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Gregory Friedman
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Joined: 25 April 2013
Posts: 249
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| Posted: 19 May 2013 at 4:27pm | IP Logged | 1
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How many characters have had this retcon revelation?
HULK: came to full flower under Peter David, but I believe the idea (and/or the pre-existing MPD) was there before PAD came along.
FLASH: I'm not sure, but wasn't that a part of the "Flashpoint" xover that lead into the new52? I don't know if it's still part of his origin.
CAPTAIN AMERICA: I think I heard through the grapevine that in the latest relaunch Cap's father was a drunk Irishmen who would beat the wife now and again.
TWO FACE: learned that from the latest commission thread.
Anybody else had this idea tacked onto their origin? I think some super-vllains have had that retcon tacked on also.
I really don't care for it too much; all though I think PAD handled it reasonably well with Hulk. I think it's lazy and truly cliched writing. But it also bugs me because it's seeming incessant usage always remind me that the trope illustrates how most people don't conceive of the concept of an abusive mother. It's always the man who is the bad guy in a marriage. Almost by definition.
An abusive father of course happens, but in no greater proportion than the non-physical (or physical) abuse that come in different forms from a mother; with the father and children being basically innocent victims.
Not that I'm dying to see mother abuse tacked on left and right. I think maybe Rorsach is the only prominent example of mother abuse I can think of in comics. But that abuse (her being a hooker) was actually a pretty extreme example.
Edited by gregory friedman on 19 May 2013 at 4:57pm
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Matt Hawes
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Joined: 16 April 2004
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| Posted: 19 May 2013 at 4:32pm | IP Logged | 2
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With The Incredible Hulk, I think it was Bill Mantlo that first wrote that history into Bruce Banner's backstory. Peter David just took the idea and ran with it.
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Peter Martin
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Joined: 17 March 2008
Location: Canada
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| Posted: 19 May 2013 at 8:03pm | IP Logged | 3
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Zeus?
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Kevin Brown
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Joined: 31 May 2005
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| Posted: 19 May 2013 at 8:07pm | IP Logged | 4
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Zeus was always portrayed as bad father. He was great at getting mortal women pregnant, not so great in sticking around or raising the child.
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Glen Keith
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Joined: 04 July 2010
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| Posted: 19 May 2013 at 8:40pm | IP Logged | 5
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Barry Windsor-Smith has been claiming that Mantlo got the idea for Banner's abusive father from a rejected Hulk comic he had submitted. Mantlo claims otherwise. Either way, whilst I have no issue with Banner being an abused child (and perhaps having suppressed rage issues from that), I never cared for the MPD story that sprang forth from it. Seems a little too convenient that the guy who can transform into a big, green rage monster just so happened to have multiple personalities prior to that.
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Glen Keith
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| Posted: 19 May 2013 at 8:42pm | IP Logged | 6
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Zeus may have been a deadbeat dad and a serial cheater, but his father, Cronus, was the abusive father in the Olympian family tree.
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Gregory Friedman
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Joined: 25 April 2013
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| Posted: 19 May 2013 at 9:25pm | IP Logged | 7
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Y'know, I could forgive Hera if she were out to kill Zeus instead of Herc. That crew would make one hecukva good episode of Maury: Paternity test edition.
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Jason Czeskleba
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| Posted: 19 May 2013 at 11:29pm | IP Logged | 8
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Glen Keith wrote:
| Barry Windsor-Smith has been claiming that Mantlo got the idea for Banner's abusive father from a rejected Hulk comic he had submitted. |
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Shooter confirms Barry Smith's story, only it wasn't a rejected Hulk comic that Mantlo took the idea from. It was a graphic novel project that had been greenlit and that Smith was in the process of working on. Photocopies of Smith's uninked pencils were in the Marvel offices and Mantlo apparently saw them and stole the idea. According to Shooter, Mantlo had some problems with plagiarism over the years.
Edited by Jason Czeskleba on 19 May 2013 at 11:33pm
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Greg McPhee
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| Posted: 20 May 2013 at 4:34am | IP Logged | 9
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FLASH: I'm not sure, but wasn't that a part of the "Flashpoint" xover that lead into the new52? I don't know if it's still part of his origin.
CAPTAIN AMERICA: I think I heard through the grapevine that in the latest relaunch Cap's father was a drunk Irishmen who would beat the wife now and again.
==================================================== The Flash revelation came from Flash: Rebirth. Prior to this Henry Allen was a decent all round guy. The first instance I remember of Steve Roger's father being mentioned as an alcoholic was during Denny O'Neil's run in "Iron Man # 172". The abusive aspect is something that Rick Remender has added.
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Peter Martin
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| Posted: 20 May 2013 at 7:47am | IP Logged | 10
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Zeus may have been a deadbeat dad and a serial cheater, but his father, Cronus, was the abusive father in the Olympian family tree.----------------------------------- That was my point*: a cult of worship would have built up around Zeus. Eventually it would have replaced the worship of Cronus. Then the myth gets created of how Zeus overthrew his evil father. Hence a retcon of an abusive father.
*Although Cronus is Zeus' dad, does he make into the Olympian family tree, being a titan?
Edited by Peter Martin on 20 May 2013 at 7:49am
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Michael Roberts
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| Posted: 20 May 2013 at 10:03am | IP Logged | 11
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The Flash revelation came from Flash: Rebirth. Prior to this Henry Allen was a decent all round guy. ------
Henry Allen wasn't retconned into an abusive father. He was turned into Richard Kimble, a man wrongfully accused of murdering his wife.
Wally West had the abusive father retconned into his backstory.
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Carmen Bernardo
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| Posted: 20 May 2013 at 5:43pm | IP Logged | 12
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I agree that this is a trope that's gone a little over the top. I recall seeing one of these books that Alex Roth illustrated 10 or so years back which seemed to hint at Batman having been beaten badly as a child (one panel showed him with his shirt off, and it looked like he'd been flogged by the Romans). Perhaps my memory's fautly, but if it isn't, it's a sad note to see this just be added to the trope that Batman is "a little crazy" to be waging a violent battle against criminals. That child abuse is a bad thing needs no more superheroes sporting such an experience in their past like it were a badge of honor. We've heard of worse mass murderers who were basically coddled as kids.
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