I feel like tom king is killing it right now with this danger street stuff. it’s so good.
But I feel like there’s fear from DC to change characters too much. So black label kinda works because the writers could do really cool stuff they can’t other wise do. But it also hurts because these stories are being wasted while canon comics aren’t always as good.
If you got someone like King working on your books you need those books to be canon. my take.
I’m gonna have to give a hard disagree. Doing Elseworlds gives writers a chance to make big, controversial changes to characters without throwing an albatross around their necks forever. For example, I’d much prefer the “Martin Stein caused the Firestorm accident and is evil” thing to have been for a Black Label book. Instead, we’re stuck with it in the main canon, and there’s no telling when that’ll finally get retconned. (I’m crossing my fingers that it’s sooner rather than later.)
If a book is good, what difference does it make if it’s in-continuity or not? Some of the greatest stories ever told in comics have been out-of-continuity.
So I’m not sure how a story is “wasted” just because it’s out-of-continuity. If that is the case the majority of comics ever published are now “wasted” since they’ve been retconned and the majority of comics currently published will suffer the same fate.
change is important though. if you leave things the way they are forever? I mean, that’s the reason so many elseworlds stuff is good in the first place, because it’s fresh and new.
We can’t be afraid to take chances! Say what you will about Martin Stein, I liked the story line and idea, but at least we’re talking about it. Something big happened to those characters.
That’s another thing , we gotta stop retconning stuff left and right. I think my response to cyberbatgirl can be used for this too. This goes all the way back to star trek not wanting to make doctor mccoy a drug addict. you can’t be afraid to do huge, big things with the characters, make them real, make them interesting.
I tend to do my best to fit everything from 1938 to present into my headcanon. To preserve more golden age stories, I have superman, batman, wonder woman in the golden age justice society. Golden age superman, batman, wonder woman were a huge part of real golden age comic book publication history so I do my best to fit them into my headcanon. In real comic book publication history, golden age superman inspired jay garrick and alan scott, and not the other way around, and it is much easier for me to simply drop the golden age tie to world war 2 so golden age superman and golden age batman are not too old in current time.
I’m all in for Black Label, ElseWorlds, Multiversity stories, etc. In continuity and out. If the character is in the hands of a great creative team, I want it all.
I’ll partially agree with the OP. Something like Three Jokers would work in main continuity. And given how much leeway there is with the word canon and continuity I think creators should be more empowered to make bolder choices.
Why shouldn’t The Other History of the DC Universe be canon?
Obviously something like DCEASED wouldn’t work. God no.
On the other hand. I think if you read DC [or Marvel] Comics it’s partially because you want to fall in love with your favorite characters and read about them for a very long time. Just as much as the publishers want to profit, fairly, off of it. Extreme choices jeopardize that.
If I want to be shocked, like Red Wedding shocked, I’ll read Vertigo stuff or something like Saga.
So, should reprints of “Preacher” and “Fables” be canon?
I seriously make my own canons and have a multiverse of possible timelines in my head. If you want to you can do that. Like three jokers is canon in a world and it incorporates killing joke last laugh and other joker stories and makes them all canon.
In short if you want stuff to be canon, make it canon. Have your own canon(s). Its all for fun anyways. 
I think there’s some truth there if it’s someone like superman, maybe he stays largely the same because you know there’s gonna be a super man comic every month forever. or two.
But if it’s someone you’re barely using like the characters in Danger Street or the doctor from firestorm that was used as an example above … they’re just PERFECTLY POISED for change. The answer isn’t one size fits all.
I think all of us are making that same argument. We just have different definitions of what fits and what doesn’t. And I do agree with you that I think there is more room for bolder storytelling but in the end it’s the publishers call for better or worse–whether it’s a creative or financial decision.
Like CK said, we can think about it in our heads however we want.
I am all for else worlds being else worlds but if you want to count something go a head
edit to add some writers feel else worlds count as the heroes dreams
My sentiments exactly 
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Just give me enjoyable stories, regardless of how they connect, or not, with other stuff.
I really like else worlds
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I really wouldn’t want some of the especially dark, depressing stories to be canon.
agreed. What wouldn’t you mind being canon?
the now Infinite Multiverse means they are alternate universes that are technically canon.