Retcon vs Recon - What's the difference?
retcon | recon |
A situation, in a soap opera or similar serial fiction, in which a new storyline explains or changes a previous event or attaches a new significance to it.
* 2003 . Glen Cadigan, The Legion Companion , p. 152:
*:TLC: What do you say to the Legion fans who have become disenfranchised with the series due to its various retcons and reboots?
* 2005 . Rhonda Wilcox, Why Buffy Matters: The Art of Buffy the Vampire Slayer , p. 9:
*:Fans talk of retcon —retroactive continuity—giving information that explains an earlier event, especially seeming plot contradictions or lacunae.
* 2006 . Glenn Yeffeth, ed., The Man from Krypton: A Closer Look at Superman , p. 155:
*:It's a little trick called retcon , short for "retroactive continuity," ...
*:Yet I'm unsure even Millar is fully aware of the power given him by the retcon .
To employ such a device.
* 2003 . Jean-Marc Lofficier, The Nth Doctor , p. 5:
*:While ‘retconning' the scripts, I came up with a number of theories that throw new light on the Doctor, his past, and various other elements...
* 2004 . Eric Nolen-Weathington, Modern Masters Volume 3: Bruce Timm , p.79:
*:A lot of people were like, "Oh, they just retconned their own continuity. They should have used Kyle. I don't like that." So we just threw Kyle in there to say, "No, no, Kyle's still there. He still exists in the animated universe; he's just not stationed on Earth at the moment, regularly."
* 2006 . Len Wein, ed., The Unauthorized X-Men: SF and Comic Writers on Mutants, Prejudice, and Adamantium 92:
*:Retroactive continuity (aka retconning ), would reveal that Quicksilver and Scarlet Witch are also Magneto's children, showing that this was a guy who was really committed to his cause
* 2006 . Michael Eury, Daniel (CON) Best, Glen (CON) Cadigan, Mike (CON) Esposito, David (CON) Mandel, The Krypton Companion , p. 157:
*:Luthor appeared a handful of times, Gary "retconned " the Toyman and created Terra-Man, and Superman would get a worthy opponent whenever Len Wein did a fill-in.
(chiefly, US, military slang) reconnoiter.