After 86 Years, DC Comics Settles How Its Official Canon Actually Works

Summary Outsiders #9 explores the concept of canon and continuity in the DC Universe.

The issue delves into narrative rules and how they shape the universe, including the creation of Batman.

The debate between order and legacy vs. innovation and chaos is confronted, highlighting the ongoing discussion about canon and continuity.

Warning: contains spoilers for Outsiders #9!

“Canon” is an important concept in the DC Universe, and after 86 years, they are finally explaining how it works. DC’s new Outsiders book has taken readers on a metatextual journey through narrative and the nature of stories. Now, in a preview for Outsiders #9, the team turns their attention to the workings of fictional universes, leading to an epic revelation about how canon and continuity work.

DC shared a preview for Outsiders #9 with AIPT. The issue will be written by Jackson Lanzing and Collin Kelly and drawn by Robert Carey. The Drummer has brought the Outsiders to “the Lost City of Cannon,” which is represented by a giant gun. The Drummer tells the Outsiders their universe runs on “narrative” rules. Certain concepts, places and people echo repeatedly throughout creation. The City’s giant gun shows the potency of that symbol in history, namely in the creation of Batman.

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The team is attacked by hooded warriors as the preview draws to a close.

Continuity Has Been Important to Comics Since the Beginning

Various DC Comics Have Explored How These Concepts Work

As the superhero genre grew and flourished throughout the 1940s, writers and artists began bringing various characters together into one sprawling universe. As the field continued to progress into the 1960s, this continuity between titles and characters tightened even further. As the DC Universe developed more, it became subject to reboots and retcons, in events such as Crisis on Infinite Earths or Flashpoint, that would drastically alter its nature. An outgrowth of this development, as well as these retcons, is the ideas of “canon” and how continuity works. Outsiders have not shied away from these topics.

Over the years, other DC titles have taken a similar, meta-textual approach to canon and continuity. Grant Morrison’s Animal Man run famously took on the concept as the hero embarked on a psychedelic odyssey through the forgotten corners of the DC Universe. Animal Man would encounter characters whose history had been erased in events such as Crisis, who had been relegated to “Limbo.” A previous issue of Outsiders introduced a new version of Limbo, where characters currently not being used, such as Zauriel, could go. Outsiders were not the first to tackle this topic, nor will it be the last.

Outsiders Is Taking Fans Into the Heart of the DC Universe

Fans Will Learn What Makes the DC Universe Unique

The advanced solicitation for Outsiders #9 also revealed the existence of two cities: one built on order and legacy and the other on innovation and chaos. These two cities represent the sides in the ongoing canon/continuity debate. Some argue classic characters have drifted from their creators’ original intents, while others maintain these icons must change with the times. Outsiders #9 is confronting this debate head-on, and while it may not provide any definitive, final answers, it will still explore the interplay of canon and continuity in the DC Universe.

Source: AIPT

Outsiders #9 is on sale July 10 from DC Comics!