The Magic Pill
Ah, the humble retcon. Is there a more powerful yet unassuming force in comics? I think not.
The retcon can make a dead girl live and a madman a hero. It can make comic relief into a criminal mastermind. The retcon can even destroy a character's long relationship with the love of his life. The retcon can do anything.
And I am forced to admit that I love the retcon. Because without it, I can't imagine that things could change. Because these days things rarely change as they happen in comics. In this day and age they only change retroactively.
If an editor wants a character to dump his wife, he could have him get a divorce. But why bother when you can just retcon her away? What do you do when you need a character who has been on the side of the angels for a long time to suddenly become a villain? Do you have their character grow and change? No way! Just retcon it!
In the world of comics, the retcon is the ultimate power. With it, worlds can be changed and Jason Todd can be brought back from the dead. With the retcon, anything is possible!
What's your favorite retcon?
Labels: Retcons
posted by Diamondrock @ 8:08 AM
5 comments
5 Comments:
I really did like the Byrne Superman retcon. Sure, it destroyed 50 years of Superman's history, but I didn't start reading comics until around '91 or '92 so I didn't really mind. I felt like I really did know everything that was needed to know about Superman.
Although this is no longer true. Geoff Johns seems to be the anti-retcon. Well, that's not true. He creates retcons that undue past retcons? It makes sense in my head anyway.
Parallax as the evil Space bug, hands down. It explained why Hal had been going quietly nuts, how he could have gone bad so quickly, and how he could have been redeemed, while STILL feeling guilty about what he did while possessed.
On the other hand, making Guy's Vuldarianness be a "virus" is a mistake in my opinion.
I like the Time Trapper's retcon of the retcon of Superboy. It not only perfectly (at least to someone who's read a lot of comics) explains how the Legion could have had adventures with Superboy before COIE, but after they have always never happened the way anyone thought.
Plus it's got the Time Trapper actually describing this new history as a retcon devised to preserve things, which makes me smile
My favorite retcon is still the one for which the term was coined, the All-Star Squadron. Previously "unknown" adventures which take place between those published in All Star Comics way back when (and explain why certain things happened) make for a simply amazing idea. Unlike most current writers, Roy Thomas was very careful not to do away with any of the already established history. He merely added to the rich myth. If COIE had never happened, I think ASQ would be regarded today as a masterpiece. Of course, COIE happened, gutted the ASQ, and left us with the Young All-Stars, a fine book, but one that appears to have lost the interest of the writer quickly, given Roy's desire to tie the DCU to all sorts of classic literature. It was interesting stuff, but nowhere as good as the first 50 issues (Pre-Crisis) issues of ASQ.
That's why All-Star Squadron is my favorite retcon.
Doctor Doom has robots disguised as himself to crry out operations he is too busy to attend. And these robots even think they're the real Doctor Doom.
One of the first ever ret-cons and still genius. Was Doom acting out of character in that X-men story the other month? Well he must have been a robot. When he called MS Marvel a fat cow was that because bendis can't write doom's hyperbolic dialogue? Nope, it was because he was a robot.
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