What are the best DC retcons?

[BatmanJones]

I'd love for Elseworlds/What If to come back. those were awesome.

Man, me too! Elseworlds/What If and the hilariously named "imaginary stories" (aren't they all?) have been among my favorite DC stories ever. I'd love to have a What If style title that is only DC Elseworlds stories. What If did this exceptionally well. I've always wished DC had a regular title featuring "imaginary stories" as Marvel did with What If.

[BatmanJones]

I don’t know if it really added anything to the Jack Kirby island origin, but in 1977 Denny O’Neil and Mike Grell did a retelling of that story for DC SUPER-STARS No. 17, which really knocked my socks off.

Me too! Was one of my very favorite single issues for so very long and I'd forgotten about it. Thanks for the reminder. That issue is on sale at comixology and I just bought it for $1.99. Can't wait to re-read it. Thank you!!

[Bored at 3:00AM]

Has the way Jason Todd came back from the dead ever been retconned? I've always preferred the Ra's Al Ghul resurrection over the Superboy Prime one.

I was under the impression that Superboy-Prime retcon punched Jason Todd being resurrected by the Lazarus Pit. I didn't think they were ever meant to be two separate events. It's just that the retcon punch aspect of his resurrection isn't brought up anymore because it isn't really relevant anymore and few, if anyone, would even know about it...particularly after Flashpoint

[KNIGHT OF THE LAKE]

The one most people mentioned. Green Lantern Rebirth/Parallax.

Accomplished:
1. Giving a plausible explanation for why Hal acted completely out of character and went crazy.
2. Put a path in place where Hal could be viewed as a hero again
3. Explained the yellow impurity in a way that made sense and also gave a good reason for Sinestro's yellow ring which would go on to be magnified with the Sinestro Corp.
4. Set the stage for the biggest Green Lantern run and the most successful the title and line has ever been.

That's what you want when you reboot something.

After that the Swamp Thing Anatomy because it was the greatest Swamp Thing run and didn't necessarily make all the old stuff wrong. Also Flash of Two World's was good because it was a compromise that kept the old stuff as canon but removed any inconsistencies and it allowed DC to use that to tell some pretty fun stories for awhile until COIE.

[9th.]

I would say having Alfred having served the Waynes since long before Bruce was even born. That works better than Alfred coming in after Bruce and Dick had started operating as Batman and Robin.

Buried Alien (The Fastest Post Alive!)

Wow I never knew this, that's crazy

[KNIGHT OF THE LAKE]

Wow I never knew this, that's crazy

Yeah Alfred was a late addition. He debuted in 1943 as some guy whose father used to serve the Wayne's and later Alfred took up his father's mantle. He accidentally discovered their identities. Was more fat and bumbling than current Alfred. He even died and remained dead for a few years then was revived as a villain for a couple of years after that before being returned to the normal status quo.

However, I will say that retcon should probably be lumped into the many retcons done as a result of COIE.

[Darkseid Is]

I was under the impression that Superboy-Prime retcon punched Jason Todd being resurrected by the Lazarus Pit. I didn't think they were ever meant to be two separate events. It's just that the retcon punch aspect of his resurrection isn't brought up anymore because it isn't really relevant anymore and few, if anyone, would even know about it...particularly after Flashpoint

This probably sounds stupid haha but is there a comic book where this is explained? Like is there a comic where Jason pulls himself out of a Lazarus Pit and is born again? Similar to the Barbara Gordon thing where it's explained how she's returned from being paralyzed.

[bat39]

Wow I never knew this, that's crazy

Its actually pretty amazing just how much of what we perceive as iconic aspects of certain characters/franchises were actually the product of retcons.

Most of what we know and understand about Batman today was a retcon introduced at some point long after his introduction. Alfred raising him and being his surrogate father. Jim Gordon being a crusader within a corrupt GCPD. Gotham being this violent nest of organized crime and corruption. Jason Todd being a street kid and would-be criminal. Mr. Freeze's origin. And so on.

Green Arrow's origin is also a HUGE example of this. As is much of the Superman mythos as we know it today (the Kents, Smallville, Superboy, Modern Lex Luthor just to name a few).

On the Marvel side, there's the Xavier-Magneto friendship, pretty much all of Wolverine's history and (which is particularly significant after her immense popularity in the Black Panther movie), Shuri.

[WonderScott]

I always enjoyed the retcon of Triumph being an original member of the Justice League, but they didn't do the character justice in the execution of his story and development.

[Agent Z]

YES!!!

Marvel and DC both have gotten into the habit of taking things that would be fun for a one shot What if/Elseworlds story that just really suck in the MAIN universe and end up muddying the storytelling for months or years later.

I'd love for Elseworlds/What If to come back. those were awesome.

Come back? When did those ever leave. Just recently we had Batman: White Knight and Nightwing: The New Order. Not to mention Bombshells.

[Vakanai]

Me too. I miss Elseworld stories. It allowed for some unique storytelling without messing up current continuity.

Any story outside main continuity is an Elseworld. Earth One, the YA Lois Lane books, that separate YA series (Wonder Woman Warbringer, Batman Nightwalker), the upcoming Zoom, Ink, and Black Label imprints, that Batman and the Justice League manga coming out, the Bombshell line, and probably some more I'm missing at the moment.

Then you have animation like JLA Adventures Trapped in Time, Batman Unlimited, LEGO DC Super Heroes, DC Super Hero Girls, Justice League Gods and Monsters, Batman Ninja, Brave and the Bold, etc.

Then there are the things based on videogames, the Arkham Asylum Batman game series, Injustice, the Telltale Batman game.

The Elseworlds spirit is more evident than ever. Arrowverse, Gotham, Krypton, you could even view the DCEU as an Elseworld. And didn't Batman crossover with the Ninja Turtles recently?

[K7P5V]

Its actually pretty amazing just how much of what we perceive as iconic aspects of certain characters/franchises were actually the product of retcons.

Most of what we know and understand about Batman today was a retcon introduced at some point long after his introduction. Alfred raising him and being his surrogate father. Jim Gordon being a crusader within a corrupt GCPD. Gotham being this violent nest of organized crime and corruption. Jason Todd being a street kid and would-be criminal. Mr. Freeze's origin. And so on.

Green Arrow's origin is also a HUGE example of this. As is much of the Superman mythos as we know it today (the Kents, Smallville, Superboy, Modern Lex Luthor just to name a few).

On the Marvel side, there's the Xavier-Magneto friendship, pretty much all of Wolverine's history and (which is particularly significant after her immense popularity in the Black Panther movie), Shuri.

Speaking of Marvel's retcons, how about Miller's Daredevil and Tony Stark's true parentage. Do those count?

[Bored at 3:00AM]

This probably sounds stupid haha but is there a comic book where this is explained? Like is there a comic where Jason pulls himself out of a Lazarus Pit and is born again? Similar to the Barbara Gordon thing where it's explained how she's returned from being paralyzed.

The Infinite Crisis Secret Files delved pretty deeply into Superboy-Prime's retcon punches, but I don't read Red Hood & The Outlaws, so I couldn't say about that, but presumably they've done a flashblack to his resurrection at some point.

[Bored at 3:00AM]

I always enjoyed the retcon of Triumph being an original member of the Justice League, but they didn't do the character justice in the execution of his story and development.

There's been some talk about him in the "Retroactively Making Old DC Heroes Gay/Bi/Biracial" Thread. Apparently, Priest always intended him to be gay, so perhaps he could return as a forgotten original member of the Justice Society of America, then again throughout history as Knight of the Round Table, an Argonaut and champion of ancient Atlantis, forever stuck in a time-loop, doomed to be forgotten by history like an even more tragic Booster Gold.

[Heavunion]

This probably sounds stupid haha but is there a comic book where this is explained? Like is there a comic where Jason pulls himself out of a Lazarus Pit and is born again? Similar to the Barbara Gordon thing where it's explained how she's returned from being paralyzed.

Batman Annual #25

If you want the course of events, basically, Superboy Prime punched reality so Jason Todd got back to life but all the crowbar hit destroyed his brain and he was a vegetable except when he was attacked. Talia Al Ghul is the one who pushed him in the Lazarus Pit and told him " You've not been avenged " before Jason goes on his own ( though, he then comes back with Talia and train to be Red Hood in The Lost Days )