The Four Color Media Monitor

Last month, the Game of Thrones author was interviewed by Popverse, and told them he's supposedly let down by endless retcons, reboots and, most significantly, how the Spider-marriage was dismantled:

Comic book fans have grown somewhat numb to the dreaded retcon over the years. Depending on the company, retcons and reboots may come with alarming frequency, often rewriting established canon to make way for something new. For Game of Thrones author and firmly established Spider-Man fan George R. R. Martin, this has become a growing source of frustration over the years.

During a conversation with Popverse, George R. R. Martin talked about his love for comic books, relishing in the fact that there are decades of comics to read so he’ll never risk running out. However, he did have one issue with the way comic books are handled.

“I do have frustrations with it, too, I have to admit,” he explains. “I sometimes… I don’t like retcons. I don’t like reboots. You know, I’m watching, I’m following a character or a superhero or something for years, sometimes decades, and then they come and say, ‘Oh, no. None of that stuff happened. We’re just going to start the whole thing over again.’ That always annoys the hell out of me.”

Martin cited one specific and very famous retcon that Marvel pulled years ago as an example.

“Peter Parker married Mary Jane,” he said, referencing the (in)famous Spider-Man One More Day and Brand New Day storylines where Spider-Man had his marriage to Mary Jane erased from continuity. “You can’t undo these things, but they do nowadays. But what can you do?”

We’re with you, George R. R. Martin. We’re still not over those Spider-Man retcons either.

If they really meant what they said, they'd be calling for a boycott more than 2 decades ago. They would've made a case for having Joe Quesada dismissed from Marvel's payroll, much like Jim Shooter was back in 1987. Indeed, how is it Shooter could've been fired back in the day, but Quesada never was, and only left the publisher on his own accord in the past few years? Whatever, the issue with figures like Martin is that they wouldn't make a case for why terrible writers/artists/editors can't remain employed by the companies they say they love. And again, nobody even suggests buying out the Marvel/DC publishing arms, if that could prove a good, if not perfect, way to lay out the groundswork for improvement.

And an argument could also be made that this is awfully rich for somebody who developed an ultra-violent franchise like Game of Thrones to be the one to raise the issue. While Martin's disappointment is appreciated in and of itself, it's still no excuse for how revolting GoT happens to be. Ultra-violence is one of the biggest problems with modern "entertainment" nowadays too, and perhaps Martin would like to develop a fantasy series in novels and TV that's less reliant on the shock value GoT was known for, before he makes the case for Spider-Man and Mary Jane Watson in his own words? That could be making a much needed improvement for a change.

Labels: bad editors, history, marvel comics, misogyny and racism, moonbat artists, moonbat writers, msm propaganda, Spider-Man, violence, women of marvel