quote:
Originally posted by ManofTheAtom:
That's as good a metaphor as any...

You just nailed the problem on the head. The whinners want to do things first but when they find out that someone beat them to it they make this claims that continuity is the work of the great Satan and that anyone that follows it is damned.
If they have a great story to tell and they can't do it because of continuity then, yeah, they're right. I mean, what kinda world is this where someone can't tell a good story because it doesn't respect continuity?! There's Elseworlds, but the problem with that is that they don't add anything to the character... unless we integrated, of course, but that's out of the question.

quote:
Originally posted by ManofTheAtom:
In my case, if I found myself in that situation (i.e. I want to do something and think I'm the first one to do it but find out that someone did it before me), I won't whine, I'll just accept it and use it.

If I can't do it first, then I'll just do what comes next...

To follow upon your metaphor, say I wanted to write about the first meeting between Hal Jordan and Clark Kent... damn, I can't do the 'first' meeting, Neil Gaiman already did that.
Actually, it wasn't the first meeting, if you're referring to Legend of the Green Flame. But let's suppouse it was.

quote:
Originally posted by ManofTheAtom:
What I can do?

I can do the SECOND meeting.
Ah, but what if it's VITAL to the story that it's the first meeting and not the second or the third? What if you woke up one night with the idea of how Superman's very first encounter with Green Lantern should be like burning in your head and it's absolutely brilliant?

quote:
Originally posted by ManofTheAtom:
What did Gaiman miss? What did he do, what didn't he do?

Hey, Gaiman wrote a great story but he missed the coolest part of them all... he didn't have Hal give his ring to Superman!!! I can do that, I can be the one that does the first in continuity story that shows Superman using Hal's ring, how cool is that?!?!

What else did Gaiman miss? He didn't show Carol and Lois meeting, he didn't show Hal and Clark compare power levels just for fun (these are the two most powerful members of the JLA!!).
Heh. That sounds awfully Silver Agey for someone that hates the Silver Age. Just an observation.

quote:
Originally posted by ManofTheAtom:
And so on and so forth, like every GOOD writer I'd find my own story to tell without whinning that someone else got to it before me, instead I'll study what that someone else did and try to do a follow up that picks up on what that someone missed AND add my own take on things...

That's the difference between a GOOD writer and a BAD one...
I thought it was the quality of the ideas and stories produced, not the way you can fit them in continuity.