It’s All Geek to Me – Retcon
Whether we’re talking Boom Tubes or retcons, there’s plenty of jargon in the world of comics. The PoP! Stars are here to ensure you’re not left scratching your head, saying “It’s All Geek to Me.”
Retcon - n. 1) abbreviation for “retroactive continuity” 2) any such addition or revision to a comic book character or universe’s history v. 1) the act of introducing such an element to the history of a comic book character or universe
Ah, yes, the “retcon.” Few concepts are more hotly contested throughout all of comicdom than the retcon, and in fact, we here at PoP! have even argued about what does and doesn’t qualify under this term. What we can tell you is as follows:
- Some retcons are overt changes to existing stories or story elements. The constant updating, by Marvel, as to when and how Tony Stark first received the injury that transformed him into Iron Man – for instance – is an ongoing retcon. Originally, his continuity established that his injury had been sustained during the Vietnam War, but since then it has been retconned to have happened during the Gulf War, and most recently retconned again to have happened in Afghanistan.
- Other retcons are subtle additions to or manipulations of existing lore. The recent revelation of the various corps throughout the DC Universe is, essentially, a retcon, as these factions have existed right along and are retroactively being established as always having been a part of the Green Lantern Corps history, even if no one knew about them.
Interestingly enough, what type of retcon you’re talking about does not dictate the impact that it can have on the characters involved. While the change in which war Tony was fighting is a fairly huge revision of established facts, it changes next to nothing about the character as a whole. On the flip side, the creation of Gabriel Summers, the third Summers brother, does not actually change any of the events that we already know to have happened, yet the impact on the character of Charles Xavier is intensely negative.
Yes, retcons can be a powerful storytelling tool, or a deadly weapon leading to the most grievous of character assassinations. It all depends on the skill of the pen that’s scripting them.
Filed Under: Columns • It's All Geek to Me
One decades-old character that suffers from origin updates (or lack thereof) is Frank Castle a.k.a. The Punisher. Since his first appearance he was a Vietnam War veteran who lost his wife and kids months after his tour ended. Back then Frank already looked a bit old (not to criticize the incredible late Ross Andru’s artwork, I do believe The Punisher was meant to look that way). However, many years later when Garth Ennis got his dirty golden hand s on the character and reinvented its concept, he established that Castle was still a Vietnam veteran and aged by that timeline, being in his early 20s when returning from the war and losing his family, to maintain more realism than in there is in the MU. Castle even got his own little urban scenery to deal with for years under the MAX imprint, a far more realistic than the places superheroes and higher deities went to drink their latte. The problem begins when Marvel decided to bring Castle back to the MU couple of years ago and suddenly he was drawn as a much younger man. No one said anything about his origin – to my knowledge – ever since Ennis, yet both in th MU and by the creators replacing Ennis when he eventually left the book, Castle looks in his 40s, top.
While I don’t want the Vietnam angle being taken away from the character, time is not on Frank’s side. It must be updated and we all know there are enough wars and conflicts in history to replace Vietnam in Frank’s origin. And he can still remain an old geezer walking around with shotguns and grenades, shoulder to shoulder with teens in spandex. Or pointing a gun to their head.
(Did I just ruin a possible future Retcon This! article…?)
616 Frank was in “the war” now. MAX Frank, who is completely different, was in Vietnam and is pushing 65 and still kicking ass.
See? That’s dumb. I wish they left Frank on his own in the MAX “universe”.
But this way we get to have it both ways. If Frank ages in the 616, it ages everyone around him. By nesting a version of him in an alternate universe where things happen in real time, it allows for a different exploration of the character. Neither version negates the other.
I simultaneously agree with Tomer and Lee. On the one hand, the chance to explore two different takes on Frank is really cool. On the other hand, I don’t think there’s been a war, yet, that equals the psycho drama of Vietnam. I don’t care where else you put Frank, I don’t see it having the same effect on him.
I don’t want Frank in the MU. He did fine for years on his own (and even in the MK world with occasional cameos by Daredevil and Wolverine), but when Marvel brought him back to the 616 continuity, he became a parody of himself with his participation in Civil War, the ugly costume he wore to the memory of Steve Rogers, the series “drawn” by Ariel Olivetti and hunting God-like superheroes like Sentry during Dark Reign. Frank Castle is at his best fighting real life problems and criminals, not chasing cape-wearing psychos that can obliterate his ass.
Y’know, I can agree with all of that. I remember after Onslaught when Frank was fighting mutants, and he was dead and back from the afterlife or something…
Oh, you couldn’t be more wrong. Remender’s Punisher is kicking ass, sir.
Heard that. Whatever I read from Remender before was pretty good (Fear Agent, some Marvel one-shots), but the idea of The Punisher hunting supermen is plain dumb.
And yeah, the Frank Castle goes black/dying/becomes assassin for heaven era is the worst the character has been through.
Maybe you mix the “hunting mutants” thing with Ennis’ alternate reality story Punisher Kills the Marvel Universe?
But he never hunted Sentry. He tried to kill Osborn and spent an entire issue running from Sentry before giving him the slip with a pretty nifty plan.
Retcon is also a drug used in the torchwood universe in order to wipe out peoples memories
Oooh… good add!
Is this a new column? if it is, this is great because if my friends ask what the hell certain comic book things are i can explain thngs better to them now
This is indeed a new column! Thanks for checking it out.
Yup, you’ll be seeing more of It’s All Geek to Me in the weeks to come…
Excellent
Thanks for the education. If I’d had to take the Geek Re-certification Test before reading this, I would have been in jeopardy of having a gold star revoked.
That’s what we’re here for XD