Opinion: Sliding Time Scale or Not?

[jedigandy7]

Just curious after reading some posts:

Would you prefer Marvel keeps their sliding time scale and we keep getting stories with the same characters forever?

OR

Would you prefer Marvel opted for more of a realistic time frame and our heroes age/retire and new heroes are constantly invented?

What is your preferred method?

[lurkerforyears]

I dislike the sliding timescale.

I prefer something simpler like, characters age 1 years every 4 years + time skips mentioned on panel (there were 2 8 months time skips recently, one before secret wars, one after)
Rahne from 1983 to 2004 (when she dated Elixir) aged from 13 years old to 19 years old
Empath was 20 in 2009
The way I see it, the original xmen and claremont xmen like Colossus and Nightcrawler, are in their early to mid 30s, and the mutants of the New Mutants-Hellion generation are in their mid 20s

[Tycon]

A mix of both. Realistic timeframes are too fast for a comic book company that has most of its comics coming out monthly, whereas a sliding timescale already has me bored of some mainstream Avengers/X-Men. Just keep the 3-4 years = 1 in-universe year model.

[Silver Fang]

It's not the best/

If I want development for some of the characters. You have certain characters that are in ruts, and have been doing the same stuff over & over for ages. Then when we start to move toward new stuff, it doesn't last and gets reset.

So like staying in neutral with character development, the STS doesn't need to happen to a grand extent. Characters should be allowed to age, develop, and go different places in life rather than staying static for 20+ years. Let some heroes retire eventually. Lol Hell, let some villains retire eventually and move on to other things.

Show clear ages differences with the cast. Rather than having some characters clearly grown up, but their superiors are the same age they were ages ago. I think Emma frost is a very controversial example of this.

I always thought Rogue to be in her 30's. Then Monet being around 21.

[yogaflame]

Batman and Superman and WW have been moving comics since the 30's/40's. Holding the characters to any specific time frame is foolish. These are immortal intellectual properties. Just have fun with it. I do like the sliding timescale to a degree, in that it is an idea that these characters can evolve and grow over time, sloooowly, but I don't see the need to ramp it up too much. In my mind is still has only been 12-14 years tops, since the X-Men first fought Magneto at the missile base. Jean/Angel/Beast/Storm are barely 30, if that, and Bobby a year younger. Nightcrawler, is another year younger, and Colossus another year or two younger, where Rogue, Cannonball, Karma, etc are also in that same range, being in their early-mid 20's still. Kitty, Rahne, Roberto, Illyana, are a year or two younger than the others. Then the Gen X kids are another year or two younger(remember Husk and Cannonball are siblings), which puts them as college aged. Then the other Morrison+ brats are still teenagers/barely 20. To me it's more like 4-6 years equals 1 character year, and its not a consistent thing. Remember, Jean was '24' when she died in DPS, but Scott was still 24/25 in the 90's Onslaught era. You have to hand wave some of the inconsistencies and play the long game.

[Ambaryerno]

I hate it, because it means characters are forever going to be stuck in the same plots over and over again, and will never be able to grow or experience real change.

[AppleJ]

A mix of both. Realistic timeframes are too fast for a comic book company that has most of its comics coming out monthly, whereas a sliding timescale already has me bored of some mainstream Avengers/X-Men. Just keep the 3-4 years = 1 in-universe year model.

This exactly! Let characters age and develop, so that new younger characters can step up into some of their roles. More diversity of age will give greater diversity of perspectives, needs, and motivations. Older characters need not retire per se, but can take breaks from books or may take on different team roles as leaders, directors, and teachers. Let them be parents of a new generation even.

[Dthirds3]

Go back to 1 year in story is 4.5 real life. There's only so much you can do with a character stuck at the same age. They need to be able to grow.

[Tycon]

This exactly! Let characters age and develop, so that new younger characters can step up into some of their roles. More diversity of age will give greater diversity of perspectives, needs, and motivations. Older characters need not retire per se, but can take breaks from books or may take on different team roles as leaders, directors, and teachers. Let them be parents of a new generation even.

That's part of the reason the Avengers Initiative/Academy X/Avengers Academy generation was so great. We saw veteran heroes step up into teaching roles (Dani Moonstar, Hank Pym, Quicksilver, Tigra) and mature as characters. All of this while new & interesting characters were being introduced.

[yogaflame]

Here's the thing: how long does it take to read a comic? These days it's like 5 minutes, tops, with all this decompression. Most books only come out once a month. So in a whole year of real time, we experience all of 60 minutes of these characters lives. Even if we are gracious and say an issue covers a whole day of their time, should we really pick back up in the next issue 29 days later? That's what realtime progression would entail. We would miss so much. That's no way to tell a story.

[TheCape]

Cut the bullshit and throw continuity by the window, they clearly don't care about it anymore, hell they don't even care about established characterization (i'm looking at you Schism). just had a vague timeline of events that happened without noting to specific, is not my preffered choice but at least is honest.

[Silver Fang]

Cut the bullshit and throw continuity by the window, they clearly don't care about it anymore, hell they don't even care about established characterization (i'm looking at you Schism). just had a vague timeline of events that happened without noting to specific, is not my preffered choice but at least is honest.

Continuity = Marvel's toilet paper. lol

[wano]

I hate it, because it means characters are forever going to be stuck in the same plots over and over again, and will never be able to grow or experience real change.

Cyclops grew up, he's late 30's before his death and experienced real change, one of the few characters that had this privilege

[lurkerforyears]

Cyclops grew up, he's late 30's before his death and experienced real change, one of the few characters that had this privilege

That's also why he is dead. Cyclops got so much character development and changed so much that doing the hard resets to status quo we usually get in comics was impossible with him.
In a way it's almost like Buddhist Nirvana.

[TheCape]

Cyclops grew up, he's late 30's before his death and experienced real change, one of the few characters that had this privilege

Spider-Man did too at some point, look where he is now