Sir Al and the Green Knight

This weekend we travelled back in time by visiting the Texas Renaissance Festival. Although, the farther back in time we go, the more we bring with us. Overall, we had a really nice time wandering the fair grounds. It was Pirate Adventure weekend, where we realized that most people no longer understand the original meaning of “pirate booty”.

Fox is developing a new TV series based on Marvel’s The Punisher, but instead of Frank Castle being a grizzled ex-cop who’s family was killed by mobsters, leading Castle to go after all criminals in a no-holds-barred form of murderous justice, he’s a “rising-star detective … who moonlights as a vigilante, seeking justice for those the courts have failed.” The premise sounds like a pitch for a show, especially in a market where police procedurals have been very successful, but this is not The Punisher.

Just as people are confused about their pirate booty, we at Ret-Conned HQ have noticed an increased confusion in the difference between a “fresh take” and “a completely different character”. Especially in the case The New 52, there are lots of instances of taking a new concept or character and slapping an old character’s name on it. Taking Superman and removing some of his humanity by having Ma and Pa Kent die early in his life is a fresh take on Superman. However, there are several characters in The New 52 who are radically different from their previous versions and in some cases, like Grifter and Voodoo, are so utterly different that they share nothing but the name. We feel this is actually a detriment to the character as we think the shared name creates some fall assumptions on the part of the reader, which would negatively impact the reader’s perception of this new character.