Any other franchise of pop fiction have as convoluted a continuity as DC Comics?

[Buried Alien]

In the vast field of popular fiction in all its forms, does any other franchise have a continuity as fractured and convoluted as that of DC Comics?

Buried Alien (The Fastest Post Alive!)

[silly]

In the vast field of popular fiction in all its forms, does any other franchise have a continuity as fractured and convoluted as that of DC Comics?

Buried Alien (The Fastest Post Alive!)

I imagine Marvel? Transformers?

[Flash Gordon]

Is DC convoluted? Everything I read is fine by me!

[Bored at 3:00AM]

The longer any continuity goes on, the more convoluted it becomes. Since DC has the longest running continuity in pop culture, it makes perfect sense to me that it would also be the most convoluted.

That said, there are more convoluted continuities out there that have been around for less time. I defy anyone to explain how The Terminator timeline works, for instance

[Factor]

I imagine Marvel? Transformers?

Marvel's continuity has its problems, but it's nowhere near as convoluted as DC's.
DC can't maintain the same timeline for more than a decade. All their big events need to center around some big continuity fix that actually makes everything even more messy.
I like what Johns is doing with Doomsday Clock, but it says a lot that they felt they needed to tell that story at all.

[Bored at 3:00AM]

Marvel's continuity has its problems, but it's nowhere near as convoluted as DC's.
DC can't maintain the same timeline for more than a decade. All their big events need to center around some big continuity fix that actually makes everything even more messy.
I like what Johns is doing with Doomsday Clock, but it says a lot that they felt they needed to tell that story at all.

Yeah, Marvel's continuity is relatively straight forward...ish because it's built primarily upon the foundation of the work of Stan Lee, Jack Kirby & Steve Ditko.

DC is a patchwork quilt of at least 4 different publishers with wildly different editorial and creative choices that has been retconning its own continuity as early as 1945

[Flash Gordon]

Yeah, Marvel's continuity is relatively straight forward...ish because it's built primarily upon the foundation of the work of Stan Lee, Jack Kirby & Steve Ditko.

DC is a patchwork quilt of at least 4 different publishers with wildly different editorial and creative choices that has been retconning its own continuity as early as 1945

I feel like Marvel's continuity is far messier. I largely don't care much about that stuff, but anytime I dive into some Namor story or whatever...everything does seem mish mash.

I especially hate that thing they do where you'll have a flashback for Spider-Man or whoever and it looks vaguely 1960s-ish. It doesnt work at all for me. Makes everything vague and disconnected from the real world. Technology never plays a part in anything despite it being pivotal to our world, etc. I'd much rather just toss aside "it all happened" and just read a firm narrative that resonates.

DC luckily steers away from that scam.

[Bored at 3:00AM]

I feel like Marvel's continuity is far messier.

Far messier than DC's? Really? I know Marvel's continuity has some major issues. Any continuity that's been going that long with that many stories piled on top on even more stories, most of which weren't very good, is going to have problems, but I always thought that it worked pretty well as long as you are OK with the sliding timeline of it all making the details of past stories fuzzier and fuzzier.

[Robanker]

Ultimately, the more creators that try to plug into the same tapestry, the more complicated it will get. Reboots don't help because you'll only ever keep seeking the perfect board wipe and repeat indefinitely.

DC's longevity does make me think they're the kings, if not among the top, but for what it's worth I'll throw one into the mix: Bond films. Same dude? Different guy but "Bond" is an identity? Same dude but nonlinear? Same dude until the Skyfall which is a reboot? Different dudes until Casino Royale which is a new, singular dude? He was married once, but it doesn't get brought up because he's sore over it? Did it simply never happen or is that movie at the end of his timeline? Where do all the girls go? Who keeps taking Q's lunch?

The status quo resets every time, but some characters persist and it's never addressed. Personally? I don't believe you're supposed to think on it. They're all self-contained alternate universes unless they specifically refer to one another. But I've heard an argument with evidence for each hypothetical situation I've posted and more.

[Montressor]

The good Doctor can get a little goofy from time to time.

[stargazer01]

Try Doctor Who and Star Trek...

[Yoda]

Yeah, Doctor Who's convoluted continuity is basically one of it's best features.

[DCStu]

Yeah but to be fair, DC is over 80 years old right? I try not to think about it too much and just enjoy the comics. I do just fine keeping up with it all.

[Pinsir]

The Godzilla franchise is pretty bad.

[Flash Gordon]

Yeah but to be fair, DC is over 80 years old right? I try not to think about it too much and just enjoy the comics. I do just fine keeping up with it all.

Exactly.

Plus it's not all meant to be "a franchise". It's a whole library of material ranging all kinds of stuff.