What retcons do you least like?

Can be ordinary retcon or universe reboot. I'm particularly talking about ones that stuck around a while, rather than those that were quickly reversed.

[b]Black Canary is Black Canary's daughter[/b]. And half Ollie's age. Ooh, I hated this one with a fiery passion. I really did enjoy her storyline about her widowhood and dealing with that loss in the bronze age. And I liked bronze age Ollie and Dinah (except for one writer, mostly). They already made it kinda icky with the age gap and him crushing on her mom (IIRC), and then it just went down the tubes as (IMO), Ollie's character was ruined.

[B]Roy being a child and kicked out of house and made homeless for drug addiction[/b]. Which again ties in to the continuing jerkification of Olllie.

[b]Diana is Zeus' child.[/b] This is one not major to me, just a minor, niggling annoyance. For a character whose start was about women, a female society, female accomplishment, etc. it is extremely frustrating to have her power (a defining characteristic) come from the male parent. Likewise, it frustrates me when the society is rewritten as "bad." I don't want Hercules (half-brother because of Zeus) as a good guy, friendly with Diana. That really doesn't work for me at all, given the golden age setup.

[b]Krypton is a pretty unpleasant place.[/b] Making the society less admirable would not so much have been an issue, except somewhere along the way, they did this with pretty much every fictional society we had a hero come from. They all come up inferior to our own earth-based society (at least in USA). And now we've also seen at least Jor-El, Zor-El, and Allura as evil at some point. Not sure about Lara. Not happy about that, either.

[b]Batman's misery back-projected[/b]. Year one, of course, worked with this. And post-crisis greatly increased the rift/issues between Dick and Bruce, but had Bruce 99% responsible, instead of the more nuanced and understandable (though still at fault) way of pre-crisis. And had him doing a great disservice with the way that he took Jason in, post-crisis. And resetting him to basically have no respect for his JL colleagues. And it's just continued and gotten worse and worse (with some pleasant intermissions where I thought improvement was happening), and he's become an abusive father. And someone people shouldn't actually want to work with.

[b]Barbara being Gordon's niece[/b]. I still cannot see any value to changing that relationship. At all. And then at one point, at least, it looked like he actually was her biological father. So he didn't just cheat on his pregnant wife, he also slept with his brother's wife/fiancee/girlfriend (can't quite remember what the relationship was). Well, that's admirable fellow, hmmm? And did his brother know? Did Jim? I think I have read the story, but so long ago, I don't remember details. Because if he let his brother think that was his child when it wasn't, then even worse.

[b]Barbara as a protege of Bruce's[/b]. I like most of Dixon's Bat-family work (have not read his actual Batman), but do not like Batgirl Year One. I hated making her an idiot with the rope. I don't like Post-Crisis de-aging her (even more of an issue in Nu52). I hate the power imbalance where Batman and Robin knew her identity and she didn't know theirs. I liked old school where she was a peer rather than protege of Batman, learned on her own, and learned their identities when they learned hers (despite a brief memory erasure).

[b]Dick cheating on Kori with Barbara[/b]. I hate the direction Dick took as a character, anyway (liked him much better earlier). But back-projecting it into the past was even worse. That was completely out of character for him to have done in that era.

[b]Identity Crisis[/b]. I'm a big Ralph & Sue fan (well before they made him a joke and her derisive towards him). I hate bringing characters back only to make them evil or dead (hi Jean). I loathe retcons that make good guys more immoral (hi League). And it was used as justification of Bruce in Tower of Babel, which I also don't like.

Well, that's my starter list. What's yours?

[QUOTE=Tzigone;4417368][B]Roy being a child and kicked out of house and made homeless for drug addiction[/b]. Which again ties in to the continuing jerkification of Olllie.[/QUOTE]That's not really a retcon, didn't it happen like this in the original story?

[QUOTE=Aahz;4417461]That's not really a retcon, didn't it happen like this in the original story?[/QUOTE]Roy was already an adult in the original story. I can't recall if he had his own place, but he certainly wasn't living with Ollie anymore in some of the earlier issues. The same goes for the road trip. It the continuing making-Ollie-worse trend, he is sometimes written as abandoning a child in his care (I think, not positive). When it actually happened, Roy was already an adult.

Really, it was originally written as a "very special issue" that had no impact (Roy was also in Teen Titans at the time, and it wasn't mentioned). A couple years later (don't recall exact timing), it got properly explored. Roy still had issues with Ollie, and Ollie seemed surprised by that.

My point is, Ollie;s reaction was bad enough already, but then they made Roy a minor to make it worse.

[QUOTE=Tzigone;4417368][b]Black Canary is Black Canary's daughter[/b]. [/QUOTE]

I laughed so hard at this because this used to confuse me so much XD

[QUOTE=Tzigone;4417368]
[B]Roy being a child and kicked out of house and made homeless for drug addiction[/b]. Which again ties in to the continuing jerkification of Olllie.[/QUOTE]

I take it Ollie wasn't a jerk in his original appearances then. That's kinda like his popular portrayal now especially regarding Roy

[QUOTE=Tzigone;4417368]
[b]Diana is Zeus' child.[/b] This is one not major to me, just a minor, niggling annoyance. For a character whose start was about women, a female society, female accomplishment, etc. it is extremely frustrating to have her power (a defining characteristic) come from the male parent. Likewise, it frustrates me when the society is rewritten as "bad." I don't Hercules (half-brother because of Zeus) as a good guy, friendly with Diana. That really doesn't work for me at all, given the golden age setup.[/QUOTE]

Same. I don't understand about the Hercules part though. I don't know how Hercules is portrayed in Golden Age. In the Post Crisis he became a good guy after years of torment. In Silver Age, he's a good guy that gave Diana his strength. Was that what you're talking about? in New 52 he was trapped under the ocean after sealing one of his enemies and went insane. I don't know about Rebirth.

[QUOTE=Tzigone;4417368][b]Krypton is a pretty unpleasant place.[/b] Making the society less admirable would not so much have been an issue, except somewhere along the way, they did this with pretty much every fictional society we had a hero come from. They all come up inferior to our own earth-based society (at least in USA). And now we've also seen at least Jor-El, Zor-El, and Allura as evil at some point. Not sure about Lara. Not happy about that, either.[/QUOTE]

What's your take on the Phantom Zone? Because it's been implied as pretty problematic but I don't know how it was originally.

[QUOTE=Tzigone;4417368]
[b]Barbara being Gordon's niece[/b]. I still cannot see any value to changing that relationship. At all. And then at one point, at least, it looked like he actually was her biological father. So he didn't just cheat on his pregnant wife, he also slept with his brother's wife/fiancee/girlfriend (can't quite remember what the relationship was). Well, that's admirable fellow, hmmm? And did his brother know? Did Jim? I think I have read the story, but so long ago, I don't remember details. Because if he let his brother think that was his child when it wasn't, then even worse.[/QUOTE]

This one's been retconned back. He's his daughter now. Though I guess you just write everything.

Barry's dead mom. Absolutely hate it!

[QUOTE=Jekyll;4417521]Barry's dead mom. Absolutely hate it![/QUOTE]

I don't like that one, either. Also didn't like Wally's bad parents. You know, I once tried to do a list of heroes that grew up with their own two parents that were good. I could only come up with three entries - Barry, Wally, and Jaime. Crisis took Wally away, then New52 took Barry. And I haven't read New52 Jaime, so I'm not sure about him. I did hear he ran away from home or something? Too depressing, since I loved the first 25 issues of 2006 Blue Beetle and how he immediately told his family and such. I agree everyone shouldn't have happy families, but now it's like no one can.

[quote]Same. I don't understand about the Hercules part though. I don't know how Hercules is portrayed in Golden Age. In the Post Crisis he became a good guy after years of torment. In Silver Age, he's a good guy that gave Diana his strength. Was that what you're talking about? [/quote]Hercules tricked Hippolyta out of her magic girdle and enslaved the amazons before they went to paradise island. It was in Diana's debut issue - All-Star Comics #8.

[QUOTE=Tzigone;4417543]Hercules tricked Hippolyta out of her magic girdle and enslaved the amazons before they went to paradise island. It was in Diana's debut issue - All-Star Comics #8.[/QUOTE]

No, I know that. I mean which version of Hercules becoming a good guy that you're talking about?

[QUOTE=Tzigone;4417528]I don't like that one, either. Also didn't like Wally's bad parents. You know, I once tried to do a list of heroes that grew up with their own two parents that were good. I could only come up with three entries - Barry, Wally, and Jaime. Crisis took Wally away, then New52 took Barry. And I haven't read New52 Jaime, so I'm not sure about him. I did hear he ran away from home or something? Too depressing, since I loved the first 25 issues of 2006 Blue Beetle and how he immediately told his family and such. I agree everyone shouldn't have happy families, but now it's like no one can.[/QUOTE]

New 52 Tim also has good parents, but in exchange, it was Tim that they made egoistic until he grew up. Speaking of, the retcon I hate is New 52 Tim's back story. Though I understand it's probably done to fit in the 5 years 52 Robins timeline, that doesn't make it pleasant.

[QUOTE=Restingvoice;4417558]No, I know that. I mean which version of Hercules becoming a good guy that you're talking about?[/QUOTE]I was actually referring to the Rebirth version. I'm not keen on Hercules being a good guy at all, but Diana and Herc talking about Zeus' lack of parenting and such really isn't my thing. I may be misremembering, though.

[quote]Speaking of, the retcon I hate is New 52 Tim's back story. Though I understand it's probably done to fit in the 5 years 52 Robins timeline, that doesn't make it pleasant. [/quote]I think everyone I've spoken to does. And I'm not even sure how much of 52 history is still canon for Tim these days, to be honest.

Might be a little abscure one.

[B]The new origin for Star Girl.[/B] But I don't like that they killed of her step brother, I wanted him to take over as Stripe. It is also unnecessary dark for such a fun character.

Getting rid of most of Superman's mythos after COIE. Superman had a rich and interesting mythos before COIE. Sure, there were plenty of silly things in the pre-Crisis Superman mythos, but getting rid of most of it, including all the great things, was extremely short-sighted.

[B]Making Kal-El the sole survivor of Krypton post-Crisis. [/B]
I don't like when Clark is made to be isolated from everyone (similar dislike for the nu52 approach).
I WANT to see his humanity and is the reason why I like seeing him interact with Kara, Lois, Jon, and his parents.
And Zod is one of Superman's best villains, I don't want a convoluted explanation to get him back on the table!

[B]Donna Troy evolving from a pot of clay to murder Diana and the Amazons[/B]
This fights the very core of who Donna has always been. She was one of the most compassionate Titans and never had all that aggression.
They fixed something that wasn't broken. Plus it was immediately undone with the Diana-has-never-been-back-to-the-island trope without much explanation for Donna. Ugh x 3.

[B]The Golden Age JSA never existed[/B]
While Johns is making a whole plot point in Doomsday Clock around explaining the JSA's absence and undoing it, this was one of my primary dislikes of the nu52.
A DCU without the JSA is without important history. Stop hating history and "old things" and let it be!

[QUOTE=astro@work;4418058]
[B]Donna Troy evolving from a pot of clay to murder Diana and the Amazons[/B]
This fights the very core of who Donna has always been. She was one of the most compassionate Titans and never had all that aggression.
They fixed something that wasn't broken. Plus it was immediately undone with the Diana-has-never-been-back-to-the-island trope without much explanation for Donna. Ugh x 3.[/QUOTE]

Oh my GOSH. When Donna climbed out of that cauldron my reaction was... is this supposed to be Donna or Mileena?! (Mortal Kombat)

Diana being Zeus' child is one I hate too. Zeus, the rapist, adulterer, misogynist, etc. Somehow "wooed" Hippolyta, a direct beneficiary of Hera's, into what amounts to a one night stand?

Come on! If people want her to be a demi-God, go with one that isn't so awful! Subvert expectations!

Batwoman is Batman's cousin. Also the colony.

Krypton didn't explode of natural causes.

Most all of Superman's changes in the Byrne reboot.
Superman as a father/Jon Kent's existence
Barry's mother dead.
Selina as a former prostitute.
post-Crisis Wonder Woman not a JL founder.

[quote]Barry's mother dead. [/quote]Agreed.

[quote]Selina as a former prostitute.[/quote]I don't like, but don't loathe it. I dislike the attitude that prostitutes or former prostitutes are more immoral/unforgivable than thieves or former thieves (just look at the number of admirable, lovable leading lady former thieves who get happily ever after v. former prostitutes). But the execution was ghastly. And the dominatrix aspect worse. Plus, I can't see Selina staying with such a gig very long. She's a character that should have too much ambition/skill for it. Lot more money in the big thievery jobs she plays off. I'm actually more upset by having Bruce rescue her as their first interaction. She, on the whole, should not need to be rescued by him. I have lots of issues with Year One.

[quote] post-Crisis Wonder Woman not a JL founder. [/quote]I dislike that one a lot, too. It made her junior Batman and Superman, etc. when I think she needs to be on equal footing with them.

Making Dick Grayson’s Robin uniform look more like Tim Drake’s. While I’m at it, “updating” all the original Teen Titans’ uniforms.

[QUOTE=Pohzee;4418247]Batwoman is Batman's cousin. Also the colony.[/QUOTE]

This. This. This.

The New 52 retcon that Guy Gardner was a cop from a cop family. I greatly prefer his old background of a teacher or social worker.

Every single change to Superman in the Byrne reboot.

To a lesser extent, a lot of the post-Crisis changes to Wonder Woman, especially her debuting several years after her peers and the toxic impact this had on Donna Troy, along with the changes to Steve and Etta. Overall her mythos has more positives than the changes made to Superman though, they just don't all come together well.

Barry's mom being murdered.

The angst-ridden rift between Bruce and Dick compared to the more balanced pre-Crisis rift that ended in a mature way. Dick actually wasn't blameless in the older comics.

Barbara being Gordon's niece. A totally needless change/complication. What story purpose does it serve? Is it because Miller forgot about her in Year One? Were the editors asleep?

Zeus as Diana's daddy, at least the execution of it. The movie did it better because it's barely a thing, but 3+ years of the comics devoted to it is too much. If they HAD to give her a father, use Hercules or even obscure ass Prince Theno.

COIE in general smooshing all the incompatible Earths together and making a lot of old stories, and even whole characters, obsolete.

- Undoing Raven being free of Trigon
- Identity Crisis should have been told without the rape retcon, and murder, of Sue Dibney.
- Hawkworld being set in the present instead of the past really screwed up the Hawks.
- WW arriving in the present instead of the past, not being active in the Golden Age.
- Restoring Superman as the first hero at the expense of so much else.
- Jericho's instability/heel turn
- Jericho being gay, especially combined with the instability/heel turn - A straight, heroic male character who wasn't a macho, macho man? Undermine two stereotypes at once? I appreciated the character so much for that. I have to qualify why so folks don't jump to the wrong conclusion. I could relate to him because I'm a straight male who fits the gay stereotype far better than the straight, macho stereotype. I've been mistaken for gay, abused physically/emotionally/verbally for it. Tried to pretend I was macho for a while to avoid it. Finally, I said to hell with it. At least I still have Nightcrawler as a fairly relatable character.

[quote] To a lesser extent, a lot of the post-Crisis changes to Wonder Woman, especially her debuting several years after her peers and the toxic impact this had on Donna Troy, along with the changes to Steve and Etta. Overall her mythos has more positives than the changes made to Superman though, they just don't all come together well.[/quote]I agree, but was never that happy even with Donna's original origin (well, original after she became Donna and not younger Diana) told in Teen Titans #22 didn't really time out well enough to make me happy. Wonder Woman didn't premiere until after Robin, so not long enough ago for Donna to be that young. Donna's had a lot of origins, and in truth, none of them work for me. If Diana had been working longer, this would, but I like her premiering at roughly the same time as Batman and Superman, and Robin no more than 3 years later, if possible. I really like him only 1 year after Batman, but I couldn't use that in my personal timeline/headcanon because I needed Batman (and Ollie) already working when Arrowette's mom tried heroing.

Still like Diana premiering earlier, though.

[quote]Identity Crisis should have been told without the rape retcon, and murder, of Sue Dibney.[/quote]I'd rather it wasn't told. I don't like all the memory-tinkering: erasing Selina's turning hero, etc. that came out of it.

[quote]Jericho's instability/heel turn[/quote]So much agree. I liked him. His first downfall and death was horrible enough, and then they did it all over again.

[quote]Jericho being gay,[/quote]I didn't even know that had been done. Makes no sense at all, given what we read of him in old days. And can I had making Connor straight? I mean, was ever explicitly declared gay? I certainly thought he was gay in the issues I read with him when Ollie was newly alive again. But then I quit reading because *******!Ollie was coming back. Only heard about this stuff with Connor much later.

[B]Superman not having powers from day one post-Crisis:[/B] This is a stupid complaint, I know, but call it a carry over from the Donner movies. The scene of him lifting the truck over his head as a toddler is a defining moment for me.

[B]Killing Barry's mother:[/B] Not every hero has to have a "tragic" origin. Sometimes they can just get powers and choose to do good with them.

[B]Clark joining the football team[/B]: I'm glad this got retconned because it really is cheating. There's no two ways about it.

[B]Getting rid of Batman: Year One as his official origin: [/B]I get why they did this. It hasn't aged well in a lot of ways. But it's still a great story and I'd hate to see it removed.

[B]Power Girl post-Crisis:[/B] Much as I like her, it's obvious they didn't know what to do with her. Her post-Crisis origin just seemed banged out at the last minute as an excuse to keep her around. They just spent a decade sticking her on various teams because they didn't know what else to do with her.

[QUOTE=Tzigone;4417368][b]Black Canary is Black Canary's daughter[/b]. And half Ollie's age. Ooh, I hated this one with a fiery passion. I really did enjoy her storyline about her widowhood and dealing with that loss in the bronze age. And I liked bronze age Ollie and Dinah (except for one writer, mostly). They already made it kinda icky with the age gap and him crushing on her mom (IIRC), and then it just went down the tubes as (IMO), Ollie's character was ruined.[/QUOTE]

FWIW, Ollie was only in his late twenties during the Bronze Age.

[QUOTE=The Darknight Detective;4418709]FWIW, Ollie was only in his late twenties during the Bronze Age.[/QUOTE]
Not so much the Bronze age that's the problem, though it still erases the widow-hood story, which I liked (with Larry really being a good man and really being dead). And yes "half his age" may be an exaggeration (can't recall exact ages post-crisis), but it still annoyed me. What specific issue retconned her to daughter, anyway? I know I've seen it, but don't remember.

Also, I could toss in Selina-is-23-and-Dick-is-21-and-Bruce-is-31. Except it didn't really last, since they reinstated some history. Bruce and Selina need to be peers to me. Maybe four years difference (either way), max. This, for me, is I like the GA setup where they met around the time Dick became Robin, and Dick became Robin no more than thee years after Bruce became Batman (I prefer one year, because of real-world timing) and Bruce became Batman at 25 (15 years after his parents died when he was 10). And I'd prefer Selina being at least 24 (definitely at least 22) when she meets him so she can't be in anyway qualified as a kid (though that's using more modern perceptions of early 20s, I admit). Of course, I have also considered the age was lie in the first place. But I guess we don't really have an idea on her original age? But definitely not a peer of Dick's.

[QUOTE=Tzigone;4418725]Not so much the Bronze age that's the problem, though it still erases the widow-hood story, which I liked (with Larry really being a good man and really being dead). And yes "half his age" may be an exaggeration (can't recall exact ages post-crisis), but it still annoyed me. What specific issue retconned her to daughter, anyway? I know I've seen it, but don't remember.[/quote]

Oh, the retcon was the worst pre-[I]COIE[/I] that I can think of. Of course, having Dinah look twenty-something in the first place when she was middle-aged was kind of stupid, too.

[quote]Dinah look twenty-something in the first place when she was middle-aged was kind of stupid, too. [/quote]Yeah, but that applies to several members of the of the Justice Society at that time. I also don't remember when Ollie's age was established, how old he was supposed to be when he got custody of Roy, etc. And the soft reboot of him 1969 really didn't help, since his past and present selves weren't as connected as they could have been.

[QUOTE=superduperman;4418689][B]Killing Barry's mother:[/B] Not every hero has to have a "tragic" origin. Sometimes they can just get powers and choose to do good with them.

[B]Clark joining the football team[/B]: I'm glad this got retconned because it really is cheating. There's no two ways about it.

[B]Getting rid of Batman: Year One as his official origin: [/B]I get why they did this. It hasn't aged well in a lot of ways. But it's still a great story and I'd hate to see it removed.

[B]Power Girl post-Crisis:[/B] Much as I like her, it's obvious they didn't know what to do with her. Her post-Crisis origin just seemed banged out at the last minute as an excuse to keep her around. They just spent a decade sticking her on various teams because they didn't know what else to do with her.[/QUOTE]

I agree about Barry. It seem less about adding tragedy as motivation and more about paying a price for coming out of comic book limbo. Murdered mom enough tragedy? No. Falsely convict and imprison father for it enough? No, we need more. Let's see...eventually find out the cop who raises him in their place was having an affair with Barry's mom? OK. That'll do...for now. It's like the death by chocolate of comic book origins. Sheer overkill.

Clark & football? Depending on how strong his abilities were at the time, it could be horrible or ok. If he just seemed like the fastest but not yet in a super way, OK. If they knew he was well beyond merely gifted? Not OK.

Year One: I still love it. The Selina-as-a-hooker part is unpleasant, but the motivation it gives her is better than bored socialite or the like.

Power Girl? They should have sent her into Ragnarok-Limbo with the JSA instead of the unfortunate multiple choice origins. The best thing in years was putting her original origin back in place where it belonged.

I didn't much care for wiping Helena Wayne out of continuity, or getting rid of the multiverse either. Probably not really retcons, but still. Never liked it, and I bought Crisis when it was brand spanking new as a lad. Sat in the car reading the death of Kara while my mom was getting groceries. There may have been tears.

[QUOTE=mikelmcknight72;4418808]I agree about Barry. It seem less about adding tragedy as motivation and more about paying a price for coming out of comic book limbo. Murdered mom enough tragedy? No. Falsely convict and imprison father for it enough? No, we need more. Let's see...eventually find out the copy who raises him in their place was having an affair with Barry's mom? OK. That'll do...for now. It's like the death by chocolate of comic book origins. Sheer overkill.

Clark & football? Depending on how strong his abilities were at the time, it could be horrible or ok. If he just seemed like the fastest but not yet in a super way, OK. If they knew he was well beyond merely gifted? Not OK.

Year One: I still love it. The Selina-as-a-hooker part is unpleasant, but the motivation it gives her is better than bored socialite or the like.

Power Girl? They should have sent her into Ragnarok-Limbo with the JSA instead of the unfortunate multiple choice origins. The best thing in years was putting her original origin back in place where it belonged.

I didn't much care for wiping Helena Wayne out of continuity, or getting rid of the multiverse either. Probably not really retcons, but still. Never liked it, and I bought Crisis when it was brand spanking new as a lad. Sat in the car reading the death of Kara while my mom was getting groceries. There may have been tears.[/QUOTE]

I remember reading something way back in the nineties that said that the original plan for [I]COIE[/I] was that they would do it and then never mention it again. Which is problematic when you're dealing with characters who are tied to one of the previous Earths. In terms of Clark and football, I think even in the most generous interpretations he knew about most of his powers by his senior year of high school.

[b]Black Canary is Black Canary's daughter[/b]. check
[B]Roy being a child and kicked out of house and made homeless for drug addiction[/b]. check
[b]Diana is Zeus' child.[/b] check
[b]Batman's misery back-projected[/b]. check
[b]Barbara being Gordon's niece[/b]. check
[b]Barbara as a protege of Bruce's[/b]. Didn't know about this one.
[b]Dick cheating on Kori with Barbara[/b]. Didn't know about this one.
[b]Identity Crisis[/b]. check

[QUOTE=The Darknight Detective;4418709]FWIW, Ollie was only in his late twenties during the Bronze Age.[/QUOTE]

I'm not sure. Most of the heroes were said to be 29, but I got the feeling that Oliver had been around for awhile longer. Anyway, during the 1970s, Dinah was always the original Black Canary and hadn't been retconned into her own daughter. But remember 1) she was from Earth-Two (with its fuzzy timeline) and 2) she was very young when she joined the JSA in 1947. And at the time, DC wasn't so definite about nailing down their chronology. So it was acceptable that Oliver and Dinah were in the same ballpark.

Then there was the whole retcon with the Thunder Dimension, but that lasted less than two years before Crisis erased that retcon from existence. So after that, Oliver was made to seem much older--I remember there was a Mike Grell story that set his age, but I forget what that was, perhaps 40? So Oliver was an older guy and then there was the JLA: YEAR ONE (1998) series and from all we knew about Oliver's timeline and the Zero Hour timeline, he had to already be significantly older than Dinah in those stories, where he's coming on to her and she's only in her late teens. That rubbed me the wrong way.

-Ice no longer a nordic God but just a regular metahuman. Way to make someone less interesting.

-Too much to list from the New 52

The Amazons not having their advanced technology

The entire wreckage that converting the excellent [I]Hawkworld[/I] mini into an ongoing inflicted on Hawkman and Hawkwoman.

Perez entire reinterpretation of Wonder Woman and the Amazons. He wrote some great stories, and he's one of my top 5 artists, but he ripped the heart and power out of an icon.

[B]The retcon of Barry's parents[/B] - I HATE it with a white hot passion. [SIZE=5][B][U]HATE IT[/U][/B][/SIZE]
[B]Selina Kyle was a hooker.[/B] What IS it with Frank Miller?
[B]John Stewart - Marine sniper[/B] What was wrong with John just being an architect?? To reflect a long cancelled cartoon...
[B]Wally West[/B] - Basically [U]EVERYTHING[/U] DC has done to this poor bastard and his family since Flash Rebirth

[QUOTE=Jim Kelly;4418892]I'm not sure. Most of the heroes were said to be 29, but I got the feeling that Oliver had been around for awhile longer. Anyway, during the 1970s, Dinah was always the original Black Canary and hadn't been retconned into her own daughter. But remember 1) she was from Earth-Two (with its fuzzy timeline) and 2) she was very young when she joined the JSA in 1947. And at the time, DC wasn't so definite about nailing down their chronology. So it was acceptable that Oliver and Dinah were in the same ballpark.

Then there was the whole retcon with the Thunder Dimension, but that lasted less than two years before Crisis erased that retcon from existence. So after that, Oliver was made to seem much older--I remember there was a Mike Grell story that set his age, but I forget what that was, perhaps 40? So Oliver was an older guy and then there was the JLA: YEAR ONE (1998) series and from all we knew about Oliver's timeline and the Zero Hour timeline, he had to already be significantly older than Dinah in those stories, where he's coming on to her and she's only in her late teens. That rubbed me the wrong way.[/QUOTE]

Yup - It was his fortieth birthday and Dinah was busting his chops about it.
And yes, it definitely made the Ollie/Dinah relationship more than a little creepy.

Seconded on so many of these, like Ice being a metahuman, Barbara as niece instead of daughter. Here's a GL retcon I dislike intensely:

The "just waiting to be retconned or ignored like it never came up" revelation of the Lights Out story with Relic. The emotional spectrum was revealed to be finite, and the usage of it by the various corp would eventually deplete it entirely. That kind of story leaves a few possibilities. Change how you tell stories moving forward (not likely), retcon it sooner rather than later (likely), or ignore it (most likely). All to push a thinly veiled Aesop on natural resource conservation in a way that could have been told without potentially damaging the way the corp works and the narrative itself. Reminds me of the Star Trek episode about warp drive damaging the fabric of space time. They imposed a Warp 5 limit for a while without clearance from Starfleet to exceed it, then quietly dropped the whole thing. It never should have made it on the air!

[QUOTE=Tzigone;4418725]Not so much the Bronze age that's the problem, though it still erases the widow-hood story, which I liked (with Larry really being a good man and really being dead). And yes "half his age" may be an exaggeration (can't recall exact ages post-crisis), but it still annoyed me. What specific issue retconned her to daughter, anyway? I know I've seen it, but don't remember.

Also, I could toss in Selina-is-23-and-Dick-is-21-and-Bruce-is-31. Except it didn't really last, since they reinstated some history. Bruce and Selina need to be peers to me. Maybe four years difference (either way), max. This, for me, is I like the GA setup where they met around the time Dick became Robin, and Dick became Robin no more than thee years after Bruce became Batman (I prefer one year, because of real-world timing) and Bruce became Batman at 25 (15 years after his parents died when he was 10). And I'd prefer Selina being at least 24 (definitely at least 22) when she meets him so she can't be in anyway qualified as a kid (though that's using more modern perceptions of early 20s, I admit). Of course, I have also considered the age was lie in the first place. But I guess we don't really have an idea on her original age? But definitely not a peer of Dick's.[/QUOTE]

I didn't catch Selina's age during New 52, but I caught Wonder Woman. She's 23 too, and Clark's 25, with Dick being 21 it's just so wrong. Especially since both Diana and Clark do act that age.

Dick is already really mature in the way he acts side by side with Bruce that even when Bruce is 31, he sounds like a peer, and Bruce does treat him like a peer, barring one or two moments when he went to dad mode.

I got the feeling, while I was reading New 52, that this is why Dick is made to stay as far away from Clark and Diana as possible, and now I found out about it, Selina. He acts and sounds like their peer.