Marvel should get rid of its sliding timescale.

[littleredhat]

propose that "Marvel Time" in it's current incarnation is holding the Marvel universe back in a big way. It's the main reason for retcons and prevents both new and old characters from developing. Now because comics come out monthly real time is not an option in these decompressed days. But the current frozen state of the universe is getting very boring. It's like nothing matters anymore because everything is happening in the same year. A year that keeps repeating.



As such I reccomend one year Marvel time be equal to ten years real time. That way it would feel more real again.

Plus it would be a chance for an event story to explain it all that really would live up to the phrase "The Marvel Universe Will Never Be The Same Again!"

[AXL]

propose that "Marvel Time" in it's current incarnation is holding the Marvel universe back in a big way. It's the main reason for retcons and prevents both new and old characters from developing. Now because comics come out monthly real time is not an option in these decompressed days. But the current frozen state of the universe is getting very boring. It's like nothing matters anymore because everything is happening in the same year. A year that keeps repeating.



As such I reccomend one year Marvel time be equal to ten years real time. That way it would feel more real again.

Plus it would be a chance for an event story to explain it all that really would live up to the phrase "The Marvel Universe Will Never Be The Same Again!"

Did you see the New Universe, thing? It had what you described, and look where it is now.

The sliding timescale is there to avoid retcons and loopholes so that the modern stories are still in touch with the classic ones. If not for that, we'd have Crisis on Infinte Earths style reboots every few years.

[Home made ectoplasm]

There's too much continuity now, everything is too squashed together. Either do away with time altogether and have 616 be like The Simpsons, or have a reset.

[AXL]

There's too much continuity now, everything is too squashed together. Either do away with time altogether and have 616 be like The Simpsons, or have a reset.

That's a benefit of a DC style relaunch: building a whole new continuity from scratch, which can be fun at times.

[carabas]

As such I reccomend one year Marvel time be equal to ten years real time. That way it would feel more real again.

Yes, of course. Because 30 year old soldiers who have fought in WWII, Vietnam and both Iraq wars is more realistic...

This is why the introduced the sliding time scale in the first place after doing it your way for a few decades.

[Superbeast]

I used to figure a month in real life was like a fortnight in MU time. So like 2 and a half years real time = 1 year Marvel time. So 50 years of story continuity real time = 20 years Marvel Universe time. Tony Stark, Banner and Reed would be in their 40s, Ms Marvel and Hank Pym would be in their late 30s, Iron Fist, Cage and Moon Knight woud be in their early 30s, Spidey, Rick Jones and Johnny would be close to 30, the New Warriors and New Mutants generation would be in the 20s...

[AXL]

I used to figure a month in real life was like a fortnight in MU time. So like 2 and a half years real time = 1 year Marvel time. So 50 years of story continuity real time = 20 years Marvel Universe time. Tony Stark, Banner and Reed would be in their 40s, Ms Marvel and Hank Pym would be in their late 30s, Iron Fist, Cage and Moon Knight woud be in their early 30s, Spidey, Rick Jones and Johnny would be close to 30, the New Warriors and New Mutants generation would be in the 20s...

That's a cool way to look at it.

[Assassin Spider]

I'm usually of the opinion that comics from the Silver Age onward, being 50+ years old, would have 4 real-world years corresponding to 1 comic-world year. If you think of the modern MU as starting with the first issue of Fantastic Four in 1961, the first Spider-Man comic in 1962, the first Spider-Man and X-Men series beginning in 1963, and the first Avengers series in 1964 . . . then the major heroes of the MU first emerged all within the same year 12-and-a-half years ago. If Spider-Man was 15 when he first got his powers and Johnny Storm and the first X-Men (minus Iceman) were all somewhat older than him, then they should be in their late 20s on average and nearing 30 in some cases.

[StoneGold]

I have a simple answer for the time scale problem -- stop being such an anal retentive nerd.


"If you're wondering how they eat and breathe and other science facts, just repeat to yourself it's just a show, you should really just relax."

[Specimen 297]

I have a simple answer for the time scale problem -- stop being such an anal retentive nerd.

I agree with this.

If you can't enjoy a story because of the characters not ageing or whatever, go read something else.

Captain America or Spider-Man or whatever are much better now than they would be if Cap was, what, 80 and Spider-Man was pushing 60.

[Cryptid]

The sliding timescale does no harm to character development within arcs and runs, which is the only kind that has any intelligible presence on the page anyway. These characters generally have a coherent life story at any given point, but it might not be the same life story they had ten years ago, and that's fine.

Besides which, as often as "character development" is cited as a desirable thing, no one wants too much of it. If comics readers wanted more than a light texture of development in stories about characters with enduring core traits, we would see a lot more people gravitating away from the major names toward the untried characters who are free to grow and change without the restrictions of a licensed image. Having it both ways means accepting some hard reboots and some soft reboots, which most of us acceptingly or grudgingly do.

[littleredhat]

I have a simple answer for the time scale problem -- stop being such an anal retentive nerd.


"If you're wondering how they eat and breathe and other science facts, just repeat to yourself it's just a show, you should really just relax."

You know what. Your right. Well I got it out of my system and realised it didn't matter.

[jackolover]

What have we seen in Spider-Man since it's inception?

Nerd boy turns into girl magnet and now has two girlfriends.
University boy marries one girlfriend
Graduate has clones coming out of the woodwork and Aunt dies
Aunt returns and scrounger boy lives off his wifes earnings and gives up the suit
Has million dollar price on his head when he returns and turns into 4 heroes
Turns out he has an Uncle Ezekiel and a Spider clan all of which die or disappear
He becomes an Avenger, reveals his identity, and his Aunt is shot
He unmarries his wife, turns back into a nerd, and gets a job ,and joins the FF and Avengers again.

Have I missed anything out? There have been some twists and turns, but essentially, Peter Parker is still Spider-Man throughout.

[carabas]

The sliding timescale does no harm to character development within arcs and runs, which is the only kind that has any intelligible presence on the page anyway. These characters generally have a coherent life story at any given point, but it might not be the same life story they had ten years ago, and that's fine.

Besides, as long as you are commited as a company to infinitely long continuing characters who never end, and at the same time want to keep the characters recognisably close to their standard status quo, you pretty much don't have long-term character development anyway.

[The Black Guardian]

That's a benefit of a DC style relaunch: building a whole new continuity from scratch, which can be fun at times.

Except that is not what DC is doing. They are not building a new continuity from scratch. They're just rebuilding a sliding timeline that's squashed together.