The Characters Keep Growing Whether You're There Or Not

This is another thought I had in relation to the Huston/Baker Deadpool story*. If I'm right, and the White Caption Box is meant to represent Charlie Huston (or some random writer), then his helplessness in the story is kind of interesting. He's supposed to be writing the story, but he can't control it.

He tries to ask Deadpool about how he feels, and whether he can get through a story without killing people**, and Deadpool wants to know why he'd do that. He starts doing flashbacks to moments of emotional distress and pain for Deadpool, and 'Pool shuts that down cold. He's not going down that path, no way. Wade steals a couple's limo, over the writer's objections. He embarks on his "kill all Deadpool fans" plan over similar concerns. In short, Deadpool does as he pleases, and the author is simply along for the ride.

But that's common in some ways for characters that are part of a shared universe. A writer creates a character, maybe just to fill a gap in a story, maybe with a greater purpose in mind. Maybe they finish what they had planned with it, maybe they get taken off the book before they get the chance. Either way, some other writer eventually comes along, picks up the character, dusts them off, and uses them. Maybe they add something to the character, or maybe they retool them so completely if it weren't for the name you'd never realize it was the same character. It might be something the creator didn't intend, or doesn't approve of, but they can't do much about it. In some ways, the character has grown beyond them, gotten larger than them, or at the very least, moved beyond their ability to control.

Take the Question. Steve Ditko created him, correct? I haven't read any of Ditko's Question work, but as I understand it, the Dennis O'Neil/Denys Cowan Question doesn't bear much resemblance in methods, philosophy, characterization, and so on. Likewise, the Justice League Unlimited version of the Question is, to me, a bit more unhinged, and less sociable than the O'Neil/Cowan version***. I haven't read much of Renee Montoya Question, so I can't speak to how she compares to the others, but I'd guess she's different from the other three in her own ways as well. They all use the same costumed identity, and the same sort of look (well, the faceless mask, anyway, and the guys seem fond of trenchcoats), but they aren't really terribly similar. And I imagine there'll be another Question someday, if not a new person in the identity, at least they'll be different somehow, probably owing to the writer's personal interests or philosophy.

You could probably make a similar thing with Deadpool, make a chart comparing Joe Kelly Deadpool to the Nicieza, Way, Simone, Priest, etc., versions, and each would probably be at least a little different. Different sense of humor, different way of dealing with friends, enemies, different foibles, and so on. Nicieza and Rob Liefeld created Deadpool, but the character hasn't remained the same as he was. Nicieza did some work with him, but other writers did their own things, and those don't always jibe with each other. That seems to be something writers working in the corporate owned universes have to accept, that once they introduce the character, it's entirely likely that other writers will take said character in directions they never intended, and there won't be much they can do about it. If they get another chance to write their character, they can always take the time to undo things they didn't like, or just ignore them, but then there's the fans to worry about.

There may be fans of the creator's version of the character, but that other writer may have attracted fans with their version as well, and so the creator may simply have to go with the fans (or editorial demands) against their wishes or better judgment. The character moves on, with or without them.

* Actually, I might have originally been thinking about it as part of a really massive story I've been thinking about writing on the blog. The timeline is kind of confused in my mind.

** I'm reasonably sure I've read several Deadpool comics where he didn't kill anyone.

*** Though he shows a dry sarcasm that seems similar to the O'Neil/Cowan version. JLU version is less angry, better at maintaining detachment.