Age Difference Between The Justice League

[Timothy Hunter]

DC has always been stubborn in terms of giving away the ages of their characters, but have there been any hints about which Leaguers are older and younger than others?

Here are all the clues I can gather

-Bruce Wayne was 26 when he started his career as Batman according to Batman Year One

-During the 80s and 90s, Oliver Queen and Hal Jordan aged more rapidly than their peers in the original Justice League. Queen turned 40 years old in the Longbow Hunters, and Jordan gained white streaks of hair in his 90s ongoing. This might insinuate that Green Lantern and Green Arrow are older than most of the original League.

Dinah might be the oldest in the current continuity due to Wonder Woman 750 retconning her to be actives during World War Two. This was NOT the case in Earth One, Post Crisis, and and the New Fifty Two.

[The Darknight Detective]

DC has always been stubborn in terms of giving away the ages of their characters,

Post-COIE, yes, but they were pretty straight about the ages during the Bronze Age.

[Jim Kelly]

29 all of 'em.

[Lightning63]

During the 80s and 90s, Oliver Queen and Hal Jordan aged more rapidly than their peers in the original Justice League. Queen turned 40 years old in the Longbow Hunters, and Jordan gained white streaks of hair in his 90s ongoing. This might insinuate that Green Lantern and Green Arrow are older than most of the original League.

Johns' run said that Hal's grey hair was caused by stress from parallax rather than age.

[Johnny]

Oliver and Hal can't be older than the rest anymore, not that it ever made sense for them to be in the first place. How can Hal Jordan be a decade or so older than a guy who's raised 4 generations of Robins.

[Timothy Hunter]

Johns' run said that Hal's grey hair was caused by stress from parallax rather than age.

That's right. Kevin Smith's Green Arrow also explained that Oliver's Resurrection deaged him slightly. The Parallax thing was a retcon by Johns to make Hal appear younger. The intent of giving him streaks of grey in his hair initially was to show his age in the present, compared to his youth in Emerald Dawn.

[Tzigone]

Oliver and Hal can't be older than the rest anymore, not that it ever made sense for them to be in the first place. How can Hal Jordan be a decade or so older than a guy who's raised 4 generations of Robins.

Agreed. Canon and continuity being the wibbly wobbyly thing it is, I tend to go by starting age (age at hero debut) and adjust relative to how much the then-kid generation aged (and their aging may be determined by how old they were when subsequent kid-generations were introduced and how much those kids have aged) to more say how old they should be, rather that how old DC says they are. So Wally was 14 when Hal was introduced - how old is Wally "now"? Well, he turned 21 before Jason died, IIRC. Jason was probably 13 (was in 7th grade) when he died, though moved up to 15 later. Tim was same or two years younger (depending on timeframe) than Jason. I prefer same age, but most don't. So Tim was 17 (I think) when Damian was 10. Is Damian 14 yet - I remember him being made 13, but haven't read in a while. If he's 14, then Tim and Jason should be 21, and thus Wally almost 30. If Hal was in his late '20s when introduced (I remember shortly after he left Coast City, he was said to have fought in Korean War), then he's mid 40s now. But, of course, DC won't keep the relative ages consistent, and won't let heroes get too old.

Hope I have those ages straight and didn't futz up my math.

Ollie, I'm unsure on. I haven't read many golden age Green Arrow stories, and was never sure if he was actually an archaeologist or just a hobbyist collector (and I'm not talking about later retcons for Earth 2). The former would take additional years of schooling. Still would say no more than half a dozen years older than Bruce.

In silver/bronze age, I'm fairly sure Barry had his 10 year college reunion, then a few years later had his 10-year high school reunion. They call him "young" all the time in narration, so I tend to go with the latter, and make him 27ish on hero debut.

I prefer golden age continuity, where Bruce had been Batman only a year when Dick became Robin (at age 10-12), so generally set him 26 when Dick became Robin (based on the idea of him being 10 in the "15 years ago" flash back, but up to 13 is reasonable, IMO), then add on years for how old each old Robin was when each new Robin was introduced. Which, of course, has no bearing on current continuity.

Dinah, with her universe-crossing (I don't prefer legacy version), is a weird one, since the JSA gets pegged in time, and the JLA doesn't. I just say she debuted between WW and the Flash and was early-to-mid-twenties at the time.

Ray (the Atom) was a young professional at the time of his debut - both he and Carol were still trying to establish themselves in their careers (which involved further education after college). So similarly aged to Barry to me.

Never really had a sense of age for Arthur in the old days.

[Superfly Frankenstein]

If we go by the old Zero Hour timeline, the only TRUE age we know is that Clark became Superman when he was 23 IIRC. We can figure Batman first appeared a few weeks/months later, and he was 26. I’m not gonna touch WonderWoman. For Barry to have graduated college and secured a job with Central City PD, we will say he was about 23. Hal looks to have lived a life and isn’t completely wet behind the ears, so he got his ring at about 26. I always found Ollie to be older than the others, so I’ll put his first appearance as GA at 30.

We have a baseline there.

Let’s say 13 year old Dick became Robin in year 3. We can then peg Speedy, Wally, etc right around 13.

Dick was Robin until 18, making Batman 33. Jason was Robin at 14 for a year, then a year later, 11 year old Tim took the mantle. This would be year 10, the same year Superman died at the age of 33.

Now, it gets tricky.

Using the conundrum of the time issues presently, Superman returns within 3 months of his death, Batman’s back is broken at age 36, Barry died around year 8 at 31 making Wally 19 when he became Flash. Hal gets the Paralax treatment at age 36 and Ollie dies at 40. Somewhere around Final Night, Superman gets married and within two years, Jon is born. So we will say year 11, and Clark is 34.

Jon is (before the age up) 10 in present day (year 21) which means. Clark is 44, Bruce 47, Barry would be 44, Hal 47, and Ollie 51. Dick and his contemporaries are around 30. Tim and his group are just over 20.

Of course, this is head canon mixed with what little logistics I could apply.

[John Venus]

I thought Bruce was 24 when he started.

Hal and Ollie being older pre-Nu52 made sense to me. Ollie has a whole backstory about being a spoiled rich playboy before getting trapped on an island for x amount of years until he managed to escape. I could easily see him being 28-30 years old when he started operating. Hal is a test pilot when he started out. If he is experienced he should at least be in his 30's, Johns deaged him and whilst I can buy Hal having pre mature gray hair, I thought having it be a result of Parallax influencing him was a step too far.

[Tzigone]

Ollie has a whole backstory about being a spoiled rich playboy before getting trapped on an island for x amount of years until he managed to escape.

I so strongly prefer pre-COIE there. I mean, he was a rich playboy, but not a bad person, pre-COIE (at least originally) and in his island origin story (which only came in the late 1970s, after other origin stories), he ended up stranded because he tried to stop thieves. And his time on the island was measured in months, not years. I mean, presuming we're talking about DC Super-Stars #17, and not another earlier version of the island origin story that I'm unfamiliar with. Though, of course, you may well be discussing the later versions where his then-assholeness was projected back into the past and his origin was rewritten to make him crappier.

Hal is a test pilot when he started out. If he is experienced he should at least be in his 30's

Yeah, that's something I dealt with when building my own time-slide timeline. The number of years of a pilot is required to stay in the military after training has lengthened over time. I managed to track it back to the 1970s, but not beyond. And when did college become a prerequisite for pilots? I don't know if it was back when the character was created and dealing with the changes in the real world between a character's debut and the present can make things wonky. This is especially seen in characters like Billy and Freddy, who supported themselves from a young age, and with regards to how much society would accept that. I liked old-school Hal, and I liked that we sometimes saw the STEM skills (like he built the trainer in the first story, I think?) that pilots would have.

[The Darknight Detective]

Unless specifically mentioned in a comic book, nobody is in their forties or beyond. It doesn't matter what any of us think here, but what DC says (or doesn't say) about it.

[Restingvoice]

Zatanna was around the same age range as Bruce when he trained under Zatara, High school.

In New 52 Arthur was bout 18 when his father died and found Atlantis
Hal joined the air force at 18
Ollie was 19 when he was stranded in that island that implied to have been years

Bruce was 25 when he returned to Gotham
Clark was 23 when he debuted as Superman right before Batman debuted
Diana is immortal but the equivalent of 18 to 19 when she met Batman and Superman in Rebirth

Hal was fired/quit I forget from the air force and became a mechanic before hired by Ferris out of debt for his father so he doesn't need to be 30

Dinah was 19 when she joined Justice League

Ollie was... I forgot 35 or 45 when Tim Drake was 13 (What I gathered from previous posters is he's 45) when Dick Grayson was 20-23 and Billy Batson was at least 10 and Bruce was 37-38 meaning he was 25/35 when Dick Grayson was 10-13 in Year 3 when Bruce was 27-28 and Clark 26

I forget about Barry but I'll go with 23 as above mentioned

It's weird to me if Ollie's younger than Clark but he will feel too old once we reach today if he's 35. Maybe take the middle road and say he's 30?

So the Justice League origin age would be
Ollie 30
Bruce 27-28
Clark 26
Zatanna 25-27
Hal 23-28
Barry 23
Arthur 23
Diana 19
Dinah 19

While the future members at that time
Dick 10-13
Billy 0-3

Agreed. Canon and continuity being the wibbly wobbyly thing it is, I tend to go by starting age (age at hero debut) and adjust relative to how much the then-kid generation aged (and their aging may be determined by how old they were when subsequent kid-generations were introduced and how much those kids have aged) to more say how old they should be, rather that how old DC says they are. So Wally was 14 when Hal was introduced - how old is Wally "now"? Well, he turned 21 before Jason died, IIRC. Jason was probably 13 (was in 7th grade) when he died, though moved up to 15 later. Tim was same or two years younger (depending on timeframe) than Jason. I prefer same age, but most don't. So Tim was 17 (I think) when Damian was 10. Is Damian 14 yet - I remember him being made 13, but haven't read in a while. If he's 14, then Tim and Jason should be 21, and thus Wally almost 30. If Hal was in his late '20s when introduced (I remember shortly after he left Coast City, he was said to have fought in Korean War), then he's mid 40s now. But, of course, DC won't keep the relative ages consistent, and won't let heroes get too old.

Damian is 14 now, but Tim remains a teenager because of the new continuity.

Dick was Robin until 18, making Batman 33. Jason was Robin at 14 for a year, then a year later, 11 year old Tim took the mantle. This would be year 10, the same year Superman died at the age of 33. .

Tim was 13 when he showed up and 14 when he's Robin then Superman died and Bane broke the Bat (I think the age arrangement of Young Justice was Tim 14 Cassie 15 Conner 16), but your ending age for Dick and Tim generation are about right if using post crisis.

[Jim Kelly]

Denny O'Neil writer established in 1971 that Bruce Wayne was about 20 years old when he first became Batman. Dennis O'Neil editor disagreed with the writer and made him older, but I prefer the 20 year old age as that gives Bruce more time to do all the things. Just because he was Batman that doesn't mean he didn't continue to train and travel to other places in the world to improve his skills and technology.

[SecretWarrior]

I remembered this from ComicVine:

There's been a lot of controversy regarding the ages of the members of the Justice League--or the lack of knowledge about them. I'm here with some answers.

In the present day, Wonder Woman is twenty-three years old as stated in Wonder Woman issue 11.

In the present day, Cyborg is 22-23 years old. This one took some figuring out. In Justice League issue 1, college scouts are ready to give Victor football scholarships. Usually, players get football scholarships during their senior year, in which they are 17-18 years old. Add five years to that and Cyborg is between 22-23 years old. There's also the fact that 5 years ago, Sarah Charles (Cyborg's love interest) was noted as being 17. So in the present day, she's 22--which puts her and Cyborg in the same age bracket.

As of now, Green Lantern: Secret Origin is still in continuity. In that story, Hal is 18 years old when he joins the air force. He's kicked out for joy riding his jet. To be a fighter pilot you need a bachelor's degree (which takes about 4 years) and you need to go to flight school (which is about 9 months-1 year). So add all that to Hal's age, and he's about 22-23 years old when he's kicked out of the airforce and becomes Green Lantern. Then add another 5 years to bring Hal's age up to the present day. And we can see that Hal is approximately 27-28 years old.

In Justice League #2, Barry Allen is already a crime scene investigator. It takes about 6 years after graduating high school to become a crime scene investigator (4 years of undergrad and 2 years made up of being in the police academy and doing lower level police work). So add 6 years to 18, and Barry was 24 during the Darkseid Invasion. 5 years later, he's 29. But in Flash #0, Barry is made fun of for being young, so maybe he completed under grad early? If we shorten his undergrad by two years because he's so smart, then Barry is 27 along with Superman and GL. That makes things feel more comfortable universe-eise. So Flash is 27-29.

Aquaman is easy to figure out. In Aquaman issue 8, it is revealed that Arthur lost his father 6 years ago, when he was 18. That pegs Aquaman at 24.

Superman is revealed to just be starting his journalism career during the beginning of Action Comics set 5 years ago. It takes about 4 years to get an undergraduate journalism degree. Some journalists get another 2 years of study for a higher degree. So if Clark is 18 when he finishes High School, then during the Darkseid Invasion, he's 22 or 24. 5 years later, he's 27 or 29. Edit- Superman #14 confirms that Superman is 27.

Batman is the most difficult to figure out due to the Robins. During his still-canon Year One story, he's 25. Damian Wayne is physically 10, but he was grown in a test tube so he could have been conceived within the 5 year timeline. Tim Drake was revealed to be an olympic athlete who was never an official robin, so he probably only got a few months of training from Bruce. Dark Victory (Dick Grayson's origin) takes place 2 years after Year One when Bruce is 27. But here's the thing, during the Darkseid Invasion, Bruce had no Robin. The Invasion couldn't take place during Year One or during Dark Victory, so it probably happened between them when Bruce was 26. That put's Bruce's Age 5 years later at 31. You could say that the D.I. took place after Dick left or Jason died, but Batman is not a pool of sadness like he is after those events. He seems fresh and young. So I'm sticking to the 31 story--at least until we get more information or retconning.

So what we know is:

*Batman- 31?

Superman-27

Green Lantern- 27(-28)

Flash- 27(-29)

Aquaman- 24

Wonder Woman- 23

Cyborg- 23

https://comicvine.gamespot.com/justi...ice-le-681506/

Also, Bruce was 25 in Year One

[SecretWarrior]

If I were to make up the present day ages, they'd be:

Superman - 33, started at 26
Batman - 31/32, started at 25
Wonder Woman - Physically 30, left Themyscira physically 25
Green Lantern (John) - 31/32, started at 27/28
Flash - 27-29, started at 23