''Oh My Gods!'' is a

webcomic Webcomics (also known as online comics or Internet comics) are comics published on the internet, such as on a website or a mobile app. While many webcomics are published exclusively online, others are also published in magazines, newspapers, or ...

written and illustrated by Shivian Montar Balaris. It deals with the

Neopagan Modern paganism, also known as contemporary paganism and neopaganism, spans a range of new religious movements variously influenced by the beliefs of pre-modern peoples across Europe, North Africa, and the Near East. Despite some common simila ...

Pagan Paganism (, later 'civilian') is a term first used in the fourth century by early Christians for people in the Roman Empire who practiced polytheism, or ethnic religions other than Christianity, Judaism, and Samaritanism. In the time of the ...

, and

Wicca Wicca (), also known as "The Craft", is a Modern paganism, modern pagan, syncretic, Earth religion, Earth-centred religion. Considered a new religious movement by Religious studies, scholars of religion, the path evolved from Western esote ...

n faiths. The interaction of followers of these faiths with

Christian A Christian () is a person who follows or adheres to Christianity, a Monotheism, monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus in Christianity, Jesus Christ. Christians form the largest religious community in the wo ...

fundamentalist Fundamentalism is a tendency among certain groups and individuals that are characterized by the application of a strict literal interpretation to scriptures, dogmas, or ideologies, along with a strong belief in the importance of distinguishin ...

s and followers of other religions is the main concern of the story. It debuted on 7 March 2002. The strip initially featured four main

cartoon A cartoon is a type of visual art that is typically drawn, frequently Animation, animated, in an realism (arts), unrealistic or semi-realistic style. The specific meaning has evolved, but the modern usage usually refers to either: an image or s ...

characters whose outlook on life was

stereotypical In social psychology, a stereotype is a generalization, generalized belief about a particular category of people. It is an expectation that people might have about every person of a particular group. The type of expectation can vary; it can ...

: Stan the

gay ''Gay'' is a term that primarily refers to a homosexual person or the trait of being homosexual. The term originally meant 'carefree', 'cheerful', or 'bright and showy'. While scant usage referring to male homosexuality dates to the late ...

man, Vera the bull-dyke, Winston the

nerd A nerd is a person seen as overly intellectual, obsessive, introverted, or lacking social skills. Such a person may spend inordinate amounts of time on unpopular, little known, or non-mainstream activities, which are generally either highly t ...

, and Victor the moron. 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

cross A cross is a religious symbol consisting of two Intersection (set theory), intersecting Line (geometry), lines, usually perpendicular to each other. The lines usually run vertically and horizontally. A cross of oblique lines, in the shape of t ...

es on their shirts. The main characters often comment on bad Pagans and on the opposition they receive from

s. Despite the strip's frequent references to

and

n sub-culture, it has a substantial

following as well as a

audience, and even among

Unitarian Universalists Unitarian Universalism (abbreviated UUism or UU) is a Religious liberalism, liberal religious tradition characterized by its commitment to theological diversity, inclusivity, and social justice. Unitarian Universalists do not adhere to a single ...

. Many strips are the result of viewer suggestion, and Oh My Gods! as a whole often reflects the personal experiences of the artist. Some criticized the comic for its comments on

Hinduism Hinduism () is an Hypernymy and hyponymy, umbrella term for a range of Indian religions, Indian List of religions and spiritual traditions#Indian religions, religious and spiritual traditions (Sampradaya, ''sampradaya''s) that are unified ...

. The last official strip was posted on 17 March 2009. The following year, a strip entitled "Finale" was posted along with a note from the creator indicating that he had decided to cease creating the Oh My Gods! comic.

Special strips

In addition to the normal strips Oh My Gods! also features simple reverse font slogans which are supposed to resemble religious bumper stickers and special remembrances of the deaths of Shivian Balaris's father and

Pope John Paul II Pope John Paul II (born Karol Józef Wojtyła; 18 May 19202 April 2005) was head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 16 October 1978 until Death and funeral of Pope John Paul II, his death in 2005. In his you ...

, and the

September 11, 2001 attacks The September 11 attacks, also known as 9/11, were four coordinated Islamist terrorist suicide attacks by al-Qaeda against the United States in 2001. Nineteen terrorists hijacked four commercial airliners, crashing the first two into ...

. The first anniversary strip was in the form of a short movie.

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 The pope is the bishop of Rome and the Head of the Church#Catholic Church, visible head of the worldwide Catholic Church. He is also known as the supreme pontiff, Roman pontiff, or sovereign pontiff. From the 8th century until 1870, the po ...

, a Clown for Christ, and

who are depicted as

Borg The Borg are an alien group that appear as recurring antagonists in the ''Star Trek'' fictional universe. They are Cyborg, cybernetic organisms (cyborgs) linked in a Group mind (science fiction), hive mind called "The Collective". The Borg co- ...

. Oh My Gods! has a characteristic "

preschool A preschool (sometimes spelled as pre school or pre-school), also known as nursery school, pre-primary school, play school, is an school, educational establishment or learning space offering early childhood education to children before they ...

" like drawing style, with characters only having eyes, one perspective, and no fingers. The drawing style is based loosely on a popular webcomic - Little Gamers, et al. In the 8 March 2002 comic, Shivian acknowledges this by doing what the characters themselves say is "a blatant ripoff". Die-hard fans will also make what they call "Ohmygodsifications" of themselves, or what they would look like if they were a character in the strip. Oh My Gods! also very often breaks the

fourth wall The fourth wall is a performance dramatic convention, convention in which an invisible, imaginary wall separates actors from the audience. While the audience can see through this "wall", the convention assumes the actors act as if they cannot. ...

. Characters are well aware of their existence as characters in a comic, and they are often depicted as conversing with Shivian or commenting on things occurring in his interactions with the comic or life at large. Additionally, they have been shown great surprise when Shivian made a change to the style of the comic such as the introduction of color, legs, or fleshed out backgrounds. In another instance, Shivian is shown as storing the props for the comic in the basement of their house.

Recurring characters

Source:

Main characters

*Stan - He is the main character and

; his current boyfriend is Vincent. *Vera - She is a

lesbian A lesbian is a homosexual woman or girl. The word is also used for women in relation to their sexual identity or sexual behavior, regardless of sexual orientation, or as an adjective to characterize or associate nouns with female homosexu ...

who owns the local metaphysical store, Neo Aquarius and Other Planets. She is also a Native American

shamaness Shamanism is a spiritual practice that involves a practitioner (shaman) interacting with the spirit world through altered states of consciousness, such as trance. The goal of this is usually to direct spirits or spiritual energies into ...

. *Victor - He is often portrayed as not being a mentally clear individual, leading to many problems. He is tormented by his

fairy A fairy (also called fay, fae, fae folk, fey, fair folk, or faerie) is a type of mythical being or legendary creature, generally described as anthropomorphism, anthropomorphic, found in the folklore of multiple European cultures (including Cel ...

spirit guide A spirit guide, in Spiritualism, is an entity that remains as a discarnate spirit to act as a guide or protector to a living incarnated individual. Description In traditional African belief systems, well before the spread of Christianity ...

s and Larry the word balloon. *Winston - He loves computers and is

geek The word ''geek'' is a slang term originally used to describe Eccentricity (behavior), eccentric or non-mainstream people; in current use, the word typically connotes an expert or enthusiast obsessed with a hobby or intellectual pursuit. In th ...

Supporting characters

*Fundie - He is a stereotypical fundamentalist, Christian who tries to convert/save the souls of the pagan characters. He's also a frequent target of Stan's practical jokes. *Vincent - He is Stan's boyfriend and is often preoccupied by sex. *Futhark Kids: Perth, Othala and Asa - *Johnnie - Leader of the local sect of the Pagan Spiritual Tradition of the Spiritual Fish. *Craig - Follower of the Spiritual Fish. *Kay - She is the leader of the sect of the Spiritual Fish, and is also Wiccan. *The Fairies - Victor's spirit guides. They often follow Victor around and torment him. *Reiki Master - A self-proclaimed master of the

Reiki Reiki is a pseudoscientific form of energy healing, a type of alternative medicine originating in Japan. Reiki practitioners use a technique called ''palm healing'' or ''hands-on healing'' through which, according to practitioners, a " unive ...

. *The Pope - *Jacob, a Clown for Christ - A clown advocating the message that Jesus is fun. *Linda - A toned down female version of fundie. She is often seen smiting people and hanging out with Fundie. *Candy, a Cheerleader for Christ - A cheerleader who cheers the message of Jesus Christ. *Apollinis Fututor - Captain Dead Language - He speaks Latin and wears Roman armor. *Fina - A black cat who hangs out with Larry the word balloon and the fairies. *Tina DeValve - She is an atheist who was once the Boob Vampire. *UU of 8 - A

Unitarian Universalist Unitarian or Unitarianism may refer to: Christian and Christian-derived theologies A Unitarian is a follower of, or a member of an organisation that follows, any of several theologies referred to as Unitarianism: * Unitarianism (1565–present) ...

whose goal in life is merging all religions into one. *Saint Grand High Markus, Ordained Ceremonial Magician of the XXXII Order of Apsu - A

ceremonial magic Ceremonial magic (also known as magick, ritual magic, high magic or learned magic) encompasses a wide variety of rituals of Magic (supernatural), magic. The works included are characterized by ceremony and numerous requisite accessories t ...

ian. *Nate - A

chaos magic Chaos magic, also spelled chaos magick, is a modern tradition of magic. Emerging in England in the 1970s as part of the wider neo-pagan and esoteric subculture, it drew heavily from the occult beliefs of artist Austin Osman Spare, expressed ...

ian who is shown to be more level-headed than many of the other recurring characters. *

Cthulhu Cthulhu is a fictional cosmic entity created by writer H. P. Lovecraft. It was introduced in his short story "The Call of Cthulhu", published by the American pulp magazine ''Weird Tales'' in 1928. Considered a Great Old One within the pantheon ...

– He is based on the

H. P. Lovecraft Howard Phillips Lovecraft (, ; August 20, 1890 – March 15, 1937) was an American writer of Weird fiction, weird, Science fiction, science, fantasy, and horror fiction. He is best known for his creation of the Cthulhu Mythos. Born in Provi ...

character by the same name. *Nick – An African-American pagan who's fond of hoodoo, curses and

Buddhism Buddhism, also known as Buddhadharma and Dharmavinaya, is an Indian religion and List of philosophies, philosophical tradition based on Pre-sectarian Buddhism, teachings attributed to the Buddha, a wandering teacher who lived in the 6th or ...

. *Queernunnos (Herbert) - A self-proclaimed embodiment of the "Great Pink God". In late 2007, Oh My Gods! went through a site redesign and, since then Queernunnos (Herbert) is no longer listed on the supporting cast page.

Appearances

''Oh My Gods!'' has also been featured in ''Prediction'' (UK magazine), ''SIPA News'' (local newsletter), ''PagaNet News'' (global newspaper), ''newWitch'' (national magazine), Eldaring.de (German website), the Cauldron.net (website), ''

Pentacle A pentacle (also spelled and pronounced as ''pantacle'' in Thelema, following Aleister Crowley, though that spelling ultimately derived from Éliphas Lévi) "The Pantacle of Frater V. I. O." is a talisman that is used in magical evocation, and ...

'' (magazine & website), Mississippi State University WPSA (website), the SORCery Convention (event), Akashan Pathways (website), Modern Wiccan (website), ''WynterGreene'' (newspaper), the ''Daily Egyptian'' (newspaper of

Southern Illinois University Carbondale Southern Illinois University (SIU) is a public research university in Carbondale, Illinois, United States. Chartered in 1869, SIU is the oldest and flagship campus of the Southern Illinois University system. SIU enrolls students from all 50 sta ...

), ''The Scribe'' (newsletter), ''Pagan Press'' (newsletter), ''The Witch's Path'' (newsletter), ''Connect'' (newsletter), Between the Worlds (event), Pagan Spirit Gathering (event), and Something Awful (Awful Link of the Day).

In print

In March 2007, ''Oh My Gods!'' was made available in book form for the first time. As of February 2009, five volumes of yearly anthologies had been made available at the print-on-demand publisher

Lulu Lulu may refer to: Companies * LuLu, an early automobile manufacturer * Lulu.com, an online e-books and print self-publishing platform, distributor, and retailer * Lulu Hypermarket, a retail chain in Asia * Lululemon Athletica or simply Lulu, a C ...

. These volumes include: * * * * * In July 2011, two new omnibus volumes of ''Oh My Gods!'' were announced on the comic's website. These two volumes were released in eBook and hardback in March 2013 through Lulu. Volume 1 covers the first 1051 published strips plus some unpublished content, while Volume 2 covers the remaining 1049 strips and bonus content. These volumes are the first time that years six and seven of the comic have been made available in book form: * *

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 ''Sequential Tart (ST)'' is an online magazine focused on comics and popular culture from a female perspective. It was created in the late 1990s to serve "as an advocacy group for female consumers frustrated by their historical neglect or patroni ...

''.

References

{{reflist

External links

''Oh My Gods!''
Works about new religious movements Christianity in popular culture 2000s webcomics LGBTQ-related webcomics 2002 webcomic debuts 2009 webcomic endings Modern pagan media 2000s in modern paganism