Riddle Me This! – Should Writers Be Slaves to Continuity
Who’d win in a fight between Superman and Spawn? How the f*ck old is Cable? And what in the holy hell is a Megatron? When the tough questions arise, Panels on Pages will gather the facts, but it’s up to the PoP!ulation to draw its own conclusions. So come on… Riddle Me This.
Recently, in New Mutants #30, the long-standing and much-lauded writing team of Dan Abnett and Andy Lanning told the tale of the titular teens traveling to Hell – two “l’s – by mistake when trying to get to Hel – one “l” – as a tie-in to Fear Itself. Whilst within the old two l-er, they encountered Mephisto, who made a deal with the team: their freedom and safe and expedient delivery to one-l-Hel in exchange for a single date with Amara – aka Magma. Amara accepted, the team was on their merry way, and the debt was left to be collected. Skipjump to New Mutants #37 and time had come to give the devil his due; literally. Abnett and Lanning had laid the groundwork for a great new thread in the title as the kids danced on the puppet master’s strings. What diabolical devices could Mephisto have in mind for torturing the team by way of Amara’s hastily accepted deal?
Then came the fantastic swerve – there was no ulterior motive! Mephisto simply wanted to go on a date. Marvel’s resident devil was cursed with just enough humanity to long for companionship and the experiences we all take for granted. It’s enough that the story took an unexpected turn, but to – in doing so – so deftly devise a whole new layer for such an established and long-running villain? Why… it’s sheer brilliance. Gone is the mincing, hand wringing bastion of pure evil, replaced now by a semi-sympathetic Prince of Lies; a character now possessed of motivations beyond the simple joys of pure evil.
Except, he’s… y’know… the Devil. If anyone, anywhere, DIDN’T need layers and motivation and depth, it’s the Devil. He does what he does because he’s evil. We get it. He doesn’t have to want to save his race like Magneto, or redeem himself like Doom. He’s not fighting on behalf of an ideology like the Red Skull, he’s not in it for earthly power like Kingpin, and it’s not about vengeance (at least not directly) as is the case with so many others. No. He’s the Devil. Torturing and claiming souls – that’s sort of his wheel house. It’s what he DOES because it’s who he IS. And he doesn’t regret it. He doesn’t feel bad about it. He doesn’t hesitate. And he certainly doesn’t pass one up because he has a crush.
Proof that this wasn't "some other devil"
So here’s the problem: Abnett and Lanning have added a new layer to a character, and that’s great, EXCEPT that it’s damn near guaranteed we’ll never see this side of Mephisto in any of his other appearances. The next time Loki confronts el Diablo in Journey into Mystery, he won’t be absentmindedly twirling his hair and gazing longingly at the telephone hoping it’ll ring. Peter won’t get a late night visit from a repentant Mephisto looking to set the wall-crawler’s marriage right again because he finally “gets” love. No, in every other corner of the 616, Mephisto will continue to put the evil in devil, and every time I see him, I’ll have this nagging feeling in the back of my mind, wondering whatever happened to the guy who tried too hard to impress a pretty girl.
The question, then, PoP!ulation, is what’s most important to you – the quality of the story in your hands, even if it flies in the face of shared continuity OR the cohesive narrative of the bigger picture, even if it leaves artists stifled creatively? Riddle me THAT!
Filed Under: Columns • Riddle Me This
Good article. I have often felt that if a story is does not follow continuity, then it should not be considered part of continuity. I generally ignore stories that throw away continuity and see them as part of some similar but separate timeline. I do think it’s bad that, as a reader, I have to make excuses in my head or force myself to ignore things in something that is supposed to be well thought out and such but whatever. I too enjoy a tale told in a drunken stupor every once in a while.
I do think continuity is important because at the end of the day, each story/arc will come across as the writer’s personal fan-fiction and any conclusion reached in story will have little impact overall.
I used to be a continuity hound. I would cry foul play any time a story diverged from a previously set precedent. Over time, I’ve mellowed out and, excepting extremely radical shifts that completely change the character (for example, making Batman and Alfred lovers or somesuch) I think expecting writers to have to be shackled to everything that came before them is 1.) unrealistic and 2.) a recipe for poor writing.
First off, who decides what stays in continuity? Is anything that gets printed “official?” By that logic Batman should still be carrying a gun. Comics, unlike pretty much every other entertainment medium out there, have long-running stories (decades, rather than years) so keeping everything that’s written would ultimately hamper the storytelling.
Personally, as I’ve gotten older, I’ve come to be annoyed by the decades upon decades of building continuity. It ensures for a steeper learning curve for new readers (something comics aren’t generating anymore, for this and other reasons) and causes confusion and anger among longtime readers when a conflict in continuity does occur. One of the reasons my favorite comics are books like Fables and The Walking Dead are because they aren’t beholden to several hundred different creators take on a character. It’s a singular vision with a story that is ever growing, changing, and expanding. Super-hero comics (gross generalization ahead) are basically lather, rinse, repeat. I don’t think they’re bad and I see their appeal, but the problem is the industry has come to rely on the same 50,000+ readers to continue to stick with them, rather than older readers moving on to newer material and new readers jumping into super-hero fare, which is fresh to them.
In my perfect world continuity is adhered to, BUT after every two to five years the entire universe is rebooted. Collectors hate it when comics are rebooted and renumbered, but let’s not forget, it was the collector mentality that nearly put comic books in their grave in the 90s.
Long answer short: storytelling > everything else.
Also: http://panelsonpages.com/?p=38392
For crying out loud Kerouac, it’s bad enough when you re-write Ben’s articles, but now you’re doing your own?
#LINEFACE.
And shouldn’t there be a Question Mark?
PoP!-Star of the Year!
LMAO… I WAS writing this about the issue itself, then it became more about continuity in general.
Damnit.
I feel that if you are writing a continuous story then you should be shackled by the continuity. Continuity does not make bad writing, it may make it harder for the writers, but someone should be in charge of making sure the continuity remains the same.
As a reader (less a collector), I dont want my stories to be rebooted. The continuous story adds depth to these characters (or it should). As a comic book reader, we have to deal with sliding timelines (5 issues may only be 1 day but the next 3 issues take place in the time frame of 2 months), but our favorite stories should “count.”
I would hope there is someone in charge of continuity. It wouldnt be hard for each company to have a someone in charge of each continuity.
The real question here is more on a character-by-character basis. If I have a really great story to tell about Iceman, but it forces me to write him in a fashion that doesn’t jive with anything we’ve seen anywhere else or likely WILL see any time soon… should I write it? Or do I keep it to myself and hope I get a chance to repurpose it elsewhere?
It depends, are you talking about a story where experiences change the character or a story that requires the character to be different to begin with? If it’s the former, I think that’s fine because people change over time. We are all constantly growing and adapting to our life experiences. If said story requires fiddling with the essence of the character in order to move plot, then it could be told with anyone, and it’s probably best to create a new character to suit your needs, rather than bending the character’s personality to your whims.