And so we enter the final arc in Roger Stern's Avengers, which is really sad because I get the feeling he could have kept going for a good long time telling us tales of this team. It's appropriate, however, that the last story he tells us is one about a new pantheon taking on an old pantheon.
There's often been comparison's made between the Justice League and the Greco-Roman gods. The DC heroes align far more smoothly with traditional mythic figures than do the heroes of the Marvel U. Neither is a better way of thinking through these mythic links, but they provide very interesting differences for us to contemplate as far as the continuance of mythic figures goes. Do we cleave to a traditional model, and simply clothe the old gods in new supersuits, or do we have new mythic figures that may not map onto older traditions, but still provide the same service (i.e., how to be one's best self) that the older traditions do?
Is there actually a difference? I think I'd have to think about this for a while.
So Hercules's family has a problem with the Avengers. I think they haven't really realized what a problem they have - far more people believe in the Avengers than in the Greek Gods these days. That's likely going to make a difference.
To be continued.
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