Is continuity still in marvel universe?

[Amazing Ishmael]

I am just back reading marvel comics after a 20yrs pause, and i am enjoying some now! titles...

I am very confused about continuity. How can storm be quietly at the school doing nothing on all new x-men, while appearing in herpunk look on uncanny x-force title.

Similarly, i am not reading the new avengers title. I just can figure out how mr richards can be lost in a different universe in FF and still appearon earth in another book.

Not to mention wolverine, he is everywhere. Or spiderman, who undergoes all these chamges but still find the time tripping to mars to watch captain universe pat the badguys on their butts?

So, is continuity gone? Sorry if this is a newbie post, but any comment would be helpful! Thanks!

[infinitEEntropy]

Here we go. You've just opened the flood gates.

[CJStriker]

I would say it still is in a way, but can be confusing. I just got back into comics the past 2 years as well. What it seems to be is that all of the books, especially that ones that have a shared character, they take place during different times.

Can't give a hard example, but it is like a books that have storm. She is in book A, B and C and all are out at the the same time. Book B and C take place at a later time in the marvel timeline, can only be a few days difference, while A happens the earliest. So something like that, can get confusing thought, but it is the best way I can put it.

[Joe Acro]

I am just back reading marvel comics after a 20yrs pause, and i am enjoying some now! titles...

I am very confused about continuity. How can storm be quietly at the school doing nothing on all new x-men, while appearing in herpunk look on uncanny x-force title.

I can't really answer that one yet. But it could be that Uncanny X-Force (and X-Men, where she also seems to have the same look) are set after current events in All New X-Men.

Similarly, i am not reading the new avengers title. I just can figure out how mr richards can be lost in a different universe in FF and still appearon earth in another book.

I suppose New Avengers happens before Fantastic Four. It's not outright stated, but kinda has to be the case.

Not to mention wolverine, he is everywhere. Or spiderman, who undergoes all these chamges but still find the time tripping to mars to watch captain universe pat the badguys on their butts?

Wolverine and Spider-Man are their own separate thing. Even 20 years ago, they were appearing multiple places at once.

So, is continuity gone?

It's not gone. For example, Daredevil and Journey Into Mystery both have referenced the recent change in Spider-Man. It's not said where Spider-Man's appearances slot into the story of his own title, but the continuity is still there. For a specific sequence of events (what comes before what), that's usually contained to family titles. (For example, we know the opening arc of New Avengers comes before the opening arc of Avengers.)

[Personamanx]

It's there as much as there ever can be. Really it's only an issue when you over think it. Characters are doing multiple things in multiple comics each month and sometimes it's not exactly clear how things fit in terms of a concrete timeline.

How can Storm be lying around the mansion while in the same month kicking ass in X-Force? Weekdays and Weekends. Oh, and she's fictional.

[PupsOfWar]

Don't worry about it, bro

[Centipede Damascus]

Questions like this remind me of a two part story that Jason Aaron did in Wolverine called "A Day in The Life" (Wolverine vol. 3, #73-74) that shows Wolverine going through a week where one day he's on the Avengers, then doing something with X-Force the next day, with the X-Men another, and so on and so forth.

You say you used to read comics 20 years ago. Do you remember when there were three different Spider-Man solo books? Spectacular Spider-Man, Amazing Spider-Man, and Web of Spider-Man were all happening at the same time. If you ask me, that's a lot harder to reconcile than whether New Avengers happens before or after the current Fantastic Four storyline.

[Amazing Ishmael]

Thanks for your replies, it was interesting to read how others see this.

I totally agree with weekdays-weekends philosophy, as soon as it goes with character consistency. Reading comics is about having fun, and sure I was used to get a lot of fun from continuity. I would separate continuity with suspension of disbelief. Three spiderman books are all right, as soon as it is the same character on them, as soon as if something big happens it happens in cross-over mode, or it is reflected in all the titles so that I have *one* character. From this point of view, Wolverine on Mars, then fighting the Imperial Guard, then running after Cyclops in NY, etc etc I am all right with this, because he acts like the same Wolverine. (By the way, nowadays he looks like a puppet with claws. They should do something for him.) Storm the goddess of the house and Storm the punk-kickass, I cope less with that, but maybe they will join the dots next month.

Anyway, I am probably wrong not reading what seems a fun title like new avengers because having richards in another universe on his main title... or not? :)

[XPac]

Just because titles are published in a certain order doesn't mean they happen at the same time.

Avengers and New Avengers for example.... the events of New Avengers 1 and 2 occur before Avengers 1, but they were published afterwards. There is continuity there, but that continuity isn't reflected in the publication schedule as the books are actually published out of order in that regard. But afterwards you can connect the pieces pretty well.

There are points where books eventually do have to catch up to each other... company wide events for example. But books published the same month with the same character often aren't happening at the same time. Sometimes you can't arrange the pieces until after the fact.

[Voss]

If you read the Captain America solo, you would be even more confused as 1 year has past from issue 1 to 2. The worst thing you can do is get bogged down in continuity. I know it's tempting but don't do it. As long as something isn't absurdly different just take it for what it is.

[USERNAME TAKEN]

It's tough no doubt but its always been like this. Especially with solo characters on team books.

As posters have pointed out above, there was a time Spider-man had a glut of titles and he appeared in all of them at the same time.

It's just the way it goes.

[DrGregatron]

So the most succinct answer to Ishmael's original question is "No!"

[YouthofToday]

If you read the Captain America solo, you would be even more confused as 1 year has past from issue 1 to 2. The worst thing you can do is get bogged down in continuity. I know it's tempting but don't do it. As long as something isn't absurdly different just take it for what it is.

I'm guessing something will get explained that time moves at a different speed in Dimension Z.

[EXCELSIOR 2.0]

Avengers referenced Grant Morrisons New X-Men, so yes.

[1derer]

Just because titles are published in a certain order doesn't mean they happen at the same time.

Avengers and New Avengers for example.... the events of New Avengers 1 and 2 occur before Avengers 1, but they were published afterwards. There is continuity there, but that continuity isn't reflected in the publication schedule as the books are actually published out of order in that regard. But afterwards you can connect the pieces pretty well.

There are points where books eventually do have to catch up to each other... company wide events for example. But books published the same month with the same character often aren't happening at the same time. Sometimes you can't arrange the pieces until after the fact.

Avengers and New Avengers are definitely a great example. Avengers #1 occurs after New Avengers #1, 2, and 3.

With Uncanny X-Force, it starts by telling us that Psylocke has been gone for several months, and so we can infer that it takes place sometime in the future. In WaTXM, Storm has only just had her hair cut, so UXF takes place significantly later than the current WaTXM issues.

Marvel's current continuity is generally "okay", but they don't spell it out with constant editorial notes like they used to.