Historically Most Important Comics of the Copper Age

[vaillant]

Power Pack brings up something I often wonder about. Has there ever been a hero that aged at a realistic rate? Could you imagine if Power Pack had continued for years and years and they continued to age along with the readers?

 

As far as I know, the only comic to try to age appropriately has been the newspaper strip Gasoline Alley.

Gasoline Alley wiki

The most extreme opposite case I think is Illyana Rasputin, who went from six year-old to mid-teen in a matter of moments due to time dilation in Limbo (Magik limited series), then turned back into a six year-old after Inferno (New Mutants 73), and died from the Legacy Virus (Uncanny X-Men 303). She got better, and is now somehow a late-teen again.

 

Correct, Gasoline Alley is one of the few examples. We have had a few in italian comics, but not at that degree.

 

But I do think the topic does not involve Power Pack alone: to a lesser degree Marvel attempted to tone down the irrealistic portrayal, and characters actually aged, in a relative way. They also evolved. The best examples of this, to me, remain Michael Morbius (when he was cured), Jessica Drew (when she basically decided to become a detective as opposed to early Spider-Woman), the Sandman (when he reformed), and of course Magneto.

 

But then, they trashed everything and did embarassing things like "Sins of the Past", or that about giving Mephisto godlike powers as to alter reality and cancel the marriage of Peter and Mary Jane. There are no appropriate comments for those…

 

BTW, there is an (awesome) New Mutants issue when the mutants, in a short time bouncing adventure, reach a remote future where an aged Kate (from Power Pack) greets them. Kate is initially 3 and a half years old in the comic, here she is an octogenarian.

[vaillant]

Here’s the issue. You can see the elder Kate on the cover, together with the NM.

One of my most prized possession – love the Bret Blevins art.

 

[Lazyboy]

Power Pack brings up something I often wonder about. Has there ever been a hero that aged at a realistic rate? Could you imagine if Power Pack had continued for years and years and they continued to age along with the readers?

 

As far as I know, the only comic to try to age appropriately has been the newspaper strip Gasoline Alley.

Gasoline Alley wiki

The most extreme opposite case I think is Illyana Rasputin, who went from six year-old to mid-teen in a matter of moments due to time dilation in Limbo (Magik limited series), then turned back into a six year-old after Inferno (New Mutants 73), and died from the Legacy Virus (Uncanny X-Men 303). She got better, and is now somehow a late-teen again.

 

*cough*

No superheroes, anyway.

Big difference between showing aging in daily strips vs. monthly books, though.

[maraxusofkeld]

Power Pack brings up something I often wonder about. Has there ever been a hero that aged at a realistic rate? Could you imagine if Power Pack had continued for years and years and they continued to age along with the readers?

 

I'm pretty sure that John Constantine until his reintegration into the DC universe aged at a real rate.