Golden Age Harlequin (Molly Mayne) Appreciation 2021

[CaptCleghorn]

I am not accepting your justifications, you mean. We are in a disagreement and we are not going to coincide.

If it's a case of you not liking my idea, I am totally cool with that. I may get defensive if you try to point out aspects that don't work, though. But I get not loiking my idea.

Very golden age kind of story, ok, that is understable. Tastes I suppose. that story was my first encounter with the characters. (What the hell, it was the first story from when I started reading and I have certain emotional attachment to the story. Sorry if I sound hostile). It was a journey through the memory of the characters, and the revelation of the origin of Jade and Obsidian. A very detailed tale in the way Roy Thomas used to do than make me want to know more about them.

Roy was truly great in taking a hodgepodge of pase stories and making it all fit. I just did not like the extreme soap opera aspects of Alan's wives and love life, lost kids, etc. Personal preference, but although I did not care for it, it did nwork

By editorial decree.

And for a fictitious character that is pretty much the word of God.

Unpopular is a euphemism. People could get killed by bigots for that (In someplaces of the world stil it is doing, sadly). But we are talking the 40s, the 50s, the 60s o more recently? Remember Alan and Molly married in 1985, real time, only to Alan being banished sometime later in limbo until 1992.

I was not thinking of the wedding date as being that late. But there were still considerable instances of people staying in the closet well into the seventies and eighties. There may be a better term to use than "unpopular", and I apologize if I made the true prejudices seems less severe, but Alan was a relatively public figure and keeping his true sexuality hidden was a very natural action for the time.

I soppose many people still marries for convenience these days, too. But, marring for convenience at their 60 years old? In those same past times where gay people was ostracized, how common was to older people get married? Past certain age there was no need to be married. And if we applied a sliding timescale, would had Alan the need to marry Molly? Alan at that age had no need to get married, nor Molly, if the wedding would had been recently. The point is in the argument of that story, from that annual, the heart of the story was the banishment of illusions and appearances. Now, this retcon only said than Alan replaced one illusion for other and used Molly as his protection. Honestly, I would prefer than the wedding with Molly/Harlequin and all that romantic story would be erased from continuity and they be only friends than being used as cover for Alan's orientation.

I see Molly and Alan as being very close. They worked through initial misunderstandings to find they had a lot in common. You are correct in pointing out a wedding is not an important aspect of their relationship given current characterization. With characters having existed over decades and social habits having changed considerably faster than the characters themselves had, we're left with outdated mores. Plus, we also need to time Alan and Rose's actions to cause Jenn and Todd's birth fit so those kids have a young adult age in present time.

It's not easy and trying to work it out can be a mess, especially if you want something that will last for decades. Thank you for pointing out weaknesses in my idea. I still like it, but I realize it has its own challenges as will any plan to fit a decades long history for these characters.

[Digifiend]

I think we have to assume Molly didn't know Alan was gay. She'd be over 100 years old now and is probably dead. Alan, who's immortal, apparently waited until she died to follow his son out of the closet.

[Thor-Ul]

[QUOTE=CaptCleghorn;5631613]If it's a case of you not liking my idea, I am totally cool with that. I may get defensive if you try to point out aspects that don't work, though. But I get not loiking my idea.[/QUOTE
We are cool. Sorry, I got carried away too.

Roy was truly great in taking a hodgepodge of pase stories and making it all fit. I just did not like the extreme soap opera aspects of Alan's wives and love life, lost kids, etc. Personal preference, but although I did not care for it, it did nwork

Didn't work or Did work? I will take as "it did work".

And for a fictitious character that is pretty much the word of God.

Agree. I can not like it, but I accept the change.

I was not thinking of the wedding date as being that late. But there were still considerable instances of people staying in the closet well into the seventies and eighties. There may be a better term to use than "unpopular", and I apologize if I made the true prejudices seems less severe, but Alan was a relatively public figure and keeping his true sexuality hidden was a very natural action for the time.

That was the date, than with an sliding timescale could be later in time maybe. Still, your explanation is valid, no need for apologize.

I see Molly and Alan as being very close. They worked through initial misunderstandings to find they had a lot in common. You are correct in pointing out a wedding is not an important aspect of their relationship given current characterization. With characters having existed over decades and social habits having changed considerably faster than the characters themselves had, we're left with outdated mores. Plus, we also need to time Alan and Rose's actions to cause Jenn and Todd's birth fit so those kids have a young adult age in present time.

There is a lot of rewriting than it needs to be done. At this point, we could end with Jade and Obsidian being ring projections than gained sentience. The idea of Molly knowing Alan secret, well, kind of ruins Molly character arc.
Let's be honest, Harlequin is a minor character and that annual was his greatest role in several previous and later years. Make her know the secret it make her look like there was no growing from her best intervention. I suppose in future writings Molly will be either erased or simple never mentioned again. Or not, some explanation will be given eventually. Anyway. That annual will not dissapear, but now it got a different taste.

It's not easy and trying to work it out can be a mess, especially if you want something that will last for decades. Thank you for pointing out weaknesses in my idea. I still like it, but I realize it has its own challenges as will any plan to fit a decades long history for these characters.

Lets see how it is made work. Again, sorry if I sound hostile

I think we have to assume Molly didn't know Alan was gay. She'd be over 100 years old now and is probably dead. Alan, who's immortal, apparently waited until she died to follow his son out of the closet.

That explanation is more acceptable. Uncomfortable, but acceptable.
I think I will leave there because is derailing the OP.

[MajorHoy]

A few more pages from Golden Age Harlequin's first appearance in All-American Comics #89 (September 1947) . . .

To be continued . . .

And the rest of that story: