Hmm. I understand perfectly the majority opinion that characters should not age. But I disagree with certain characters. In the case of Spider-man (bearing in mind I haven't read a Spider-man comic since the end of the 80s), I think his aging was a large part of the success of the character. His growth in popularity in the late 60s drew partly from his journey into college, into living on his own, and into becoming financially independent, etc. -- which readers of that age-group could relate to (and younger readers could aspire to).

But, of course, as some of you have implied or stated already, once you start aging characters intentionally (which Stan Lee did, with Spider-man), you create a continuity problem that puts a life-span on the character. No, we don't have to follow a formula and use a calculator to know the exact age of the character (certainly, the precise ages are irrelevant in specifics), but it does mean that a character like Spider-man reaches a point of being too old.

The solution is to end fiction/adventure series at a certain point. For me Spider-man would be a more interesting / important character had the series ended in about 1973, after which, I think, it became just another popular comic franchise with occasional good artists/writers, but still, just another franchise.

So, what I'm saying is -- I personally don't like the idea of perpetual, endless characters. And yes, I think it would have bettter to retire Spider-Man, The Fantastic Four. etc. decades ago. I also think this process would have helped the American comic book to be less of a dinosaur concept nowadays.

(I don't mean to put Mr. Byrne out of a job, however -- he was certainly talented enough to be an industry star without these characters!)

It's also a lot easier for a writer to CALL ATTENTION TO HIMSELF

Excellent point: the 'man behind the curtain' seems to be more important than the actual tale these days, it seems.

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As I've put it more than a few times, it seems to have become all about the singer, rather than the song.

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Spider-Man was created at a time when the average comicbook reader lasted for about 5 years, usually tapering off some time in his early teens. "When they discover girls," as we used to put it.

While it is true that those of us who were there to pick up AMAZING SPIDER-MAN 1 off the rack at our local drugstore were also there to see Parker change from a nerdy highschooler to a handsome collegian, those who came after were less likely to see this, as the brakes were already being applied by the time Peter entered college. If you want to single out particular reasons for the success of the character, start with the sturm und drang Stan made such a trademark of Spider-Man's stories. This was soap opera of the highest (one might say most flagrant!) kind, and it seemed to be that which drew in, and held the readers.

readers...could relate to.

As noted above, Peter Parker went from the guy the average reader could relate to, to becoming the guy the average reader wanted to be--a good looking hunk with a motorcycle and two gorgeous gals on his arms.

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Marvel has already rebooted, once, with the ULTIMATEs. MAN OF STEEL and Earth2 both at the same once!

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Sad, but true.

What's even worse, many of the singer's think that their S*** don't think. If they are not patting themselves on the back, they are acting like spoiled primadonas (sp). This is especially true of many comic book writers these days.