This week, as our own Editor-In-Chief Stephen has been expecting for months, Disney made the announcement that Star Wars Episode VII and following material will be abandoning the existing post-ROTJ continuity. As a fan of the much-retconned Legion of Super-Heroes, I can empathize with those who are upset by this announcement, but there is an upside as well. The change in outlook means that Chewbacca’s demise in ‘Vector Prime’ is no longer set in stone, nor will we have to choose which post-Jedi continuity we believe to be correct. (Heck, if we’re lucky, it’ll mean that the Holiday Special gets a DVD release and Bea Arthur take her rightful place as the third woman in the entire galaxy.) As hard as it may be to accept the new overlords’ management of the galaxy far, far away, there’s always the expectation that this could simplify and even improve Star Wars continuity, which leads to today’s query…
The MS-QOTD (pronounced, as always, “misquoted”) reminds you that the ‘Ultimate Iron Man’ series gave us a Tony Stark who apparently had to be dipped in blue-coconut frosting or else his head would explode or something, which the rest of the Ultimates has wisely ignored, asking: Of all the retcons and changed concepts in the history of pop culture, which most deserved to be excised from continuity?
21 Comments
This is too hard question for me to answer at the moment, but instead I have a question of my own: What on earth has happened to Donatellos mask in that picture and why is he wearing ragged men’s underpants on his head?!
Turtles: The Next Mutation was terrible?
But, they fought the Power Rangers. In space.
Maybe I’m weird, but I think the IDEA of Venus is interesting… Just poorly executed in the show… Like, find a way to make her part of the Ninja Turtle franchise minus the weird magical powers… And maybe don’t try to imply that that’s their sister and just some random female turtle (kind of like how Slash and Tokka are random turtles and not “brothers” of the 4…).
They didn’t imply she’s their sister, though. They explicitly stated in the series that none of them are really related, not even the “brothers”.
That’s right… I forgot most of the details of the series… The series was a good idea concept wise, but ultimately failed on execution….
I’ll probably catch hell for this one, but the whole Garth-was-Proty thing from 5YL always bugged me. Even with explanations, it felt like a leap of logic, and as I’ve discovered while reviewing the Bierbaums’ Legionnaires series, it seemed to have been done just to retcon that the “true” Garth’s personality was that of an utterly unlikable jerk. It felt like the worst example of shoe-horned drama in both books and was just annoying.
I like the *idea.*
I hated Livewire.
Of all the retcons and changed concepts in the history of pop culture, which most deserved to be excised from continuity?
DC Nu52
Don’t completely agree I really enjoy the new Wonder Woman series that doesn’t have to deal with everything else.
I would say one of the dead Robins. I don’t really care which one.
When “Highlander 2” was pretty much retconned out of existence by “Highlander: The Series”. I don’t care how you re-edit it, Highlander 2 will always be awful. But to be fair, the only Highlander movies I actually enjoyed were the original and Endgame. Highlander 2 and The Source tie for how awful they were, and Highlander 3 wasn’t all that great either (but at least not as bad as 2, I can actually watch Highlander 3). Can’t comment on the anime (not to be confused with the animated series) as I’ve only seen it once while in the hospital on heavy painkillers.
“Most people have a full measure of life and most people just watch it slowly drip away. But if you can summon it all up… at one time in one place you can accomplish something glorious.”
I choose to believe Ramirez was a ghost, the film works better that way, plus he did show up during a performance of Hamlet.
Just noticed this:
“Heck, if we’re lucky, it’ll mean that the Holiday Special gets a DVD release and Bea Arthur take her rightful place as the third woman in the entire galaxy”
Ackmena (Bea Arthur’s character from the Holiday Special) did show up in a recent novel, actually.
http://starwars.wikia.com/wiki/Ackmena
Sue Dibny’s rape by Doctor Light, unnecessary, pointless, and so many other words and phrases. Really kind of the start of darkness for me in terms of DCU.
The whole Wolverine created the X-men thing really bugs me. I get that Wolvie is a popular character but jamming him into every crack and crevice of X continuity is getting increasingly ridiculous.
I don’t know if it’s been explicitly retconned yet, but the Doctor’s “I’m half-human on my mother’s side” comment in the TV movie (as well as the Master’s dialogue supporting it) was… how to put this delicately? TERRIBLE. At least it has been completely ignored, which is nothing but a good thing.
Good heavens, there is a very long list that would suit this question. I suppose I’d have to choose the one bright spot in the New 52. That is, of course, that Aquaman’s son was not murdered by Black Manta, even if his son now never existed. That’s one of the worst stories in comic history in terms of its effects, and Aquaman could never really be a whole character with that particular elephant crowding into any room he entered.
One More Day.
I can forgive them wanting to get rid of the marriage, if it was done in a well written, believable way…but seriously??? Spider-Man, a hero whose entire core is based on RESPONSIBILITY, made a deal with Mephisto, Marvel’s representation of the devil???
That’s so wrong on so many levels…not only did it demonstrate a total misunderstanding of the character, but it also wiped away nearly 35 years of stories and character development, and flushed continuity down the crapper.
Absolutely this. Marriages end. I would much rather see MJ simply leave Peter due to stress/fear/her own protection than have it magicked away, against the wishes of even Aunt May. Ironically OMD paved the way for some of the best Spider-man stories in years with Dan Slott, but the way they did it will always leave a terrible taste in my mouth.
Alpha Flight’s Puck is a little person because he trapped a the soul of a wizard in his body instead of suffering from achondroplasty which caused Puck’s Dwarfism as Byrne intended.