May I explain something that has come up a few times. But let me warn you: This will be the most UNIMPORTANT post you will ever read.
Recently I was asked about the “history” of two comic book characters that have appeared in the Marvel movies and soon in their own TV show.
Briefly, comic books were invented in 1935 and the first super-hero, Superman appeared in 1938. Comic books, like all literature had many different types of stories but the super-heroes became the one of the most popular during World War II.
And with the exception of Superman, Wonder Woman and Batman, all faded away by the 1950s. In the later 1950s DC comics, now doing sci-fi stories, romance stories, funny animals, etc, decided to return to the super-heroes by totally re doing them. Although the characters had the same name (Flash, Green Lantern, Atom etc) they were totally new heroes, with different identities. This was the first, but not the last, reboot of super-heroes.
Marvel, which under the name “Timely” had been around since 1939, started their “new” comic line in 1961 with all new characters.
On TV, in novels, and in the movies we see reboots of famous characters all the tim, Sherlock Holmes, Hercules, James Bond and Jack Ryan. Each time, if successful, the creators put the heroes in our current time and do a lot to keep the series fresh.
Comics have a great disadvantage is that they ae continuous, the successful ones are published regularly and there is no time off. In more current times, DC will have a big event and all characters are rebooted and they start from the beginning, with new storylines and changes to their main characters. If you saw the “Crisis” series on the CW you saw how there are so many characters of the same name and genre.
Both Marvel and DC use “retroactive continuity” (retcon) in their comics. (This drove me crazy). That is, the add or change something that has always been and then claim it was always like that. Here is an example:
Wanda, The Scarlet Witch and Pietro (known as the speedster, Quicksilver), were originally villains introduced in 1965. They were originally villains of the X-Men but “converted” and became heroes of the Avengers.
In 1975 they were said to be the mutant children of Miss America and the Whizzer, two heroes from Marvel’s Timely era of the 1940s.
In 1985, when the X-Men became super-popular, it was revealed that they were the mutant children of the villain, Magneto.
In 2010, it was revealed that they were NOT mutants and not the children of Magneto. The reason here is a real life legal one. With Fox owning the X-Men franchise, Marvel could NOT use them in the Avengers movies if they were mutants. So they changed their status.
In the beginning, the early 1960s, Marvel was famous for its consistent continuity, something DC never had. After many corporate takeovers that disappeared. So did 80% of Marvel’s and DC readers since that era. I left in 1977.
So when our members ask about the history of the characters there are often MANY histories to the characters. And I try to give the simplest answer and one that fits the movies.
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