From: mss2@quads.uchicago.edu (Michael S. Schiffer)
Subject: Re: Character Aging (was Re: Marvel Continuity)
Followup-To: rec.arts.comics.misc
Reply-To: mss2@midway.uchicago.edu
Organization: University of Chicago Computing Organizations
Date: Fri, 31 Jul 1992 07:49:09 GMT

In article <ceS7HLq00VAx02G3ws@andrew.cmu.edu> "David M. Pahnos" <dp0q+@andrew.cmu.edu> writes:
>Excerpts from netnews.rec.arts.comics: 29-Jul-92 Character Aging (was
>Re: Ma.. Michael S. Schiffer@quad (5505)

>>  (One of these
>> days, Superman is going to be younger than the New Titans.  Infinity,
>> Inc. is either forty-something or are very much the children of the
>> JSA's old age-- there aren't many people under thirty who are the
>> children of WWII veterans.  And so on.  Which means each retelling of
>> a story will have to change the names of the players, IMHO defeating
>> the purpose of having such a unitary universe in the first place.)

>Well, I think it has been shown just how LATE each of the parents had
>the kids in all of the instances.  I also look at Infinity Inc as being
>older than the Titans at this point.  You have the Titans at college age
>and the Incers as being the twentysomethings. (like 23-27 at the most).

My impression is that the Titans are post-college age.  I don't follow
the title, but certainly Wally West, a former member, is in his
early-mid twenties and out of school, Troia is married and has a
child, and so on.

But the Infinitors are continually drawn as being in their twenties
(if not younger-- Jade and Obsidian tend to look like teenagers,
actually, but we'll chalk that up to poor art).  Now, if we assume the
average age of a JSAer in 1940 was 30, and we presume the Infinitors
are 30 now (adding a few years just to be sporting to DC) then
virtually all of these kids were born when their parents were over
fifty.  This is, to put it mildly, unusual-- even more so for the GI
generation, which was more averse to late childbearing than people are
today (in large part because it was significantly more dangerous for
both mother and child).  If the Infinitors are more like 25, then it's
even less likely.

	Not _one_ JSAer (or old JSA foe in the case of Brainwave or
Nuklon) had a child during the famous Baby Boom?  All of these kids
were born to fifty-plus year old parents?  It's not biologically
impossible, but it's just not real likely.  And either the Infinitors
have to be allowed to age sometime, or again, the problem will
intensify-- because the JSA is inextricably linked to World War II.
(Of course, ten years ago I would have said the LSH was inextricably
linked to Superboy.  Live and learn.  Still, I just don't see the JSA
being credibly relocated to Vietnam somehow.  :-) ) Given that, and
the fact that the Infinitors have been hardly seen since their series
was cancelled, it wouldn't be an awful idea to let them have aged
somewhat since then.  Especially since they, unlike the former Earth-1
heroes, don't have any presumed age relationship to Superman or Batman
(or rather they do, but to counterparts of those two who no longer
exist).  If Hal Jordan can age, certainly Infinity, Inc. can.

Mike


-- 
Michael S. Schiffer, LHN, FCS	"Workers of the world, forgive me.
mss2@midway.uchicago.edu	 You had more to lose than I thought."
mike.schiffer@um.cc.umich.edu	 -- Karl Marx (1990) as imagined by
mss2@usite-next.uchicago.edu     Jim Koncz (konc@midway.uchicago.edu)