Board Thread:Questions and Answers/@comment-61022-20160330220251/@comment-61022-20160401163253

ADour wrote: So, between the interpretation of a person that read the comic as an outsider like us, and the interpretation of the person that oversaw and worked with the writer of said comic, I will lean towards the one that didn't just read the events, but the one who had a hand in making them happen.

So why does Brevoort's position matter? Hickman wrote the story. As you said, Brevoort is an editor. If we're caring what the writer intended, then it should be Hickman's position not Brevoort's.

But still that does not negate the fact that as an encyclopedia of knowledge based on what media is released the way it is written. At this time, because there is no retraction *in story* at this time. The handbook says X, we report X. I would agree with a foot note stating that this statement is contended but has not been officially recanted at the most. But until there is an in-story explanation stating otherwise we should accept what the Handbook said. Even if one member of Marvel staff says that it is wrong is not the point. They let that go out to print. If it's a mistake, that's too bad because that's the only official statement they put out there. The handbook says "Official" right on the title.

If we're questioning the credibility of material in an official Marvel handbook, then we might as well toss everything else out printed in them. You either accept the handbooks as absolute fact or you don't accept them at all. As a Wiki we have decided that the material in the most current editions of the various Marvel Handbooks as fact, ergo, even if Brevoot disagrees with that statement, we have to go with it until a new handbook or comic comes out that states contrary.

Which goes back to my statement about "Wolverine is a frog that shoots confetti out of his butt", it is an absurd statement, but that illustrates my point very clearly. Because a Marvel staffer says it doesn't make it "fact". What makes it "fact" is what ends up on the printed page.

I'm the first to agree that the handbooks have errors in them from time to time, material becomes dated, overhauled, re-worked... Whatever.... But the fact of the matter is, we cannot selectively toss out what is said in a Handbook until a comic or handbook published AFTER the fact clarifies the point.

Presently, it says these were all members of the Fantastic Four of Earth-616. Sue had a lapse in memory? Well how many people on Earth-616 right now remember anything that happened on Secret Wars? Probably a handful. It's probably an M-Day scenario. Only a select few actually recall what is happening. Why would Sue forget what happened? Well gee, you were forced into a marriage to your greatest enemy. It could be that Reed made her forget such a horrific scenario. We don't know. It hasn't been stated one way or the other.

But debating on the issue when the Handbook says "This is X" is not our mandate. Our mandate is to report the facts. Those facts.. as we have outlined.. is what is published.