Remember those Saturday mornings glued to your comics? The worlds of superheroes felt so real, so consistent, right? Well, prepare for a bit of a reality check. We're about to dive into some of the biggest head-scratchers in comic book history, the kind of inconsistencies that might just make you see your favorite heroes in a slightly different light. Get ready to explore the tangled webs of retcons, reboots, and just plain forgotten plots that can make even the most die-hard fan scratch their head.
Want to explore more comic book secrets? Check out 50 Mind-Blowing Comic Book Secrets That Changed Everything We Thought We Knew article. You might also enjoy reading about 4 Comic Book Retcons That Quietly Erased Horrific Backstories.
Tangled Origins & Identity Crises
Sometimes, figuring out who a hero is becomes the biggest mystery. Origins get rewritten, identities shift, and suddenly, the character you thought you knew has a backstory more confusing than a Grant Morrison event.
1. Hawkman: The King of Confusion
Is he an ancient Egyptian prince or an alien cop? Honestly, with Hawkman, it's a little bit of everything, and that's the problem. Hawkman's history is perhaps the most legendary continuity snarl in comics. Originally, in the Golden Age, he was Carter Hall, an archaeologist who discovered he was the reincarnation of the Egyptian Prince Khufu. Simple enough, right? Then came the Silver Age reboot, and suddenly he was Katar Hol, a winged policeman from the planet Thanagar.
Fast forward to the Post-Crisis era, and attempts to merge these origins just made things messier. Was he Carter, Katar, both, or neither? For decades, even DC seemed unsure. Recent writers have tried to clean it up, suggesting Carter Hall's reincarnation spans planets, but it just highlights the decades of confusion. The sheer difficulty in making sense of a hero whose main skills are flying and hitting things with a mace is almost impressive.
2. Donna Troy (Wonder Girl): More Origins Than a Multiverse
Donna Troy's existence started as a simple Silver Age trope and spiraled into a continuity nightmare. Originally, "Wonder Girl" was just a name for stories featuring Wonder Woman as a teenager. But when comics started showing Wonder Woman, Wonder Girl, and even Wonder Tot together, things got confusing. Someone mistakenly started writing Wonder Girl as Wonder Woman's younger sister in the Teen Titans. To fix this, DC created a new origin: an orphaned baby (Donna) rescued and raised on Themyscira.
But then there were questions about Diana's age if Donna was growing up and getting married. Honestly, Donna's origin has been revised multiple times since, involving Titans of Myth, Dark Angel, and alternate timelines, making her one of DC's most notoriously convoluted characters, alongside Hawkman. Her origin confusion demonstrates how simple editorial errors or changing story needs can snowball into decades of complex and often unsatisfying retcons.
3. Power Girl: Not-So-Simple Cousin
Power Girl's identity crisis stems directly from editorial decisions affecting her famous cousin. Originally, she was Kara Zor-L, the Supergirl of Earth-Two. But Crisis on Infinite Earths eliminated the multiverse and made Superman the sole survivor of Krypton. To keep her around, writers retconned her into being the granddaughter of an Atlantean sorcerer, explaining her powers as magical. This change was unpopular and felt, well, forced, because it was a direct consequence of the "last son of Krypton" rule. Infinite Crisis later brought the multiverse back, restoring her Kryptonian origin, with the Atlantean past explained away as a lie or the universe trying to patch its own holes. And just to keep things interesting, the New 52 introduced another Earth-2 Supergirl who became Power Girl, leading to a period where two distinct Power Girls existed. Power Girl's fluctuating backstory shows how editorial mandates can ripple outwards, forcing awkward changes onto related characters that often need fixing later when the original rule is relaxed.
4. Wonder Woman: Born from Clay or... a Godly Affair?
One of DC's Trinity had her very essence rewritten during a major reboot, sparking huge debate. For decades, Wonder Woman's origin was unique: Queen Hippolyta, longing for a child, sculpted a baby from clay, and the Greek gods granted it life, creating Diana. Later versions added that various goddesses bestowed gifts upon her at birth. But the 2011 New 52 reboot drastically changed this. Diana was now the biological daughter of Hippolyta and Zeus, conceived during an affair. This made her a demigod, sure, easily explaining her powers, but it controversially altered Hippolyta's character and reimagined the Amazons as brutal warriors – a dark turn antithetical to Diana's traditional ideals.
Following the DC Rebirth initiative, which aimed to restore legacy elements, writers began shifting back towards the clay origin. Recent comics explicitly call the Zeus origin a "fable" or a "lie," restoring the "forged first of clay" narrative as primary canon, though DC's "everything is canon" approach leaves some ambiguity. This reversal highlights how controversial reboot changes, driven by a desire for a new tone, can face backlash and eventually be undone.
5. Lex Luthor: From Mad Scientist to Corporate Raider (and Back)
Superman's arch-nemesis has undergone a significant transformation, reflecting changing archetypes of villainy. In his earliest appearances, Lex Luthor was a quintessential mad scientist – brilliant, egomaniacal, often operating from hidden labs, creating elaborate devices and directly confronting Superman. But John Byrne's influential 1986 Man of Steel relaunch reimagined Luthor for the modern era. He became a ruthless, powerful, and publicly respected billionaire CEO of LexCorp. This Luthor operated more subtly, manipulating events and harboring deep resentment towards Superman, not just out of ego, but because the alien hero usurped his position as Metropolis's most powerful and admired figure.
This shift reflected 80s anxieties about corporate power and created a foe Superman couldn't simply punch. Some critics, however, felt this made him a "skinny Kingpin". Today's Luthor often blends these concepts. He's a tech genius and scientist who also wields immense corporate and political power. He still builds advanced technology, most notably his powerful Warsuit, which allows him to physically challenge Superman. This evolution shows how successful retcons become integrated, adapting the villain to remain a relevant and multi-faceted threat.
6. Brainiac: So, What Exactly Are You?
Is Superman's city-bottling foe a green-skinned alien, a cold calculating machine, or tied to Krypton's doom? His history is a tangled web of upgrades and origins. Brainiac debuted in 1958 as a green-skinned alien tyrant from the planet Bryak (later Yod, then Colu) who shrunk and bottled cities. A later retcon revealed this Brainiac was actually a robotic agent created by the Computer Tyrants of Colu. After Crisis on Infinite Earths, he became Vril Dox, a Coluan scientist whose consciousness was transferred into the body of a human psychic.
However, the highly influential Superman: The Animated Series introduced a new origin: Brainiac was a Kryptonian artificial intelligence who downplayed warnings of the planet's destruction to save itself, effectively causing Krypton's doom. While not in the core comics originally, this version became incredibly popular. In the 2008 Superman: Brainiac storyline, Geoff Johns attempted to reconcile the conflicting comic versions. He established that the original Vril Dox was a Coluan scientist who constantly upgraded himself, and the various Brainiacs Superman fought were just robotic probes. This clever retcon validated past stories while establishing a definitive "prime" version, though it didn't incorporate the popular Kryptonian AI angle from adaptations.
Brainiac's history shows how character concepts evolve, sometimes diverging significantly between comics and popular adaptations, requiring complex retcons to try and impose order.
7. The Joker: One Bad Day, Or Many Bad Memories?
Alan Moore and Brian Bolland's The Killing Joke (1988) offered a potential origin for Batman's greatest foe, but did it solve the mystery or just add another possibility? The story presents flashbacks depicting the man who would become Joker as a failed stand-up comedian struggling to support his pregnant wife. Desperate, he agrees to help criminals rob his former workplace.
On the day of the heist, he learns his wife died in an accident. Grief-stricken, he falls into a vat of chemicals during the robbery, transforming him into the Joker. This tragic origin provides a sympathetic angle but clashes with the Joker's traditionally ambiguous past. Many fans and creators prefer the idea that the Joker's origins are unknown or multiple-choice, enhancing his chaotic nature. The Joker himself, within The Killing Joke, admits his memory is unreliable.
While the story's impact on Barbara Gordon was canon for years, the Joker origin segment remains debated. Other media offer different origins too. The enduring debate around The Killing Joke's origin highlights a fundamental tension in storytelling: does defining a mysterious character add depth, or does it diminish their power? The story offers an origin, perhaps the most famous one, but its definitive status remains as elusive as the Joker himself.
Death is a Revolving Door - The Resurrection Conundrum
In comics, death is rarely the end. But sometimes, the ways characters cheat the grave are more baffling than the death itself, cheapening sacrifices and twisting timelines.
8. Jason Todd (Robin II/Red Hood): Death Was Just the Beginning
Jason Todd's death was a landmark event. His resurrection? A reality-altering headache. The second Robin, Jason Todd, had a rebellious streak. In the controversial 1988 storyline A Death in the Family, fans voted for his fate, and they chose death. The Joker brutally beat Jason and left him to die in a warehouse explosion. This became Batman's greatest failure, haunting him for years. But after years of being definitively dead, the Batman: Hush storyline (2003) teased his return. Though that was a shapeshifter, it paved the way. Soon after, Jason returned for real as the Red Hood, a violent anti-hero. He even adopted the Joker's original pre-transformation alias.
How did he come back? The initial explanation, revealed during Infinite Crisis (2005-2006), was notoriously convoluted: Superboy-Prime (more on him later), trapped outside reality, punched the walls of reality in frustration, causing temporal ripples that altered key events. One such alteration was that Jason didn't die in the explosion but merely woke up inside his coffin. He managed to claw his way out but was left amnesiac and brain-damaged. Talia al Ghul later found him and submerged him in a Lazarus Pit, which healed his body but warped his mind, fueling his rage and leading to his Red Hood persona. The "reality punch" explanation felt unsatisfyingly detached and overly cosmic for such a personal story, while the Lazarus Pit provided a more direct, albeit still supernatural, reason. Jason's resurrection exemplifies how major character deaths can be undone through universe-spanning events, potentially diminishing the original story's weight.
9. Bucky Barnes (Winter Soldier): From Deceased Sidekick to Cold War Assassin
For decades, Bucky Barnes was the ultimate symbol of wartime sacrifice in comics, one death that seemed truly permanent. Until it wasn't. Captain America's teenage sidekick, Bucky Barnes, was believed to have perished in an explosion near the end of World War II. His death was established retroactively in the 1960s and became a cornerstone of Captain America's tragic backstory. Marvel editorial reportedly forbade his revival for years.
In 2005, writer Ed Brubaker and artist Steve Epting began the "Winter Soldier" arc. It revealed Bucky hadn't died. He survived the explosion (losing an arm), was recovered by a Soviet submarine, and brainwashed by the KGB. Fitted with a bionic arm and programmed as an assassin, he became the Winter Soldier, carrying out covert missions for decades while being kept in cryogenic stasis between assignments. His past as Cap's sidekick was even retconned into being a cover for his true role as a young operative trained for wetwork. Captain America eventually confronted the Winter Soldier and used a Cosmic Cube to restore Bucky's lost memories. Bucky, grappling with his past, eventually took over the mantle of Captain America after Steve Rogers' apparent death. Later, he received enhanced longevity and physical abilities similar to Nick Fury.
Bucky's resurrection is often hailed as one of the best-executed retcons in modern comics, creating a compelling new character from a presumed-dead sidekick. However, it undeniably removed Cap's defining tragedy, the "Bucky-as-martyr" element that had shaped the character for over 40 years. It proves even the most "sacred" deaths can be undone with strong storytelling, but not without fundamentally altering the narrative landscape.
10. Jean Grey: The Phoenix and the Endless Loop of Death
Jean Grey's relationship with death and the Phoenix Force is so notorious, it's become a running gag among X-Men fans. At the climax of the iconic Dark Phoenix Saga (1980), Jean Grey, overwhelmed by the cosmic Phoenix Force, seemingly sacrificed herself on the Moon. This was a shocking and powerful ending. Years later (1986), it was revealed that the Jean Grey who died on the Moon wasn't Jean at all. It was the Phoenix Force itself, which had created a duplicate body and consciousness based on Jean. The real Jean had been in a healing cocoon by the Phoenix Force at the bottom of Jamaica Bay, where the Avengers and Fantastic Four eventually found her.
This retcon opened the floodgates. Jean Grey has died and returned multiple times since, almost always involving the Phoenix Force in some capacity. She died again, came back, became Phoenix again, died, was resurrected by the Phoenix, etc. Each death felt less permanent, turning one of comics' most impactful deaths into a recurring plot device. The X-Men movies further complicated this, killing her in X-Men: The Last Stand, having her alive in the altered future of Days of Future Past, then showing her transform/depart (ambiguously die?) again in Dark Phoenix, despite DoFP showing her alive and well years later in 2023. While the Phoenix Force provides a convenient in-universe explanation for her resurrections, its overuse has significantly diluted the stakes of her life and death struggles.
Retcon Reality - When Storylines Rewrote History
Beyond individual characters, sometimes entire universes get rewritten. Major events shake the foundations of continuity, erasing history, merging worlds, or justifying past mistakes in meta ways.
11. Spider-Man's Deal with the Devil: "One More Day"
Arguably one of the most controversial comic book stories ever published, One More Day (2007) used supernatural means to enact a major editorial mandate. In the aftermath of the Civil War event, Peter Parker had publicly revealed his identity as Spider-Man. This led to his Aunt May being shot, and Peter was desperate to save her. After exhausting all options, Peter was approached by Mephisto, the Marvel Universe's version of the Devil. Mephisto offered to save Aunt May's life, but the price wasn't Peter's soul, but something Mephisto considered more precious: Peter and Mary Jane Watson's marriage. Mephisto erased their marriage from history, and in the new timeline, they had never wed. As a bonus, Mephisto also magically made the world forget Peter Parker was Spider-Man, restoring his secret identity.
The erasure left fans demanding answers about how the history changed. The follow-up story, One Moment in Time, attempted to explain the new continuity. It revealed that Peter missed his wedding day due to his Spider-Man duties, and MJ decided they weren't ready. Later, Doctor Strange, Mr. Fantastic, and Iron Man supposedly helped cast a spell to erase Peter's identity from public knowledge (a different explanation than Mephisto doing it directly). Many found these explanations convoluted and unsatisfying, feeling like retroactive justifications for an unpopular decision.
One More Day remains infamous because it was driven by an editorial desire to return Spider-Man to a younger, single status quo. Using Mephisto felt like a deus ex machina to force this change, overriding years of character development and beloved stories. The backlash was immense, and Marvel has spent years dealing with the fallout, with recent storylines still exploring the repercussions or hinting at undoing the deal. It stands as a prime example of editorial fiat using supernatural plot devices to enforce a status quo change over organic storytelling.
12. Spider-Man's Illegitimate Goblin Babies: "Sins Past"
Another highly controversial Spider-Man retcon, Sins Past (2004-2005), drastically altered the history and memory of one of Peter Parker's most beloved figures. The storyline revealed that Peter's deceased girlfriend, Gwen Stacy, had a secret affair with Norman Osborn (the Green Goblin) shortly before her death. This affair resulted in twins, Sarah and Gabriel Stacy, whom Gwen gave birth to in secret in France. Due to Norman's Goblin Formula-enhanced blood, the twins aged rapidly, becoming adults in just a few years. Osborn raised them, telling them Peter Parker was their father and responsible for Gwen's death, setting them on a path of revenge against Spider-Man.
This retcon was almost universally reviled by fans. It tarnished the memory of Gwen Stacy, portraying her as having an affair with Peter's arch-nemesis. The timeline also seemed implausible – when could this affair and pregnancy have possibly occurred without Peter knowing? The entire concept felt out of character and deeply disturbing.
Adding fuel to the fire, writer J. Michael Straczynski later revealed his original pitch was for the twins to be Peter's children with Gwen, whom Norman had kidnapped or hidden. However, Marvel Editor-in-Chief Joe Quesada reportedly vetoed this, fearing that giving Peter children would "age" him too much (similar reasoning as One More Day), and insisted they be Norman's children instead.
The story remained canon for over 15 years, much to fans' chagrin. Finally, during Nick Spencer's run on Amazing Spider-Man (around 2021), Sins Past was retconned out of existence. The new explanation was incredibly complex: Gabriel and Sarah were never Gwen's children but rather clones created by a resurrected Harry Osborn (or an AI construct of him) and Mysterio, using spliced DNA from Norman and Gwen. This was part of an elaborate posthumous plan involving hypnosis, memory implants, and even Mephisto's influence, all designed to torture both Peter and Norman. Sins Past demonstrates how editorial decisions, particularly those driven by fear of "aging" characters, can lead to character-damaging and unpopular storylines. The convoluted nature of its eventual erasure also shows how difficult it can be to cleanly undo controversial retcons without creating even more narrative baggage.
13. The Spider-Man "Clone Saga": Who's the Real Spidey Anyway?
What started as a callback to a 1970s story morphed into one of the most infamous, protracted, and confusing periods in Spider-Man history. In 1994, Marvel revived the idea of Peter Parker's clone, created by his college professor Miles Warren (The Jackal). This clone, who had seemingly died years earlier, returned, calling himself Ben Reilly. This immediately raised the question: after all these years, was Peter the original, or was Ben?
Intended as a relatively short storyline, the Clone Saga proved popular initially, leading Marvel editorial to extend it indefinitely across multiple Spider-Man titles. The central mystery dragged on for years (1994-1996). New clones and related characters were constantly introduced, plot threads were started and dropped, and the narrative became increasingly convoluted and directionless.
In a major shake-up, tests "proved" that Peter Parker was actually the clone, and Ben Reilly was the original Peter Parker. Ben took over the role of Spider-Man, while Peter retired to focus on his life with Mary Jane, who was pregnant at the time. Fan reaction to Peter being the clone was largely negative. Eventually, Marvel reversed course again. It was revealed that the tests were faked and the entire saga had been manipulated by a resurrected Norman Osborn, the original Green Goblin. Peter was confirmed as the original Spider-Man all along. Ben Reilly, revealed definitively as the clone, died heroically saving Peter (though, like most comic characters, he eventually returned years later).
The Clone Saga is often cited as a prime example of editorial mismanagement driven by sales figures. Stretching a core mystery for years led to reader fatigue, nonsensical plots, and damage to the main character. It remains a cautionary tale about letting storylines spiral out of control.
14. Hal Jordan's Fall From Grace: Possession or Just Plain Mad?
Hal Jordan, the Silver Age Green Lantern, was one of DC's most stalwart heroes. His transformation into the villain Parallax was shocking, and the explanation remains debated. In "Emerald Twilight" (1994), following the destruction of his home, Coast City, and its seven million inhabitants, Hal was consumed by grief and rage. When the Guardians of the Universe refused to let him use his ring to restore the city, Hal snapped. He flew to Oa, cutting a swath through the Green Lantern Corps, defeating numerous Lanterns, and seemingly killing Kilowog and Sinestro. He entered the Central Power Battery, absorbed its energy, and emerged as the immensely powerful villain Parallax.
As Parallax, Hal attempted to rewrite reality during the Zero Hour: Crisis in Time! event (1994) to "fix" the universe's tragedies. Later, during The Final Night (1996), he seemingly redeemed himself by sacrificing his life to reignite Earth's dying sun. He subsequently served a penance period as the host for The Spectre.
Writer Geoff Johns, a noted Hal Jordan fan, orchestrated Hal's full return as a Green Lantern in Green Lantern: Rebirth (2004-2005). This involved a major retcon: Hal hadn't simply gone mad with grief. He had been unknowingly targeted and gradually corrupted by Parallax, the ancient cosmic entity embodying fear, imprisoned within the Central Power Battery. When Hal absorbed the Battery's energy, he also absorbed the fear entity, which amplified his grief and drove his villainous actions.
This retcon provided an in-universe explanation for why a hero like Hal would commit such atrocities, making his return more palatable for some fans. However, others argue it undermines his agency during his fall and cheapens his sacrifice and redemption arc. If he was possessed, were his actions truly his? Did his redemption as the Spectre still hold the same weight? The Parallax retcon remains a key example of using external influence to redeem a fallen hero, sparking ongoing discussion about character responsibility versus narrative convenience.
15. Superboy-Prime Punches History Apart: The Ultimate Retcon Machine
Perhaps the most meta retcon in comic history, Infinite Crisis (2005-2006) used one character's actions to explain away decades of real-world continuity errors. Superboy-Prime hailed from Earth-Prime, essentially "our" Earth where superheroes only existed in comics. He was the sole survivor of his universe after the original Crisis on Infinite Earths (1985) and went to live in a "paradise dimension".
Growing increasingly disillusioned with the darker, more violent trajectory of the main DC Universe heroes, Superboy-Prime became convinced their reality was flawed and needed fixing. Alongside Alexander Luthor Jr., he broke out of their dimension. In a pivotal moment, frustrated and enraged, Superboy-Prime literally punched the crystalline barrier of reality. These reality-shattering punches didn't just break the dimensional wall; they sent ripples backward and forward through time and across parallel timelines.
DC Comics used this in-universe event as the official explanation for numerous real-world retcons, continuity errors, character changes, and inconsistencies that had accumulated since the original Crisis. Jason Todd's resurrection? Power Girl's shifting origins? Hawkman's tangled past? Donna Troy's multiple backstories? All attributed, at least partially, to Superboy-Prime punching reality.
Conclusion: Why We (Still) Love the Mess
So, there you have it. A whirlwind tour through decades of tangled timelines, resurrected heroes, rewritten origins, and plots that just… stopped. From Hawkman's identity crisis to Spider-Man's deals with devils and clones, from Jean Grey's revolving door of death to Superboy-Prime literally punching continuity into shape, the history of comics is a beautiful, chaotic mess.
Did reading this ruin your childhood? Maybe a little. It's hard not to feel a pang of nostalgic betrayal when you realize Superman didn't always fly, or that Gwen Stacy's tragic purity was (briefly, terribly) retconned, or that your favorite X-Men movie makes no chronological sense.
But here's the thing: these "plot holes" are also part of the weird, wonderful tapestry of serialized superhero storytelling. They're born from changing creative teams, shifting editorial mandates, blockbuster movie adaptations influencing the source material, and the sheer ambition of trying to maintain decades of interconnected stories. The debates they spark, the fan theories they generate ("Maybe Sabretooth got amnesia?"), the way later writers try to fix or explain away the mistakes of the past – it's all part of the ongoing conversation.
In a strange way, the fact that we notice these inconsistencies, that we care enough to argue about whether Wonder Woman was made from clay or Zeus, is a testament to how much these characters and their worlds mean to us. The continuity might be fractured, the logic occasionally questionable, but the imagination, the heroism, and the sheer, unadulterated fun of these universes endure. So maybe your childhood isn't ruined, just… retconned. And isn't that the most comic book thing of all?
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