You say that continuity was vague in the 40, 50s, and mainly 1960s. I disagree. I think that continuity was extremely tight, especially in the 1960s.
I don't agree.In 60s,until at the end of Silver age-early Bronze age (late 60s) was not a real continuity.The case of Batman is emblematic
From Wilkipedia:Bat-Mite regularly appeared in Batman, Detective Comics, and World's Finest Comics for five years. Bat-Mite and Mr. Mxyzptlk teamed up four times in the pages of World's Finest Comics to plague Superman and Batman together, as well. However in 1964, when the Batman titles were revamped with a more serious tone under new editor Julius Schwartz, Bat-Mite vanished along with the other extraneous members of the Batman family such as Ace the Bat-Hound.
It clearly defined what made Superman "Superman."
There were firm points on the characters:Superman has been Superboy,Clark work at Daily Planet,Ma and Pa Kent are died,Luthor is a evil genius,Superman and Lois are not married,Mr. Mxyzptlk return every 90 days, and so.But this is not "continuity",are rules.
I think that a big part of the problem with modern comics is that there is virtually no continuity at allIt literally changes from issue to issue. .
No,i think that a big part of problem is that there is not rules at all.
I don't understand how anyone can be interested in reading stories that all take place in different universes with different characters. Why invest any time or interest in anything if your know that it'll be tossed out, ignored, and contradicted within weeks?
Because the "original" Superman disguised in 90s,so are not more a "real" Superman,but many interpretations (or misinterpretations) of the character.
People used to complain that Mort Weisinger ruled with an Iron Fist. But now it's the opposite end of the extreme. Editors and writers don't even know what each other is thinking
And this is not a problem of continuity but of rules.
The Iron Age was a mixed bag. I think that any new continuity needs to value the continuities that it is replacing. But the Iron Age reboot clearly disliked the previous continuities and was implemented in a vindictive manner.
And this was a big mistake,Iron age reboot was crazy.Some characters start to zero (Superman,Wonder Woman)some others no (Flash,Batman...)And in my opinion Byrne was too much influenced to the 1978 movie.
author=JulianPerez ]
Continuity makes everything one big story. It's a thrill to watch the Legionnaires become adults, fall in love, fall out of love, lose their powers, and occasionally die.
And after? we can watch the Legionnaires become old,and die of old age? with you continuity Superman and Batman must have 90 years almost
It matters because their lives are REAL and four-dimensional.
"REAL" a characters that fly and have super powers?? If i want real things read a newspaper,not a super heroes comic book.In a real world an alien from a planet like Krypton would be totally different from humans,and maybe could not also survive on earth.Batman would be ended in lunatic asylum or would be died in his first adventure.In the real world kids not become superheroes sayng "SHAZAM"!
And ultimately, that's why continuity is important: superhero characters aren't, and shouldn't just be Archie Andrews in Riverdale who is always seventeen.
Why not? and,Clark Kent-Superman is 44 year old? If he have start is carrer in 1986 (Byrne "man of steel")at about 23 year he must have 44-45 years ,Lois too,Jimmy Olsen 38 years,Batman is about 48,and Hal Jordan...Oh boy,60?
So, Superheroes ARE like Archie Andrews who is always seventeen.This is why I find the fifties for Superman under Otto Binder so nauseating: there was never any real change in the character; it was back to the sitcom status quo always.
Yes,in fact now are soap opera characters.
Arguing that the 50s stories were "bad" takes them out of the context of their time. Here was a super hero that survived a comics purge and was barely over 10 years old. Most readers were still young and threw away their comics when they were finished with them. Tthe thought that readers would stay loyal for 20 years and remember incidences from a decade ago was far away. These stories were not without "oxygen", they were stories about a super guy from an alien planet who disguises himself and has a new adventure every month.
I agree totally.