Comic:Hotep

From CGWiki

Hotep is a webcomic by the pseudonymous Hellzgranny. It can be viewed at ComicGenesis or at the author's deviant art page DeviantArt. Hotep and all related imagery and writing is copyright hellzgranny 2007.

The title, Hotep, is the Ancient Egyptian word for "peace." The story revolves heavily around Egyptian Mythology. It is intended for an audience over the age of ten, because the author thinks anyone younger wouldn't understand all the references whether or not they were offended by the contnent.

CAST

Iah- apocryphal king brough back from the dead to serve the gods. At first Iah is so blindsided by the strange things going on around him that he stays fairly calm, content to learn about the advances of technology. However, after he pieces a few things together about the current state of Egypt and the possible motives behind his revival Iah becomes quite upset. He is most offended to discover that his wife's body was damaged during excavation of their tomb and as a result her soul cannot exist in the afterlife. Saving her spirit becomes his main objective- but despite his growing resentment of their meddling he must still cooperate with the gods to do so. His past is unclear, but evidence suggests that he was murdered.

Rei- The first human that Iah interacts with in the 21st century, Rei quickly becomes his best "future" friend. She is an artist and free spirit, and her easy-going attitude causes her to humor Iah to an extent that she is willing to explain to him those things that he would not otherwise understand (e.g. electriity, appliances, physics, the Earth being round). Although she understands he is not normal, it is unclear to what extent Rei believes the things Iah tells her about himself. At any rate, it is due to her guidance that he is able to keep a (relatively) low profile. Rei is wearing an ankh (Egyptian symbol of life and rebirth/sigil of Isis) when Iah meets her and her name sounds similar to that of the almighty sun god (Re/Ra) and for these reasons Iah trusts her almost immediately.

Egyptian Gods:

Horus - Acting king of the gods and also lord of the sky, Horus is a wise and reasonable falcon. It is he who decides something must be done about the current state of Egypt. He seems troubled by far more than that, though.

Set - God of chaos and sandstorms, exiled for murdering his brother Osiris, and obviously not satisfied by simply gaining freedom. His motives are unclear, and his temper is quick, but he doesn't seem quite as horrible as his reputation would suggest. He has no allies among the gods, but curiously Horus is trying to make peace with him. (Incidentally, his reputation is of a skull-splitting madman of infinite power, who was so dangerous and so easily angered that it was considered a ill omen to place his image anywhere or record his true name. His birth date was tantamount to Friday the Thirteenth.)

Ra - For the purposes of the comic, Ra (or Re depending on how you say it) encompases all major solar and creation deities worshipped in Egypt because they were all eventually merged with or overhsadowed by him. Ra is more than just the sun, he is the essence of Egypt and the greatest of all the gods. Omniscient and able to take on many forms, he is god to the gods. Unlike the others, he does not appear to humans even in animal guise.

Osiris - Crotchety lord of the dead and brother of Set. He was the first person ever to be embalmed and therefore he controls the afterlife. He is very controlling and seems to forget he lost his crown when he died.

Isis - Goddess of life and sister/wife of Osiris (because mythology is like that). Painfully nice. Loves all living things, so it is easy to see why she was a favored part of myth. Without her cooperation, the scheme to revive Iah would ahve remained just that. She not only provided the magic, but convinced Osiris to relinquish the king's soul to the living world again.

Nepthys - the fourth of the siblings, she was once married to Set but now hates him. She gets along well with her sister and other brother, despite the fact that all the family's problems stem from a tryst between her and Osiris. She was once very powerful, but now even she cannot remember what she was worshipped for. This greatly upsets her.

Anubis - son of Nepthys by Osiris, and god of death. Anubis is not a god to be feared. He is quite serious and brooding and takes his job very seriously. He treats every soul with reverence and is patently offended when reviving Iah is suggested. His loyalty and the fact that he is powerless against the others are the only reasons he complies.

Wepwawet - son of Anubis. Wepwawet is "the opener of ways" and thus the perfect choice for Iah's guide and guardian. Wepwawet remains in his wolf form at all times. Iah trusts him because he is just as much a pawn of the higher gods.

Ma'at - Goddess of truth. Wisest of all, Ma'at knows many secrets concerning the other gods and she often chastises them, though she is not cruel. She is blind, but misses nothing. Her blindness was caused during a strange past event which only Set has memory of.

Thoth - husband of Ma'at and god of wisdom, magic, and the moon. He knows quite a bit of what Ma'at does, and is very protective of her. One of his duties is to help Anubis judge the souls of the dead to determine their fate. He is less grave about his work, but his upbeat attitude is clearly forced.

And several other principle deities such as Bastet, Sekhmet, Hathor, Nekhbet, and Wadjet(Uto). The demon Apep also plays a major role.

PLOT

The comic is set mainly in the 21st century and opens with Horus, the King of the Gods, going into the desert to release Set, the God of Chaos, from his exile. It should be noted that Set was exiled for killing Horus' father Osiris. When Set returns to Egypt he is appalled to discover that it is no longer a flourishing empire, but a broken and corrupt country. While the other gods are lost in lamentation, though, he suggests bringing a Pharaoh back to fix the damage. This sparks a huge debate which ends only when Ra (who for the purposes of the comic embodies all the Egyptian creation deities) intervenes in the form of a scarab beetle and commands Horus to follow through with Set's absurd plan. The Pharaoh they choose to revive has a very long name which is shortened to "Iah" (which means "moon"). In the beginning Iah knows nothing of the present culture. He wakes up in his sarcophagus in a museum in Minneapolis with no idea what is going on. Gradually, through both magical intervention and a little clumsy detective work he begins to understand what has happened. Of course, it doesn't help that his body is presumed stolen and no one believes his story. While Iah is trying to figure out what exactly the Gods think he can do, Set is doing some meddling of his own. The God of Chaos is attempting to bend reality for his own personal gain- and Horus isn't so sure that's a bad idea.