Aging in the DC Universe

[captchuck]

Actually, the Golden Age Batman (or rather, the Earth Two Batman) was born in 1915. So that'd be 106 years

Honestly, that's not what I'm in favor of, outside of Elseworlds or Black Label type of situations.

My understanding of the ''ageing'' issue is not that I want characters to age in real-time and/or permanently age out of certain roles.

My point is that if you want to have the ''illusion of change'' as far as the evolution of certain characters and franchises go, then you need to be prepared to commit to it. If you want there to be three generations of Robins (Jason, Tim and arguably Steph are the same generation, more or less), then you shouldn't be afraid to admit that Bruce Wayne is closer to 45 than 35. If Supeman's gonna have a teenage kid, then don't try to convince me that he and Lois are under-40. Yes these characters may all look younger, either because of their powers or being in great shape or whatever, but their youth doesn't have to be a selling point, the way it supposedly was during the New 52 - especially not at the expense of building a cohesive universe and timeline.

When most actors playing superheroes are in their late thirties or forties, if not older, and the idea of superhero legacies is increasingly becoming part of adaptations as well, I don't see the problem with letting them get a little older on page.

Warner Bros. would never agree to a very old Batman. Superman might not age as quickly as a human as we aren't sure how fast Kryptonians age, but Lois forces us to stop the aging process.

[Alpha]

I mean, when I was 10 my parents were still under 40 (they had me in their early 20s).

And what makes you think Clark and Lois would have a kid in their 20s considering all the hills that relationship had to climb?

Heck, how young do you think Clark should be before he joined the Daily Planet? I can't imagine a 24 year old getting a job at a newspaper.

Add that age plus however long it took for him and Lois to start dating (which by most accounts would be years) and then add the time necessary for their relationship to develop enough so that they would even try to have a child. Remember that in most versions Clark didn't reveal his secret to Lois until after a while. And there's a good chance that they broke up at least once before getting together and then getting married. Since it's not easy for a human to have a kid with a Kryptonian, I'm sure they had to take some time to plan things out even after they decided they wanted a kid.

Clark would probably be at least 36 years old before Lois got pregnant.

[Primal Slayer]

And what makes you think Clark and Lois would have a kid in their 20s considering all the hills that relationship had to climb?

Heck, how young do you think Clark should be before he joined the Daily Planet? I can't imagine a 24 year old getting a job at a newspaper.

Add that age plus however long it took for him and Lois to start dating (which by most accounts would be years) and then add the time necessary for their relationship to develop enough so that they would even try to have a child. Remember that in most versions Clark didn't reveal his secret to Lois until after a while. And there's a good chance that they broke up at least once before getting together and then getting married. Since it's not easy for a human to have a kid with a Kryptonian, I'm sure they had to take some time to plan things out even after they decided they wanted a kid.

Clark would probably be at least 36 years old before Lois got pregnant.

Not every pregnancy is planned and there are plenty of ways that they could write the story. Clark is weakend by Kryptonite, Lois saves him, and it's a Buffy/Angel situation where things happen and 9 months later a baby is born.

[Alpha]

Not every pregnancy is planned and there are plenty of ways that they could write the story. Clark is weakend by Kryptonite, Lois saves him, and it's a Buffy/Angel situation where things happen and 9 months later a baby is born.

Fine, I guess you can lower the threshold a bit and have it be a pregnancy (and child birth) where Clark didn't run extensive tests beforehand on how the whole ordeal would take place.

That still leaves you with "how old was Clark when he met Lois" (or in other words, how old did Clark have to be in order to get a job as a writer at one of the most important newspapers in the country), how long until Clark and Lois start dating, and how long between the start of their relationship and the birth of Jon.

Did they stay together from the moment they started dating or were their breakups in between? Did Clark leave earth and then come back, or die and come back, or literally do anything else. Did they marry before Lois got pregnant? (that does require at least some months of planning the wedding). Seems to me like at least 5 years would have passed between them starting dating and them having children. Specially since having a relationship with Superman would take a long period of adjustment so that the relationship doesn't blow itself up. After all, look at all the things that Clark went through in actual comics between them getting married in the 90s and up until the Flashpoint Reboot.

[Primal Slayer]

Fine, I guess you can lower the threshold a bit and have it be a pregnancy (and child birth) where Clark didn't run tests on how the whole ordeal would take place. That still leaves you with how old was Clark when he met Lois (or in other words, how old did Clark have to be in order to get a job as a writer at one of the most important newspapers in the country), how long until Clark and Lois start dating, and how long between them the start of their relationship and the birth of Jon. Did they stay together from the moment they started dating or were their breakups in between. Did Clark leave earth and then come back, or die and come back, or literally do anything else. Did they marry before Lois got pregnant? (that does require at least some months of planning the wedding). Seems to me like at least 5 years would have passed between them starting dating and them having children. After all, look at all the things that Clark went through in actual comics between them getting married in the 90s and up until the Flashpoint Reboot.

Real world logic vs. comic logic can be very different at times. In the comic world, Clark could graduate college at 21 and get on the writing staff at the Daily Planet by 22 wherein he could meet Lois, and they could go through "Hey, I'm Superman" by the age of 25, if not sooner.

Look at what Superman and Lois has done...Clark and Lois went from being first time parents at the age of 35-38ish to being parents to twins by the age of 24-25?

[Aahz]

Typically Clark is afaik about 25 when he starts as Superman in Metroplois, and I don't really see Clark and Lois having a child untill at least 5 years later.

If we take Damians age into account (he is 3 years older the Jon, and can really been born untill at least Batmans 4th or 5th year), 7 or 8 years seems even more likely.

[The Darknight Detective]

Real world logic vs. comic logic can be very different at times. In the comic world, Clark could graduate college at 21 and get on the writing staff at the Daily Planet by 22 wherein he could meet Lois, and they could go through "Hey, I'm Superman" by the age of 25, if not sooner.

Look at what Superman and Lois has done...Clark and Lois went from being first time parents at the age of 35-38ish to being parents to twins by the age of 24-25?

Comic book time is amazing. Clark could do everything he did pre-COIE, yet be only about 28.

[Alpha]

I hate how they took away Jon's entire puberty with Clark, but I don't see why Lois can't be in her 40 or even 50s. I mean, it might actually give her a bit of a jolt of energy. I cann imagine so many stories with a Lois Lane at that age. And artists would tend to draw her older hopefully, which means less objectifying a woman known for her loud mouth and not for her body. An older Lois Lane actually sounds like a good way to take the character.

Heck, I don't see any downsides to Bruce's hair starting to grey and Lois having wrinkles. Like you said, this is comic book logic, and an older Bruce Wayne could totally do everything he already does. You could even give him some armor upgrades. Older Bruce Wayne is actually quite popular both in comic books and in media. Just look at all the stories set in Batman's future.

[Vakanai]

And what makes you think Clark and Lois would have a kid in their 20s considering all the hills that relationship had to climb?

Heck, how young do you think Clark should be before he joined the Daily Planet? I can't imagine a 24 year old getting a job at a newspaper.

Add that age plus however long it took for him and Lois to start dating (which by most accounts would be years) and then add the time necessary for their relationship to develop enough so that they would even try to have a child. Remember that in most versions Clark didn't reveal his secret to Lois until after a while. And there's a good chance that they broke up at least once before getting together and then getting married. Since it's not easy for a human to have a kid with a Kryptonian, I'm sure they had to take some time to plan things out even after they decided they wanted a kid.

Clark would probably be at least 36 years old before Lois got pregnant.

It's comic books, condensing the timeline is something we're used to. I really wouldn't use logic to argue how much time must've passed for all these stories to happen. It'll never come out to less than 80+ years.

[Vakanai]

I hate how they took away Jon's entire puberty with Clark, but I don't see why Lois can't be in her 40 or even 50s. I mean, it might actually give her a bit of a jolt of energy. I cann imagine so many stories with a Lois Lane at that age. And artists would tend to draw her older hopefully, which means less objectifying a woman known for her loud mouth and not for her body. An older Lois Lane actually sounds like a good way to take the character.

Heck, I don't see any downsides to Bruce's hair starting to grey and Lois having wrinkles. Like you said, this is comic book logic, and an older Bruce Wayne could totally do everything he already does. You could even give him some armor upgrades. Older Bruce Wayne is actually quite popular both in comic books and in media. Just look at all the stories set in Batman's future.

All those stories of Batman's futures aren't in mainline continuity or ongoings.

[Alpha]

All those stories of Batman's futures aren't in mainline continuity or ongoings.

You are telling me what has happened. We are discussing what could be.

[Vakanai]

You are telling me what has happened. We are discussing what could be.

But I don't believe that it could be - more to the point, I don't want it to be.

[Dred]

My favorite thing about the infinitely resetting age side of the argument is that all the comics that you consider seminal or defining for the character of Bruce Wayne can't even be canon to him anymore. Not old enough to pack that many adventures into one lifetime, experience those events in those time frames, etc etc. You, in a roundabout way, aren't even invested in the character you think you're invested in.

That's my biggest foible with never being able to move on from "core" characters. It takes the guts out of any significant story knowing that it's just a matter of time for it not to be significant because we need to keep producing an infinite number of mediocre or bad stories to cash in on popularity.

[Alpha]

I find it funny that people are so against these characters aging up even though there are characters on the older side that have had their own book over the years. Nick Fury has always had grey temples and still been an action hero. Magneto is always threatening even though he always had grey hair. An older Tony Stark and Batman could work just as well as they do now. They could still sleep around and do crazy action stunts and drink all day long or never sleep.

[Vakanai]

I find it funny that people are so against these characters aging up even though there are characters on the older side that have had their own book over the years. Nick Fury has always had grey temples and still been an action hero. Magneto is always threatening even though he always had grey hair. An older Tony Stark and Batman could work just as well as they do now. They could still sleep around and do crazy action stunts and drink all day long or never sleep.

The difference is - most of those older characters have always been older characters! They weren't aged up! There's a very real difference between wanting to read about older heroes, and wanting your heroes to grow old.