Timewaster's Guide Archive
Departments => Webcomics & Free Stuff => Topic started by: The Holy Saint, Grand High Poobah, Master of Monkeys, Ehlers on February 28, 2006, 04:22:51 PM
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reference: http://www.timewastersguide.com/view.php?id=1260
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What I don't understand is where these ads came from in my column:
(http://www.saintehlers.com/misc/images/page33ads.jpg)
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comics are all about those sorts of things these days.
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THey're all about lesbian christians? Call superman, he's not going to like contract renegotiations
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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?
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This should answer all (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Retcon)
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.
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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?
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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.
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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.
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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.
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The old superman movies *are* on DVD. YOu can get them in a boxed set (http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000059Z8L/qid=1141242702/sr=1-6/ref=sr_1_6/102-0485874-2304103?s=dvd&v=glance&n=130).
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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!
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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?
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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.
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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.
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Speaking of Retcon apparently DC is remaking Aquaman again thanks to Infinite Crisis.
http://www.dccomics.com/media/covers/4956_400x600.jpg
Honestly all this "every few years we redo things" makes me glad I'm not a big comic guy. They're starting Superman and Batman over too from the looks of it.
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That's a pretty cool cover, though.
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Yes, but it's Aquaman. Cool covers can't change that fact.
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"my orange costume's uglier than any other color."
Why the heck are they going back?
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Dono, but the new Aquaman is supposed to have closer origins to the original one. The big change is that Aquaman is now "sword & sorcery" underwater.
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and, actually, the first question I had when I saw the cover was "How do you forge a sword under water?"
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My question was 'how on earth does he live underwater?'
He has human physique, which is noticably wank at going underwater without changes (fins, etc). He'll be crushed to bits if he tries to go deep enough to have a house that isn't on the shore. Human eyes are abysmal underwater, lets not mention gills, and underwater fighting is really hard - melee weapons are incredibly slow to swing (making stabbing weapons like spears a better bet - though you'll have trouble keeping yourself even remotely steady) and ranged weapons just don't work until you get to modern firearms, where they just work badly.
If your gonna make an underwater hero, make him look like he belongs underwater.
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He has a very dense physiology, from what I understand. He apparently weighs several hundred pounds. Which results in being very resilient to damage and very strong when he's on land.
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How does he move then? Something that heavy would need incredibly strong leg muscles to walk, let alone fight, on land.
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see comment about "very strong"
look, far be it from me to defend Aquaman. but as superpowers go, that makes a whole lot more sense than a genetic mutation allowing you to control the weather.
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But storm looks hot, you see. That allows her greater leeway.
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oh yeah. I forgot about the "Babe factor."