QUOTE: (2) You fault a point in the latest issue because it contradicts something you read in an issue you bought new off the stands twenty years ago.

I belong to this category. Am I old? I hoped that comics would have kept me young forever...!

I sometimes wonder where this confusion comes from. [edit to add: I'm referencing Matt's post from above.]

Is it the nature of storytelling having changed in comics over the decades? In the 40s through the 60s, most stories (AFAIK) were told as single-issue adventures. There was no sense of "continuity" because one episode didn't really lead to another-- they could be read in nearly any order and make equal sense.

In the 70s, storytelling changed to include ongoing storylines and subplots. This made comics more like soap operas and (I might suggest) introduced the element of time in a meaningful way. Spider-Man lost Gwen Stacy-- that was an event that everyone could (and did) refer to as a landmark. The X-Men saw Phoenix evolve into an enemy and then die. Another landmark.

To me, this is the genesis of continuity. Superman in the 40s didn't have a continuity, just a set of established supporting characters, villains and crises to overcome. Batman in the 60s fought his villains one after another, but there was no event that everyone harked back to ("remember when Batman killed the Joker?") that was a MAJOR LIFE-ALTERING EVENT*. But as of the 1970s, comic book storytelling had become a continuous affair--which carries with it the implicit suggestion that "things are happening now that will affect things to come."

If this is true (and I'm only offering a theory here), then readers may logically start to consider aspects of comic book characters that never arose before, such as aging. I don't know how it is for soap opera fans-- I suppose at some point they have to acknowledge that the lead actors are growing old-- but the manner of storytelling may be in conflict with the nature of the characters themselves.

What do you guys think?

*The major event for Batman in the 60s, to my way of thinking, was the editorial decision to "age" Robin to college age and take him out of the story. THAT may be the true turning point for continuity addicts.

In the 70s, storytelling changed to include ongoing storylines and subplots. This made comics more like soap operas and (I might suggest) introduced the element of time in a meaningful way.

***

The early Marvel did that a lot too. Lots of ongoing subplots.  Lots of discussion in the letter pages whether to do multi-parts or not (some readers liked some didn't but later Stan said they wouldn't stop them).  Lots of references to current events and real life situations.  (and the first few years of Marvel did run at approximate real time. Even after that slowed, the above factors remained). Marvel ushered this in, and the guys working later grew up on Marvel that did it.

Well, JB has discussed how comic books (especially at Marvel) used topical references to say to the reader "this is happening now!" without suggesting that the FF's moonshot means 43 years have passed since they were socked by cosmic radiation. Inserting a line of a song or showing civilians in period fashions or what have you sets the story in the "now"-- it's only when you add in "landmark" events that people might wonder "okay, how long has it been since Gwen died?"

In short, I don't think this is something that came out of the 1990s-- I think it may be the nature of comic book storytelling coming into conflict with the timeless nature of the characters.

Some things date the early Marvels. There's a lot of "that oriental bad guy" or "red china" or "bamboo bastion of evil" stuff in the Avengers by Thomas I am reading now. Beating the commies into space, that sort of thing.  Iron Man's series probably fares the worst for this. Some of the X-men stuff is a little off too-comments on the poetry and songs and beatniks (or hippies whatever) making no sense come across a little "I am a middle age guy writing this commenting on the young". or the college kids wearing bow ties and straw hats to go hang out. The only thing worse is the fake slang "I am a middle age guy and this is how I think teens sound". 

I enjoy it generally beyond the X-men thing (which is annoying) because it just adds to the flavor of the stories, the commies, the red menace, the space race.

One more thing that makes a difference now: there's an entire journalism/gossip industry built around comic books and their readers. I know it's been said before, but it transcends Diamond Previews, the Internet, Wizard, Newsarama, Comic Book Resources or even the late lamented COMICS SCENE (for which I used to write).

We know nearly everything there is to know (short of actually being in the room or inside the creators' heads-- which some of us think we are)... and (as has been noted) that feeds a false sense of empowerment and entitlement.