Warning: SPOILERS for Black Adam #5There are a lot of different types of DC just showed how some of its gods are different from Marvel's.
Things haven't been easy for Black Adam lately. After falling ill, his powers were ed on to one of his descendants. This person worked in a hospital and is now known as White Adam in his superhero identity. However, Black Adam isn't done yet. He is looking to reclaim his power and standing, however, he is going to face some opposition from Batman and a new pantheon of gods.
In Black Adam #5 by Priest, Rafa Sandoval, Jordi Tarragona, Jose Luis, and Jonas Trindade, the origin of this new pantheon of gods was revealed. They are part of the Akkadian gods that Black Adam worshiped when he was a human centuries ago. Their god of war revealed that when Black Adam was banished to the far reaches of space his memories of mythological gods were fertile grounds for a psychological alien parasite to latch on to. After they did this, they used Black Adam's belief in those myths to take physical form and actually become the gods in question.
Thor & Hercules Inspired Their Myths Rather Than The Other Way Around
Although this scenario doesn't apply to a lot of DC gods, it's a huge revelation that it does apply to an entire pantheon. It's also a very interesting idea that contrasts these DC gods against Marvel's. In the Marvel Universe, pretty much all the gods are real figures when compared to the mythological identities that came after. The legend of Thor and Hercules were based on the actual characters that fans know and love. The reverse is true for this DC Pantheon. Instead of inspiring myths, they were birthed from them. These myths and humanity's very belief in them, are what gave birth to the existence of the gods and actually gave them for power.
This is a very interesting chicken and egg scenario as to who came first. But either way, it shows that these DC gods have a direct connection to the people that worship them. In some fiction, where the power of the gods and humanity's belief in them is linked, it's possible that the gods' power can be severed if the worship fades. It's unclear whether these DC gods would be affected by that, but it's clear that gods like Thor and Hercules would not be. They gain their strength just by being who they are, which is a big difference that these new DC gods can't claim.
Black Adam #5 is now available from DC Comics.
