Scans_Daily

Each month, my book group reads a book and talks about it. I won;t say what the book was this month, because I’m going to talk instead about the spoiler in it.

It’s a 400+ page book, where, in the last five pages, the author says “Nah, this is all made up; the character actually died on page 22 and you’ve been reading an imaginary story ever since then.”

One of the guys in the group was fizzing, because he had invested so much into the book and the characters and their stories and being told that it wasn’t “real” just felt insulting. I’ve had the same experience with fiction in the past, even knowing that the “real story is still just a piece of fiction.

If you could add the same bit to the end of A Tale of Two Cities, with the final page being “P.S. none of this actually happened - C.D.” and it wouldn’t change the text. Films end with a standard disclaimer that This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, places, events and incidents are either the products of the author’s imagination or used in a fictitious manner. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental, and we accept that. But when it’s included as an explicit part of the text? People get unhappy.

( Canon and retcons with Brian K. Vaughan* )

This made me think about the retcon and the “Elseworlds” or “What if?” in comic books. Why does it matter if a creators says that a story “isn’t real” or “didn’t happen” when none of it is real and none of it happened? The non-canon stories still exist on your shelves, ready to be enjoyed. A lot of the Star Wars EU is now “not canon”; is that important to readers’ enjoyment of the books/comics/games?

I have a feeling that I know what the answer to the question does continuity matter would be, so I'll ask instead "Why does continuity matter?"

This is slightly a double dunter*, hitting the notes for both a didactic/message book and an alternate universe book. Ex Machina is, as the finale was at pains to point out, its own alternate universe and there's no "right" way for the characters to be. Like we saw with the wedding issue, Ex Machina is full of ideas. Usually when it's talking about political ideas it doesn't put them forward as The Best Way to do things. In Smoke Smoke, Hundred's stance on relaxing drug laws is countered by his aides' and the issues are just talked out. It's a series that consistently credits its readers with more than a modicum of intelligence and political awareness

This is from the Special #4, Grassroots and introduces us to the Gardener, who's a one off character. Like Pherson before him and The White after him, Gardener for his powers indirectly from the neighbours through the Great Machine.

( This was a discount store, not it's turned into a cornfield )

As New Female Characters week continues, I bring the best new superhero to hit NYC - Trouble. Buy her arc Dirty Tricks.

Also, if you will be triggered by 9-11 and women being punched in the face, don't look at this.

( From Origin )

If you're coming to this late and wondering what all of the comments are about... I've edited this post to make it less offensive.

Ex Machina #49 hit today. The penultimate of what I have been saying for ages is the best thing on the metaphorical newsstands.

This issue has many things going on, but the first thing that made me shout out loud was ( the return of a favourite character )