I must admit, I did like some of the episodes featuring real supernatural creatures. I think there was a modern episode which had that, too.

On the subject of Bruce Timm's JLA/JLU, I liked that show and although I didn't watch all of the episodes, I like the fact that the heroes appeared to remain constant.

All I really want is for characters like Cyclops and Wolverine and Wonder Woman et all to be consistent.  The costumes can be tweaked or even changed, the creative teams can change, but I think the characters should be consistent.

I think continity is a great thing when handled correctly.  Think Mastermind in Dark Phoenix.  We know (or learned reading the story) that he was a villain from the X-Men's past, we could even have details of past clashes.  But I don't need to know why Jean Grey had a 1960's hairstyle in any original Mastermind stories when the stories can no longer have taken place in the 1960's.  I get people like to focus on this stuff, I just don't see the point.

The point of Superman meeting the President is not that he has met all of them for several decades, it is simply that Superman has met the current President.  Because I am not supposed to still be reading these books at 34. The fact that I do is not a slam on myself or others, as long as I have no problem with the rules of the genre.

Not every published detail needs to be reconciled for the story to have been enjoyed, and keep being enjoyable for years to come.

••

I honestly don't think they HAVE a "point". Not one to which they have given any kind of real thought, anyway. It's all about being CONTRARY. It's their way of being REBELS.

feh

"Unless I'm mistaken, hasn't Superman met nearly every President who was in office at the time?"

****

And let's not forget the time President Carter granted a Pardon to Lex Luthor.

By the way, Jimmy, the next time you go to a Presidential Press Conference, wear a tie.*  You're supposed to be representing a Great Metropolitan Newspaper...

*You don't have to wear one every day.  Just keep one in your glove compartment, just in case...

DICK TRACY made one concession to the aging of the characters. When the strip celebrated its 50th Anniversary, they played it as Tracy's 50th birthday -- which I thought was a mistake.

***

Assigning ages to comic book characters has always annoyed me. There's no need for it and it leads to people trying to do all sorts of weird calculations. As far as I'm concerned, I'd much rather just know that a given character fits into what you might call an archetypal age group. It's pretty easy to identify these groups too, since comics are a visual medium that relies on certain symbols or shorthand.

Spider-Man, the Human Torch, the X-Men (originally), etc. are older teenagers, high school or college age.

Perhaps the majority of superheroes, and certainly Captain America (physically, disregarding time spent on ice), Barry Allen, Daredevil, Hal Jordan, Batman, etc. should be young men but old enough to have some maturity and often a profession. They're in the prime of their athletic abilties.

Then you have the somewhat older, more experienced in their field characters (often with the graying temples!) Reed Richards, Nick Fury, Dr. Strange.

Of course there are also kids (Franklin Richards), the elderly (Aunt May), etc.

I don't see much of a reason to assign a numerical age to any character. I'm sure there are cases which might be exceptions, but isn't it just simpler to look at a character and see what range they fall into?   

What really bothers me about comics today (and this relates to the overcomplication of continuity by fans and writes alike) is the fact that the number of choices of how to enjoy the stories has become so limited by the overreliance on history.

When I got into comics, all my favorite characters had been around for at least 20 years (and a lot more in the cases of Superman, Batman, and Captain America), and it certainly added flavor to know that they had been around for so long, but the history and continuity was mostly irrelevant to me at first. I could enjoy the current stories without needing to know anything more than who was who in the latest issue and maybe the basics of the character's origin and reason for doing what they did. Later, I began to look for back issues, read things like OHOTMU and THE MARVEL SAGA and really learn about the backstories of the heroes, but that sort of research was my CHOICE. I didn't have to learn those things. I could have just kept reading only the current issues and enjoyed them just as much. But now, so much importance is placed on past stories and old events and references to issues published decades ago, that it almost seems like one has to earn a degree in Marvel or DC history to decipher all the stuff that happens in new issues. In other words, they've driven casual readers into extinction. Those who feel the need to know about the past will find ways without it being forced down their throats, and meanwhile, they're losing potential new readers who might just want to jump in and read what they want when they want without being coerced into buying more or needing to ask questions. Knowledge of continuity and history should be an OPTIONAL pursuit and not a necessity.

Star Trek comes to mind for me now and I think of the differences between me and my father. We both like Star Trek. In fact, he introduced me to Trek. I've seen all of TOS multiple times, seen most of the movies dozens of times, read the comics, the novels, sought out interviews with Roddenberry and cast members, read books about the making of Trek, read Roddenberry's original treatment, and learned all sorts of interesting facts about the show and its offspring (not that I'm anywhere near Greg Kirkman's level of expertise!). My father, on the other hand, has seen most of TOS although he may have missed a few, has seen all the movies at least once and has read a few of the novels. He hasn't made sure he owns the whole series on DVD, hasnt read the comics or any books about the making of the show. But he likes Trek and enjoys it in HIS way as I enjoy it in mine, and I don't think either of us is less valid of a fan than the other.

My point is, a fan of anything should be able to decide how far they want to go in their quest for enjoyment of the thing that catches their interest. It seems that modern Marvel and DC no longer encourage those various levels of enjoyment, and that's a shame.