Abrupt age ups that worked and that didn't?

[Tzigone]

There are tons of characters in comics that suddenly age overnight. Sometimes we have in-universe explanations, sometimes we don't. It's particularly common with young characters.

It's happened with Jai and Irey West, Emiko Queen, Chris and Jon Kent, Garth (IMO, anyway), etc. I'd actually argue it happened with Hal, too.

Which ones do you like and dislike most? I accept Garth easily enough, but do feel like he jumped in age for the Teen Titans. I really think the speed-aging works very nicely for Bart, but with that being part of his introduction, I don't know that he really counts. I do not like the speed-aging for Jai and Irey at all (even though it is reasonably connected to Bart's, really). I liked adult Chris, and found him (and his dynamic with Thara) engaging, but the "temporary child" aspect just bugs the heck out of me. Hated the timeskip on Jon.

[Digifiend]

Damian had one retconned into his origin in New 52 as it would've otherwise been impossible for Bruce to have a 10 year old son with Talia when he hadn't been Batman for more than five years. Too fantastic for the street level Bat family, so it didn't fit, and it was undone in Rebirth when the timeline changed to Batman existing for over 15 years again, meaning that even with Damian being aged to 13 for Teen Titans at that point, the timeline still made sense.

[Dred]

There are tons of characters in comics that suddenly age overnight. Sometimes we have in-universe explanations, sometimes we don't. It's particularly common with young characters.

It's happened with Jai and Irey West, Emiko Queen, Chris and Jon Kent, Garth (IMO, anyway), etc. I'd actually argue it happened with Hal, too.

Which ones do you like and dislike most? I accept Garth easily enough, but do feel like he jumped in age for the Teen Titans. I really think the speed-aging works very nicely for Bart, but with that being part of his introduction, I don't know that he really counts. I do not like the speed-aging for Jai and Irey at all (even though it is reasonably connected to Bart's, really). I liked adult Chris, and found him (and his dynamic with Thara) engaging, but the "temporary child" aspect just bugs the heck out of me. Hated the timeskip on Jon.

Bart counts in a negative way because it happened to him when he became The Flash, and was notoriously bad.

I think with Jai and Iris it was because infants are very, very uninteresting from a storytelling perspective. They can barely be characters, whereas kids can have defined personalities and even skills. Wild Wests was a solid arc even if it all went to crap afterwards.

[Tzigone]

Bart counts in a negative way because it happened to him when he became The Flash, and was notoriously bad.

I'd somehow blocked that out.

[king81992]

I'd somehow blocked that out.

Bart having rapid aging problems was part of his origin too, if I remember correctly. He had to be raised in a simulation because of it, unless I'm confusing him with someone else.

To answer your original question, I don't think any abrupt age ups ever worked.

[Tzigone]

Bart having rapid aging problems was part of his origin too, if I remember correctly. He had to be raised in a simulation because of it, unless I'm confusing him with someone else.

Yes, definitely. That's the one I was referencing that worked for me, even though I don't generally like those sorts of age ups. Because his being raised in the simulations worked with his lack of patience, and very particularly with his tendency to treat heroing like a video game, and the problems that caused. I just wasn't sure it counted, because he never was in a storyline as a character prior to age-up, I don't think.

I will admit, though, that despite the facts, I don't think of Bart as Barry or Iris or Wally's family, but as Max's family and wouldn't care a bit if he wasn't related to them and didn't interact with them. Probably because I'm most into the Impulse-title for him, and all that (setting, friends, etc.).

[king81992]

Yes, definitely. That's the one I was referencing that worked for me, even though I don't generally like those sorts of age ups. Because his being raised in the simulations worked with his lack of patience, and very particularly with his tendency to treat heroing like a video game, and the problems that caused. I just wasn't sure it counted, because he never was in a storyline as a character prior to age-up, I don't think.

I will admit, though, that despite the facts, I don't think of Bart as Barry or Iris or Wally's family, but as Max's family and wouldn't care a bit if he wasn't related to them and didn't interact with them. Probably because I'm most into the Impulse-title for him, and all that (setting, friends, etc.).

Rapid aging worked in that context because it was part of his origin. Him aging up to become the Flash was just a terrible gimmick.

Honestly, the only characters who feel like Barry's family are Wally and Iris.

[Jackalope89]

I'll keep this to a minimum; the Jon Kent age up killed whatever interest I had in Superman in the main universe. Elseworlds I'll still do, like the upcoming Lobo/Superman one. But the main verse is just a big no. Even with Tom Taylor, someone who did a decent job with an older Jon in an Elseworld, I won't read. The Elseworld, everyone aged up along with Jon, making it make sense. The main verse is still a big no though. To say nothing of the absolute mess that was done by Bendis to get the age-up.

[Aahz]

What didn't really worked imo ws the rapid aging (from 10 to 14) Damian went through since rebirth. It causes massive logic problems with the ages of the older teens in the Batfamily (Tim, Duke, Steph), but hasn't really added brought much to the table, since Damian is for the mist part still drawn and written like he was when he was 10 years old.

[Darkspellmaster]

Worked: Damian in both Modern and Pre -52 aging him to 10.
Walley in a way (I think he aged some on the treadmill during Crises)
Hal's girlfriend who was a kid and then became an adult
Kon -since he was a clone I think they grew him fast too
Princess Amethyst -Amy to a teen with magic in the original series
The set of YJ for Sins of Youth since it worked in the story.
Bart in the future to grow him and keep him safe due to his powers.
Iris and Jai West to slightly older kids, same thing with Bart over all.

Didn't work:
Bart being forced to Age up to be the Flash (That **** sucked really bad, and then they killed him via his villains)
Chris Kent never gave the kid a chance to age normal
Jon Kent this has screwed him over to grow him as a normal character in story
Damian's sudden speed up in aging to 14. Going from ten to 12 I can buy going from 10 to 14 in the span of what? a little less than a decade is not fair. Took other characters years of natural (in shifting time line) to grow. He and Jon and the other kids seemed to rush it because writers want to write them as older and not as kids.

Honestly we need more kids comics with Kid characters to give younger readers a chance to enjoy these characters and grow with them.

[Tzigone]

What didn't really worked imo ws the rapid aging (from 10 to 14) Damian went through since rebirth. It causes massive logic problems with the ages of the older teens in the Batfamily (Tim, Duke, Steph), but hasn't really added brought much to the table, since Damian is for the mist part still drawn and written like he was when he was 10 years old.

Yeah, I felt rather like he was bumped up just so he could do Teen Titans. But at least he remained someone's kid, unlike so many others who were just jumped to adulthood. Because of that, it's more of a minor irritation with me. Biggest problem has been trying to decide if I keep him three years older than Jon in headcanon reboot (where at least I can have the consistent ages and continuity that canon will not give me) or make him the same age.

Not pleased with what's happened with Lian lately. I wanted her back, but not like this.

[married guy]

Bart Allen being aged up then shoved into the Flash costume was pretty effing horrendous.
I actually liked Arisia being aged up - and it' probably the only time ageing a character worked for me.
Hal banging her though?..... creepy.

[marhawkman]

Bart Allen being aged up then shoved into the Flash costume was pretty effing horrendous.
I actually liked Arisia being aged up - and it' probably the only time ageing a character worked for me.
Hal banging her though?..... creepy.

Arisia was weird, because it's arguable she should never have been a child at all. I vaguely remember some weird stuff about how her calendar age didn't mean what Humans thought it did because her homeworld had a drastically different year length. Hmmm don't quite remember the details.

[M L A]

Arisia lol. She still acted pretty childish when she aged her body back in the day, and then Johns went full anime to make it look not as bad (s-she's actually a 2000 dragon, she just happens to look like a 14 year old) but it was still pretty bad

[j9ac9k]

Ollie was aged up in "Longbow Hunters" which worked because it was a more mature story. I'm almost positive that's what lead them to age up Hal, which did NOT work.