The Four Color Media Monitor

The Arkansas Democrat Gazette's got an article that talks about the concept of continuity in comic books. It talks about how times have changed in how everyone can keep track of continuity, from collections to computerized databases. And, it says the following:

Maybe even more than the writers and editors do, comic-book fans obsess about continuity.

When Spider-Man publicly revealed his secret identity in the end of Marvel’s Civil War # 2, fans hit the message boards with fury, discussing whether that move was fitting of Peter Parker’s personality, as built up over the decades.

When news spread that Grant Morrison’s run on Batman would feature “Batman’s son,” the fans came out again, trying to deduce when the great detective would’ve ever had time to procreate.

This stuff is important. Really.

If the writer here is siding with the audience, I must say, I'm glad. Because we need all the help we can get to tell both Marvel and DC, that we'd be much happier if they were to knock off the damage they're doing to continuity already. In fact, I'm sure that everything could be repaired without even having to use yet one more crossover to do it. I'm sure there'd need to be some real putting the nose to the grindstone to figure out how to repair things, but, it can be done.

I just wish they'd mention the blogosphere too, since it's not just thanks to forums that these things can be made known, but also on blogs. Nevertheless, this does serve as a good start to helping people outside comic books understand what even they might find a concern. Because it also has what to do with good storytelling, which even moviegoers, for example, can tell you is important.

Open trackback parties: The Mudville Gazette, NIF, Point Five, The Right Nation, Stop the ACLU.

Labels: Batman, crossoverloading, dc comics, marvel comics, Spider-Man