Originally Posted by
ducklord
Retconning Alan to be gay is interesting, but it does take some further bits of massaging to make his family "work." This is particularly the case because, as currently portrayed, the Alan of the 1940's is pretty much fully aware of his sexual orientation, even if he's unsurpisingly keeping it on the down low.
The easist of family member to retcon is Molly. In the original telling, she was a criminal foil for Alan who had a crush on him, a lightheated Catwoman to his Batman. They finally got married in the 80's after admitting their love for each other. Retconning her into a McCarthy era marriage of convenience seems like a way to go here. Beards are a thing, and it would make their friendship all the stronger if she was in on it.
Then you have Alan's first wife, Rose Canton, aka the Golden Age Thorn, aka the biological mother of Jade and Obsidian. In the original telling, Alan and Rose had a whirlwind marriage some mumbledeyears before the birth of the kids, which fell apart when the Thorn personality re-emerged and she fled the scene.
If Rose's place in the continuity is to be preserved, there's a LOT of stuff that needs to be unwound. For one thing, the timing is starting to get funky, as Rose giving birth to Jade and Obsidian 25-30 years ago both has her giving birth in her 60's, and Alan (self-aware of his sexual identity since the 1940's) hooking up with a woman in his, what, 70's? Even taking account the Alan's effectively immortal, and whatever shenanigans could be going on with the Golden Age Thorn, it's still damned odd that this couple could come about so late in the newly revised continuity. One could insert a sexual assault into the mix, but that seems tacky in the extreme.
Me, I favor the "Rose and Alan had a doomed affair earlier in his career, when he was still sorting some stuff out. She fled when Thorn emerged (for the first time!), and had a kid. This kid's bloodline would eventually give rise to Jennie and Todd" solution. That's right, I'd sever the parental bond between Jade, Obsidian, and Alan. They could see him as a father figure, but they're actually descedants. 'Cause seriously, it's not like Alan raised them anyway.
Thoughts?