JewCE: ‘Canons are Made to Blow Up!’ Panel Review
by Frank Martin
Retcons and reboots are a bit of a controversial thing in the comics community. Essentially, they are the act of changing a character or story or even restarting it entirely. And it’s understandable why they would divide fans. Any change to a long-standing character is met with skepticism, especially one that is beloved by fans. This topic was tackled head-on at JewCE, which hosted a panel of comic writers familiar with the subject and who have been involved with the process in the past. Overall, their insight was clear that although reboots and retcons might test fans, they are an inevitable part of the comic book machine. But even though they are avoidable, they should be deployed with care when necessary.
Hosted by Jenny Caplan, the panel’s full name was “Canons are Made to Blow Up! Retconning, Rebooting, Jossing, and other Paradigm Shifts.” Sitting on the panel were comic writers Brian Azzarello, Joshua Sky, and Barbara Slate. Also, Brian Michael Bendis joined the panel via zoom. The ultimate goal was to discuss Judaism’s role in the retcon of certain characters. For instance, Magneto was created by Jewish creators, but it wasn’t until subsequent, non-jewish creative teams retconned his backstory to make him Jewish. However, the discussion itself often swayed from the Jewish side of the question to just retcons in general.
Each writer went over their specific histories with retcons and how they were more or less just a simple cog in the comics machine that had to work alongside editors and parent companies. But even more than the editorial side of retcons, the panel also discussed the other side of the equation: the fans who hold these characters near and dear to their hearts. Bendis provided an anecdote about a fan equating himself to a sports lover who will always cheer on his team regardless of how well they perform. When viewed through this lens, retcons and reboots can shatter a fan’s world. Hearing these stories and how they affect the comic industry both from a fan’s perspective and an editorial one provided a big picture about retcons that made the panel extremely informative.
