Blah, blah, whine, whine.

Continuity doesn't stiffle creators, not at as long as DC has Elseworlds...

You want to do a story where Superman is the Easter Bunny, that's what Elseworls are for.

You want to do a story where Superman is surrounded by a 100 Kryptonians, that's what Elseworlds are for.

So stop your whinning and realize this already.

Back in your glorious Silver Age there was no such thing as Elseworld, so creators were forced BECAUSE of the format to tell all their alternate stories in the main titles, which is where the 'imaginary story' tagline came from.

Now creators, at least the smart ones that don't spend their entire day blaming Satan for coming up with continuity, can enjoy using not one but two areas of the DC Universe to tell their stories, either an Elseworlds or in continuity.

If a writer comes up with a good Batman story that doesn't fit in standard continuity then he can tell is as an Elseworlds without disrupting the main title.

Of course, there have been instances in the past when regular comics, those that publish only in continuity stories, publish a story set in an Elseworlds OR other kind of unlabled alternate reality. Batman Chronicles did this a few times.

But don't let reality hit you on the balls, go back to your whinning, all you're doing is repeating what those that hate continuity, both readers and writers, keep spewing.

Next time try to research what DC publishes before you condemn them for stiffiling creators.

As for your other half of the rant... to most people the basics of a concept aren't enough, it needs content.

Example:

Star Trek, the five year mission of the Starship Enterprise, right?

Not really.

For the Next Generation it was an ongoing mission.

Where No Man Has Gone Before became Where No One Has Gone Before.

The basics of a concept depend on the context and the content of the concept.

While the Silver Age Superman came to Earth in a giant blue baby bottle the modern age Superman didn't, he came in a birthing matrix.

For you that's not good enough, it's giant baby bottle or nothing.

YOU are the one that's obssesed with things being ONE way.

YOU claim that the basics are all that matter yet you whine and whine and bitch when those basics are complemented with actual details that go against your views of what the concepts should be.