It’s probably me. I’m probably the sucker.
I really just enjoy continuity in my funnybooks. I want things that happened before to MATTER. Elseworlds and What If’s are fun, but ultimately, I want there to be a big, long line of continuity that carries through the “main” books of a comics universe.
If what happened before doesn’t make a difference to what matters now, then… why should I care? Whatever’s happening now will be irrelevant soon, so I don’t feel as engaged.
Of course, that doesn’t entirely work, either, since Marvel and DC can’t “move on” from their cash cows, so Spider-Man is 26 in perpetuity, and Batman will keep getting younger and younger Robins without his own age ever changing. If time exists in a lock, then continuity–as much as I love it–doesn’t make much sense, either.