Oh My Gods!
Oh My Gods! is a web comic written and illustrated by Shivian Montar Balaris. It deals with the Neo-Pagan, Pagan, and Wiccan faiths. The interaction of followers of these faiths with Christian Fundamentalists and followers of other religions is the main concern of the story.
It debuted on March 7, 2002. New comic strips are currently posted sporadically to "catch up" the comic strip from the last day it was updated to present with a daily strip — making the strip still "active" and "pseudo-daily" in its updating schedule. Originally black and white, it now appears in grayscale on Monday through Friday strips and color on weekends.
The strip initially featured four main cartoon characters whose outlook on life was stereotypical. The gay man — Stan; the bull-dyke — Vera; the nerd — Winston; and the moron — Victor. These four have since outgrown their initial "cookie cutter" molds and taken on lives of their own. The cast has since expanded to include additional characters such as Fundie, Kay, and Reiki Master.
Within the strip all characters are assumed to be pagan, unless labelled otherwise by crosses on their shirts. The main characters often comment on "bad pagans" and on the opposition they receive from fundamentalists. Despite the strip's frequent references to Pagan and Wiccan sub-culture, it has a substantial Christian following as well as a neopagan audience.
Table of contents |
Characteristic features
Characters have died in the course of the story and remained so, in a departure from the convention of comic strip comedy. Elements of fantasy (fairies, boob-vampires, etc.) take the story into the realms of the surreal, though it keeps a thread of realism. This fantastic aspect is embellished by the appearance of such characters as the Pope, a Clown for Christ and Unitarians who are depicted as Borg.
Oh My Gods! has a characteristic "Playschool" like drawing style, with characters only having eyes, one perspective, and no fingers. The drawing style is also based loosely off of another popular webcomic – littlegamers.com. In the March 8th, 2002 comic for Oh My Gods!, Shivian acknowleges this by doing what the characters themselves say is "a blatant ripoff". The style is well loved by the fans. In the fan-forums for the strip, diehards make what they call "Ohmygodsifications" of themselves, or what they would look like if they were a character in the strip.
Recurring characters
Main Characters
- Stan – The standard lead character and main troublemaker.
- Vera – The feisty female who also works at the local metaphysical store.
- Victor – Instigator of many problems and the boy who "isn't all there."
- Winston – Big geek with trivial knowledge about pointless topics to spare.
Supporting Cast
- Fundie – As the name suggests, a stereotypical fundalmentalist christian who tries to convert/save the souls of the pagan characters.
- Vincent – Boyfriend of Stan, Vincent has spiked hair and a sharp wit.
- Futhark Kids: Perth, Othala and Asa – Mysterious and silent, the Futhark Kids are indescribable.
- Johnnie – Leader of the local sect of the Pagan Spiritual Tradition of the Spiritual Fish.
- Craig – Follower of the Spiritual Fish, and overall plotting and scheming pathetic moron.
- Kay – Feisty and demanding, she's a woman on a mission! Keeper of Vast Knowledge of the Spiritual Fishie she is out to reap vengeance for those slain in the name of the Fish.
- The Fairies – Victor's spirit guides. They love to torment his tortured soul with poking.
- Reiki Master – Conjuring the awesome power of the Reiki he is able to mend bone, cure disease. He also operates a hot-dog stand.
- The Pope – A fatherly, understanding figure in the comic even though he himself is not understood. He also has a hat that is bigger than his body!
- Jacob, a Clown for Christ – A clown advocating the message that Jesus is fun.
- Linda – A toned down female version of fundie. There have been sexual references of her being closer to God than normal.
- Candy, a Cheerleader for Christ – Do a cheer, you know you want to! Doesn't Christ make you want to do the splits on your local altar too?! Jump for joy, cause Candy is here to cheer you on to salvation!
- Apollinis Fututor – Captain Dead Language – He speaks Latin and he's got on Roman armor...Romae lingua dicit et loricatus est.
- Fina – Crazed cat or plotting pussy? Either way she'll scratch your eyes out before you can blink, or cuddle up with you if you give her some cat nip.
- Tina DeValve – Atheistic and crazed woman who was once the Boob Vampire. Now plotting her return to power as an undead overlord using Twinkies, Ho-Hos, and some matches.
- UU of 8 – The Borg Unitarian.
- Saint Grand High Markus, Ordained Ceremonial Magician of the XXXII Order of Apsu – Many ask him why he has such a long name (he won't be addressed by anything shorter). Don't worry, it's an an inner order mystery, and you can never begin to fathom to understand such power. Either way, he never takes off his robe and he doesn't know anything beyond Ceremonialism!
- Nate – A simple man humble in his endeavors, Nate is a humble Chaos magician who seems to understand more the he lets on.
Appearances
It has also been featured in SIPA News (local newsletter), PagaNet News (global newspaper), newWitch (national magazine), Eldaring.de (german website), the Cauldron.net (website), Pentacle Magazine (magazine & website), Mississippi State University WPSA (website), the SORCery Convention (event), Akashan Pathways (website), Modern Wiccan (website), WynterGreene (newspaper), the Daily Egyptian (campus newspaper), The Scribe (newsletter), Pagan Press (newsletter), The Witch's Path (newsletter), Connect (newsletter), Between the Worlds (event), and Pagan Spirit Gathering (event).
Awards
It has won the Golden Web Award for 2003–2004, was a UserFriendly.org Link of the Day and has received reviews from the Shadow Witch Web and Sequential Tart.
See also
External links
Categories: Web comics