What is your view of headcanon?

[Artemisfanboy]

Well I definitely have a DC universe as it should exist inside my head. I also realize that outside of the fantasy where I'm in charge it'll never be the canon DCU. And even if I where in charge I'd probably be forced to make compromises. I've overall become very jaded and sporadic with what series I follow and pay attention to. Strictly speaking the version of the DCU I fell in love with ended with Flashpoint/the New 52. Right now I'm a bit worked up and nervous over the changes with Jon and potentially Lois and Clark's relationship, I've even ended up writing mini-fixfic drabbles. I guess just feel more emotionally attached in this case. because this Lois and Clark with Jon where introduced during convergence as being the post crisis Lois and Clark. So guess I'm a ball of contradictions being detached in most areas while being attached in this specific one. It may get to a point where I stop paying attention what's going on again and just bury myself in my personal head canon again.

[Stanlos]

Are you for it? Against it? Do you use it? If so, what for? When is it okay and when do you think it is not?

At this rate, all we will have IS headcanon what with TPTB continuing to pooh on the characters (wally and Nightwing are the latest victims) and the obvious absence of ideas. I just finished a League trade centering on--and I $#!+ you not--a "Cosmic DOOR KNOB".

Let that sink in.

[Bored at 3:00AM]

As long you don't expect DC to abide by your own headcanon, I don't see any problem with it. If ignoring a particular story element you don't like makes a comic better for you, go right ahead. If you paid for the comic, you can do whatever you want with it. You could cut it up and rearrange it in a new order with panels removed for all I care.

[Miles To Go]

In my opinion, it doesn't exist. To me, the only thing that matters is what DC says is canon.

Fans trying to change something or jam something into the canon because they don't like something DC has done with its universe has always struck me as being childish. At the end of the day DC owns their characters and they can do what they want with them.

The machine isn't right, the customer is.

I disagree. Superman is DC 's characters. Anything DC says is canon, is canon. It doesn't matter if you don't like what they say is canon or want something else to be canon.

DC change their minds on canon all the time...many a time to appease the preferences of the customer.

And need I remind you Kon-El's origins started out as someone's headcanon?

Yeah, try harder next time.

[Adekis]

Canonicity has long since ceased to be a useful lens through which to view the DC universe, if it ever was one at all. The concept of a canon has long since been made interchangeable with the concept of continuity or in-universe consistency for pop culture mega franchises, which really goes against what it's supposed to mean. After all, the Gospel of Mark and the Gospel of John don't continue from and aren't consistent with each other, but they're both canonical... a "canon" in both the literary or classical sense just means the collection of the most important works, and importantly, this collection is described by an authoritative body. Fandom canon doesn't do that, it was made up by insane Sherlock Holmes fans in the early 20th century as the kind of joke you take too seriously. Nor is it the case for the canons of almost any of these big-ass franchises like DC, Marvel or Doctor Who. The alleged canon just seems to be what the fans have to work out / claim it consists of, far more often than not.

And the creators are seldom far above the cycle, choosing stories they happen to like as they see fit, without regard to a greater design or wider consistency. Heck, the longest stretch of greatest consistency in DC history was from 1986 to 2001, and it broke the rule of "no parallel universes" almost immediately with the Superboy thing, because the choice to get rid of Superboy fundamentally broke parts of their world! Not to mention the whole debacles with Wonder Woman or worse Hawkman!

What I'm saying is, headcanon is totally fine, fun, better than real Canon, which has long since taken a turn for the incomprehensible if it ever made sense in the first place, probably doesn't exist, and even when the creators try to dictate the One True Canon from on high, what they're really doing is just telling us their headcanons.

[KC]

The machine isn't right, the customer is.

No. DC is right.

DC change their minds on canon all the time...many a time to appease the preferences of the customer.

And need I remind you Kon-El's origins started out as someone's headcanon?

Yeah, try harder next time.

It is the prerogative of the people at DC comics to change the canon anyway they see fit as they own the characters and stories. They get to change and dictate the canon, fans don't.

It started out as a suggestion. And was as worthless as any "headcanon" until Geoff Johns got the power to make it canon.

[HeroVladimir93]

No. DC is right.



It is the prerogative of the people at DC comics to change the canon anyway they see fit as they own the characters and stories. They get to change and dictate the canon, fans don't.

It started out as a suggestion. And was as worthless as any "headcanon" until Geoff Johns got the power to make it canon.

Yes, DC owns the characters but owning those characters won't mean anything if there are no fans who spend money to buy the comics and read the stories. It's impossible for DC to produce a story that absolutely every single Superman fan will love. I don't envy Warner and DC in their task to carry Superman forward, and there are some people who are never gonna accept anything related to Superman, and well, it's their right to feel that way, just like there are people out there who like every little thing with the Superman logo slapped on it, not paying any attention to its place in what we consider canon, and they too have every right to feel that way.

We get it, Warner and DC, that you will make mistakes with Superman. Come on, even Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster were not perfect with Superman. This is why author empathy towards the fans is so important. The people working at DC should show some understanding towards some of the reservations people have towards the newer content in the Superman franchise.

[KC]

Yes, DC owns the characters but owning those characters won't mean anything if there are no fans who spend money to buy the comics and read the stories. It's impossible for DC to produce a story that absolutely every single Superman fan will love. I don't envy Warner and DC in their task to carry Superman forward, and there are some people who are never gonna accept anything related to Superman, and well, it's their right to feel that way, just like there are people out there who like every little thing with the Superman logo slapped on it, not paying any attention to its place in what we consider canon, and they too have every right to feel that way.

We get it, Warner and DC, that you will make mistakes with Superman. Come on, even Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster were not perfect with Superman. This is why author empathy towards the fans is so important. The people working at DC should show some understanding towards some of the reservations people have towards the newer content in the Superman franchise.

Fans have the right to not like what DC is producing and the Canon that DC puts forward, they don't have the right to ignore what DC says is canon because they don't like it.

DC comics works in a shared universe where stories are connected. If you want to pretend a story did not happen but then that is referenced in a story that you think did happen, what do you do? do you ignore it? do you pretend that it was not referenced?

And what if there is a character you think doesn't exist shows up in a story. Do you white them out? do you replace them with a different character? Can you see how insane this is?

Headcanoning shared fictional universes does not work.

[Sacred Knight]

I wouldn't go so far as to say they "don't have the right" to ignore things. Because I mean, its their minds. In their minds they can do what they want, no one can force someone to think something they don't want to think. Basically all they can't do is argue those beliefs in a discourse with any credibility.

[superduperman]

As someone who's early experiences with Superman were mostly TV shows and movies, the comic book concept of retroactively going in and changing parts of a characters history after the fact is something I've never fully gotten used to. When a TV show gets cancelled, you can either go back and watch it or wait for the next one to come along. But no one is going to go back to the Smallville well and retroactively change the show ten years after it's been off the air. They might add to it by making a spinoff comic, but actual changes are not something you really see. So when you get attached to a certain show, you don't have to worry about someone coming along later and deciding half of it never happened. But with comics, constant continuity changes comes with the territory. This makes getting attached to a character, any character, kind of difficult. DC isn't the only company that does this but they are particularly bad about it. Especially when it comes to Superman. In some cases, head canon is the only thing that makes sense. Most of my collection isn't canon anymore. This means you sort of have to create "pocket universes" where that universe still goes on. So New 52 Superman is still out there somewhere dating WW.

[stargazer01]

As a fan and customer of Superman products, I CAN pick and choose what I like and don't. Nobody can force me to accept everything they are selling. If I don't like a movie/show/story, I can watch or read something else Superman related that I actually love. WB or DC can't do nothing about it.

[Miles To Go]

This means you sort of have to create "pocket universes" where that universe still goes on. So New 52 Superman is still out there somewhere dating WW.

My enjoyment of his appearance in Sideways has often gotten me to think of headcanon ways to connect that N52 Clark with the one that met his end in Final Days, somehow surviving and being stored where he was. The fact he "disintegrated" leaves some room open for that.

I've often thought of a world where N52 Clark lived on, the events of "The Lies" would have still happened to Diana, so she and him would have drifted apart eventually as Diana had her meltdown and came to rely more on Steve and realise her feelings for Clark no longer rang true, but that's just me.

As a fan and customer of Superman products, I CAN pick and choose what I like and don't. Nobody can force me to accept everything they are selling. If I don't like a movie, I can watch or read something else Superman related that I actually love. WB or DC can't do nothing about it.

Well said.

DC experiment far more with their continuity than Marvel does, they only do that when they have no other recourse, and the results can be most damaging (One More Day I think that's why I don't mind this darker direction DC are in now too much, because the hope does exist that they'll course correct again

[KC]

I wouldn't go so far as to say they "don't have the right" to ignore things. Because I mean, its their minds. In their minds they can do what they want, no one can force someone to think something they don't want to think. Basically all they can't do is argue those beliefs in a discourse with any credibility.

I could say that in my mind, the sky is purple and green. I will then tell everyone I know that the sky is purple and green and when they say "The sky is blue" I will tell them "well that's just my headcanon. In my mind, the sky is purple and green"

Fictional universes work on the facts of the universe established by the authors of the universe/those in charge of the universe. Ignoring that because you don't like something about the universe is as deluded as saying the sky is purple and green because you don't like that it is blue.

[Tony]

Technically it's all head Canon

"This is an IMAGINARY story. . . aren't they all?" -Alan Moore

Very true.

It's fairly obvious to me everything with the name Bendis attached to it is an Elseworlds for example

If you think about it every writer is his own version of Superman. Even during the Triangle Era each writer couldn't help but have his own distinctive voice regardless of how coordinated and complimentary the group was.

I think one of the best things about comics is that they help develop and explore imagination. Also there are so many eras to choose from with a character that's been around for decades, Superman is definitely multiple choice, not even looking at media other than comics.

[stargazer01]

I could say that in my mind, the sky is purple and green. I will then tell everyone I know that the sky is purple and green and when they say "The sky is blue" I will tell them "well that's just my headcanon. In my mind, the sky is purple and green"

Fictional universes work on the facts of the universe established by the authors of the universe/those in charge of the universe. Ignoring that because you don't like something about the universe is as deluded as saying the sky is purple and green because you don't like that it is blue.

but nobody is saying that we are going to impose our headcanon on anyone. It's personal. It's what makes me happy. If others disagree, that's fine. They have their own ideas and I don't have to share them.