War of the Gods

"Upon the death of witch and the birth of witch, Hecate, by name and choice, shall repossess her soul!"

- Hecate {{DC Database:Event Template
 * Image                  = War of the Gods 01.jpg
 * OfficialName           = The War of the Gods
 * Aliases                =


 * Universe               = New Earth
 * Locations              = Themyscira, New Olympus, South America


 * Heroes                 = Wonder Woman; Amazons of Themyscira; Captain Marvel; Superman
 * Villains               = Circe; Beastiamorphs
 * Others                 = Gods of Olympus


 * Origin                 =
 * Titles                 = War of the Gods
 * Collected              = None
 * Creators               = George Pérez, Russell Braun, Cynthia Martin, Romeo Tanghal, Gene D'Angelo, Albert DeGuzman, Bob Kahan, Karen Berger and Tom Peyer
 * First                  = War of the Gods #1
 * Last                   = War of the Gods #4


 * HistoryText            =

The sorceress Circe sought to appease the vengeful desires of her matron Goddess Hecate by destroying the Earth Goddess Gaea. Such an ambitious plot required the use of several mystical artifacts, as well as the cooperation of Eris, the scheming daughter of Ares.

Circe knew that her greatest opposition stemmed from her nemesis Wonder Woman, as well as the armies of all of Themyscira. The first leg of her master plan involved planting seeds of mistrust that would brand the whole of Themyscira as a target. This was achieved chiefly through Phobos, who manipulated the fear and anxiety of the general populace into taking arms against Themsycira. Led by the corrupted General Yedziniak, the United States Air Force took up against the Amazons of Themyscira. General Phillipus and Queen Hippolyta were gravely injured, the latter of whom teetered on the brink of Death. Wonder Woman collected her mother and brought her back to Paradise Island in the hopes of healing her.

Upon acquiring the artifacts that she required, Circe wove a spell known as the Hellfire Web which blanketed the entire world awakening the gods of several pantheons and goaded them towards making war with one another. Of the various pantheons, the most vital of which included the Gods of Mount Olympus who waged a brutal battle against their Roman counterparts. The effect spread out across the globe and inspired the deities of several cultures into waging war with one another, include the Nordic Gods, the Heliopolis of Ancient Egypt, the Orisha of the West Indes, Even the deities of other worlds such as Thanagar, New Genesis and Apokolips were affected.

The gods of the Roman pantheon took arms against their Greek counterparts in a bid to reclaim their lost legacy. Jupiter, lord of the Gods swapped lightning bolts with Zeus on New Olympus. Mercury fought against the god Hermes, while Mars – the God of War journeyed to the Areopagus to battle against his analog Lord Ares. In the midst of war, the Roman gods announced that they had a human champion that would battle against the Greek's Wonder Woman – that champion was none other than Captain Marvel. Diana was forced to defend herself against a possessed Captain Marvel while the other gods continued with their discourse. Their battle ended when a tear in the fabric of reality separated them, propelling both combatants to different locales.

Through all of this, New Olympus pierced the veil between worlds and occupied space in the Earth dimension. This phenomena caused widespread geological disaster across the globe, forcing Earth's heroes to band together. Circe intensified the strength of her Hellfire Web, virtually placing a stranglehold on Gaea herself. To combat the heroes of Earth, she sent forth her Beastiamorphs – half-human/half-animal creatures of chaos. The Beastiamorphs descended upon several American cities including Chicago, Boston and Gotham City.

In the Tower of Fate in Salem, Doctor Fate gathered several powerful mystics, as well as Geo-Force and Animal Man in an effort to create a counter-spell to reverse the effects of Circe's magic. Circe had expected this, and planned on cultivating the energy from the spells the group was now casting – but her plan backfired and her spells were undone: yet the war continued.

On Themyscira, time was running out for both Wonder Woman and her dying mother. She tracked down Hermes, but he was unable to heal Hippolyta, so Diana resolved to take her mother back to Paradise Island. She was attacked en route by fighters, but with the help of Starman she managed to evade them. On the shores of the Island, she would face Circe at last. Circe had fought her way through Hermes to get to Diana, but she would not simply kill the Amazon and risk Hecate's curse. Cutting them off from other heroes gathered on the Island (Starman, Hawkwoman, Aquaman, and Dolphin), Circe used her magic to revert Diana back into the clay of the island, the very same clay from which she was born. Having destroyed Wonder Woman, Circe departed, ready to grasp final victory. As the Amazons mourned their fallen princess, Superman rallied Earth's heroes for the final battle.

Though Diana's physical body was destroyed, her eternal spirit remained. Collected by the Phantom Stranger, the Spectre, and Deadman, her spirit languished inside the very womb of Gaea. They told her that Klarion the Witch Boy had been responsible for disrupting several of Circe's spells.

Superman, meanwhile, lead the charge against Olympus itself, where the confused Greek and Roman pantheons were still committed to destroying each other. Circe resurrected the zombified remains of fallen heroes and villains such as Commander Steel, Mister Terrific, Mirror Master and the Force of July and set them against the heroes. When Circe's deceptions were made clear, she was transported back to the realm of Limbo. There she found Donna Troy and Wonder Woman – restored to life. Diana battled the evil witch, and this time her power was the greater, for Hecate's power had left Circe. The witch was seemingly killed, but Hecate was denied Diana's soul. The gods decided to depart again, but the long war was finally over.

The war had been costly. Much of Paradise Island was in ruins and would need to be rebuilt, and casualties included many Amazons including the seer Menalippe. The United Nations fully exonerated Themyscira from all charges, and Queen Hippolyta was alive and well.


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 * Notes                  = War of the Gods was a four-issue limited series published from (cover date) September to December of 1991. The series was written by Wonder Woman series writer/artist George Pérez who also provided the layouts. Finished art and embellishments were provided by Cynthia Martin and Russell Braun with coloring and lettering by Gene D'Angelo and Albert DeGuzman (respectively). The series was edited by Karen Berger and Tom Peyer with covers by Pérez. Each issue of the series was forty-eight pages in length and included centerfold bonus pin-ups illustrated by Chris Sprouse and George Pérez. The storyline crossed over into most of the mainstream titles published at the time and culminated in an unofficial epilogue in Wonder Woman #62, which also signified Pérez departure from the series.

Although the title featured many heroes that populate the greater DC Universe, "War of the Gods" focused heavily on Wonder Woman and many of the supporting characters from her title, specifically, the Greek Gods of Olympus. The plot involved Wonder Woman's most notorious adversary Circe and her ambitious goal to satisfy the vengeance of the goddess Hecate by destroying and ultimately remaking all of reality. Circe's motivations were predicated by an ancient prophecy that foretold that Hecate would repossess her soul upon the death and birth of witch.
 * Trivia                 = In Superman Vol 2 51's lettercolumn, this miniseries is referred to as "The Holy Wars".
 * RecommendedReading     =

Main Story and Tie-Ins

 * War of the Gods #1
 * Wonder Woman (Volume 2) #58
 * Superman: Man of Steel #3
 * Hawkworld (Volume 2) #15
 * Starman (Volume 1) #38
 * L.E.G.I.O.N. '91 #31
 * Hawk and Dove (Volume 3) #28
 * Doctor Fate (Volume 2) #32
 * Flash (Volume 2) #55
 * Wonder Woman (Volume 2) #59
 * Doctor Fate (Volume 2) #33


 * War of the Gods #2
 * Batman #470
 * Hawkworld (Volume 2) #16
 * Animal Man #40
 * Captain Atom #57
 * Suicide Squad (Volume 1) #58
 * Wonder Woman (Volume 2) #60


 * War of the Gods #3
 * Demon (Volume 3) #17
 * New Titans #81
 * Wonder Woman (Volume 2) #61


 * War of the Gods #4

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 * Links                  =
 * War of the Gods at Wikipedia
 * War of the Gods chronology at DCU Guide
 * War of the Gods Crossovers