Gregory Weston wrote:
> In article ,
>  "John W. Kennedy"  wrote:
> 
>> I have my own objections, as a Christian, and in this case it's no fair
>> for JMS to object that he isn't a Christian -- you put the Christian
>> devil into a story, you gotta take the consequences.
> 
> I'm not hugely into the canon of the Marvel universe, but I have the 
> impression that that character isn't "the Christian devil" in a 
> meaningful sense. Marvel's own web page on the character asserts that 
> explicitly, claiming the character is often mistaken for Satan and uses 
> that to his advantage. But as a distinct entity known to the super-hero 
> community...

Potayto, potahto.

Yeah, he's closer to Zoroastrian Ahriman, even more to the Zurvanist
version thereof. But what he /really/ is is Marvel's desire to be
Christian and not-Christian at the same time, like all good, 100%
Americans. (Of course, historically, Mephistopheles is not part of
Christian [or Jewish or Islamic] belief at all, but rather a literary
phenomenon, associated with the Faust mythos. [Now Dan Brown is probably
going to write a novel about a secret society of Faustians; it's the way
his brain {such as it is} seems to work.])

What I don't understand at all is why Marvel thinks they can get away
with directing their efforts exclusively at the fanboy market, while at
the same time insulting and vandalizing the fanboys' Sweetest Thing.

-- 
John W. Kennedy
"The grand art mastered the thudding hammer of Thor
And the heart of our lord Taliessin determined the war."
   -- Charles Williams.  "Mount Badon"
--- SBBSecho 2.12-Win32