DC is planning on fixing their timeline!

[Aahz]

They should hire Greg Weisman to construct the new DCU timeline. He already has the experience .

Honestly some of the decisions he made for the YJ time line are kind if wired. For example Dick's age.

[MajorHoy]

I said it before and I'll say it again, COIE damaged the DC Universe in the long run.

Some things that came out of CoIE to me were definite benefits. But editorial decisions like the idea that Wonder Woman wasn't present when the JLA was formed and the idea that the Hawkworld revisions to Hawkman's backstory took place in the (then) present-day, not in Katar Hol's past, were real bone-headed moves. Both Wonder Woman and Hawkman would have benefitted from having Man of Steel-like mini-series where the new changes took place in the past instead of the mess we got trying to re-make all the Hawkman-related stories after CoIE now somehow be stories for the Golden Age Carter and Shiera. (And considering how much changing out modern-day Hawkman to Golden Age Hawkman also impacted much of the JLA's backstory, especially the satellite headquarters, . . . )

[Shamrock Holmes]

Honestly some of the decisions he made for the YJ time line are kind if wired. For example Dick's age.

The only thing that bothered me about Dick's age was the implication that he'd been Robin for up to 5 years before he joins the Team when the traditional narrative suggests he became Robin within at most a year of being orphaned and forms the Team within a year to two after that (even the publication schedule barely supports this and DC's been pretty consistent that they are using a compacted timeline (with the possible exception of the E2 stories) since the late 50s or early 60s.

[Aahz]

The only thing that bothered me about Dick's age was the implication that he'd been Robin for up to 5 years before he joins the Team when the traditional narrative suggests he became Robin within at most a year of being orphaned and forms the Team within a year to two after that (even the publication schedule barely supports this and DC's been pretty consistent that they are using a compacted timeline (with the possible exception of the E2 stories) since the late 50s or early 60s.

I find it wired that he:
- became Robin at age 9 (especially since all the other character are at least in their teens when they started, and they of course never show flash backs of him beeing Robin at that age)
- is way younger then characters that are traditionally his age (Roy, Wally)
- must have become Nightwing at age of roughly 16 (15-16 is kind of the classic Robin age, and in no other Version I know he becomes Nightwing before he is an Adult)


And being that much younger than the rest of the team becomes anyway completely irrelevant by season 2.

[Dr. Ellingham]

DC editorial is currently working on an official timeline of the DC Universe "so that we have a better understanding of how are characters interconnect and fall in their relationships with each other," said Didio.

I know publishers have to say these sorts of things to satisfy the direct market audience, which NEEDS continuity addressed, fixed, maintained, explained.

But I always wonder - does he believe this stuff himself, even a little bit? Or was he laughing inside while the words flew out of his mouth?

(probably the latter)

[Fromper]

I know publishers have to say these sorts of things to satisfy the direct market audience, which NEEDS continuity addressed, fixed, maintained, explained.

But I always wonder - does he believe this stuff himself, even a little bit? Or was he laughing inside while the words flew out of his mouth?

(probably the latter)

I'll just point you towards my first post in this thread, which was a direct response to the thread title, not the three pages of discussion before I posted.

[Shamrock Holmes]

I find it wired that he:
- became Robin at age 9 (especially since all the other character are at least in their teens when they started, and they of course never show flash backs of him beeing Robin at that age)
- is way younger then characters that are traditionally his age (Roy, Wally)
- must have become Nightwing at age of roughly 16 (15-16 is kind of the classic Robin age, and in no other Version I know he becomes Nightwing before he is an Adult)


And being that much younger than the rest of the team becomes anyway completely irrelevant by season 2.

- I agree that was kinda pointless.
- Dick's always been younger than the other main Titans, though I agree that them being teenagers exaggerates the difference between them in Season 1.
- He's 18 in YJ: Legacy, which is the earliest point we see him in costume as Nightwing and AFAIK the only diffinative aging info we have from the comics is that he was at college when he became Nightwing, so him becoming Nightwing c 18 seems reasonable (it's only off by a year at most).

[Aahz]

- Dick's always been younger than the other main Titans, though I agree that them being teenagers exaggerates the difference between them in Season 1.

No in the comics the Fab5 are all the same age, and all later members are either their age or younger.

- He's 18 in YJ: Legacy, which is the earliest point we see him in costume as Nightwing and AFAIK the only diffinative aging info we have from the comics is that he was at college when he became Nightwing, so him becoming Nightwing c 18 seems reasonable (it's only off by a year at most).

That would be true if they had skipped over Jason's time as Robin, with Jason's time as Robin as part of the continuity, Dick has to either start at Nightwing younger or retire for some time.
And at least in the NTT it was clearly said that Dick was 19 when he gave up the Robin mantle. I think 18 would also OK (maybe 17 as the youngest) but 16 (which seems necessary unless they have Jason only Robin for a few month) is imo to young.

[Tzigone]

No in the comics the Fab5 are all the same age, and all later members are either their age or younger.

I'd argue Wally was a year younger, at least by 1970. Dick graduated high school at the end of 1969, Wally not until 1978. Roy may have been a year older than Dick and Donna. It's harder to tell. But, according to flashback from a 1970s JLA, when Ollie lost all his money (also 1969), Roy was already grown and no longer living with him. I know there's also a reference to him having a job (radio station?) at some point in Teen Titans, but I'm not sure when, and it's not definitive enough to say it's not after-school gig, from my vague memories. By time he got custody of Lian in the late 1980s, he said he was 22 and he and Dick where "the same age." Though I suppose technically, they could be in different school years and just be overlapping then. That was when Jason was still Robin, btw, if you care for time-lining purposes.

I don't know if we ever got Garth's age in that era. I know one descriptor (Adventure comics #444?) said he attended school on the mainland, but I never saw that. But I've read precious little Aquaman of the era. I had been thinking of Garth as Wally's age, because he was so tiny when introduced, but I have no evidence of that.

And at least in the NTT it was clearly said that Dick was 19 when he gave up the Robin mantle.

Yep. I think it's important that he be at least 18. It's good that he be an adult when he makes that decision (especially if later issues of him being frustrated at being a child are worked in), so it seems like a right of passage instead of childish rebellion.

[Aahz]

I'd argue Wally was a year younger, at least by 1970. Dick graduated high school at the end of 1969, Wally not until 1978. Roy may have been a year older than Dick and Donna. It's harder to tell. But, according to flashback from a 1970s JLA, when Ollie lost all his money (also 1969), Roy was already grown and no longer living with him. I know there's also a reference to him having a job (radio station?) at some point in Teen Titans, but I'm not sure when, and it's not definitive enough to say it's not after-school gig, from my vague memories. By time he got custody of Lian in the late 1980s, he said he was 22 and he and Dick where "the same age." Though I suppose technically, they could be in different school years and just be overlapping then. That was when Jason was still Robin, btw, if you care for time-lining purposes.

Maybe it didn't really line up with their own (or their mentors) comics (they didn't really care much for stuff like that in the silver age), but the (New) Teen Titans comic always treated them as being the same age.
And in 1969 Dick was 18 went to collage, so Roy would have been old enough to live alone at that time if he was the same age.

[Tzigone]

Maybe it didn't really line up with their own (or their mentors) comics (they didn't really care much for stuff like that in the silver age), but the (New) Teen Titans comic always treated them as being the same age.

I don't recall a reference to Wally's age in NTT, though I could have easily forgotten one. He was seemingly (correctly) newly in college, though. While Dick had already gone and dropped out and Donna had been dating Terry for a year (so had been out of school that long). But I'm counting Wally a year younger. Because in at least part of the 1970s, both appeared in Teen Titans and Dick was in college and Wally in high school. It may have been retconned later (many ages were, many times), but that's the first time I had a strong specific comparison between the two. Then in post-COIE Wally turned 21 in The Flash 22 (Jan 1989), while Roy was said to be 22 in Action Comics 618 (Sep 1988) when he got custody of Lian, and Dick was indicated to be the same.

And in 1969 Dick was 18 went to collage, so Roy would have been old enough to live alone at that time if he was the same age.

I acknowledged that one was iffy. The events are close enough together than either one could have easily come first. Ollie loses money in JLA #75 (November 1969). Dick goes off to Hudson in Batman 217 (Dec 1969).

[Shamrock Holmes]

Part of the problem is that the debut ages for most of the other Titans were revealled mostly by implication rather than giving specific ages until the mid to late eighties (Dick and Wally) or even the late nineties (Garth, Donna and Roy), so it was very easy for writers and fans to get confused.

[Tzigone]

Part of the problem is that the debut ages for most of the other Titans were revealled mostly by implication rather than giving specific ages until the mid to late eighties (Dick and Wally) or even the late nineties (Garth, Donna and Roy), so it was very easy for writers and fans to get confused.

This is somewhat true. I think the only one we got anything specific on at the time of the debut was Wally, who was said to be a ninth grader in his second appearance. Even that's implication (as are graduating highschool/going off to college ones), though strong implication. Cyborg's 19th birthday is in issue 20 of NTT (June 1982 issue but set in early March) and Donna says "So you're 19 today. Join the crowd." So we did know her age (by implication, yet again) by 1982 rather than waiting on late 1980s.

There was also Detective comics 386 (April 1969) where Dick was a junior in high school. And then, of course, he graduated by the end of the year, real-time.

[Aahz]

while Roy was said to be 22 in Action Comics 618 (Sep 1988) when he got custody of Lian, and Dick was indicated to be the same.

I'm pretty sure that Dick was said or at least implied to be 21, in comics that were published later. But I have to look it up.

[Tzigone]

I'm pretty sure that Dick was said or at least implied to be 21, in comics that were published later. But I have to look it up.

Probably. I know Dick was said to be 20 in post-Crisis era when Jason guested in NTT (I think June 1986 in #21, but wouldn't put money on it). That's close to real-time aging there.

Ages are frequently messed up. I know that late in post-Crisis, they called Dick 21 once. And that was just an absolute joke to me. Tim was 16, maybe 17 by then. Can't recall what comic it was in. Trying desperately to keep Batman young, I guess.