Real Time (media) - Comic Books and Strips

Comic Books and Strips

In comic books, the use of real time is made more complicated by the fact that most serial comics are released on a monthly basis and are traditionally 20 to 30 pages long, making it difficult to tell a story set in real time without overlooking important events from one month to the next. Another explanation is the prevalence of the super-hero genre in American comics, and the iconic status attached to such characters : it is often considered that such mythological, sometimes godlike heroes cannot age in real time without losing the characteristics that make them special. Hence the more common use of floating timelines in Marvel Comics or DC Comics. Exceptions include Marvel Comics' New Universe line of books, Erik Larsen's long-running Savage Dragon ongoing series, John Byrne's Superman & Batman: Generations (three non-canon miniseries exploring the notion of "what if Superman and Batman could age?"), and Ben Dunn's Ninja High School

Comic strips which feature characters aging in real-time include:

• Ninja High School
• Hellblazer John Constantine's events take place within an "active continuity".
• Superman & Batman: Generations
• Savage Dragon
• New Universe (Marvel Comics imprint, 1986–1989)
• 52 A weekly comic book series by DC Comics
• Judge Dredd (Characters have aged in real-time since the series started in 1977)
• Gasoline Alley (Characters have grown up, aged and died in real time since the 1920s)
• For Better or For Worse (for its first 28 years of existence)
• Doonesbury (Characters age in real-time and interact with real history)