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Greg Kirkman
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Posted: 12 December 2018 at 10:36pm | IP Logged | 1 post reply

Brian speaks the truth, as he often does. 

This is the great danger of recklessly writing characters off-model: the off-model versions can become the default versions of characters for entire generations of audiences. 

In recent years, I’ve seen so very many lame defenses for writing characters horribly off-model: “People change.” “It’s more realistic.” “We need to shake things up.” And so on and so forth. What they really tend to boil down to is ego, incompetence, negligence, willful vandalism, or some combination thereof.

Me, I’ve come to the conclusion that the best writing is that which adheres to the established, y’know, characteristics of a character. Where the core—the beating heart—of a good character is still recognizable even across numerous decades and changing tastes of both audiences and creators. The sort of writing where characters almost “write themselves”. Stan Lee had this experience on FANTASTIC FOUR. And, as I’ve recently noted elsewhere, the writers and actors of BREAKING BAD and BETTER CALL SAUL have pointed out that they are so deeply immersed in the characters that they’ve abandoned numerous interesting potential plotlines because they would require the characters to act and/or think out of character. Characters come before plot.

And that’s the real trick, I think. Strongly-defined characters have something there for writers to latch onto. A specific set of traits which define them, and dictate what they would say or do in virtually any situation. These stories are all fictional, of course, and so the writer has complete control over what happens. Good writing is what happens when a writer understands a character enough to create a picture of them which is logically consistent with their past behavior. Bad writing is when a character is pushed down a path because the writer wants to tell a specific story, or because they simply don’t understand a character.

Cyclops is an example of a great character who has been mishandled to the point of unrecognizablity. He used to be the shining star of the X-Men. The brooding leader. The master tactician. The Riker to Xavier’s Picard, who represented Xavier’s dream in the outside world. The man who won Jean’s heart, and loved her more than his own life.

The list in Andrew’s initial post is almost laughable, really. Completely alien to the character created by Lee and Kirby, and expanded upon by later creative teams (including our host, of course).


Edited by Greg Kirkman on 13 December 2018 at 10:18am
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Joe Zhang
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Posted: 13 December 2018 at 5:01am | IP Logged | 2 post reply

It's hard to believe that I haven't followed the X-Men as a regular reader since 1991 or '92. Reading Andrew's summary of Cyclops' story, I am reminded why.  
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Joe Zhang
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Posted: 13 December 2018 at 5:04am | IP Logged | 3 post reply

And it's strange ... the one X-Men who should have quit for good or cause incredible strife has always been Wolverine. Not the "straight man" of the team. 
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Andrew Bitner
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Posted: 13 December 2018 at 8:04am | IP Logged | 4 post reply

Great posts, guys. And I like yours especially, Greg. Scott Summers is a heroic figure. He's the FIRST X-Man, the truest believer in Xavier's dream, and he's been twisted out of shape for decades now.

He isn't a dick. He isn't the kind of guy who'd leave his wife and son to pursue a resurrected old flame. And he isn't the kind of guy who'd murder his surrogate father.

Inventing a rationale for *why* is fan-think. If I were writing the actual book, I'd ignore all the crap in his past and focus on making him the best version of himself. Not trying to make him cool, not trying to make him badass, not trying to make him Wolverine Lite. Making him the best Cyclops he can be is the object. I just hope the current X-writers want to do that, because that would make me want to read the books again.
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Steve De Young
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Posted: 13 December 2018 at 9:44am | IP Logged | 5 post reply

Claremont has begun a recovery operation.  In recently published material, he has apparently retconned Scott abandoning his wife and son for revived Jean.  And since that domino is connected to a lot of the others, I have a feeling that within a couple of years, Cyclops' canon history will be very different than what the OP outlined.
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Brian Miller
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Posted: 13 December 2018 at 9:46am | IP Logged | 6 post reply

In recently published material, he has apparently retconned Scott abandoning his wife and son for revived Jean.

************

How do you retcon that?!?
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John Byrne
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Posted: 13 December 2018 at 9:51am | IP Logged | 7 post reply

This is one of the hurdles that will be faced by ELSEWHEN, should it become a real series. Too many "fans" who want everything carved in stone -- at least, everything that was in place when they started reading. So, Scott the louse, Magneto the saint, etc.
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Greg Kirkman
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Posted: 13 December 2018 at 10:21am | IP Logged | 8 post reply

Great posts, guys. And I like yours especially, Greg. Scott Summers is a heroic figure. He's the FIRST X-Man, the truest believer in Xavier's dream, and he's been twisted out of shape for decades now.
+++++++

Yeah, Scott should be presented as the heir apparent to Xavier and his dream. The guy who would take over if and when Xavier died.

Not the guy who would friggin’ kill Xavier! Yeesh!
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Greg Kirkman
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Posted: 13 December 2018 at 10:27am | IP Logged | 9 post reply

This is one of the hurdles that will be faced by ELSEWHEN, should it become a real series. Too many "fans" who want everything carved in stone -- at least, everything that was in place when they started reading. So, Scott the louse, Magneto the saint, etc.
+++++—-

There’s a feedback loop, here. When characters are written off-model, those versions are embraced by the fanboys—the lunatic fringe, the ones who keep scorecards, stick around far too long, and focus on the wrong things. These types of fans have too often ascended to creative control of the books themselves, and so exacerbate the problems and serve as gatekeepers.

This makes it very hard for mistakes and bad stories to be easily forgotten or retconned away. A few dents and scrapes on a car can be repaired or ignored. Willfully and defiantly driving the car off of a bridge can’t.
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Andrew Bitner
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Posted: 13 December 2018 at 10:32am | IP Logged | 10 post reply

Both good points. Scott *should* be Xavier's natural heir and eventual replacement. And fans who digest bad or twisted interpretations of characters are bound to perpetuate them, especially if they become creators themselves.

As noted, that makes it harder to escape certain "truths" about characters that are viciously untrue but persist anyway.
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Andrew Bitner
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Posted: 13 December 2018 at 10:34am | IP Logged | 11 post reply

How the heck are they going to retcon Scott leaving Maddie and the baby for Jean? "Oh wow, I guess I wasn't really married OR a father at the time so we're all good now." Or maybe Mephisto offers him a deal.
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Andrew Bitner
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Posted: 13 December 2018 at 10:35am | IP Logged | 12 post reply

JB, if anyone can overcome the hurdles posed by fanthink in establishing ELSEWHEN, I have no doubt that it'd be you.
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