# Is For Better or for worse the only comic where the characters age naturally **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [December 13, 2004, 12:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-for-better-or-for-worse-the-only-comic-where-the-characters-age-naturally/279516 "2004-12-13T00:02:17Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 16\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![cckerberos](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f0a364/32.png) [@cckerberos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cckerberos)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2004, 8:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-for-better-or-for-worse-the-only-comic-where-the-characters-age-naturally/279516/21 "2004-12-13T08:52:15Z")
> [@Malodorous](#): > > Boopsie was pretty early, wasn’t she? She was definitely dating B.D. while they were in college. I think she was dating him before he went off to Vietnam, which was pretty early in the strip. ---
**Author:** ![cckerberos](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f0a364/32.png) [@cckerberos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cckerberos)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2004, 8:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-for-better-or-for-worse-the-only-comic-where-the-characters-age-naturally/279516/22 "2004-12-13T08:59:52Z")
Okay, I busted out my circa 1995 Doonesbury CD-ROM. Boopsie was introduced on 9/15/71. The first strip was on 10/26/70, so she began within the first year. ---
**Author:** ![sturmhauke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e47c2d/32.png) [@sturmhauke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sturmhauke)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2004, 10:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-for-better-or-for-worse-the-only-comic-where-the-characters-age-naturally/279516/23 "2004-12-13T10:38:50Z")
The cast of Sluggy Freelance hasn’t aged visibly yet, but they’ve definitely gone through some major changes lately. ---
**Author:** ![sleeepy2](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e9a140/32.png) [@sleeepy2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sleeepy2)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2004, 12:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-for-better-or-for-worse-the-only-comic-where-the-characters-age-naturally/279516/24 "2004-12-13T12:17:55Z")
Not quite real time, but Funky Winkerbean jumped forward ten or so years all at once, aging the entire cast. It was pretty cool. ---
**Author:** ![Knowed\_Out](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/knowed_out/32/7380_2.png) [@Knowed\_Out](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Knowed_Out)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2004, 3:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-for-better-or-for-worse-the-only-comic-where-the-characters-age-naturally/279516/25 "2004-12-13T15:43:15Z")
_Love and Rockets._ When it first started, Jaime’s Maggie/Hopie universe were punk teenagers. Now they’re in their 30’s and reminiscing about their wilder days. Gilbert’s universe started with Luba as a young woman with one child. Now she has seven children and is a grandmother to boot, complete with wrinkles and gray hair. And it looks like Ophelia’s about to kcik the bucket. \ ---
**Author:** ![Kizarvexius](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/da6949/32.png) [@Kizarvexius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kizarvexius)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2004, 4:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-for-better-or-for-worse-the-only-comic-where-the-characters-age-naturally/279516/26 "2004-12-13T16:07:52Z")
**Safe Havens**. The main characters started off as kids in daycare (thus the name of the strip). Now they’re all about to graduate from high school. ---
**Author:** ![Spiff](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spiff/32/9852_2.png) [@Spiff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spiff)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2004, 4:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-for-better-or-for-worse-the-only-comic-where-the-characters-age-naturally/279516/27 "2004-12-13T16:28:02Z")
> [@Wendell Wagner](#): > > _For Better or Worse_: Definitely aging normally. Everybody’s ages match up with the time passed. I agree, except for April. She’s been aging about TWICE as fast as a real world character would. Why on earth would LJ do that?!?!??! ---
**Author:** ![CrazyCatLady](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/dfb087/32.png) [@CrazyCatLady](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CrazyCatLady)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2004, 4:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-for-better-or-for-worse-the-only-comic-where-the-characters-age-naturally/279516/28 "2004-12-13T16:49:48Z")
No, April’s about 13 or so in the strip, and that’s about right. In a lot of ways she’s more emotionally mature than you would expect a 13 year old to be, which can make her seem older sometimes. But overall, she looks and acts like a middle-schooler. ---
**Author:** ![supervenusfreak](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/45deac/32.png) [@supervenusfreak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/supervenusfreak)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2004, 5:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-for-better-or-for-worse-the-only-comic-where-the-characters-age-naturally/279516/29 "2004-12-13T17:01:06Z")
> [@sleeepy2](#): > > Not quite real time, but Funky Winkerbean jumped forward ten or so years all at once, aging the entire cast. It was pretty cool. I was going to mention that one myself. It also started dealing with more real life issues, and became a must read strip for me. ---
**Author:** ![Mollie\_Magill](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mollie_magill/32/20882_2.png) [@Mollie\_Magill](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mollie_Magill)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2004, 5:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-for-better-or-for-worse-the-only-comic-where-the-characters-age-naturally/279516/30 "2004-12-13T17:14:34Z")
> [@sleeepy2](#): > > Not quite real time, but Funky Winkerbean jumped forward ten or so years all at once, aging the entire cast. It was pretty cool. The cast of Funky Winkerbean graduated high-school in 1992, and the graduation was applied retroactively to 1988. Since 1992, they have been aging in real time. One unfortunate side effect has been the loss of the zaney feel of the old comic. It’s been replaced with more engaging story-lines, but I miss the watermelon lobbying for inclusion on Hallowe’en. ---
**Author:** ![Peter\_Morris](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/peter_morris/32/359_2.png) [@Peter\_Morris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peter_Morris)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2004, 5:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-for-better-or-for-worse-the-only-comic-where-the-characters-age-naturally/279516/31 "2004-12-13T17:48:04Z")
Judge Dredd is set in real time. He was supposed to be about 38 when the strip started in 1977. He’s in his mid sixties now. Note, however, that people age more slowly in the future, making Dredd only middle aged. Years ago, when Mike Grell was writing Green Arrow, Oliver aged a year for each year the strip was published. ---
**Author:** ![Hal\_Briston](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/a9a28c/32.png) [@Hal\_Briston](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hal_Briston)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2004, 7:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-for-better-or-for-worse-the-only-comic-where-the-characters-age-naturally/279516/32 "2004-12-13T19:39:29Z")
> [@sturmhauke](#): > > The cast of Sluggy Freelance hasn’t aged visibly yet, but they’ve definitely gone through some major changes lately. How in the world can one even tell if they’ve aged, what with all the time travel and dimension-hopping? Hell, I’m not even certain that the Torg from _That Which Redeems_ is the original Torg or not… ---
**Author:** ![lno](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/a8b319/32.png) [@lno](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lno)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2004, 7:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-for-better-or-for-worse-the-only-comic-where-the-characters-age-naturally/279516/33 "2004-12-13T19:49:03Z")
> [@Hal Briston](#): > > How in the world can one even tell if they’ve aged, what with all the time travel and dimension-hopping? Hell, I’m not even certain that the Torg from _That Which Redeems_ is the original Torg or not… I will say that reading every Saturday’s “Dimension of Crap” has aged me prematurely. ---
**Author:** ![spiralscratch](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/dfb087/32.png) [@spiralscratch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/spiralscratch)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2004, 6:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-for-better-or-for-worse-the-only-comic-where-the-characters-age-naturally/279516/34 "2004-12-14T06:48:40Z")
_Opus_ updated the age of all the characters from the _Bloom County_ and _Outland_ eras. It’s not obvious in how Opus and Bill are drawn, but Steve Dallas (who reappeared 3-4 weeks ago) is obviously much older. Some of the other characters growing up, such as Binkley and Milo, has been mentioned, but they have yet to appear. _Jumpstart_ is also aging its characters. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2004, 7:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-for-better-or-for-worse-the-only-comic-where-the-characters-age-naturally/279516/35 "2004-12-15T07:24:16Z")
> [@](#): > > Years ago, when Mike Grell was writing Green Arrow, Oliver aged a year for each year the strip was published. Grell also did this with the characters in his earlier Jon Sable series. ---
**Author:** ![Nonsuch](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/nonsuch/32/2922_2.png) [@Nonsuch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nonsuch)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2004, 1:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-for-better-or-for-worse-the-only-comic-where-the-characters-age-naturally/279516/36 "2004-12-15T13:58:30Z")
It’s been years since I’ve read it, but I notice [Luann](http://www.unitedmedia.com/comics/luann/index.html) has gradually aged from a cute tweener with baby fat to a grown young woman in high school. I always liked that strip; nice to see it’s still going strong. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-for-better-or-for-worse-the-only-comic-where-the-characters-age-naturally/279516.md?page=1)