Stated as simply as I possibly can: if a character "grows and changes" s/he stops being the character as originally created. Many things have contributed to the decline in comicbook sales over the past few decades, but it cannot be coincidence that the further characters moved from their original, highly successful forms, the worse their books sold.

The books and characters have been increasingly pitched to an aging demographic, of whom there are fewer and fewer every year. Where is the sense in turning Spider-Man -- the ultimate pubescent fantasy -- into Joe Normal, with a wife and kids? What 12 year old wants to read about his parents as superheroes?

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Exactly. The problem is that aging fans intend on reading these characters "forever." It's not a childhood hobby anymore -- it's a lifestyle. (Heck, when DC has a major event that's a "sequel" to a 20-year-old storyline, you can see the writing on the wall.)

You can't really reason with people who view comics as a lifestyle. Spider-Man could be eternally 17 and kids would usually have moved on by the time they caught on to the fact that there was an "illusion of change."

I've been reading comics for 20 years, as well, but I don't view them as a lifestyle. What I like is the familiarity. Batman is Batman. Superman is Superman. There are legends, myths told in different ways that reflect the times the stories take place -- but they themselves don't age. That's what great about them.

In reply to Joe: where do I argue that comics have no need to bring in new readers? From what I understand, comics were in a difficult position in the 80s in that they were being forced off the newstands. The industry reacted to this by ultimately moving to the Direct Market which to some extent solved their immediate problems but also created new ones - most specifically it made it harder for casual readers to get their hands on the books. Still, the Industry had to change and it is now changing or trying to change (albeit on a small scale) so as to correct this problem.

"Fixing" things could be as easy as every book (at the end of its current story arc) being written from that point forward as if the characters had never aged.

Tangentially related experience...

For a couple of years in the late 90s I got into the habit of collecting Achie Comics because they hadn't changed appreciably over the years and because the stories were, for the most part, self-contained. Archie Andrews today is still pretty much the same Archie Andrews of twenty-years ago (or more).

When my daughter is old enough to read, I intend to introduce her to Archie Comics.