Editing Retroactive continuity (section)

==Origins==
An early published use of the phrase "retroactive continuity" is found in theologian E. Frank Tupper's 1973 book ''The Theology of [[Wolfhart Pannenberg]]'': "Pannenberg's conception of retroactive continuity ultimately means that history flows fundamentally from the future into the past, that the future is not basically a product of the past."<ref>{{cite book|last1=Tupper|first1=E. Frank|title=The Theology of Wolfhart Pannenberg|date=1973|publisher=Westminster Press|location=Philadelphia|isbn=9780664209735|url=https://archive.org/details/theologyofwolfha0000tupp|url-access=registration|access-date=16 March 2017|page=[https://archive.org/details/theologyofwolfha0000tupp/page/100 100], 221}}</ref>

A printed use of "retroactive continuity" referring to the altering of history in a fictional work is in ''[[All-Star Squadron]]'' #18 (February 1983) from [[DC Comics]]. The series was set on DC's [[Earth-Two]], an alternative universe in which [[Golden Age of Comic Books|Golden Age]] comic characters age in real time. ''All-Star Squadron'' was set during [[World War II]] on Earth-Two; as it was in the past of an alternative universe, all its events had repercussions on the contemporary continuity of the DC multiverse. Each issue changed the history of the fictional world in which it was set. In the [[comic book letter column|letters column]], a reader remarked that the comic "must make you [the creators] feel at times as if you're painting yourself into a corner", and, "Your matching of Golden Age comics history with new plotlines has been an artistic (and I hope financial!) success." Writer [[Roy Thomas]] responded, "we like to think that an enthusiastic ALL-STAR booster at one of [[Adam Malin]]'s [[Creation Convention]]s in San Diego came up with the best name for it a few months back: 'Retroactive Continuity'. Has kind of a ring to it, don't you think?"<ref name="allstar">{{cite comic |title=All-Star Squadron |story=Vengeance from Valhalla |volume=1 |issue=18 |date=February 1983 |writer=[[Roy Thomas|Thomas, Roy]] |penciller=[[Joe Kubert|Kubert, Joe]] |inker=[[Rick Hoberg|Hoberg, Rick]] |publisher=[[DC Comics]]}}</ref>