the candidate and the people who chose to vote for them.
I HAVE RETURNED TO LAY WASTE TO OUR ENEMIES!
Nicely done, Grimwald. The parallelism of the supergods to the Filipino mentality is clear. Maybe we can’t be a democratic country bec it simply asks too much participation from the people. Perhaps a different form of government (like a parliamentary*) would be more fitting.
*I had to give an example other than dictatorship because I don’t want to be misconstrued to support certain families in the Philippine political landscape famous for being a dictator.
Right on Grimwald! By 2016 we’ll really have to try. Not only in rhetoric but action-wise and we’ll see. Afterwards, let’s roll our sleeves and work alongside with these leaders with the “new” mind-sets. Let’s not give up easily. So we’ll see also where we will fit in, so we can help effectuate the changes expeditiously in a most orderly manner. After all it’s our country and there can be no other for many of us. Maybe for the small percentage of our population, they can migrate elsewhere with their dollars tucked in secret banks abroad…. but for us, it’s still and will be Pilipinas. I am already 57 years old and had been working in the grassroots, come 2106 I will be 58…… They say, “no hope” I say “why not try?” God willing, we will, we should and we must.
AND WHY NOT?
Supergods? We have already “SuperGods” in the Philippines. We have a President, who is mentally retarded; suffering from depression, delusion and paranoia. He thinks himself, above the law. He thinks he can do anything without the threat of prosecution and jail time…and he can use the “Power of Bribery”, to make those stupid political leaders, worship him.
The YellowTards, his minions, and his rabid followers; defend him vigorously, because, they owe their government jobs to him. He makes most political leaders “salivate” , for the Pork Barrel Funds, he can throw , at them…anyway, the funds did not come from his pocket…it came from our taxes…
SuperGod, Anyone?
God is all-knowing, almighty, all-wise, all powerful, and all-loving. Your ‘supergod’ comic isn’t about the real God, but a human imagination and it isn’t comical at all. It’s disturbing.
Exactly. But if one were to analyze Philippine society today, the people in the comic and many dumb voters are pretty much identical in their mindset. Here in the Philippines at least, people don’t want a hero who will help them out of trouble or inspire them into becoming better people. They just want someone or something to solve ALL their problems for them.
Pinoy oligarchs might not have superpowers but, if you ask a common Filipino like me, the implications are every bit as disturbing as that in “Supergod”.