This allows us to see the ways in which the universe was expanded, sometimes carefully, often times not. We get to see undeveloped themes and the earliest examples of new themes.
Like an evolutionary biologist studying our small, brown furred burrowing human ancestors, we get a look at the way things were without the baggage of the way things are.
In a series of posts I hope to look at Marvel Comics the same way.
The "Marvel Universe" is the place where all the various superheroes and villains of Marvel Comics live, die, come back to life and have adventures. The Marvel Universe is, at its core, a concept invented by Stan Lee, Jack Kirby, Steve Ditko and other comic legends as a way to sell more comics.
If you love the Fantastic Four, did you know that their pal Spider-Man lives in the same world?
A shared continuity does more than just sell more comics, though, it allows creators to share ideas and concepts, building on the best of the past while creating startling new stories.
Today Marvel's continuity is often seen by the current crop of creators as a limitation, and is, as often as not, ignored.
Weirdly, I'm fine with that. It's the job of comics creators to produce good stories.
It's the job of obsessive nutcase fans to be concern themselves with continuity.
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