I'd just have Black Panther, if asked by his fellow Avengers, reply "and the reason you haven't released the dozen or so cancer cures you discovered when Mar-Vell was dying?" Cue uncomfortable looks and throat clearing.
Or alternatively, Wakanda's cure for cancer requires Wakandan vibranium, which has already caused enough problems with the outside world, thank you.
I'd retcon The Draco storyline. I'd make it a mid-level demon who was toying with the X-Men as part of some strange bet with another mid-level demon.
X-Men X-Pert, my blog where I talk about X-Men comics.![]()
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Exactly. Me, aside from the obvious fixes like One More Day, I'd probably retcon Civil War so that the stuff that happened actually stuck for more than three years. That means Cap stays dead for much longer, Spider-Man isn't necessarily on the run but still has his identity out, Iron Man actually has to deal with his actions instead of going all, "lol, I can't remember it, sorry!"
I'd make Dick Grayson Robin again. I'd either make it so that he's the only Robin there's ever been, or I'd give Batman a trio of Robins with Dick, Tim, and Jason, all around 15 or 16 or so. I know different people have their favorite Robins (and my second option deals with that, I think, unless your favorite Robin is Damian or Stephanie Brown or Carrie Kelly or some such), but having so many different Robins muddies the waters, in my opinion. Honestly, Dick as the one true Boy Wonder would be my preference, but I think the trio idea could be a versatile and workable solution.
You can't keep Dick as an eternal teenager serving as Batman's sidekick. First off, I think most of Dick's fans probably prefer him as Nightwing. Second, and more important, you can't just tell the same stories all the time. Characters need to grow, to change, to evolve, in order to stay interesting. Dick-as-Robin has been told. Going back to that would simply be rehashing old stories, and would be a regression of the character.
And I say this as someone who doesn't give a shit about DC.
X-Men X-Pert, my blog where I talk about X-Men comics.Why can't you have Dick as an eternal teenager? Batman's an eternal thirty-forty something. Comic book time isn't real time. Your argument about character development is valid, though.
I never said retcon it so it's always Dick as Robin; I just agreed with the guy above in that Dick is my favorite Robin.
Batman starts as an adult, and remains an adult. What Robbery seemed to advocate was for Dick to start a teenager, and never stop being a teenager. That just doesn't work.
X-Men X-Pert, my blog where I talk about X-Men comics.
This, I think, is going to be a difference of opinion between us. For one thing, note how in pretty much every other iteration of Batman and Robin in other media, Robin is Dick Grayson (or at least starts out that way). I have no problem with a character conceived as a teenager staying as one; it was handled adroitly for some 40 + years, and I've no doubt could be again. I also have no problem with Superman being Clark Kent, or Batman being Bruce Wayne. Change is, really, an illusion in comics for a wide variety of reasons. As with much of serial fiction, it comes down to how cleverly the component elements are handled. Ultimately, though, in this thread, with the stated question, this is what I'd prefer. I'd prefer to read new stories with Robin as Dick Grayson in current continuity, in the present. Right now, I can't do that. I'm not crying about it, particularly, as I also enjoy Nightwing stories. It's my guess that, probably within the next 15-20 years or so, we WILL see Dick as Robin again. Nobody else has really stuck (though I think the Tim Drake from Batman TAS — the one who essentially combines Tim and Jason — probably comes the closest) and, as Neil Gaiman once said, stories that get altered tend to eventually return to their original form.
And the Dick as Robin story has only been told for people who read comics before 1985; anyone else hasn't experienced him as Robin.
edited 28th Feb '13 9:45:38 PM by Robbery
The "illusion of change" was Stan Lee's doctrine, and I think you're misinterpreting it. Stan's idea was that change should happen, but not in such an enormous way that it'd be impossible to reverse if readers revolted. It does not translate to total stagnation, nor arbitrarily going back thirty years because that status quo is somehow more iconic.
Rebooting Batman to where Dick is the current and only Robin would have been possible with New 52 except that because the Bat-family sells well, the management wanted to keep most of them around. Can't have Dick as Nightwing if you have Dick as Robin, after all. Instead we got a bizarre sort of squishing effect so they could fit all the male Robins in somehow, only leaving out the contentious female Robins.
But to put it another way—Okay, you've reverted Batman back to only two, three years into his career and Dick Grayson is the current and only Robin. How would you make that fresh for longtime readers and the new modern audience?
Contemporary "Dick-as-Robin" stories can be told in a non-canon series, if they really need to be told (and I'm not really sure they do). Doing it in the main continuity would be wildly unpopular.
X-Men X-Pert, my blog where I talk about X-Men comics.Far as DC goes, I'd probably invoke mass counter-retcons to cancel out most of the Modern Age retcons—in particular, those specifically intended by the man-children in charge to resurrect the ghastly Silver Age. I'd restore the single post-Crisis Earth: accept no multiverses. I'd do what I could (probably without any success in the long term!) to ensure that Barry Allen, Hal Jordan, Katar Hol, Ray Palmer, ad nauseam, never again darken the doors of any main-universe DC title. And I'd throw at least as much talent & page space at the JSA as I would the Justice League.
However, as DC god-editor I'd institute two or three separate universes entirely out of continuity with the main—in other words, rather than a multiverse, we'd have a more Elseworlds/Marvel approach to alternate universes. This could include a half-dozen each Golden Age and Silver Age titles, in a period setting, and whose characters & events wouldn't be beholden to main-universe continuity. Such a separate universe would also be a handy place to relocate that walking continuity/timeline problem that is the Legion Of Super-Heroes.
I'll have to think a bit about what would happen to Marvel under my hubristic misrule: post to follow.
edited 1st Mar '13 10:53:05 AM by Jhimmibhob
What would I retcon? Absolutely nothing. No matter how stupid an idea or story may be, declaring that it never actually happened destroys any semblence of narrative or continuity. (Note that this doesn't apply to stories which are marked from the beginning as being non-canon). If you don't like something, try and change it into something you think is cool in the current timeframe. As an example: In the IDW Transformers: Generation 1 comic, the Simon Furman managed to make Wheelie, of all characters, into a cool badass without changing his character at all by emphasising how he survived alone on Quintessa for years. (This isn't a perfect example because it's not really in continuity with the movie, but you see where I'm coming from).
As for change, I'm all for that. So, Peter Parker. After Doctor Octopus kills him, he ends up in Hell due to making that deal with Mephisto. However, Peter is all "My life is an unending saga of misery, and now I'm damned for all eternity?! WELL FUCK THAT!!" He breaks free and runs from the demons trying to torment him. He recruits a number of other damned souls whose punishment, if it is even deserved, is far out of proportion to whatever crimes they may have committed. They form an army led by Peter, who rise up and defeat the demons; Peter personally kicks Mephisto's demonic arse. The damned then storm their way out of Hell and march on Heaven's gates, where they are informed that, OK, eternal damnation was a bit excessive, so they can now have eternal bliss. Also, Peter regains all his erased memories, and is able to appear as a ghost to have a tearful goodbye with Mary-Jane.
Over at DC, there is a long subplot throughout Batman in which a life of fighting crime begins to take its toll on Bruce. After one day getting absolutely pulverised, he calls Dick to him and says "Hey, Dick, remember that time you filled in for me as Batman? You did well. I can't do that any more; you should take up the cowl." And he does. Dick becomes the new Batman, while Bruce focuses his energies on using the Wayne Foundation's resources to attack the root causes of crime while still acting as a mentor and tech support to Batman. (So a bit like Batman of the Future, but in the present).
Ukrainian Red CrossPretty sure Mephisto outclasses Peter in every conceivable way under normal circumstances much less in his home dimension where he is practically omnipotent.
Also I take it ye be european?
edited 1st Mar '13 2:30:45 PM by Canid117
"War without fire is like sausages without mustard." - Jean Juvénal des Ursins![]()
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Bruce Wayne trying to wipe out the root causes of crime? Ha. No. No, I think not. If Bruce permanently retired, I think he'd go into politics, and become the tyrannical mayor of Gotham. Which could make for a pretty amusing story, actually.
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Worked for Meggan. Man, that story was awesome. Meggan led a revolution through Hell, and forced all the Hell-lords to send her back to Earth. Fucking badass.
edited 1st Mar '13 2:38:00 PM by Tiamatty
X-Men X-Pert, my blog where I talk about X-Men comics.

So there has to be something in comics that you think is just stupid so tell us what you would change and how. I would get rid of Wakanda's cure for cancer.
How would I do it? State that the cure works because its nanobots that kill cancer cells before they can multiply. Then have Reed Richards discover this and with the aid of some foreign scientist replicate it.
Once the entire world has cancer killing bots in their bloodstream reveal the unknown scientist to be Dr Doom in disguise who then takes control of all the cancer-kill-bots (including the Wakandan ones) and using them to control or kill those who oppose him.
Have Tony Stark save the world because Extremis protects him or something and end the story by having him hack into Dooms control system and forcing all the kill bots to self destruct.(including the Wakandan ones.)
End the story with scientists from Wakanda and the rest of the world working together on a method of cancer killing nanobots that cant be controlled by a smart nutbag to conquer the world and recognize that the world shouldn't have stolen the Wakandan tech but that if Wakanda had been more willing to share the rest of the world wouldn't have jumped in blind.
"War without fire is like sausages without mustard." - Jean Juvénal des Ursins