Continuity Nerds

I know you’re out there.  I know you exist.  I know, because I used to be just like you.  It used to be hard not to bitch about costume usage and character appearances not making sense, but at the end of the day, it doesn’t matter.

When you were kids, sure it was great knowing the events of Final Invasion led to the key chapters in Siege of Night.  But the operative phrase in that context is “you were kids.”

Continuity isn’t intrinsically a bad thing, especially when it’s observed within the bounds of one writer’s story.  Continuity in that regard is akin to Consistency.  But when continuity becomes a thorn that hinders new stories from happening because it clashes with the events of past storylines, then it just becomes a pain.

You can’t condemn a new storyline just because it conflicts with minor details in another writer’s story from 15-20 years ago.  At that point, how would it be possible to not run out of new tales?

How can you expect a writer to read every single issue just so he can write his story?  At that point, someone who might be the best new writer ever would be held hostage by the worst writer ever.  At that point, you’re blindly bound to dates and events.  And then all of a sudden you’ve become the Harold Camping of comics.  And much the same way, what you’re worried about doesn’t matter.

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A good story outweighs continuity.  The information you retain shouldn’t matter more than how much you enjoyed the narrative.

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Learn to let it go, nerds.  Not all of it matters.  Take each story in and of itself.  Or better yet, take each writer’s run as its own thing.  Every new creative team brings with it a soft reboot anyway.  Stop caring and just enjoy the fiction.

Be cool like me.