Page 33, Vol 1, #12 (Retconning)

[The Holy Saint, Grand High Poobah, Master of Monkeys, Ehlers]

reference: http://www.timewastersguide.com/view.php?id=1260

[The Holy Saint, Grand High Poobah, Master of Monkeys, Ehlers]

What I don't understand is where these ads came from in my column:

[Mad Dr Jeffe]

comics are all about those sorts of things these days.

[The Holy Saint, Grand High Poobah, Master of Monkeys, Ehlers]

THey're all about lesbian christians? Call superman, he's not going to like contract renegotiations

[Gemm: Rock & Roll Star; Born to Rock]

I don't like that word you used a few times: retcon. What in the world?

Are there any current titles that you can give examples of that will better clarify your anger to me?

[The Holy Saint, Grand High Poobah, Master of Monkeys, Ehlers]

This should answer all

in short, it is a noun meaning Retroactive Continuity (ie, a continuity that has been changed from what originally happened). The process of making such changes is "retconning"

Crisis of Infinite Earths is the biggest example ever. But also any Supergirl story ever told, The Ultimate series from Marvel, the "yellow impurity" in the GL battery. Those are some notable ones.

[Gemm: Rock & Roll Star; Born to Rock]

I'm assuming you mean the Ultimates that's just been recently printed to TPB. What's wrong with that one? I've read the first TPB and found it entertaining. I haven't read much in the way of those supers' stories though.

What about the most recent DC Identity Crisis? Do you have any qualms with that series?

[Fellfrosch]

I good example of retconning is Superman himself. In the very early comics he couldn't fly; this lasted until the radio version, which is why they used the line "able to leap tall buildings in a single bound." The radio show frequently made up excuses for him to fly, however, and eventually just let him fly without bothering to explain it. It became an integral part of the character, and soon the comic picked up the idea. So here's the retconning: Superman was not suddenly able to fly, as if it were a new power he had developed--instead they said "he could always fly!" and wrote the character as if he'd been flying forever.

Other Superman retcons:

In the early versions of his origin story he was raised by an orphanage, which was later changed to be Ma and Pa Kent.

In some versions of the story Pa Kent dies, in others he doesn't.

etc.

[The Holy Saint, Grand High Poobah, Master of Monkeys, Ehlers]

I'm assuming you mean the Ultimates that's just been recently printed to TPB. What's wrong with that one? I've read the first TPB and found it entertaining. I haven't read much in the way of those supers' stories though.

What about the most recent DC Identity Crisis? Do you have any qualms with that series?

YOu misunderstand me. I don't have objections to variations in the story. See the conclusion of my article. My problem is the constant rewriting to make some change "cannon." as if non-cannon stories were somehow inferior.

Usually these changes are to cover up stupid mistakes. Let's face it, a vulnerability to "yellow" is pretty darn stupid. Instead of just writing a different Green Lantern (well, actually, the *did* try that, the fans got rabid. Stupid fans.) They instead make up a reason why "yellow" is a weakness, then eliminate the reason. So... if this awful restriction were so limiting to the GL Corps, why did the Watchers not do something about it earlier? That's just stupid.

Retcons typically mean stupid explanations for stupid mistakes, making everything stupider.  Just go and make the different version. Thus, Ultimates is actually a "retcon" that I can get behind. It unabashedly states "this is different." The problem, however, is the need to state that it's a different cannon, thus acknowledging that you can't change things. This isn't Marvel's fault though. It was a marketing necessary due to a stupid insistence by rabid fans.

[Gemm: Rock & Roll Star; Born to Rock]

After reading this thread yesterday I ended up reading a lot of the Wikipedia entries on the Superman movies and the upcoming Superman Returns movie. I am looking forward to the DVD release of the old Superman movies.

[The Holy Saint, Grand High Poobah, Master of Monkeys, Ehlers]

The old superman movies *are* on DVD. YOu can get them in a boxed set.

[Gemm: Rock & Roll Star; Born to Rock]

But they were talking about some 14 disc collectors set thingy. It sounded astounding. With Richard Donner pieceing together some old footage and cleaning up the old films. Crazy!

[JP Dogberry]

This reminds me, I recently was watching a few episodes of that show "smallville". It was pretty good. Are they making that out of whole cloth or is it based on an original comic/canon idea of his upbringing?

[The Holy Saint, Grand High Poobah, Master of Monkeys, Ehlers]

there's a mix of old and new. Most of the villainry going on is new, but the themes are old, and much of the setting is old. Lex even went to school with Superboy back in the golden age. In the old Superboy comics, Lex was caught in a chemistry accident he blamed on Superboy (inadvertantly caused while doing Superboy things). This is what caused his hair loss and his undying hatred of the boy/man of steel.

The Lana Lang romance is also an old idea.

However, while many of the stories have some allusion to the old, they are generally original stories. I also like Smallville (and the movies) for their unapologetic departure from cannon while still honoring the source.

[Fellfrosch]

Another example of retconning: Chloe from Smallville is a new character created for the TV show, but she's so popular that they've added her to the comic canon.