Sometimes, instead of choosing a standard “hot-topic” I can use this column to showcase a discussion that I personally find funny or interesting and see what you think.
Today’s topic showcases one of the most entertaining elements of fandom, in my opinion: when some geeks start debating passionately and pedantically over the definition and application of a particular term.
First Kevin Church gets the ball rolling explaining why he’s sick of the word “canon”:
No, not the camera manufacturer; my experiences with them have been nothing short of splendid. I’m referring to the fact that many people, especially nerds/geeks(1) of a certain stripe, seem to not realize that entertainment properties are usually driven more by profit and entertainment than for making sure Tab A consistently aligns with Slot B. I hate that. Just be thankful that somebody still thinks enough of that oddball character created by Haney or Kanigher during one of their many Silver Age ether binges to keep doing comics featuring them. (Or, alternately, choose to not read things that you don’t like, but we’ve been over that.)
Ragnell (a.k.a. Our own Lisa Fortuner) explains how she also hates the word for a completely different reason:
I am absolutely mad for “continuity.” I live for retcons. I got into X-Men by the soap-opera-esque cartoon and the Age of Apocalypse crossover and I got into DC Comics with The Return of Barry Allen. What hooked me on comics was tracking down the old story references in those books. I was raised on a strict diet of continuity porn and I’m not about to give it up for anything.
But I hate hearing the word “canon” to refer to it. There’s something about the tone of the word. Canon is too solid. Too concrete. Canon is written in stone. Canon is strict and rigid and religious by nature.
And this time I even get in on the whole deal:
Mostly though, it’s the exact carved in stone thing that I love. Because it’s so inappropriate for comics. I keep imagining these huge ten-commandment like tablets with the facts and events carved in. Then crossed out and re-carved next to it. Entire tablets get smashed.
It’s like that part of History of the World part I where Moses drops the tablet “I bring you these fifteen” *crash* “ten! commandments”
I love the idea that when Emerald Dawn I and II came by entire decades of Green Lantern stone were crossed out and now with the Infinite Crisis, someone had to go to each one and carve “STET” on the top.
So what do you think?
