User blog comment:Nausiated/It Begins: Project 11/61/@comment-3317214-20140514002834/@comment-61022-20140518082750

Well it depends on the circumstances really. It depends on if the retcon replaces or expands on an pre-established plot line. There is also the sliding time scale to consider. IF you check out my expanded profiles for Reed Richards and Ben Grimm, you'll note that there are some wonky timelines, and I deal with that in the reference tags.

For example: early issues of the Fantastic Four state that Reed and Ben fought in World War II. Which by today's standards wouldn't fit in the sliding time scale. And here's another fun caveat on that subject: There is an issue of Sgt. Fury and his Howling Commandos that shows Reed meeting Nick Fury.. During World War II. There is also an issue of Captain Savage that shows Ben Grim fighting in the Pacific Theatre during World War II as well, but I digress.. Where it's even funnier for Reed, is that when Civil War was going on and Reed was telling Spider-Man why he believes in the Super-Human Registration Act he relates to his uncle. The flashback depicts Reed as a child probably no older than 5. The point of the story was that Reed's uncle got caught up in the McCarthy Hearings, which were a "witch hunt" to try and find communists and other dissidents in government society. The pinnacle of the McCarthy hearings happened in the 1950s. Which is an odd juxtaposition in that some 40 years earlier they were saying Reed fought in World War II but when Civil War came out they were saying he was a kid in the 50s. It's so entirely subjective.

You don't have to go poking around in that much backstory to find those weird continuity glitches. If you go back to some early 60s era Iron Man or Captain America there are many stories where they go to Vietnam. Which at that time was a war that was going on, so topically speaking it made sense but it hasn't aged well. The mentality I suppose is that the heroes were fighting in a topical conflict at that time and after it gets to a point where it really ages a character they generalize it a lot (there are some exceptions of course, Magneto being a huge one) but by and you can't take the real world references in Marvel Comics that are part of the "modern age" in a literal sense. I don't doubt that in the next five to ten years, for example, that issue of Amazing Spider-Man that was all about the 9/11 attacks on the World Trade Centre will be generalized into a "terrorist attack on New York" without any specifics to the WTC or 9/11. Because while this came out in the last 14 years and was topical at the time, and much as it was a huge historical moment with a lot of emotional impact to a lot of people, if Marvel still wants to go with the sliding time scale thing, there is a certain point where they're going to have to generalize that storyline.

Anyway, I'm rambling....

I guess another example would be the Mole Man. Whose profile I updated up to this past year from his first appearance in Fantastic Four #1. In the late 90s they did a bunch of stories that explained how he got to Monster Island and it delved into the circumstances. Now here's the thing: There was a lot more that happened to Harvey Elder than he told the Fantastic Four in FF #1. I made some speculations on the page, but it made some logical sense: Why would the Mole Man forget to mention that he was basically dumped on Monster Island by the Monster Hunters? Because he was a petty fame seeker who was trying to compensate for his unattractive features. The Mole Man in his most lucid of moments was a braggart who was trying to prove he was superior to everyone and deserved either fame or pitty. Clearly when he was going to explain how he found Monster Island he isn't going to tell potential enemies he was humiliated by a bunch of monster hunters and dumped into the middle of the ocean and happened to find Monster Island by pure fluke.

But seriosuly read my profile for Harvey Elder (Earth-616) It'll give you a good idea. Also check out the talk page where I explain my methodology on placing his continuity. It'll give you a good idea. Also check out Reed Richards (Earth-616)/Expanded History for some examples of dealing with retcons and the like. Specially the references at the bottom of the page.

I think those will answer my questions more articulately than my 4:30 am ramblings while running on 4 hours of sleep. Cheers!