When do the sliding timelines fall apart?

**buttler** · 08-02-2010, 01:30 PM

Originally Posted by stealthwise

Far as I understand, it's the same guys, there's just a larger gap between them and the Golden Age heroes (the ones remaining anyways).

There may be some miscommunication here. What I mean is, if the JLA and the Avengers and all those folks went into action in the 1990s or 2000s instead of the 1960s, were there any superheroes active in the Vietnam era, or is that now a lost generation?

**Hybrid2** · 08-02-2010, 01:33 PM

I like the 5 real year = 1 comic year idea.

i'm not sure if it's use...a few comics are cofusing.

**Stressfactor** · 08-02-2010, 01:34 PM

It worked fine for Rex Stout and it worked fine for decades for The Hardy Boys and Nancy Drew.

Rex Stout's famous creations of Archie Goodwin and Nero Wolfe never aged. Time obviously changed around them so it wasn't like Stout was writing a story in the 1960's but still setting it in the 1930's. Stout simply set a mortitorium on the characters aging and if he bothered to reference a past case he simply left it vague like "A while ago".

The thing would be that DC should simply, as Stout did, let the characters 'float'. They're the ones who keep insisting on putting a timeline on stuff and giving an actual year and time frame. If they simply left it as "Hey, Bruce, remember a while back when Ras Al Ghul found your secret protocols and screwed over the Justice League?" Rather than instead trying to do "Hey, Bruce, remember three and a half years ago when Ras Al Ghul found your secret protocols and screwed over the Justice League?" it would work just fine.

**Ray G.** · 08-02-2010, 01:34 PM

DC seems to be really, really careful with its teen heroes right now.

Stargirl and Supergirl both had birthdays recently without the actual age being mentioned.
They want to keep the current generation of TT characters in the "late teens" range without any trouble.

**stealthwise** · 08-02-2010, 01:39 PM

Originally Posted by buttler

There may be some miscommunication here. What I mean is, if the JLA and the Avengers and all those folks went into action in the 1990s or 2000s instead of the 1960s, were there any superheroes active in the Vietnam era, or is that now a lost generation?

My assumption is that it's a lost generation, I suppose. Which is why I started the thread in the first place. In, say, 10 years the DCU timeline will likely look like this:

1930s- First superheroes, world war 2 starts

1950s - senate subhearings, golden age heroes retire

2010 - Superman first appears, inspiring new generation of heroes

Seems quite off, not to mention the impact on the legacy heroes and children of older heroes. It's not a big deal, I would just like to see that idea end, as fun as it is to have Nazis as an ever-reliable villain.

**Foolish Mortal** · 08-02-2010, 03:55 PM

For Marvel, the Golden Age heroes were active right up until the mid '50's. Then the 'Atlas' heroes were main heroes for awhile along with "Commie-Buster" Captain America, and 3-D Man. And the Blue Marvel briefly for a couple of years in the early 60's.

The heroes of the late '60's through the '70's haven't really been detailed at all. I think that time period is ripe for exploiting.

**Lunar Archivist** · 08-02-2010, 04:14 PM

Originally Posted by buttler

There may be some miscommunication here. What I mean is, if the JLA and the Avengers and all those folks went into action in the 1990s or 2000s instead of the 1960s, were there any superheroes active in the Vietnam era, or is that now a lost generation?

Lost generation except for the Punisher. Frank Castle, it seems, will always have served in Vietnam.

**Dr Ray Palmer** · 08-02-2010, 04:25 PM

I love the JSA, but I think keeping them tied to WWII causes all kinds of trouble, especially given that their children are prominent and active characters who keep sliding along the timeline. I think if we're going to keep the JSA active in WWII we're going to need some serious time travel, i.e. they started their careers later but traveled back in time to fight in WWII.

**CutterMike** · 08-02-2010, 06:30 PM

Originally Posted by buttler

There may be some miscommunication here. What I mean is, if the JLA and the Avengers and all those folks went into action in the 1990s or 2000s instead of the 1960s, were there any superheroes active in the Vietnam era, or is that now a lost generation?

That's why I always liked the "Earth 1", "Earth 2"... thing that DC did. Every twenty years or so, we just quietly slip into a new "world" without noticing.

Can't you just see a team-up between the "Married-to-an-ass-kicking-Lois-Lane" Superman of today and the "Superdickery" Superman of the early '60s?

The hilarity practically writes itself!

**Brother Power the Gong** · 08-02-2010, 06:30 PM

Originally Posted by Foolish Mortal

For Marvel, the Golden Age heroes were active right up until the mid '50's. Then the 'Atlas' heroes were main heroes for awhile along with "Commie-Buster" Captain America, and 3-D Man. And the Blue Marvel briefly for a couple of years in the early 60's.

The heroes of the late '60's through the '70's haven't really been detailed at all. I think that time period is ripe for exploiting.

Luke Cage, Iron Fist, Master of Kung Fu, Misty Knight, etc.; Monsters (Dracula, WbN, etc.), sexy demon chicks, maybe even Dr. Strange; Nick Fury and SHIELD; and the anthology characters.