The best retcons of all time

[zornwil]

The flip side to the other thread...

I like Moore's Miracleman revival, that's certainly one of my favorites.

Batman: Year 1 was pretty good - not entirely great, but quite enjoyable. Its predecessor, though, Dark Knight Returns, was outstanding, I thought.

The Spiderman movie was pretty good as those things go.

[OddHat]

I liked Earth One and Earth Two and all the many other Earths they spawned. Sure, there were other approaches to the continuity bugbear, from gradual retcons that acknowledged the fact that these were "just stories", to episodic who cares about continuity solutions, to a Wold Newton style "There have actually been at least five men who've worn Batman's cowl" answer. The Earth One / Earth Two approach opened up all sorts of sci-fi story possibilities and created a framework in which they could hang together. Very worthwhile.

[Shaft]

Does Crisis on Infinite Earths count?

If so, then that...

[OddHat]

Oh, and Hypertime. I didn't read the story-arcs, but I like the concept in a Superhero setting, and was using something much like it from as far back as 1985 or so. Old sci-fi idea that works very well in the Supers genre.

[McManus]

I never really understood the difference between Hypertime and the Multiverse? Can anyoen help me with that?

Thanks.

[OddHat]

I never really understood the difference between Hypertime and the Multiverse? Can anyoen help me with that?

Thanks.

Hypertime contains the idea that universes don't just split, they also re-join. A character can wake up one day and remember both that he left his keys on the dresser and that he left them in his coat pocket, and both can be true simultaneously, even though there's still only one set of keys; the two universes "merged" when he picked up his keys off of the dresser.

Mars the Lifeless Rock, Mars the pulp wonderland of John Carter, and the many versions of the Mars of the Martian Manhunter are all equally "real", potentially merging into a single present with multiple pasts once you actually visit Mars.

The Multiverse construct assumes that a parallel universe, once it diverges at some key point, remains separate.

[teh bunneh]

The Legion of Superheroes "5 Years Later" reboot. It was six kinds of awesome.

Bill.
(I also like the "Legionnaires" spinoff title at the time).

[FenrisUlf]

Hypertime contains the idea that universes don't just split, they also re-join. A character can wake up one day and remember both that he left his keys on the dresser and that he left them in his coat pocket, and both can be true simultaneously, even though there's still only one set of keys; the two universes "merged" when he picked up his keys off of the dresser.

Now that does sound good, opening the door for all sorts of writer/GM deviltry when properly handled.

Of course, improperly handled, I can only imagine the merry hash it can make out of characters and storylines.

[McManus]

I was just reading that Hypertime has been officially disavowed at DC (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hypertime). I am curious where they will go from there.

[OddHat]

Now that does sound good, opening the door for all sorts of writer/GM deviltry when properly handled.

A background campaign bit I use: Chronal Shock.

Those too near a time travel event may end up with memories from multiple time streams. For most people this just results in minor annoyance (you really did leave your keys in your desk, but now they're in your coat) or deja view (you both have and haven't been here before). In severe cases of Chronal Shock, you may end up with full sets of memories, complete and wildly incompatible. The homeless man who grabs you and insists he's your father really may have been, in an alternate time line.

[OddHat]

I was just reading that Hypertime has been officially disavowed at DC (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hypertime). I am curious where they will go from there.

It'll be back.

[FenrisUlf]

A background campaign bit I use: Chronal Shock.

Those too near a time travel event may end up with memories from multiple time streams. For most people this just results in minor annoyance (you really did leave your keys in your desk, but now they're in your coat) or deja view (you both have and haven't been here before). In severe cases of Chronal Shock, you may end up with full sets of memories, complete and wildly incompatible. The homeless man who grabs you and insists he's your father really may have been, in an alternate time line.

And again, I like it. Sounds more than alittle like Ken Hite's 'Reality Quakes'.

[OddHat]

And again, I like it. Sounds more than alittle like Ken Hite's 'Reality Quakes'.

Hite rocks (loved his GURPS stuff), but I don't know that one.

Wouldn't surprise me if it was similar; there's only so much time and dimension travel source material to draw on.

[zornwil]

I liked what became the Vertigo Doom Patrol version, essentially, not one of the best but very interesting. Sometimes it also was pretty bad, too, one of those 50/50 affairs, but at its essence I liked the character changes and developments, and the surreal aspects (particularly Danny the Street).

[teh bunneh]

The Watchmen was essentially a retcon of the old Charleton characters from the 60s and 70s, and as such was among the best retcons ever done, MHO.