You have to admit, mankind is pretty cool. For all it’s faults, foibles and fallacies, there is a history of looking toward and sometimes achieving greatness. It makes for great reading, watching the humblest of us all go out and do good despite odds or ability. Stan Lee, back in the day, crafted a tale of Jekyll and Hyde through modern science fiction and dubbed this Hulk the strongest human on the planet. But who could possibly oppose him? What could stand in the face (and possibly defeat) of the mightest man on Earth?
Why, a god of course.
It’s hard to remember, as his image is so integral to the Marvel U as part of Earth’s Mightiest Heroes when in fact, he’s not from Earth at all. Sure, at one time Odin had him wrapped in a chewy human shell to show him humility, but Thor is a god nonetheless when wielding mighty Mjolnir. Storm may control the weather, but Thor is as close to lighting itself as we’re going to get. His father was the All Father, he was born and raised in a world the likes of which only Conan could comprehend and people at one time or another prayed to him for strength. Some people still do. Spider-Man maybe popular and idolized, but this is a level of popularity that’s an entirely different league.
While we wait for Thor’s imminently eminent return, Ares the God of War stands shoulder to shoulder with the Mighty Avengers;. Now I know it’s only been three issues and Bendis has dipped a single toe into what I’m going to assume will be a long story arc, but there seems to be something missing from him that Oeming so lovingly crafted in Ares’s mot recent mini-series. There, he was shown as the ultimate tactician that, while brutal and uncompromising, could get the job done on a divine scale. After his father, Zeus, has to beg him, Ares took up the mantle of leadership and he saved an entire pantheon of gods against an army of immortal might. Pretty awesome stuff, so I guess that’s why I have this problem with the character now sort of reduced to this ‘Blarg, SMASH!’ status, taking orders from an unsure Ms. Marvel and brought low by a machine of man’s design. The Sentry can get knocked around (and that does seem to be his MO these days), but when Ares has no other method of attack at the ready than running at a enemy head first, they are suggesting a level of might for this new Ultron that gives me pause.
Gods are not superheroes. They can be Avengers, they can save us in our time of need, but the scope of their abilities go beyond what the mightiest mortal can handle. Because of everything they can accomplish by their divine nature, gods in action are our last resort, when all else fails there is a moment of hope and faith that sees us through another day. There are no atheists in foxholes and when the chips are down, even superheroes have to have someone to look to. Beings of immense strength, power and skill that can go above and beyond what even the best of us can do. When pantheons need to be saved, you look to Ares, the God of War. When the end of the world is nigh, you hope that Thor’s out there somewhere, covering your butt. Superheroes step out of the masses to take up justice while we traditionally expect gods to almost embody justice itself. When mankind could not fathom how the sun rose and set, they created gods to do it for them, so these characters should represent an ability to deal with the unknown and unfathomable.  For a classical example, take the Fall of Troy, where heroes battled it out on the mortal plane while gods and goddesses either influenced or fought on a higher level amongst themselves, giving the story that mythological feel where certain actions could only be explained by divine intervention. Portraying them in the scope they deserve makes the story better. Reducing them to secondary characters and walking power levels makes cheapens the legend.
Supporting casts often help to ground a hero to his day job, represent his family and the reason why he puts on those tights when evil strikes. Gods have pantheons; their families often have powers of their own and are normally the reason why the god in question doesn’t exert his control over the mortal plane, but rather live along with it.  Ares left the Greek gods behind to live a normal life with his son, Thor was brought to Midgard to teach him humility, so it’s not that gods remain so lofty above us, it’s that we are the ones who put them so high in the first place. They stand along side our Friendly Neighborhoods as characters of strength and inspiration as much as any hero. Take for example, Hercules, who is a character of myth, but lies entirely out of the realm of gods. He’s the superhero of his day, if you will, written as such back in the day and after adventure and sacrifice, rose to the level of a god himself. So, in a way, by getting out there and facing the unknown, every hero has little ‘godlike’ ability, whether that’s through awesome powers, being born for great things (like smashing out robot-Clor brains) or strength of will and character. Legends come in all shapes and sizes so it’s not as if Thor and Ares can’t interact with the world of the superhero, but in a way, they will always be above it.
Coming back in July is the real Thor, no clones attached. I’m not exactly sure how he’s going to come back or if the sense of godhood will come with him. Let’s face it, Marvel hasn’t brought their best game when it’s come to the God of Thunder; it’s been over a year since Mjolnir fell back to Earth and then picked up by the man with the mysterious ‘D.B.’ initials and since then we got a lousy clone and a lot of open ended questions. As of Mighty Avengers #3, Ares chomps at the bit to take another swing at a foe who seems unstoppable. Kind of the way Ares should seem. I know realism in comics is the kind of story the public is after, epics like Civil War leading the charge on bringing a modern day touch to the world of the fantastic, but House of Ideas are the ones who brought a god to his own regular title and took them out of the level of ‘guy in the sky’ to walking gods amongst men. If Marvel can bring back that sense of divine intervention, these will truly be legendary days ahead.
May 19th, 2007 at 7:09 am
So long as we can get some Mastersons back into the mix (ULTIMATE THUNDERSTRIKE), I say thee, YAY!
May 23rd, 2007 at 9:24 pm
This commentary seems to be missing a conclusion. I think Bendis has completely mishandled Ares but Bendis generally decides on how he wants a character to be and prior attitudes and actions for the character are ignored. He is contemporaneously ignoring the “Back in Black” personality shift in New Avengers and others have consistently griped about his “take” on their favorite characters. He has only seemed to be fairly reverential with his run on Daredevil.
Ares has only had one mini-series; Bendis should expend the effort to get it right. I’m a huge Bendis fan, but his tendency to run roughshod over prior character development could bloom into full John Byrne (see Byrne’s Wonder Woman, Doom Patrol, Wonder Girl, and Demon for terrific examples) before too long.