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When I first set out to try to figure out what, if any, impact Joseph Campbell had on American popular culture- particularly science fiction, fantasy and comic books I tried speaking with several writers. One of the few to give any insightful feedback and by far the most enthusiastic about the whole concept of the article was J.M. DeMatteis. Of Campbell's influence he said: "I'm sure it has [had some impact]. Not necessarily on a conscious level, but these things bubble around in the collective unconscious, influencing the way we tell stories. You don't have to know the monomyth to write the monomyth, if you know what I mean." Looking back at some of my own pre-1997 (when I first discovered Campbell's work) I definitely can.
This got me thinking for a moment. It would explain so many 80s TV shows from my childhood. The Transformers, He-Man and Thundercats were all shows which weren't known for their depth. Some would argue they existed merely to sell toys, however they clearly had elements of Campbell's work in them. There are even more of Campbell's influence on what is, in retrospect, quintessential kids show of the 80s- Fraggle Rock. However when you take into account that amongst the designers of Fraggle Rock were minds like Jim Henson and Jerry Juhl who wanted to create a coherent fantasy world that would make viewers of all ages question their own point of view, I'm not entirely sure Campbell's influence on the series was unintentional. The problem became could you have depth and the unintentional monomyth?
If only there were some writer someplace who wouldn't object to my using some of their writing for a little experiment. To which Mr. DeMatteis kindly replied: "I've certainly never laid out the Campbell template and tried to construct a story around it, but I'm sure you could look at any number of my stories and find it in there."
The Monomyth and Doctor Fate
Dr. Fate is one of the more obvious starting points for the monomyth for DeMatteis's work. Eric Strauss's mother died when he was a child. This is very traditional non-mystical variant of the miraculous birth. What is a mild break from fairy tale tradition, his biological father is the evil one and his stepmother Linda is the good influence. Linda and Eric are chosen to be the next Doctor Fate. Eric is given a quick magic trip to adulthood. Then begins his call to adventure.
A lot of the great challenges are there. Typhon is an obvious mixture of the destroyer and monster archetypes. Anti-Fate is an obvious dark reflection. Wotan would be a sin of the father type, because of his ties to both the original Dr. Fate as well as a long held grudge with Nabu.
It also features four death and rebirth stories.
First, the death of Kent Nelson and Nabu, both of whom are reborn as one entity. Which also creates and an interesting take on the mentor/student aspect of the monomyth. Nabu/Kent is supposed to be Linda and Eric's mentor in the mystic arts. At the same time, Eric and Linda end up having to teach Nabu how to be human because it has been centuries since he's been anything resembling mortal.
The second is the Death of Eric Strauss. In an odd twist of fate he is reborn not as himself but as an old man who has been alive for a good long while. Linda later discovers she and Eric have led many past lives- and had every permutation of a relationship you can think of throughout those thousands of lifetimes.This leads directly into the death of Linda Strauss, who is also reincarnated. Finally, Eric and Linda's death is the trigger for the resurrection of the real Kent and Inza Nelson, along with the return of Nabu to his 'natural' place amongst the lords of order.
Granted this is an extreme oversimplification of Campbell's work and this series. I don't have the time or space in this column to cover everything. For it is far from the only place Campbell's theory can be brought into play.
Campbell and Abadazad
Kate Jameson's parents divorced when she was a child and her little brother was later abducted. Her mother is described as a somewhat functional alcoholic. This clearly qualifies Kate for one of the lesser variations on the miraculous birth, given that she had to practically raise herself.
Later on she meets an old woman who happens to be the basis for the lead character in the books she and her brother used to love. The old woman reteaches Kate about imagination, along with giving her some vague hints that her brother might be alive. A day or two later the old woman dies. Then Kate receives a magical orb that sends her into the books and begins a quest to find her brother. Which qualifies as the Call to Adventure. Once in Abadazad she learns her brother is being held by The Lanky Man- a destroyer archetype if there ever was one.
However it is impossible to truly judge whether Abadazad would really follow Campbell's pattern all that closely because of the simple fact that the series was never actually completed. Snatches from the third book only available (legally) in the U.K. are available online and they appear to back up the claim but unless someone allows the series to continue on toward completion it is impossible to truly judge.
Myth in the Shadow of the Moon
The most obvious Campbell story that J.M. DeMatteis has ever written was Moonshadow.
Moonshadow is about a young boy whose hippie mother was seduced by a member of an alien race known as the Gi'Dos-es. Moonshadow is part alien, giving him a miraculous birth. He is raised in an alien zoo. While he roams around the complex he either befriends, or irritates, another alien resident named Ira. Moonshadow adores him. One of the common themes of mythology is two fathers and one son which this team does indeed satisfy. Soon after Moonshadow becomes a teenager, he is forced to leave the zoo.Which brings him into the call to adventure.
During his travels his mother is killed by a horrendous beast. (An encounter with the monster.) He goes to war with a bunch of aliens who don't care who lives or who dies. (The destroyers) He meets the Unkshusses. (Rabbi Unctious and his whole family are Tricksters.) He encounters the ghost of his great Aunt (a sin of the Father hero in an odd sort of way.) He visits a whore house (The seductress.)
However the pieces might appear to fit- in some ways it doesn't.
Moonshadow as a rejection of Mythos
First and foremost, myths focus on rebirth both spiritual and physical. Moonshadow does experience a certain degree of spiritual awareness but it comes with a degree of deadening to what he considers his soul. He outlives almost everyone and everything he cares about save for his cat- who his father gave an extended lifespan. As for a physical rebirth- there isn't one. He lives a life- whether it be good or bad- and he dies. His G'l-Dos-es grants him a really extended life span but he is not truly immortal. He grows old.
Secondly, myths ranging from Gilgamesh to Star Wars all have a certain degree of celebration of sentient depravity, violence and war. While many of these elements are present in the story, Moonshadow himself slowly becomes totally disgusted by them.
Lastly, in most mythos at least some of the godly beings are benevolent at least toward the hero. In Moonshadow the gods exist. They see what you're doing all the time. They have the power to do anything they want at anytime. They have almost no interest in anything that anyone is doing for more than a few moments at a time. When they do notice someone, that person should watch out. G'l-Doses are less like the loving father deities like Zeus, Odin or the Judeo-Christian outlook. The truth is nobody really wants a G'l-Doses attention. When discussing this issue with Mr. Dematteis, he said: 'It could be that the G'l-Doses only APPEAR not to care and that it's all a matter of how you look at them. In the end, they might be incredibly benevolent...having brought Moon through his travails to a kind of enlightenment. That said, the final interpretation is up to the reader."
The final work I'd like to examine that has obvious elements of Campbell's work is DeMatteis's quasi-autobiographical comic Brooklyn Dreams. Having finished this book about an hour before writing this, something becomes clear. Something that is at the very root of mythos itself. As Campbell explained in his eight hour interview with Bill Moyers, myth has two essential purposes. The first being a focus on ritual and rebirth which I have focused on quite extensively. The other purpose is to pass on various moral and social lessons on to the next generation.
Brooklyn Dreams does both.
It tells the tale of young man who makes some decisions that change his outlook on the world. Some of those decisions, he admits, were in poor judgment. It is easy to see how this second purpose applies. The bright among you are probably asking how the first definition applies. There is no miraculous birth. He comes from a fairly normal family. The answer is that simply being alive is a miracle. As for the rebirth, DeMatteis is attempting to reshape- or rebirth himself- through storytelling. By casting himself, or at least a very clear stand in, as the hero he hopes to find a way to clear his own conscience. In short to complete the soul alchemy known as redemption.
There are traces of Campbell's work in many other of DeMatteis's stories that are at least worth listing without going into great detail including Mercy, The Life and Times of Savior 28, Realworlds: Justice League, Spider-Man: Kraven's Last Hunt (which I covered in part one), The Spectre and his original novel Imaginalis. However, going into much more detail would be retreading where this series has already gone before.
This concludes Campbell's Soup. I've had a lot of fun with this series. I'd like to tip my hat to J.M. DeMatteis one more time for his input, advice, occasional editing assists and for assuring me that this was a worthwhile project- if only for my own intellectual fulfillment. After all, as Campbell would say: 'It's all about finding your bliss'. Plus, at least with him around I know someone other than Sheryl was bothering to read this column. As a writer if I make even one person think about things in a new way, I'm doing my job right.
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