In an essay written at the time of publication, Warren Ellis said:
Supergod is the story of what an actual superhuman arms race might be like. It’s a simple thing to imagine. Humans have been fashioning their own gods with their own hands since the dawn of our time on Earth. We can’t help ourselves. Fertility figures brazen idols, vast chalk etchings, carvings, myths and legends, science fiction writers generating science fiction religions from whole cloth. It’s not such a great leap to conceive of the builders of nuclear weapons and particle accelerators turning their attention to the oldest of human pursuits. Dress it up as superhuman defense, as discovering the limits of the human body, as transhumanism and posthumanism.[1]
Supergod is regarded as the third and final series in Ellis' Avatar Press-published "Superhuman Trilogy" dealing with the creation of superheroes, preceded by Black Summer and No Hero. Prior to Supergod's release, Warren Ellis said in an interview that, "Black Summer was about superhumans who were too human. No Hero was about superhumans who were inhuman. Supergod is about superhumans who are no longer human at all, but something else. The third leg of a thematic trilogy if you like."[2]
Plot
Supergod is narrated from the point of view of Simon Reddin, a British scientist who sits in the ruins of post-apocalyptic London, waiting to die. Reddin tells his story to "Tommy," an American counterpart taking refuge in a bunker, in order to provide an oral history of the events that led to the end of the world.
In years before the onset of the Space Race between the United States and the Soviet Union, Great Britain secretly launches an experimental rocket based on Wernher von Braun's notes with a crew of three astronauts to observe the effects of outer space on the human body. When the rocket returns to Earth, scientists find that the three astronauts have been fused together into one gigantic, three-headed being by a mass of alien fungus. This creature is named "MorriganLugus", after multi-headed deities from Celtic mythology.
Britain's possession and study of Lugus spur the other developed nations of the world to begin developing their own superhuman programs. (This is ostensibly a military arms race, but several times throughout his story, Reddin injects his own opinion, supported by a speech from Lugus, that human beings have a psychological compulsion to construct idols to worship, effectively creating their own gods.) The United States creates JerryCraven, a cyborg built from the broken body of a crashed Air Force pilot; Russia creates Perun, an advanced cyborg built from the remains of a previous model destroyed by Craven; Iran creates Malak al-Maut, able to generate a force field that dissolves the atomic bonds of nearby matter; China creates Maitreya, who can shape and manipulate human flesh into complex objects.
In the early 21st century, India activates Krishna, its own superhuman. Krishna is built with state-of-the-art technology, granting it godlike control over both matter and energy, and is governed by a simple artificial intelligence program with instructions to "save India." Krishna takes this command to its logical extreme, solving India's problems of pollution and severe overpopulation by laying waste to the country and slaughtering most of its inhabitants. The chaos in India prompts Pakistan to launch its entire arsenal of nuclear missiles against Krishna, but Krishna merely turns the weapons around, obliterating Pakistan.
These catastrophic events provoke other nations to mobilize their own superhumans against Krishna. Reddin, part of the team studying Morrigan Lugus, argues that since Krishna does not appear to value human life, Lugus—as a higher form of life, like Krishna himself—should be released from the underground chamber where it is held so that it may communicate with Krishna and convince him to halt his rampage. Faced with no other way of stopping Krishna, the British government agrees.
All attacks on Krishna fail, as he is far too powerful for any of the other superbeings to pose a threat to him. Perun and Maitreya are easily killed, and Malak is catapulted into space, where his force field shatters the Moon, causing lunar fragments to rain destruction upon the Earth. With his enemies defeated, Krishna begins the process of rebuilding India, creating advanced structures capable of cleaning up the devastated environment and housing its surviving population. Jerry Craven arrives on the scene, but recognizing that Krishna is now improving India and mentally traumatized by his own death and resurrection, he expresses his desire to live in peace with Krishna.
However, Craven is joined by Dajjal, a bizarre, incomplete superhuman covertly developed by an American private military contractor during the Iraq War. Dajjal was designed to be "without sanity," allowing it to directly observe the flow of time and to perceive all possible future outcomes. Dajjal implies that all potential timelines resulting from Craven and Krishna's truce will result in a utopia, and will all be "so boring" that Dajjal cannot bear to live through them. To avoid this fate, Dajjal self-destructs, resulting in a massive explosion that destroys most of Asia and Europe, killing both Krishna and Craven in the process.
In the present, with his story finished, Reddin bids farewell to Tommy, strips off his clothes, and prepares to leap into the River Thames to meet his "god": Morrigan Lugus, the last surviving superbeing, whose spores have infested the entire planet. As Reddin points out during his narrative, fungi only grow on dead things.
Cory Doctorow called the work "magnificently grim and horrifying".[3]Comic Book Resources found it to be "(o)riginal, inventive, and very good", but also "somewhat jarring".[4]Io9 noted that, of Ellis's many works exploring "the real-world ramifications of superheroics", Supergod is "by far the sexiest", and compared it to a cross between Street Fighter 2 and Kaiju Big Battel.[5]
Cory Efram Doctorow is a Canadian-British blogger, journalist, and science fiction author who served as co-editor of the blog Boing Boing. He is an activist in favour of liberalising copyright laws and a proponent of the Creative Commons organization, using some of its licences for his books. Some common themes of his work include digital rights management, file sharing, and post-scarcity economics.
Planetary is an American comic book series created by writer Warren Ellis and artist John Cassaday, and published by the Wildstorm imprint of DC Comics. After an initial preview issue in September 1998, the series ran for 27 issues from April 1999 to October 2009.
Warren Girard Ellis is a British comic book writer, novelist, and screenwriter. He is best known as the co-creator of several original comics series, including Transmetropolitan (1997–2002), Global Frequency (2002–2004) and Red (2003–2004), which was adapted into the feature films Red (2010) and Red 2 (2013). Ellis is the author of the novels Crooked Little Vein (2007) and Gun Machine (2013) and the novella Normal (2016).
Siryn is a superhero appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Created by writer Chris Claremont and artist Steve Leialoha, the character first appeared in Spider-Woman #37. Theresa Cassidy belongs to a subspecies of humans called mutants, who are born with superhuman abilities. She possesses a sonic voice providing various effects while her name refers to the Sirens of Greek mythology and their hypnotic voices. She is depicted most commonly in association with the X-Men. Theresa Cassidy is the daughter of the superhero Sean Cassidy. The character has also been known as Siryn and Banshee at various points in her history.
Midnighter is a fictional superhero appearing in American comic books first published by WildStorm and later DC Comics once it absorbed the former. The character was created by writer Warren Ellis and artist Bryan Hitch. The character made his first appearance in Stormwatch #4, titled "A Finer World ". He went on to appear in various Authority books and other series, as well as his own eponymous ongoing series.
American Eagle is a Navajo superhero appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics.
WildC.A.T.S/Aliens was a one-shot comic book and intercompany crossover event, published by Wildstorm and Dark Horse Comics in 1998. The comic was written by Warren Ellis, pencilled by Chris Sprouse, with Kevin Nowlan inking and Laura Depuy as the colorist.
newuniversal is a comic book series by writer Warren Ellis, artist Salvador Larroca and colorist Jason Keith. The book series was published by Marvel Comics. The series is a re-imagining of Marvel's New Universe concepts, launched to coincide with the 20th anniversary of the New Universe's creation in 1986.
Starr the Slayer is a fictional character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. He first appeared in Chamber of Darkness #4,, and was created by Roy Thomas and Barry Windsor-Smith. In 2007, writer Warren Ellis introduced a new version of Starr in the Marvel series newuniversal.
"Apparat Singles Group", a.k.a. "Apparat", is a fictional comic book line and a label used to publish four one-shot comic books created by Warren Ellis and published by Avatar Press.
Gravel is the name given to a series of limited and ongoing series by Warren Ellis, illustrated by Mike Wolfer and published by Avatar Press.
Black Summer is a comic book limited series written by Warren Ellis, illustrated by Juan Jose Ryp, and published by Avatar Press starting in June 2007. The plot revolves around the consequences of a superhero, John Horus, who kills the President of the United States and several of his advisers after discovering them to be war criminals. The following seven issues detail the aftermath of the assassination.
Chronicles of Wormwood is a comic series consisting of two mini-series and one one-shot, all written by Garth Ennis, drawn by Jacen Burrows, Oscar Jimenez, and others and colored by Andrew Dalhouse. Avatar Press is publishing the title.
FreakAngels is a post-apocalyptic webcomic created in 2008 by Eagle Award-winning writer Warren Ellis and artist Paul Duffield, and published in book format by Avatar Press. The plot focuses on twelve 23-year-old psychics living in Whitechapel six years after civilization in Great Britain is destroyed. The webcomic has received various awards and has been collected in a series of six volumes.
Ignition City is a five-issue science fiction comic book limited series, written by Warren Ellis and illustrated by Gianluca Pagliarani. It was published in 2009 by American company Avatar Press.
Warren Ellis is a British comic book writer, novelist, and screenwriter, best known as the co-creator of several original comic book series such as Transmetropolitan, Global Frequency, and Red, the latter of which was adapted into the 2010 feature film Red and its 2013 sequel Red 2. A prolific comic book writer, he has written several Marvel series, including Astonishing X-Men, Thunderbolts, Moon Knight, and the "Extremis" story arc of Iron Man, which was the basis for the 2013 film Iron Man 3. Ellis' other credits include The Authority and Planetary, both of which he co-created for Wildstorm, as well as runs on Hellblazer for Vertigo and James Bond for Dynamite. In addition to his comics work, Ellis wrote two prose novels, Crooked Little Vein and Gun Machine, as well as numerous short stories and novellas.
No Hero is a superhero comic book created by writer Warren Ellis and Juan Jose Ryp.
Witch Doctor is a US comic book created by writer Brandon Seifert and artist Lukas Ketner. It was the first title published by Skybound Entertainment, an imprint of Image Comics. As of early 2014, Witch Doctor consists of a four-issue mini-series, an issue #0 printed as a flipbook with The Walking Dead #85, a one-shot subtitled Witch Doctor: The Resuscitation, and a second six-issue mini-series entitled Witch Doctor: Mal Practice, which debuted in November 2012. The first mini-series and #0 issue were reprinted in a collected edition called Witch Doctor Vol. 1: Under the Knife, while the second mini-series and The Resuscitation are scheduled to be collected as Witch Doctor Vol. 2: Mal Practice in June 2013.
Darryl Cunningham is a British author and cartoonist who has written the books Science Tales, Psychiatric Tales, The Age of Selfishness and Billionaires: The Lives of the Rich and Powerful.
Archangel, also written as William Gibson Archangel or William Gibson's Archangel, is a five-issue limited series comic book that was created by William Gibson and Michael St. John Smith, written by William Gibson, illustrated by Butch Guice and story-edited by Michael Benedetto. It is Gibson's first comic book series, which is set in an alternative version of 2016 in which the Vice President of America travels back in time to 1945 to secure power.
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