Author's Saving Throw: Difference between revisions
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* The return of [[X-Men|Jean Grey]] in the '80s where it was revealed that the Phoenix (and thus Evil Planet Killing Dark Phoenix) was not Jean Grey at all. This like the [[Green Lantern (Comic Book)|Green Lantern]] example below (which it clearly inspired) was not done by the same author but the co-plotter of the original saga was involved<ref>It turns out that they not plan to kill Jean off in the first place, that [[Executive Meddling|was forced on them]] because Jim Shooter did not want the Phoenix's destruction of an inhabited planet go unpunished. Which destruction had been added at the last moment by Byrne (Claremont's plot had only had the Dark Phoenix cause a star go supernova but made no mention of inhabited planets). How Jean Grey was brought back was entirely preconditioned on Shooter's wishes, Claremont and Byrne viewed Jean's had planned to have UXM #137 end with Jean being stripped of her powers but surviving.</ref> Since then, to what degree Jean and Phoenix are or are not the same person is something no two writers agree on.
* The [[Marvel Universe]] had the potential for saving throws with the revelation that Skrulls have been secretly replacing people, as discovered by the New Avengers. This is even lampshaded when the characters, upon discovering this, discuss how this could provide an explanation of everything from [[Iron Man]]'s sudden turn into a jerk, to why loner [[X-Men (Comic Book)|Wolverine]] is on so many teams, and even why [[Spider-Man (Comic Book)|Peter Parker]] would publicly reveal his identity. Iron Man himself (once he finds out) engages in it, wondering if it means [[Captain America]] (Steve Rogers) really isn't dead, and that Jean Grey didn't get a bridge dropped on her. But ultimately, the Skrull situation didn't touch any of those alleged problems, leaving them all as they were. Especially the big one: [[Iron Man]]'s [[Face Heel Turn]] during [[Civil War (Comic Book)|Civil War]]. ''Totally'' not a Skrull, and Tony Stark must now deal with what he's done. The biggest change to come out of it is that Mockingbird is back, the one who got [[Stuffed Into the Fridge]] having been a Skrull.
* The [[Spider-Man]] villain the Hobgoblin was created by writer Roger Stern as a replacement for the Green Goblin, complete with a mysterious true identity. The character was initially a success due to good writing, but then Stern departed from the title. At once, the Hobgoblin joined up in a gang war and the mystery surrounding his identity got out of hand. Finally, it was decided that Ned Leeds was the Hobgoblin... which was revealed after Leeds had already DIED (and at the hands of common snipers too, even though the Hobgoblin was supposed to have super-strength!) The [[Smug Snake]] Jason Philip Macendale took over the role of Hobgoblin and became such a poor villain that Roger Stern finally returned to write the three-part ''Hobgoblin Lives!'' miniseries that killed off Macendale, explained how Leeds was NOT the original Hobgoblin in a way that actually made sense, tied up all loose ends left by the mystery, and revealed the true Hobgoblin to be Roderick Kingsley, as Stern had always intended. This ended up ''backfiring'', as Roderick Kingsley having been portrayed as a nondescript wimp in his civilian ID before, who had really made little impact on readers, while Ned Leeds at least had been someone fairly close to Peter Parker (as the husband of his first girlfriend, Betty Brant). To make matters worse, soon afterwards the Hobgoblin got his ass handed to him in a fight against the recently returned Norman Osborn. Since it was clearly felt that with the original Green Goblin now back in action his knock-off the Hobgoblin was now redundant, Roderick Kingsley was permanently [[Put On a Bus|sent off to a Carribean island]], which in effect turned ''Hobgoblin Lives!'' into nothing more than an officially sanctioned [[Fix Fic]]. {{spoiler|Roderick Kingsley was eventually brought back many years later in the post-OMD continuity,
* Hal Jordan, the [[Green Lantern (Comic Book)|Green Lantern]], went [[Ax Crazy]] after the [[Doomed Hometown|destruction of his city]] becoming the villain Parallax. Some fans were not happy, seeing it as a [[Dropped a Bridge On Him|Bridge Drop]] in favor of the [[Younger and Hipper]] Kyle Rayner, although others thought it was a logical and fitting end to Hal Jordan's story. [[Geoff Johns]] eventually [[Retcon|retconned]] this into Parallax being an ancient alien fear monster who was responsible for the Lanterns' weakness to yellow and who slowly pulled Hal over to [[Brainwashed and Crazy]]. Many of the named characters Hal had killed were brought back to life, as well. This produced highly mixed reactions from fans, considering that many had warmed up to Kyle in the interim, and plenty had liked the "Emerald Twilight" story, and thought it made perfect sense given Hal's character. The subject remains something of a [[Base Breaker]] among [[Green Lantern (Comic Book)|Green Lantern]] fans.
** Johns continued to [[Arc Welding|arc weld]] Parallax with other existing Green Lantern concepts and expand on them to much critical and fan acclaim, arguably being an Authors Saving Throw for the Parallax retcon. It helped that while Hal was now the new "star" Lantern, Kyle was also written with respect and given a prominent place in the franchise instead of getting a reciprocal Bridge Drop. It doesn't hurt that both ''Green Lantern: Rebirth'' and ''[[Sinestro Corps War]]'', the storylines providing the Saving Throws, are both awesome and made of win.
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