Isis is a Goddess

To help encourage my husband to put away his comics, I will flip through them and make fun of them. This really annoys him if he hasn’t had a chance to read them. Recently, I saw that he had a book lying on the table that had “Isis” in the title, which interested me. I know a lot about ancient Egypt, and I even spent some time in college in Egypt to research the Goddess Ma’at. However, I wasn’t expecting a lot from this comic because I have seen Hawkman (his head’s a hawk) and the Blue Beatle.

Anyone who has watched the History Channel or seen a National Geographic magazine knows that Isis is an ancient Egyptian Goddess. Isis is actually the name the Greeks gave her; to the Egyptians she was known as Aset. Aset was one of the most powerful of the Deities, and she was one of the last Goddesses worshipped in Egypt before Christians closed the temples. She is still worshipped by many Pagans in modern times.

Aset is the queen mother, and she married her brother Wesir, who was known as Osiris to the Greeks. One of the best known stories about Aset and Wesir is set in early Egyptian history. According to the Egyptians, Wesir was the pharaoh, and he was murdered by his jealous brother who stole the crown. Aset was magical and managed to bring her husband back to life twice, and she had to protect her son, the rightful heir to the throne.

Apparently comic book creators don’t know the first thing about Egyptian mythology or they don’t care. When I opened this book, I found that Isis wasn’t represented as a powerful character. Instead, I found a pseudo-Egyptian cheerleader in exaggerated Roman scandals. Instead of doing any research about ancient Egyptian clothing, the artist based his drawing on one of those terrible “sexy Cleopatra” Halloween costumes. I know that the book was written for entertainment, but would it kill these guys to put forth a little bit of effort? I’m pretty sure they have a public library nearby with a few books about ancient Egypt. Can anyone who actually knows a little bit about ancient Egypt actually enjoy these books?

(Drawing by Jerry Ordway.)