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Editors and writers rarely seem to do this math. And when they do, they try to make the older characters younger by suggesting they started their careers much earlier than any evidence suggests. I've heard it put forth that Bruce Wayne was 18 when he embarked upon his career as Batman!

What's especially frustrating about this nonsense is the tandem habit of aging the older characters -- think Hal Jordan and Oliver Queen -- and then introducing younger "legacy" characters because the originals are "too old". WHOSE FAULT IS THAT??

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A question I have posed many a time. And the most common answer is both very revealing, and very sad.

Bart Simpson, we are told, is a CARTOON, and not REALISTIC.

As distinct from a guy who was bitten by a radioactive spider and. . .

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I certainly hope Cap didn't say "25", unless the scene was a flashback to WW2.

Steve Rogers became Captain America some time around 1939/40, and spent the next five years fighting in the War. However we work "Marvel Time", he clearly did not come out of the ice day before yesterday. Several years have passed, even if they are those elusive, immeasurable comicbook years.

Even assuming Steve to have been 18 when he became Captain America, it's shaving it very fine to have him be physically 25 today. I'd think 30 would be closer to the mark.

"What is the point of aging an existing character if all this results in is a new, young version of the original character (well, it's not all it results in but you know what I mean)."

I think you identified the exact point. Age the existing character in order to replace them with someone more relative and relatable to the younger audience.

I was never a Barry Allen-Flash kid. He didn't interest me. I was 11 when he died and Wally took over. As a child, I found Wally West much more interesting. I read his adventures and really got into the character. I was 19 when Impulse entered the scene. He didn't interest me, but that was okay. He didn't interest me because he was just like my friends' kid brothers.

Generational identity is a culture to itself. (Generationally speaking, there is a greater tendency to prefer their own stuff than the stuff of proceeding generations. That is demonstrated in the change from Jay Garrick to Barry Allen. I will argue that the change worked from Barry to Wally too given a 23 year publishing history. But the return of Barry seems to be a stumbling block as readers don't seem to be grabbing hold of the character.

I am not suggesting that we have to like the change. But perhaps as the elder statesman of fandom it’s more important to be supportive of change. Maybe we should let our characters age and go away and make room for younger audiences rather than trying to change our heroes into people that they are not to try and appease everyone.

And, yes, that means Cap was socking Hitler in the face a year before America entered the War!

Of course, if Steve became Cap AFTER Pearl Harbor, that makes it easier for him to be physically 25 today -- tho it requires a considerable shortening of "Marvel Time".