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Gog (comics)
Encyclopedia
Gog is the name of several different fictional character
s in the comics published by DC Comics
. The first version first appeared in New Year's Evil: Gog #1, (February 1998), and was created by Mark Waid
and Jerry Ordway
.
as a savior, even creating a church dedicated to his philosophy as he tried to find meaning in the cataclysm that had taken place. One day, Superman visited him and told him that he wasn’t the omnipotent, perfect being that William thought he was, shattering William's world view and mentally unbalancing him. When the Quintessence
(Shazam
, Ganthet
, Zeus
, Highfather
, and the Phantom Stranger
) invested him with a portion of their vast power, William, now known as Gog, went insane and blamed Superman for his misfortune, believing him to be the Anti-Christ who had allowed the Kansas disaster to take place to regain his standing in the world.
Using his new found powers, Gog killed Superman. Unsatisfied by his victory, Gog traveled 24 hours back in time, found Superman, and killed him again, repeating the process over and over, going backwards one day further each time, and each time varying the means of Superman's death and absorbing portions of the slain Supermen's power. When he arrived on the day that Superman and Wonder Woman
's child was born, the entire Justice League tried to stop him, but they failed, and Gog took the child, deciding to go directly to the past where he intended to trigger the Kansas cataclysm almost twenty years early, burning Superman's insignia into the countryside.
Gog's actions exposed the existence of Hypertime, a fictional construct similar to the Multiverse
in pre-Crisis
stories. Gog unknowingly passed into an alternate timeline each day he traveled back in time, effectively killing a different Superman at every turn. As a result, the Phantom Stranger was forced to recruit time traveler Rip Hunter
of the Linear Men
, the only other person aware of Hypertime, in an attempt to preserve the secret, the other members of the Quintessence refusing to act to stop Gog for their own personal reasons.
Rip Hunter, refusing to believe the other Linear Men's claims that traveling back in time would destroy the Kingdom Come
reality, recruited Superman, Batman
, Wonder Woman, Kid Flash III
(daughter of Wally West
), Offspring
(son of Plastic Man
), Nightstar
(daughter of Nightwing
and Starfire
), and Ibn al Xu'ffasch (son of Batman
and Talia al Ghul
) from the Kingdom Come reality, along with the Superman, Batman and Wonder Woman from the present to fight Gog, luring him into Booster Gold's
"Planet Krypton" a superhero-themed restaurant that had been stocked with artifacts from various realities before Hunter moved the restaurant outside of time to limit civilian casualties. With the available arsenal, the heroes managed to wound Gog, with Batman using a Phantom Zone
projector to partially send Gog into the Zone, severely scarring him while the heroes armed themselves. Gog fights back, knocking the heroes down as he himself collapsed in a weakened state. Unable to move from the force of the attack, the present Superman is convinced to fight back by the future Wonder Woman, who told him of the destruction of Kansas and how it happened as a result of him abandoning his fight for truth and justice following the death of Lois Lane
. Refusing to allow history to repeat itself, Superman charged at Gog, who sends both of them and everyone else in the restaurant into Hypertime, thus allowing Hunter to preserve the Kingdom Come reality. Gog is then returned to the future by Rip Hunter and the future versions of Superman, Batman, and Wonder Woman, who demand that the Quintessence restore him to the person he was.
’ attack on Topeka, Kansas. He was saved by Superman, but Superman was unable to rescue the boy's parents. Desperate to fix what had gone wrong, Gog grew up researching the science of time travel in an effort to go back in time and rescue his family.
Eventually, he succeeds in his efforts at creating a time machine, but his first prototype is unable to travel far enough back. He refines the time machine for over two-hundred years, making it more and more powerful and using the technology to give himself super-powers. He then gives his research and advanced technology to younger versions of himself, which gives him more power due to rewriting history over and over. Realizing that he could not save his parents due to a temporal paradox (The death of his parents triggered the creation of his powers) his desire grows from saving his parents to punishing Superman for their deaths.
The present day Gog attacks Superman when Doomsday
returns to Earth with newfound sentience and begins discovering emotions during his rampage. Doomsday arrives to see Superman on the verge of death after being beaten by an army of Gogs. Doomsday leaps to Superman’s defense just as Gog is about to kill him. Doomsday’s attempt to save Superman fails as Gog successfully kills him.
Over the next two-hundred years, Doomsday leads an army in Superman’s name against Gog. This future is erased when it is revealed that Gog didn’t actually kill Superman but has instead been keeping him prisoner and surrounded by Kryptonite.
Gog offers Superman the chance to go back in time and kill him. Superman eventually shows Gog the error of his ways when Doomsday bursts in and rescues Superman. Gog then offers Doomsday the chance to go back and erase this future at the cost of returning to his villianious ways which he agrees to. In the present, the present day Gog teleports away an unconscious Doomsday for unknown reasons.
ongoing series. In the new Multiverse, the events of the Kingdom Come
limited series take place on Earth-22. That world's version of Superman arrived on New Earth following the destruction of Earth-22. Gog appears soon after the other Superman’s arrival. Gog gruesomely slaughters metahuman criminals who claim to be gods by blasting holes through their chests and disintegrating their hearts. Some of his kills include the criminals Goth and Chroma and a group of beings calling themselves the New Olympians. The Infinity-Man
and Hercules
were two who survived his onslaught. After facing off against the Infinity-Man, he attacks Sandman
who was spying on him, before taking on the Justice Society.
This version of Gog is a priest named William Matthews who received his powers from an underground citadel in Africa and took the name Gog, which was the name of the last surviving god of the Third World. He also claims that the Superman of Earth-22 let Kansas die, and is implied several times to be a ret-conned version of the character appearing in "In the Name of Gog" story above, with his background changed due to the events of Infinite Crisis
. When the Justice Society follow him back to the citadel, his body is absorbed by a stone face on a wall. The stone face rises, becoming a massive stone man adorned in gold who claims to be the one, true Gog.
This Gog, chronologically the first one, is an exile of the "Second World" who was unwilling to take sides in the final battle of the Old Gods and was cast off as a result. He then plunged into the Bleed and traveled through various alternate universes until he landed on New Earth. Inert, his consciousness lingered in the stone and lava. A local tribe built a staff out of his remnants, enabling a user to channel Gog's energy. The staff was later found by William Matthews, who claimed the name Gog.
Upon being revived, Gog claims that Matthews wasn't his servant and that Matthews had been driven mad from visions of the Multiverse, including having visions of events on Earth-22.
This version of Gog displays a cheerful, child-like, peaceful personality. He claims he is "happy to be alive" and compelled to "make things good again". He saves an African village near his citadel from the effects of toxic contamination from lava that contained his essence and heals Damage
's disfigured
face in response to his skepticism. Gog then sends Sandman
to a blissful, dream-filled sleep for twenty-four hours, cures Starman of his schizophrenia, gives Doctor Mid-Nite his sight back, and sends Power Girl
"home
". Gog then hears the noises of a war going on nearby and vows to stop it. Finding a small village under attack by a rogue militia, Gog transforms the soldiers into trees. During the conflict, Lance, one of the JSA's new recruits, is hit by a rocket launcher blast and killed. Gog brings Lance back to life, replacing his ruined arm with gold armor, and renames him "Magog
".
Later, Gog's intentions to move on to the Middle East and punish the warmongers there in the same fashion as the militia members causes the Justice Society to split in half, with Hawkman, Magog, Damage, Wildcat (Tom Bronson), Amazing Man, Judomaster
, and Citizen Steel taking Gog's side. Like the biblical God
, he asks for a rest on the sixth day, sending some of his followers back to America to preach his will.
After that, he collects them again, asking them gleefully to kneel down and worship him while he brings in a new world. The rest of the JSA arrive, having learned from Sandman that Gog is rooting himself into the Earth, and if he remains for one more day, the Earth will die if he ever leaves, leaving them with the one option of killing Gog and separating his head from the Earth. Hawkman and the rest of the Society following Gog attempt to protect him, until they see him attempt to transform Jay Garrick into lightning. All of Gog's followers turn against him and Gog punishes the Society by taking away his "gifts" to an extreme degree (Citizen Steel now feels pain in all his nerves and Starman can't be cured of his madness). Even Magog eventually turns on him, for which Gog's blessing on him is also undone. Eventually, the JSA are able to topple Gog and cut off his head. The Superman of Earth-22 and Starman take the still-living head to the Source Wall
, embedding it there for all eternity. Gog accuses Superman of being exactly what he accused Gog of being.
of 2020 to absorb the powers of several alternate Supermen that he killed. His abilities included travelling through time at will, extremely keen senses, sufficient speed to intercept the Flash, superhuman strength considerably greater than Superman's and the prodigious intelligence needed to develop an almost infinite number of highly inventive and complicated ways to kill Superman.
The second Gog’s powers were based on science rather than cosmic or mystical power. This Gog also has the power to give other superhumans advanced abilities through the use of Kryptonite, such as imbuing Repo Man with enhanced strength and the ability to grow in size, in order to battle Superboy and a weakened Superman. He was also capable of flight, energy blasts, the creation, through time manipulation, of countless copies of himself and his spear, and teleportation throughout time and space.
The third version of Gog is actually a god from the Second World, Urgrund, the world that once encompassed the two halves, New Genesis
and Apokolips
, of the Fourth World
. As such he possess a huge and boundless amount of cosmic powers. However, he chooses to use them in a reactive rather than proactive way, merely granting "wishes" to "make people around him happy". Theoretically able to reshape reality at whim, he confines himself into granting people their innermost desires, often without bothering to consult with them first, this leading to potential mishaps. This Gog also displays a child-like and narrow minded personality, looking at the world with glee and awe, but he clearly understands what he is doing. He does all that he was doing in order to be worshiped by earths people in return for his gifts. Anyone who does not worship him will be turned into trees and the like. When the JSA attacks him, he removes his blessings on all of them, even those who were still loyal to him at the time, purely out of spite.
released a cold-cast porcelain, hand-painted medium-sized statue of Magog (with the release titled as The Kingdom: Gog) in 1998, based upon designs by artist Jerry Ordway
. The statue was limited to 3,000 pieces only and measured at 7 7/8 x 5 x 5 inches, and included an official certificate of authenticity from DC Comics.
Fictional character
A character is the representation of a person in a narrative work of art . Derived from the ancient Greek word kharaktêr , the earliest use in English, in this sense, dates from the Restoration, although it became widely used after its appearance in Tom Jones in 1749. From this, the sense of...
s in the comics published by DC Comics
DC Comics
DC Comics, Inc. is one of the largest and most successful companies operating in the market for American comic books and related media. It is the publishing unit of DC Entertainment a company of Warner Bros. Entertainment, which itself is owned by Time Warner...
. The first version first appeared in New Year's Evil: Gog #1, (February 1998), and was created by Mark Waid
Mark Waid
Mark Waid is an American comic book writer. He is well known for his eight-year run as writer of the DC Comics' title The Flash, as well as his scripting of the limited series Kingdom Come and Superman: Birthright, and his work on Marvel Comics' Captain America...
and Jerry Ordway
Jerry Ordway
Jeremiah "Jerry" Ordway is an American writer, penciller, inker and painter of comic books.He is known for his inking work on a wide variety of DC Comics titles, including the continuity-redefining classic Crisis on Infinite Earths , his long run working on the Superman titles from 1986–1993, and...
.
The Kingdom
The first version of Gog was known as William, the sole survivor of a nuclear disaster in Kansas that was caused by the Parasite's shattering of Captain Atom during a battle with the Justice League, and became a believer in SupermanSuperman (Kingdom Come)
The Superman of Kingdom Come is a fictional character, an alternate version of Superman in the DC Comics universe...
as a savior, even creating a church dedicated to his philosophy as he tried to find meaning in the cataclysm that had taken place. One day, Superman visited him and told him that he wasn’t the omnipotent, perfect being that William thought he was, shattering William's world view and mentally unbalancing him. When the Quintessence
Quintessence
Quintessence, literally fifth essence , can refer to:-Science:* Aether , the fifth classical element after earth, fire, water, and air...
(Shazam
Shazam (comics)
Shazam is a comic book character created by Bill Parker and C. C. Beck for Fawcett Comics. He is an ancient sorcerer who gives young Billy Batson the power to transform into the superhero Captain Marvel...
, Ganthet
Ganthet
Ganthet is a fictional character in the DC Comics universe. He first appeared in the 1992 graphic novel Green Lantern: Ganthet's Tale , by Larry Niven and John Byrne.- Background :Ganthet is one of the Guardians of the Universe...
, Zeus
Zeus
In the ancient Greek religion, Zeus was the "Father of Gods and men" who ruled the Olympians of Mount Olympus as a father ruled the family. He was the god of sky and thunder in Greek mythology. His Roman counterpart is Jupiter and his Etruscan counterpart is Tinia.Zeus was the child of Cronus...
, Highfather
Highfather
Highfather is a fictional comic book character in the . He is chief of the New Gods of New Genesis in the Fourth World and ruled the fictional planet. Highfather first appeared in The New Gods #1 ....
, and the Phantom Stranger
Phantom Stranger
The Phantom Stranger is a fictional character of unspecified paranormal origins who battles mysterious and occult forces in various titles published by DC Comics, sometimes under their Vertigo imprint.-Publication history:...
) invested him with a portion of their vast power, William, now known as Gog, went insane and blamed Superman for his misfortune, believing him to be the Anti-Christ who had allowed the Kansas disaster to take place to regain his standing in the world.
Using his new found powers, Gog killed Superman. Unsatisfied by his victory, Gog traveled 24 hours back in time, found Superman, and killed him again, repeating the process over and over, going backwards one day further each time, and each time varying the means of Superman's death and absorbing portions of the slain Supermen's power. When he arrived on the day that Superman and Wonder Woman
Wonder Woman
Wonder Woman is a DC Comics superheroine created by William Moulton Marston. She first appeared in All Star Comics #8 . The Wonder Woman title has been published by DC Comics almost continuously except for a brief hiatus in 1986....
's child was born, the entire Justice League tried to stop him, but they failed, and Gog took the child, deciding to go directly to the past where he intended to trigger the Kansas cataclysm almost twenty years early, burning Superman's insignia into the countryside.
Gog's actions exposed the existence of Hypertime, a fictional construct similar to the Multiverse
Multiverse (DC Comics)
The DC Multiverse is a fictional continuity construct that exists in stories published by comic book company DC Comics. The DC Multiverse consists of numerous worlds, most of them outside DC's main continuity, allowing writers the creative freedom to explore alternative versions of characters and...
in pre-Crisis
Crisis on Infinite Earths
Crisis on Infinite Earths is a 12-issue American comic book limited series and crossover event, produced by DC Comics in 1985 to simplify its then 50-year-old continuity...
stories. Gog unknowingly passed into an alternate timeline each day he traveled back in time, effectively killing a different Superman at every turn. As a result, the Phantom Stranger was forced to recruit time traveler Rip Hunter
Rip Hunter
Rip Hunter is a DC Comics character who first appeared in Showcase #20 . Following three more appearances in Showcase , Rip Hunter was given his own series, which ran for 29 issues . He later starred in the six-issue Time Masters series , written by Bob Wayne and Lewis Shiner...
of the Linear Men
Linear Men
The Linear Men are fictional characters, a fictional superhero team in the DC Comics universe. They first appeared in Adventures of Superman #476 .-Fictional history:...
, the only other person aware of Hypertime, in an attempt to preserve the secret, the other members of the Quintessence refusing to act to stop Gog for their own personal reasons.
Rip Hunter, refusing to believe the other Linear Men's claims that traveling back in time would destroy the Kingdom Come
Kingdom Come (comic book)
Kingdom Come is a four-issue comic book mini-series published in 1996 by DC Comics. It was written by Alex Ross and Mark Waid and painted in gouache by Ross, who also developed the concept from an original idea...
reality, recruited Superman, Batman
Batman
Batman is a fictional character created by the artist Bob Kane and writer Bill Finger. A comic book superhero, Batman first appeared in Detective Comics #27 , and since then has appeared primarily in publications by DC Comics...
, Wonder Woman, Kid Flash III
Kid Flash (Iris West)
Kid Flash is a superheroine in the alternate future of Kingdom Come in the DC Comics universe. She first appeared in Kingdom Come #3 .-Publication history:...
(daughter of Wally West
Flash (comics)
The Flash is a name shared by several fictional comic book superheroes from the DC Comics universe. Created by writer Gardner Fox and artist Harry Lampert, the original Flash first appeared in Flash Comics #1 ....
), Offspring
Offspring (comics)
Offspring is a fictional comic book superhero in the DC universe. He is the son of Plastic Man, and has the same stretching powers as his father.-Kingdom Come:...
(son of Plastic Man
Plastic Man
Plastic Man is a fictional comic-book superhero originally published by Quality Comics and later acquired by DC Comics. Created by writer-artist Jack Cole, he first appeared in Police Comics #1 ....
), Nightstar
Nightstar
Nightstar is a fictional character from DC Comics, the daughter of Starfire and Dick Grayson, who was the first Robin and Nightwing. Her superhero name is a play on those of her parents but her civilian identity is that of Mar'i Grayson.-Kingdom Come:Nightstar first appears in Kingdom Come #1 ...
(daughter of Nightwing
Dick Grayson
Dick Grayson is a fictional superhero that appears in comic books published by DC Comics. Created by Bob Kane and Bill Finger and illustrator Jerry Robinson, he first appeared in Detective Comics #38 in April 1940....
and Starfire
Starfire (comics)
Starfire is the name of several fictional comic book characters published by DC Comics. The most prominent Starfire is Koriand'r, the fourth character to use that name...
), and Ibn al Xu'ffasch (son of Batman
Batman
Batman is a fictional character created by the artist Bob Kane and writer Bill Finger. A comic book superhero, Batman first appeared in Detective Comics #27 , and since then has appeared primarily in publications by DC Comics...
and Talia al Ghul
Talia al Ghul
Talia al Ghul is a fictional character in the DC Comics universe, the now-estranged daughter of the supervillain Ra's al Ghul, a love interest of Batman, and the mother of his son Damian Wayne, the fifth Robin...
) from the Kingdom Come reality, along with the Superman, Batman and Wonder Woman from the present to fight Gog, luring him into Booster Gold's
Booster Gold
Booster Gold is a fictional DC Comics superhero. Created by Dan Jurgens, he first appeared in Booster Gold #1 and has been a member of the Justice League, DC Comics' all-star team of heroes. The character is initially depicted as a glory-seeking showboat from the future, using knowledge of...
"Planet Krypton" a superhero-themed restaurant that had been stocked with artifacts from various realities before Hunter moved the restaurant outside of time to limit civilian casualties. With the available arsenal, the heroes managed to wound Gog, with Batman using a Phantom Zone
Phantom Zone
The Phantom Zone is a fictional prison dimension featured in the Superman comic books and related media published by DC Comics. It first appeared in Adventure Comics #283 , and was created by Robert Bernstein and George Papp...
projector to partially send Gog into the Zone, severely scarring him while the heroes armed themselves. Gog fights back, knocking the heroes down as he himself collapsed in a weakened state. Unable to move from the force of the attack, the present Superman is convinced to fight back by the future Wonder Woman, who told him of the destruction of Kansas and how it happened as a result of him abandoning his fight for truth and justice following the death of Lois Lane
Lois Lane
Lois Lane is a fictional character, the primary love interest of Superman in the comic books of DC Comics. Created by writer Jerry Siegel and artist Joe Shuster, she first appeared in Action Comics #1 ....
. Refusing to allow history to repeat itself, Superman charged at Gog, who sends both of them and everyone else in the restaurant into Hypertime, thus allowing Hunter to preserve the Kingdom Come reality. Gog is then returned to the future by Rip Hunter and the future versions of Superman, Batman, and Wonder Woman, who demand that the Quintessence restore him to the person he was.
In the Name of Gog
A second version of Gog with a different origin appeared several years later in DC continuity. This version of Gog is a survivor of ImperiexImperiex
Imperiex is a fictional character that appears in comic books published by DC Comics. The character first appears in Superman #153 , and was created by Jeph Loeb and Ian Churchill...
’ attack on Topeka, Kansas. He was saved by Superman, but Superman was unable to rescue the boy's parents. Desperate to fix what had gone wrong, Gog grew up researching the science of time travel in an effort to go back in time and rescue his family.
Eventually, he succeeds in his efforts at creating a time machine, but his first prototype is unable to travel far enough back. He refines the time machine for over two-hundred years, making it more and more powerful and using the technology to give himself super-powers. He then gives his research and advanced technology to younger versions of himself, which gives him more power due to rewriting history over and over. Realizing that he could not save his parents due to a temporal paradox (The death of his parents triggered the creation of his powers) his desire grows from saving his parents to punishing Superman for their deaths.
The present day Gog attacks Superman when Doomsday
Doomsday (comics)
Doomsday is a fictional character, a supervillain that appears in comic books published by DC Comics. The character first appears in Superman: The Man of Steel #18 , and was created by writer-artist Dan Jurgens. IGN's list of the Top 100 Comic Book Villains of All Time ranked Doomsday as #46...
returns to Earth with newfound sentience and begins discovering emotions during his rampage. Doomsday arrives to see Superman on the verge of death after being beaten by an army of Gogs. Doomsday leaps to Superman’s defense just as Gog is about to kill him. Doomsday’s attempt to save Superman fails as Gog successfully kills him.
Over the next two-hundred years, Doomsday leads an army in Superman’s name against Gog. This future is erased when it is revealed that Gog didn’t actually kill Superman but has instead been keeping him prisoner and surrounded by Kryptonite.
Gog offers Superman the chance to go back in time and kill him. Superman eventually shows Gog the error of his ways when Doomsday bursts in and rescues Superman. Gog then offers Doomsday the chance to go back and erase this future at the cost of returning to his villianious ways which he agrees to. In the present, the present day Gog teleports away an unconscious Doomsday for unknown reasons.
Thy Kingdom Come
A third version of Gog recently appeared in the Justice Society of AmericaJustice Society of America
The Justice Society of America, or JSA, is a DC Comics superhero group, the first team of superheroes in comic book history. Conceived by editor Sheldon Mayer and writer Gardner Fox, the JSA first appeared in All Star Comics #3 ....
ongoing series. In the new Multiverse, the events of the Kingdom Come
Kingdom Come (comic book)
Kingdom Come is a four-issue comic book mini-series published in 1996 by DC Comics. It was written by Alex Ross and Mark Waid and painted in gouache by Ross, who also developed the concept from an original idea...
limited series take place on Earth-22. That world's version of Superman arrived on New Earth following the destruction of Earth-22. Gog appears soon after the other Superman’s arrival. Gog gruesomely slaughters metahuman criminals who claim to be gods by blasting holes through their chests and disintegrating their hearts. Some of his kills include the criminals Goth and Chroma and a group of beings calling themselves the New Olympians. The Infinity-Man
Infinity-Man
Infinity-Man is a fictional character, an extraterrestrial superhero published by DC Comics. Created by Jack Kirby, the character first appeared in Forever People #1, .-Fictional character biography:...
and Hercules
Hercules (DC Comics)
Hercules is a fictional Olympian god in the DC Universe based on the Greek demigod and hero of the same name....
were two who survived his onslaught. After facing off against the Infinity-Man, he attacks Sandman
Sandy Hawkins
Sanderson "Sandy" Hawkins, formerly known as Sandy, the Golden Boy, Sands, Sand, and currently as Sandman, is a fictional character, superhero in the DC Comics universe created by Mort Weisinger and Paul Norris. He first appeared in Adventure Comics #69.-Golden Age:The Character of Sandy the Golden...
who was spying on him, before taking on the Justice Society.
This version of Gog is a priest named William Matthews who received his powers from an underground citadel in Africa and took the name Gog, which was the name of the last surviving god of the Third World. He also claims that the Superman of Earth-22 let Kansas die, and is implied several times to be a ret-conned version of the character appearing in "In the Name of Gog" story above, with his background changed due to the events of Infinite Crisis
Infinite Crisis
Infinite Crisis is a 2005 - 2006 comic book storyline published by DC Comics, consisting of an eponymous, seven-issue comic book limited series written by Geoff Johns and illustrated by Phil Jimenez, George Pérez, Ivan Reis, and Jerry Ordway, and a number of tie-in books...
. When the Justice Society follow him back to the citadel, his body is absorbed by a stone face on a wall. The stone face rises, becoming a massive stone man adorned in gold who claims to be the one, true Gog.
This Gog, chronologically the first one, is an exile of the "Second World" who was unwilling to take sides in the final battle of the Old Gods and was cast off as a result. He then plunged into the Bleed and traveled through various alternate universes until he landed on New Earth. Inert, his consciousness lingered in the stone and lava. A local tribe built a staff out of his remnants, enabling a user to channel Gog's energy. The staff was later found by William Matthews, who claimed the name Gog.
Upon being revived, Gog claims that Matthews wasn't his servant and that Matthews had been driven mad from visions of the Multiverse, including having visions of events on Earth-22.
This version of Gog displays a cheerful, child-like, peaceful personality. He claims he is "happy to be alive" and compelled to "make things good again". He saves an African village near his citadel from the effects of toxic contamination from lava that contained his essence and heals Damage
Damage (comics)
Damage is a DC Comics superhero who first appeared in a comic book of the same name during the Zero Hour crisis. He is the son of the original Atom Al Pratt. He has been a member of the Titans, the Freedom Fighters, and Justice Society of America....
's disfigured
Disfigurement
Disfigurement is the state of having one's appearance deeply and persistently harmed medically, as from a disease, birth defect, or wound.Disfigurement, whether caused by a benign or malignant condition, often leads to severe psychosocial problems such as negative body image; depression;...
face in response to his skepticism. Gog then sends Sandman
Sandy Hawkins
Sanderson "Sandy" Hawkins, formerly known as Sandy, the Golden Boy, Sands, Sand, and currently as Sandman, is a fictional character, superhero in the DC Comics universe created by Mort Weisinger and Paul Norris. He first appeared in Adventure Comics #69.-Golden Age:The Character of Sandy the Golden...
to a blissful, dream-filled sleep for twenty-four hours, cures Starman of his schizophrenia, gives Doctor Mid-Nite his sight back, and sends Power Girl
Power Girl
Power Girl is a DC Comics superheroine, making her first appearance in All Star Comics #58 ....
"home
Earth-Two
Earth-Two is a fictional universe appearing in American comic book stories published by DC Comics. First appearing in The Flash #123 , Earth-Two was created to explain how Silver-Age versions of characters such as the Flash could appear in stories with their Golden Age counterparts...
". Gog then hears the noises of a war going on nearby and vows to stop it. Finding a small village under attack by a rogue militia, Gog transforms the soldiers into trees. During the conflict, Lance, one of the JSA's new recruits, is hit by a rocket launcher blast and killed. Gog brings Lance back to life, replacing his ruined arm with gold armor, and renames him "Magog
Magog (comics)
Magog is a fictional character in the comic books published by DC Comics. He first appeared in Kingdom Come #1 , and was created by Mark Waid and Alex Ross. In 2009, Magog was ranked as IGN's 75th Greatest Comic Book Villain of All Time....
".
Later, Gog's intentions to move on to the Middle East and punish the warmongers there in the same fashion as the militia members causes the Justice Society to split in half, with Hawkman, Magog, Damage, Wildcat (Tom Bronson), Amazing Man, Judomaster
Judomaster
Judomaster is the name given to three fictional superheroes published by DC Comics. The first Judomaster debuted in Special War Series #4 published by Charlton Comics, and was created by Joe Gill and Frank McLaughlin.-Hadley Jagger:...
, and Citizen Steel taking Gog's side. Like the biblical God
God
God is the English name given to a singular being in theistic and deistic religions who is either the sole deity in monotheism, or a single deity in polytheism....
, he asks for a rest on the sixth day, sending some of his followers back to America to preach his will.
After that, he collects them again, asking them gleefully to kneel down and worship him while he brings in a new world. The rest of the JSA arrive, having learned from Sandman that Gog is rooting himself into the Earth, and if he remains for one more day, the Earth will die if he ever leaves, leaving them with the one option of killing Gog and separating his head from the Earth. Hawkman and the rest of the Society following Gog attempt to protect him, until they see him attempt to transform Jay Garrick into lightning. All of Gog's followers turn against him and Gog punishes the Society by taking away his "gifts" to an extreme degree (Citizen Steel now feels pain in all his nerves and Starman can't be cured of his madness). Even Magog eventually turns on him, for which Gog's blessing on him is also undone. Eventually, the JSA are able to topple Gog and cut off his head. The Superman of Earth-22 and Starman take the still-living head to the Source Wall
Source Wall
The Source Wall is a fictional structure in the . The wall lies on the edge of the known universe, in the Promethean Galaxy. Beyond the wall lies what is known as the Source, a cosmic essence or being that is the "source" of all that exists. The wall is theoretically passable. However, all those...
, embedding it there for all eternity. Gog accuses Superman of being exactly what he accused Gog of being.
Powers and abilities
The first version of Gog used a cosmic staff as his initial weapon and later used a trick he claimed to have learned from the AmazoAmazo
Amazo is a fictional character that appears in comic books published by DC Comics. The character first appears in The Brave and the Bold #30 and was created by Gardner Fox and Murphy Anderson. An android, Amazo's special ability is to replicate the special abilities of various superheroes and...
of 2020 to absorb the powers of several alternate Supermen that he killed. His abilities included travelling through time at will, extremely keen senses, sufficient speed to intercept the Flash, superhuman strength considerably greater than Superman's and the prodigious intelligence needed to develop an almost infinite number of highly inventive and complicated ways to kill Superman.
The second Gog’s powers were based on science rather than cosmic or mystical power. This Gog also has the power to give other superhumans advanced abilities through the use of Kryptonite, such as imbuing Repo Man with enhanced strength and the ability to grow in size, in order to battle Superboy and a weakened Superman. He was also capable of flight, energy blasts, the creation, through time manipulation, of countless copies of himself and his spear, and teleportation throughout time and space.
The third version of Gog is actually a god from the Second World, Urgrund, the world that once encompassed the two halves, New Genesis
New Genesis
New Genesis is a fictional planet in the . This planet, along with Apokolips, is speculated to be near the constellation Orion...
and Apokolips
Apokolips
In the DC Comics fictional shared Universe, Apokolips is the planet ruled by Darkseid, established in Jack Kirby's Fourth World series. It is also integral to many DC Comics stories. The planet is considered the opposite of New Genesis....
, of the Fourth World
Jack Kirby's Fourth World
"The Fourth World" is the popular name given to a metaseries of interconnecting comic book titles written and drawn by Jack Kirby and published by DC Comics from 1970 to 1973. The characters and concepts were later integrated into the DC Universe....
. As such he possess a huge and boundless amount of cosmic powers. However, he chooses to use them in a reactive rather than proactive way, merely granting "wishes" to "make people around him happy". Theoretically able to reshape reality at whim, he confines himself into granting people their innermost desires, often without bothering to consult with them first, this leading to potential mishaps. This Gog also displays a child-like and narrow minded personality, looking at the world with glee and awe, but he clearly understands what he is doing. He does all that he was doing in order to be worshiped by earths people in return for his gifts. Anyone who does not worship him will be turned into trees and the like. When the JSA attacks him, he removes his blessings on all of them, even those who were still loyal to him at the time, purely out of spite.
Figurine
DC DirectDC Direct
DC Direct is the collectibles division of DC Comics, the Time Warner subsidiary that publishes comic books and licenses characters such as Superman, Wonder Woman, Green Lantern, Flash, Batman, Batgirl and Hawkgirl. DC Direct produces statues, props, replicas and prints for the direct market, a...
released a cold-cast porcelain, hand-painted medium-sized statue of Magog (with the release titled as The Kingdom: Gog) in 1998, based upon designs by artist Jerry Ordway
Jerry Ordway
Jeremiah "Jerry" Ordway is an American writer, penciller, inker and painter of comic books.He is known for his inking work on a wide variety of DC Comics titles, including the continuity-redefining classic Crisis on Infinite Earths , his long run working on the Superman titles from 1986–1993, and...
. The statue was limited to 3,000 pieces only and measured at 7 7/8 x 5 x 5 inches, and included an official certificate of authenticity from DC Comics.