It'd depend on how it was used. If you were writing the Avengers, and you had it hanging on the wall and someone asked Cap, "That's not your shield, is it? The shape's all wrong!" And Cap launched into an explanation of how he once had a shield before he got his classic round shield...then they got on with the plot, which had nothing to do with any of that...that's fanwank.

If, on the other hand, you had a story where WWII Cap traveled in time to the present, and in the middle of a fight, both Caps stood side by side in battle, one with the round shield, the other with the triangular one...that'd probably be a Grace Note.

If all this made the present day Cap realize he had to be more "contemporary", well...that'd be a false epiphany.

Fanwanks are the kind of thing you get No-prizes for. Grace Notes are the kind of thing you a pat on the head and a "Good for you, you noticed!" for.

I'd say that the scene where Luthor flees from the Superman / Batman v. Darkseid battle, only to return in his "Power Suit," (a classy expensive-looking business suit, not green and purple at all) is a great Grace Note.

When the camera panned around, part of me was expecting the 80s Iron Man style armour, and all of me was pleased with the play on words.

I would consider pretty much anyone saying, "You wouldn't like me when I'm angry" to be a Grace Note.

From the article, I'm thinking that Grace Notes are like spices. Just a little, and they are barely noticable, too much and they overpower, and you can't make a meal out of them exclusively.

Fan Wanks, on the other hand, are (as I recall) originally a Doctor Who term from where some fan fiction writers were moving up to actually write cannon for the series. I think that things like "art trace" would count for this (where an artist depects a scene that matches up line for line with an older comic book by a different artist.)

But, I think that the primary use for Fan Wanks are when a fan puts in something that is really just for him, either a way to explain something no one else remembers or to demonstrate that he remembers obscure trivia, and it gets in the way of the story. Sometimes this can be a good thing, if the majority of the audience are likewise long-term fans.

I consider the amnesiac Harry from SM3 to be a Fan Wank, as it really didn't affect the plot of the movie, and seemed to be in there solely for people like myself who remembered the story arc from the comic book.

I do have a question: would Captain America's original triangular shield be a Grace Point, a Fan Wank, or a false ephiney? How many times has that thing been dusted off and subsequentally destroyed?

Theno

Fan Wank is the creation of a plot element designed solely to demonstrate the writer's knowledge and familiarity with the continuity of the series. Frequently, fanwank elements resolve continuity problems that only long-time fans care about, or tie up loose ends nobody remembers. (Incidentally, the late Craig Hinton claimed to have invented the term when writing reviews for 'Doctor Who Magazine', and I see no reason to doubt him on that claim.)

For example, the sequence in 'Avengers Forever' where Busiek devotes the better part of an issue to explaining how the Vision can be made from the body of the Human Torch when the Human Torch wasn't dead...that's fanwank. When Geoff Johns brings back Alexander Luthor as the villain of 'Infinite Crisis' so that everyone can say, "OMG, this is just as important on 'Crisis on Infinite Earths', because it features the return of a bunch of characters we haven't seen since then," that's a Grace Note.

Luthor in the green-and-purple armor...Grace Note. Luthor spending a page discussing the different types of Kryptonite he has in his armor, and their uses...fanwank. The principal difference, I think, is that fanwank is generally an aside to the story and Grace Notes are generally central to the plot. I wouldn't say either one is superior (in fact, I'd say both are to be avoided.)

I think the best example of fanwank does come from its source, Doctor Who; in the novel 'Original Sin', the Doctor is looking for a pair of boots to wear during the book, and spends the better part of a page reminiscing about the mudstains on the boots in his boot closet, and what adventures they came from. Now _that_ is fanwank.

I do hope that the term's essential neutrality catches on; there are, as I tried to indicate, good uses of Grace Notes in comics alongside the Fan Wankery.

While I don't think every use of a Grace Note is an instance of plagarism, I think it's hard to avoid the fact that you're counting on the reader's familiarity and affection for the previous story to add emotional resonance to your own that simply wouldn't be there otherwise. I think it's very easy to overuse them, and I try to avoid them as a writer when possible (although the temptation is always there.)

"This is a situation that can only be resolved with... SHIRTLESS FIGHTING!!!"

These "grace notes" are probably my biggest problem with the comic book industry at the moment and are really indicative of how cannabalized, insular and self referential it has become.