Why do comic book characters never age?

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GillaDro

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#1  Edited By GillaDro

Why do they not make some of these characters and superhero's get any older? Even after 50- 60 yrs. I think it would be awesome to follow some of these characters throughout theyre entire life and see how they would change. Some characters would die, theyre kids would grow into the new superheroes, the older characters would be in charge of things, etc.

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ratman19

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#2  Edited By ratman19

because i dont want anyone else other than clark kent to be superman and i dont want anyone else other than bruce wayne to be batman

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JediXMan

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#3  Edited By JediXMan  Moderator

Kingdom Come.

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CrimsonCake

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#4  Edited By CrimsonCake

There was an alternate marvel universe where characters aged in real time.

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darth_brendroid

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#5  Edited By darth_brendroid

Because the characters sell and doing something so radical as aging them and eventually replacing them carries a lot of risk when everyone knows that Superman = Clark Kent and there's the Daily Planet, Lois Lane and Lex Luthor.

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soduh2

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#6  Edited By soduh2

Characters do age... just really slowly. Spider-man said he's been spider-man since he was "15 years old" in the civil war.

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Redberry

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#7  Edited By Redberry

Because Marvel and DC are business enterprise, they wouldn't want to erase their characters due to old age or death. Nowaday, it's almost impossible to create iconic characters, so if the old characters die, then no one would buy anymore new books putting out by Marvel and DC.

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deactivated-57a50c1d96f21

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How old is Bruce Wayne/Batman right now? late 20s or early 30s?

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Twentyfive

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#9  Edited By Twentyfive

Most often because different writers have their own stories to tell of Spider-Man and Superman, and there is only one of each in their respective universes.

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TheBigRedCheese

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#10  Edited By TheBigRedCheese

Fans just can't let go.

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Kid_Omega_Prime

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#11  Edited By Kid_Omega_Prime

The only comic character i know of is the Vertigo vertion of John Constantine. He ages in real time. so when the comic first come out he was in his late 20's or early 30's he is now in his 50's i beleve.

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Deranged Midget

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#12  Edited By Deranged Midget

Because they're iconic and timeless. They are inspirations to many and for future generations to pass on.

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Jorgevy

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#13  Edited By Jorgevy

Ever heard of Super powers? yeah.........

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YMCMB

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#14  Edited By YMCMB

@Knight_Justice Bruce is probably about 32 or 33 in the New 52.

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YMCMB

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#15  Edited By YMCMB

And comic book characters hardly age because people are familiar and usually fond of the current character the way they are, and wouldn't want them to significantly age or be replaced in canon. Also, if an author chose to significantly age 1 character, then it wouldn't make a lot of sense if the rest of the characters in their universe didn't age as well, so they'd be kinda forcing other characters to age too which wouldnt be good.

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YourNeighborhoodComicGeek

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They do age but very very very slowly.

In fact there is an Old Man Logan, which is an old Wolverine.

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jinxuandi

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#17  Edited By jinxuandi

Because large businesses are spineless and afraid to take a chance on anything new. They'd rather retell the same stories until the end of time.

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TheBlueAngel93

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#18  Edited By TheBlueAngel93
@Deranged Midget said:

Because they're iconic and timeless. They are inspirations to many and for future generations to pass on.

This.
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Jnr6Lil

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#19  Edited By Jnr6Lil

If comic book characters aged, majority of the heroes and villains would be dead, DC Trinity being the first. (Due to powers, Bats would be the only one of the 3 dying)

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deactivated-59d945143d79a

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Everybody in Savage Dragon(he started in his 30's/40's now 50's)

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bigcimmerian

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#21  Edited By bigcimmerian

@Knight_Justice said:

How old is Bruce Wayne/Batman right now? late 20s or early 30s?

He is probably 30-35

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GillaDro

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#22  Edited By GillaDro

@Jnr6Lil: I'm not saying every one should age but, they seem to be running out of ideas for the stories that they create, and it's always the same enemies and characters brought back, over and over. People grow older and smarter and learn new things and meet different people in theyre lifetime. It would definitely add to a story line. I just wanna know why every single book never makes theyre characters age. It could even be placed in an alternate universe, seperate from the other books. You would be following them through life, as you age yourself. They're children and such would take over the roles as "whoever" when they get old or die, so the characters themselves would always exist.

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2chimcha3

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#23  Edited By 2chimcha3

Most of us don't want to lose awesome characters because of age. And also what Deranged Midget said.

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GillaDro

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#24  Edited By GillaDro

@sagejonathan: Being afraid of change is what's killing the industry.

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The Poet

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#25  Edited By The Poet  Moderator

I wouldn't say never...

Look at some of the former sidekicks of heroes...some are older...

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GillaDro

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#26  Edited By GillaDro

I just think it would give them more to write about anyway, and better opportunities to add new characters and such to stories. Like I said, it could be in an alternate universe, or reality, so you could still keep the timeless versions just the same.

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Jnr6Lil

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#27  Edited By Jnr6Lil

@GillaDro: I'm not saying they shouldn't age, I'm saying why they aren't.

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deactivated-57a50c1d96f21

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@BigCimmerian said:

@Knight_Justice said:

How old is Bruce Wayne/Batman right now? late 20s or early 30s?

He is probably 30-35

Thanks! By the way, Batman started he's crusade at his early 20s right?

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NerdsFTW

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#29  Edited By NerdsFTW

Don't know.

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Imagine_Man15

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#30  Edited By Imagine_Man15

Characters do age, but they don't do it in real time. Peter Parker has aged quite a bit over the years, but not even close to as much as he would have in real life. That's just one example.

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Romulus9000

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#31  Edited By Romulus9000

Some Characters age if they need to (i.e first Teen Titans wave).

These characters have too much history for them to just age and die and be replaced by a constant stream of different names taking up the mantels. The world needs Clark and Bruce just as much as Batman and Superman. Dick Grayson is my favorite character in comics but he is Nightwing not Batman.

Occasionally you get to see younger heroes gradually age or get crisis'd into being older (Bart Allen.)

Although, i read somewhere once that in the MarvelU that every 5 or ten years is like 1 or 2 years in that universe?? Anyone want to look this up and confirm or deny? I'm at work so i can not, well i could but i don't want to.

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bigcimmerian

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#32  Edited By bigcimmerian

@Knight_Justice said:

@BigCimmerian said:

@Knight_Justice said:

How old is Bruce Wayne/Batman right now? late 20s or early 30s?

He is probably 30-35

Thanks! By the way, Batman started he's crusade at his early 20s right?

He started his crusade when he was 26 :)

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deactivated-57a50c1d96f21

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@BigCimmerian said:

@Knight_Justice said:

@BigCimmerian said:

@Knight_Justice said:

How old is Bruce Wayne/Batman right now? late 20s or early 30s?

He is probably 30-35

Thanks! By the way, Batman started he's crusade at his early 20s right?

He started his crusade when he was 26 :)

Thanks for the info!

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the_stegman

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#34  Edited By the_stegman  Moderator

Because they are more than just normal men and women, they are ideals, and ideals are eternal.

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Insignia

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#35  Edited By Insignia

Have a look at the Luba collection (Love & Rockets) by Los Bros Hernandez, most or all of the characters age throughout the series.

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#36  Edited By NlGHTCRAWLER

@soduh2 said:

Characters do age... just really slowly. Spider-man said he's been spider-man since he was "15 years old" in the civil war.

This.

Same goes for DC.

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feebadger

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#37  Edited By feebadger

Why don't characters age? One simple answer; death. Batman would be dead by now, does anyone really want that? I think that we have to realise that comic heroes are only ours for a while. Each generation will discover these characters as their own and everyone has a right to discover these characters in their prime. Its pretty selfish of us to want to want the characters to age and die for our own satisfaction. There are plenty of series to satiate that need, like Kingdom Come, The Dark Knight and The End series from Marvel.

Yet, it think that the comic heroes tie into the pulp tradition and those characters are timeless and have the capacity to be reintrodueced and reinvigorated for each new generation. Look at The Shadow, or Flash Gordon or Dracula. Comic heroes walk in their footsteps and will, hopefully live forever.

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feebadger

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#38  Edited By feebadger

@Knight_Justice said:

@BigCimmerian said:

@Knight_Justice said:

How old is Bruce Wayne/Batman right now? late 20s or early 30s?

He is probably 30-35

Thanks! By the way, Batman started he's crusade at his early 20s right?

According to Grant Morrison (reflecting the official opinion of DC editorial) Batman is apparently in his mid-30's now.

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@feebadger said:

@Knight_Justice said:

@BigCimmerian said:

@Knight_Justice said:

How old is Bruce Wayne/Batman right now? late 20s or early 30s?

He is probably 30-35

Thanks! By the way, Batman started he's crusade at his early 20s right?

According to Grant Morrison (reflecting the official opinion of DC editorial) Batman is apparently in his mid-30's now.

Thanks for the info! :-)

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#40  Edited By ValendianKnight

They do age, but it takes a long time. Look at Nightwing for example. Also, whenever there is a reboot of any kind everyone is made younger again.

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RedQueen

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#41  Edited By RedQueen

I guess it serves its own purpose; We would be in the second or third generation by now, people would have their favourites and would be sad to see them die, some characters are immortal, the universe would be huge, and handling the continuity would be a herculean task.

Although it would be very cool to "grow up", quite literally, with the characters.

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#42  Edited By Aero_gt

Popular characters will not age because fans will be mad and the companies will lose money. Batman will always be bruce, Captain america will always be Steve, Superman will always be Clark, Spiderman will always be peter. And with the ruining out of ideas part, "We can always have a major event-Marvel. Or we can just Reboot- Dc. Not like any other company will ever outshine us."

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TheAmazingImmortalMan

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@ratman19 said:

because i dont want anyone else other than clark kent to be superman and i dont want anyone else other than bruce wayne to be batman

this

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@YourNeighborhoodComicGeek said:

They do age but very very very slowly.

In fact there is an Old Man Logan, which is an old Wolverine.

this series was pretty badass

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@TheAmazingImmortalMan: Yes it was.

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#46  Edited By gavinification

They do age. Its just they age very slowy and they dont ahe at the same rate as each other. Spiderman was 15 when he got his powers and now hes in his late 20s. Franklin and Valeria Richards were both born after fantastic four started so they obviously aged.

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UsagiTsukino

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#47  Edited By UsagiTsukino

in comic book time 5 years is one year in real time. SO i guessing the character will age only once.

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They Killed Cap!

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#48  Edited By They Killed Cap!

Franklin richards...oh wait never mind.

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They Killed Cap!

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#49  Edited By They Killed Cap!

Because for the most part, most writers don't know how to consistently write out of their paradim.