Any comic book reader knows that mainstream Marvel and DC comic book series run in “comic book time” - a sort of nebulous time where events happen but time does not accumulate. This explains how the same characters were able to fight both Adolf Hitler and Saddam Hussein.
But occasionally, a writer will attempt to keep a series “real”. Mike Grell, for example, had the characters in Jon Sable get older during the course of the series (which admittedly didn’t run long enough for it to become a serious issue - Grell might have caved if Sable had gone on for twenty years). Lynn Johnson’s comic strip For Better or Worse is another example from a different medium.
So are there any current strips that are bucking the trend and running in real time?
If we’re actually talking comic strips, then “For Better Or For Worse” by Lynn Johnston is the major current contender and the only one that leaps to mind. There are probably others.
If we’re talking comic books, Beto’s “Palomar” stories in LOVE AND ROCKETS are roughly done in real time, ASTRO CITY leapfrogs all over its own continuity but is roughly done in real time; Alan Moore’s ABC line was done in real time.
I believe *Ex Machina * is being told in real time, although the story is unfolding in flashbacks. It will cover the entire four-year term that an ex-superhero, The Great Machine, spent as the mayor of New York City.
Good call on Palomar, Askia. Loved that book – best $4 I ever spent! I keep meaning to pick up Locas, but truth be told, I’m waiting for an equally great deal.
The upcoming weekly 52 series from DC is supposed to take place in real time over the course of a year, with the time of year in the comic matching the time of year in the real world.