# Should comic book characters age in real time? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [January 6, 2011, 12:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-comic-book-characters-age-in-real-time/566552 "2011-01-06T00:35:33Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Alan\_Smithee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/2acd7d/32.png) [@Alan\_Smithee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alan_Smithee)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2011, 6:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-comic-book-characters-age-in-real-time/566552/21 "2011-01-06T06:49:07Z")
I think the characters should age realistically, but in story-time, not real time. So if a 12-issue arc takes place over one week, then the character ages one week, not one year. This would mean that the characters stay in their original times, as well. If Superman originally met Lois Lane in the 1930s, then he _still_ met Lois Lane in the 1930s. That’s how most stories work. We don’t tell King Aurthur stories set in the modern day just because we’ve been telling them for 600 years. They still take place in the Middle Ages. Harry Potter took place from 1992 to 1998, even though the last book came out in 2007. There could be occasional “flash forwards” showing what Superman is doing today, now that Lois and Perry have passed away and Jimmy has Alzheimer’s, but the main story would take place in the original timeframe. Heck, they’d probably be getting ready to fight WWII now. Cool! ---
**Author:** ![Martini\_Enfield](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/martini_enfield/32/11123_2.png) [@Martini\_Enfield](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Martini_Enfield)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2011, 6:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-comic-book-characters-age-in-real-time/566552/22 "2011-01-06T06:59:28Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > In the early stories of the Fantastic Four, it was canon that Reed Richards and Ben Grimm were World War II veterans. Of course, so was James Bond, which shows this problem isn’t restricted to comic books. I came in to mention James Bond, actually. IIRC the character was supposed to have been born c.1920, which would mean that realistically he’s not going to be saving the world from anything unless Blofeld’s latest Secret Volcano Lair also happens to be in cat food aisle at the local supermarket. ---
**Author:** ![foolsguinea](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/foolsguinea/32/14751_2.png) [@foolsguinea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/foolsguinea)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2011, 7:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-comic-book-characters-age-in-real-time/566552/23 "2011-01-06T07:16:44Z")
What Alan Smithee said. It can be fun to update Sherlock Holmes as an exercise, but purists will insist that it’s not the real Holmes, & be right. But in comics, we’re expected to think the real Spider-Man is the present one? Nonsense! ---
**Author:** ![AndyPolley](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/54ee81/32.png) [@AndyPolley](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AndyPolley)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2011, 2:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-comic-book-characters-age-in-real-time/566552/24 "2011-01-06T14:16:19Z")
> [@Miller](#): > > Similarly, while I don’t think they’ve abandoned it yet, the idea that Magneto was a survivor of the Holocaust isn’t going to hold up too much longer. There was a story where Mags was turned into a baby by “Mutant Alpha.” This gave them an excuse, when re-aged, to have him turn back the clock and actually become younger than his first appearance. So if he was about 28-30 in 1976 when Erik the Red (I know) brought him back from being a baby, and we have about 4 years of comic aging for ever real year that passes…Magneto can remain a robust ‘pushing 40’ Mutant and still have been a prisoner in Auschwitz. [/dork hat] ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2011, 2:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-comic-book-characters-age-in-real-time/566552/25 "2011-01-06T14:42:19Z")
> [@foolsguinea](#): > > What Alan Smithee said. It can be fun to update Sherlock Holmes as an exercise, but purists will insist that it’s not the real Holmes, & be right. But in comics, we’re expected to think the real Spider-Man is the present one? Nonsense! Spiderman, and pretty much anyone else at Marvel, are bad examples. They do age in story time. It’s just that the world itself ages in real time. ---
**Author:** ![cmkeller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cmkeller/32/118_2.png) [@cmkeller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cmkeller)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2011, 2:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-comic-book-characters-age-in-real-time/566552/26 "2011-01-06T14:56:15Z")
I’m of the opinion that, properly managed, comic book titles can be like sports franchises. A Yankee fan in the 20’s didn’t stop liking the Yankees when Ruth and Gehrig retired; a Yankee fan in the 50’s didn’t stop liking the Yankees when Mantle and Ford retired, and a modern Yankee fan won’t stop liking the Yankees when Jeter and Rivera retire. If the title has some degree of continuity, then a generational succession won’t necessarily hurt the fan base, and a regularly fresher character in the costume could draw in new readers. The Flash is probably the only example in comics where this concept really worked well, though. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Amazing\_Hanna](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/977dab/32.png) [@The\_Amazing\_Hanna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Amazing_Hanna)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2011, 4:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-comic-book-characters-age-in-real-time/566552/27 "2011-01-06T16:02:08Z")
> [@cmkeller](#): > > If the title has some degree of continuity, then a generational succession won’t necessarily hurt the fan base, and a regularly fresher character in the costume could draw in new readers. > > The Flash is probably the only example in comics where this concept really worked well, though. The sports team analogy is a good one. Other examples of heroes that are more like a hereditary title include Green Lantern, Starman (kinda), Robin (all five of him), Batgirl, and a few of the Watchmen. Non-comic book examples: Topham Hatt, who’s job has been held by three diffent Hatts so far. The Dread Pirate Roberts, although I’m not sure he counts as we don’t get to meet the others. Zorro. The Pope. Tom Strong and company do age. John Constantine has aged, I believe. Judge Dredd, as mentioned, ages in real time and the setting moves forward one year for every real year, which works pretty well. Savage Dragon has aged. Don Rosa’s Duck characters age over the books. As do all Astro City characters. The King of the Hill characters have aged a little bit, I think? In Futurama, time progresses in real time (it’s 3010 now and Fry still arrived in 3000), although the characters look the same. John Byrne’s Superman/Batman Generations series had these characters age, supposedly. I haven’t read it, though. I don’t really read a lot of comics, but I enjoy reading _about_ comics. ---
**Author:** ![Reno\_Nevada](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/6f9a4e/32.png) [@Reno\_Nevada](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Reno_Nevada)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2011, 4:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-comic-book-characters-age-in-real-time/566552/28 "2011-01-06T16:24:20Z")
> [@Martini\_Enfield](#): > > I came in to mention James Bond, actually. IIRC the character was supposed to have been born c.1920, which would mean that realistically he’s not going to be saving the world from anything unless Blofeld’s latest Secret Volcano Lair also happens to be in cat food aisle at the local supermarket. Someone else mentioned Sherlock Holmes. There are still plenty of Sherlock Holmes stories written, but as far as I know, the vast majority are period pieces. Sherlock Holmes is tied irrevocably to a particular time–the end of the 19th and beginning of the 20th centuries. I am not a fan of James Bond, but I am of the somewhat similar Modesty Blaise. The Modesty Blaise stories were published from 1963 to 2001. These stories were always set in “present day”, which I thought weakened them–the ones that I like best are set in the late '60’s or so, when her back-story made (some) sense. Modesty and Willie are very much out of place in the 1990’s. In the same way, James Bond, I think, works best as an agent during the height of the Cold War, and should really stay there. ---
**Author:** ![Tom\_Scud](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/f08c70/32.png) [@Tom\_Scud](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tom_Scud)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2011, 4:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-comic-book-characters-age-in-real-time/566552/29 "2011-01-06T16:31:39Z")
> [@The\_Amazing\_Hanna](#): > > The sports team analogy is a good one. Other examples of heroes that are more like a hereditary title include Green Lantern, Starman (kinda), Robin (all five of him), Batgirl, and a few of the Watchmen. Non-comic book examples: Topham Hatt, who’s job has been held by three diffent Hatts so far. The Dread Pirate Roberts, although I’m not sure he counts as we don’t get to meet the others. Zorro. The Pope. The Phantom! There have been at least 3 Astro City stories that I can think of examining the multi-generation succession thing; possibly more, as I haven’t read anything since Local Heroes. ---
**Author:** ![mckall](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/eada6e/32.png) [@mckall](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mckall)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2011, 5:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-comic-book-characters-age-in-real-time/566552/30 "2011-01-06T17:21:08Z")
This is a pretty good description of the sliding timescale: [http://enterthestory.com/marvel\_time.html](http://enterthestory.com/marvel_time.html) I remember an interview with Quesada that his stance on the timeline was that events happened 5-7 years ago from any current point which helps to explain how a guy like Ben Grimm can be a war veteran, but doesn’t have to still be a WWII vet… As mentioned up thread, having real time aging just doesn’t work; neither does keeping Superman and Batman in the '30’s. Comics are a fluid medium where the world stays current, even though the characters generally stay the same. When Gardner Fox created the DC multiverse and updated the Flash, GL, etc., he couldn’t do the same with Supes and Batman because of how closely Bruce Wayne and Clark Kent are identified with their alter egos. Then you end up with Earth-2 where they are aging in real time and those adventures happened but on a different Earth…it’s a headache and DC’s been dealing with it ever since. Zero Hour anyone? The current Batman arc is dealing with the issue of a different Batman and it works in a way; but when I read the books I still want Bruce in the cowl. It’s the same reason Geoff Johns brought back Hal; people want the ‘real’ guy in the suit. I happen to be one of those people as well. I’m fine with shaking things up for a while, a year or even two, or for the Flash(es) and Green Lantern(s), but not that’s a unique situation. Morrison did a great arc in Batman this past year, where the premise is that Bruce experienced every single event depicted in the comics. It was a neat twist and a was a wonderful attempt at explaining why comics won’t work if there is real time aging and events. ---
**Author:** ![mckall](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/eada6e/32.png) [@mckall](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mckall)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2011, 5:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-comic-book-characters-age-in-real-time/566552/31 "2011-01-06T17:41:20Z")
> [@The\_Amazing\_Hanna](#): > > John Byrne’s Superman/Batman Generations series had these characters age, supposedly. It’s a cool concept, but only the first and second book. Byrne just starts to lose it and I think book three is a mess. YMMV. ---
**Author:** ![Kamino\_Neko](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kamino_neko/32/34_2.png) [@Kamino\_Neko](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kamino_Neko)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2011, 6:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-comic-book-characters-age-in-real-time/566552/32 "2011-01-06T18:30:41Z")
> [@mckall](#): > > When Gardner Fox created the DC multiverse and updated the Flash, GL, etc., he couldn’t do the same with Supes and Batman because of how closely Bruce Wayne and Clark Kent are identified with their alter egos. The creation of the Silver Age Flash and Green Lantern, and the creation of the Multiverse are two different events. The Multiverse was introduced in Flash of Two Worlds in 1961, 5 years after the first appearance of Barry Allen. (And 2 years after Hal Jordan.) Nor was it simply ‘Superman and Batman ARE Clark Kent and Bruce Wayne’ that stopped their updating - they were 2 of only a handful of characters who actually continued running from their creation until the Silver Age (Wonder Woman, Aquaman, and Green Arrow, IIRC, were the others - note how none of them got completely new characters in the Silver Age, either). All of the characters who were updated were defunct for years when the new versions appeared. ---
**Author:** ![Slade](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b5ac83/32.png) [@Slade](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slade)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2011, 8:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-comic-book-characters-age-in-real-time/566552/33 "2011-01-07T08:53:20Z")
> [@Miller](#): > > Where does that leave Lois, Jimmy, and the Kents? Even if Superman is immortal, Clark Kent is not - \*he \*might not grow old and die, but everyone else in his world will, and once Jimmy Olsen has been committed to a rest home for senile dementia, what’s the point of keeping the Clark Kent persona around? That’s got the potential for quite an interesting story arc. Does Superman have to subtly fake Clark Kent’s aging process day after day before going to work? At what point must a Superman like that abandon his Clark Kent persona altogether to avoid blowing his secret identity? Must he keep repeating this “reboot” process every - what? - 25 or 30 years? And how does he manage it - a faked death for Clark Kent, perhaps, or an excuse for Clark to move to a new city and lose touch with all his former friends? How does this affect Superman, who suddenly finds himself more alone than ever? What’s his new secret identity going to be? Who are the new supporting cast? What’s his new job? What if Lois hears about the “new” Clark and has reason to become suspicious? Maybe Superman’s sentimental enough to turn up at Perry White’s funeral in his new disguise and Lois sees through it. How could he do this to her? Does Superman still find Cougar Lois attractive, or is her physical decay disgusting to him now? You’d probably have to do this in a parallel book so you would keep it outside continuity, but in the hands of a good writer, it could be fascinating. ---
**Author:** ![Horatio\_Hellpop](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e5b9ba/32.png) [@Horatio\_Hellpop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Horatio_Hellpop)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2011, 2:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-comic-book-characters-age-in-real-time/566552/34 "2011-01-07T14:47:47Z")
> [@Silent\_Kal](#): > > The Punisher has aged in real time, hasn’t he? I think current stories still depict him as a veteran of the Vietnam war. Born in 1950, ten years younger than Chuck Norris and four years younger than Schwarzenegger. I think a recent storyline left him rejuvenated by something called the Bloodstone. But I’m sure within a few years, he’ll be a Gulf War vet instead. ---
**Author:** ![Keweenaw](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/da6949/32.png) [@Keweenaw](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Keweenaw)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2011, 3:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-comic-book-characters-age-in-real-time/566552/35 "2011-01-07T15:44:38Z")
> [@foolsguinea](#): > > What Alan Smithee said. It can be fun to update Sherlock Holmes as an exercise, but purists will insist that it’s not the real Holmes, & be right. But in comics, we’re expected to think the real Spider-Man is the present one? Nonsense! Yea, I read one of my son’s spiderman origin stories. It had him looking stuff up on the internet for homework. Ridiculous! It felt like they were stealing something from my past, in order to give it to someone else. ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2011, 11:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-comic-book-characters-age-in-real-time/566552/36 "2011-01-07T23:46:55Z")
> [@Slade](#): > > Maybe Superman’s sentimental enough to turn up at Perry White’s funeral in his new disguise and Lois sees through it. Right there is where you lost me. Lois Lane? Seeing through Superman’s disguise? Never going to happen. ---
**Author:** ![amanset](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/8dc957/32.png) [@amanset](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/amanset)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2011, 1:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-comic-book-characters-age-in-real-time/566552/37 "2011-01-08T01:05:29Z")
> [@Krokodil](#): > > Born in 1950, ten years younger than Chuck Norris and four years younger than Schwarzenegger. I think a recent storyline left him rejuvenated by something called the Bloodstone. But I’m sure within a few years, he’ll be a Gulf War vet instead. I believe he died (at the hands of Wolverine’s son) and was rebuilt as a Frankenstein’s-monster-alike (Frankencastle). So basically, anything could happen. It was all very weird. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Hamster\_King](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/8edcca/32.png) [@The\_Hamster\_King](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Hamster_King)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2011, 1:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-comic-book-characters-age-in-real-time/566552/38 "2011-01-08T01:31:42Z")
Continuity is overrated. ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2011, 1:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-comic-book-characters-age-in-real-time/566552/39 "2011-01-08T01:35:16Z")
> [@The\_Hamster\_King](#): > > Continuity is overrated. That’s not what you used to say. ---
**Author:** ![Telperion](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/telperion/32/509_2.png) [@Telperion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Telperion)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2011, 1:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-comic-book-characters-age-in-real-time/566552/40 "2011-01-08T01:44:26Z")
> [@Martini\_Enfield](#): > > I came in to mention James Bond, actually. IIRC the character was supposed to have been born c.1920, which would mean that realistically he’s not going to be saving the world from anything unless Blofeld’s latest Secret Volcano Lair also happens to be in cat food aisle at the local supermarket. It might. Blofeld would be about a decade older than 007, by my count, so there’s the groundwork for a comedy: _Grumpy old agents_. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-comic-book-characters-age-in-real-time/566552.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-comic-book-characters-age-in-real-time/566552.md?page=3)