Some of the most successful comics ever have been based in real time. Coincidence? Or do real events and real consequences make for better stories? Judge for yourself.

Marvel in the 1960s

Marvel's most successful period, in terms of sales growth, new characters, and memorable, classic stories, was the 1960s. Back then, the stories took place in real time. Coincidence?

Marvel (Timely/Atlas) during World War II

The golden age of comics was during World War II. Characters like Captain America and The (original) Human Torch fought in the war. There was no doubt that this occurred in real time! Fans loved it, and sales broke all records before or since. Marvel's old name, Timely, illustrated its commitment to be up to date.

After the war, the characters had less connection with the real world, and sales declined. Obviously there were other factors, but I am just pointing out the correlation: coincidence or not, the best sales come when comics are in real time.

The X-Men in their golden age

After the silver age, the most successful Marvel title (in terms of critical acclaim and sales growth) was the X-Men title in the 1970s under Chris Clairmont. Look closely: it’s full of real time references. Coincidence? I don’t think Claremont set out to write a “real time” comic, but that’s what he produced, and the fans loved it.

Captain America in the 1970s

This is from a discussion at comicboards:

"If you're looking for a late example of at least marginally "real time"- level comics, Steve Engelhart's Captain America run is as close as you'll get. At least two of the arcs ("The Secret Empire" and the Viper/Serpent Squad/Serpent Squad arc) are meant to present the Marvel Universe/616 versions of Watergate and the Symbionese Liberation Army standoff. The former story actually name drop Watergate, and it's villains -- the Committee to Regain America's Principles (CRAP) -- are meant to resonate with the Committee to Re-Elect the President (popularly dubbed CREEP). And Engelhart likewise uses "years" when describing the reemergance of old X-Men villain Lucifer."

I asked if these issues were popular with fans? And did they sell well? The answer:

"It's one of the high points of the Captain America comic and is largely considered so by most Cap fans."

An experienced writer added:

"I don't know for sure, but Engelhart was a star writer in the 1970s. My guess is that he improved sales, because Marvel kept giving him books and DC aggressively pursued him for JLA and Batman a few years later."

John Byrne’s Fantastic Four

I refer to the Fantastic Four here because I am most familiar with them. When they took place in real time their sales soared. When they lost touch with real time, sales declined. Coincidence? We’ve already looked at their heyday in the 1960s. Now let’s look at their second greatest run, under John Byrne in the 1980s:

• There were major changes: the Baxter Building was destroyed and the FF had a new permanent home for the first time ever. Reed and Sue moved out to a different home to raise Franklin, and Johnny got his own apartment and a new girlfriend (they later married). The Thing left the team (this lasted for years, not just an issue or two, though editorial pressure meant he had to come back eventually.) Sue changed her name (from Invisible Girl to Invisible Woman)
• Sue was pregnant and had a miscarriage.(she became pregnant in the Negative Zone, which the team left in issue 256; the miscarriage was in issue 267, less than a year later)
• In issue 291 we have a rare real time reference: Nick Fury was "a teenager" in 1936, confirming that he did indeed fight in WWII.
• Byrne himself featured in one story (the trial of Reed Richards)

Given the editorial constraints he was under, Byrne's classic run on the FF had the closest thing to real time development we could expect. And the fans loved it.

Steranko's Nick Fury

I recently got hold of some classic Steranko reprints from the late 1960s. By this time the other Marvel comics were referring to real time less and less, but Steranko reversed the trend in his title. I never noticed before, but real time references are everywhere: recent dates are mentioned, and Fury often refers to his experience in World War II, and to "the younger" agents. All of this made the series seem very alive and fresh and contemporary. These are some of the most highly praised comics ever. Steranko was more influential than any Marvel comic creator outside of Lee and Kirby. The greatest comics ever are frequently real time comics. Coincidence?

Fantastic Four annual 1998

The FF annual 1998 has the Thing enter a parallel universe where the Fantastic Four really started in 1961. I recommend this since it's a single issue that illustrates real time in action. According to discussions on ComicBoards.com, most fans of the Fantastic Four consider this one of the best annuals of recent years.

Three points need to be made about this.
First, nobody is suggesting that we suddenly jump forward to when the heroes are old and their kids are having adventures. It is interesting to see where they are in later years, but it would only mean a lot to us if we were part of the journey.
Second, in this real time universe some of the heroes actually got killed. In other words, it's more dangerous, and therefore more exciting than the Marvel Time universe where nothing truly dangerous ever happens.
Third, as the heroes get older they do different things and their lives fundamentally change. The real time universe therefore has more variety than the always-the-same Marvel Time universe.

Judge Dredd

The most successful comic book character of the last generation in Britain is Judge Dredd. Dredd began in 1977 in 2000 AD comic and was not expected to run for more than two years (the normal life of a British comic back then). Since then all other British comics have folded, except the venerable Beano and Dandy. Yet Dredd still sells! He has been reprinted all over the world, has two titles, video games and a major Hollywood movie under his belt. What makes Dredd so different? One thing is that the stories take place in real time. As one fan reminded me,

"2000 AD has always run in real time since it's founding in 1977. You've certainly heard of Judge Dredd but you may not be aware that the man is now seventy years old and unlike many American comic characters, he is actually starting to show it. In fact many fans have been discussing the imminent death of Britain's most popular comic character. And you know that once he's dead that will be it, like Strontium Dog in 1990. That makes it an exciting time to be a Judge Dredd fan."

Other comics set in a real time future

Sometimes comic companies publish limited runs or one shots looking at their heroes having aged in the future. Titles include "Batman Beyond," Marvel's "The end" group of miniseries, and "Kingdom Come" (Superman). These have all been very well received, showing that old heroes are just as interesting as young heroes.

What about MC2 ("Marvel Comics 2") ?

MC2, on sale in 1998, jumped forward 15 years to when Spiderman had a grown-up daughter, Spider-girl. MC2 was originally intended to be a new version of Marvel comics aimed at new readers, but Marvel was unable to get the non-comic shop distribution it wanted, so MC2 ended up as just Spidergirl and a few spin offs. It is reported that the "children of the superheroes" idea is soon to be applied to the X-Men. Spidergirl did not sell well as a monthly, but was popular with fans (hence surviving for 100 issues) and sold well in paperback reprints.

At first glance this may be a real time title because it involves existing heroes who have grown older. But that is not the point of real time. Real time does not jump forwards any more than it stops still. Real time happens one year at a time, allowing the reader to see the hero as living in the same world. Real time does not stay still, then jump forward fifteen years then stand still again. Real time is not about old heroes, but about living heroes.

Spidergirl lasted for 100 issues, just over seven years. This is enough time for a teenage Spidergirl to grow noticeably older, but she did not, so this is not a real time title. It is possible that the new X-men's children comic will allow them to develop in real time, but it sounds likely that it will be just another "jump forwards in time then stop" book.

In short, MC2 is not a real time comic series, though the premise starts by looking at real time from a distance.

What about DC's "52"?

DC's "52" is not a real time comic, because it occupies the same unreal time frame as DC's other mainstream comics. 52 does not time events to real time, but to a year of DC time. And then when 52 is over we are back to the same unreal time as before, so any sense of realism is destroyed.

52 illustrates another problem with comic time versus real time:: unreal time creates unreal stories. Critics have complained that 52 is too dull, too planned. I agree. Real time is the opposite of careful planning. Real time is a moment by moment series of conflicts cause by what happened before. Real time is chaos. But exciting, dangerous, edge of your seat chaos where anything can happen. Carefully planned set pieces are the opposite - they seem like a good idea in the planning stage but seldom turn out as good as people hoped. For "52" a bunch of editors and writers sat down, decided what they wanted to happen, and thought of a way to contrive it. Real time is the opposite. Each month the writers and editors would say "this is what just happened. This is what is in the news. What would happen if...?" and they just write the most amazing yet real stuff that they can. Great characters write themselves and surprise their creators.

What about John Byrne’s recent work?

According to Wikipedia, John Byrne’s “Post-2000 works have involved characters and events in time periods mostly skipped over by other comics (Marvel: The Lost Generation), or alternate timelines (DC’s Superman & Batman: Generations); a common feature is to have characters who actually age during the course of the series, unlike typical characters in ongoing comics.”

At first glance it appears that Byrne’s work would be an excellent test of the question  “does real time sell?” However, his recent work has other continuity issues that overshadows any realism from aging heroes. The “Lost Generation” is set before the Marvel Universe began, but thanks to Marvel Time “before the Marvel Universe began” now includes the late 1980s. Which seriously destroys the sense of realism for older fans who were buying Marvel comics back then. “X-Men, the Hidden Years” jumped back into limbo in a similar way. Other series, such as his Doom Patrol, were rebooted with new origins, destroying any sense of continuity with the past. None of these recent series have yet lasted long enough for character aging to become significant.

Gasoline Alley

If you look at a history of the earliest comics, starting with the Yellow Kid, Krazy Kat and the rest, they have all gone. Until you get to Gasoline Alley, started in 1919. Why did Gasoline Alley survive when others did not? How did it manage to continue attracting new audiences and winning awards when the others began to look stale and dated? Is it a coincidence that Gasoline Alley is set in real time and so can always keep up to date?

Lynn Johnston’s "For Better or Worse"

"For Better or Worse" is a newspaper strip with millions of readers. It's one of only five strips that syndicate to more than 2,000 newspapers. Clearly, real time can be very successful. Real time is just a natural result of trying to be relevant - and it works. "I didn't intend for everybody to grow up," Johnston said. "They just did."

But creating a real time strip is a lot of work. Johnston intended to end the strip and retire when she hit 60, but the fans wanted more, so she instead decided to freeze their ages and make fewer episodes, with a lot of flashbacks (i.e. reprints). Great stories - involving real time - are a lot of work. Without real time the creators can relax and take it easy.

"Doonesbury"

Doonesbury is another of those handful of strips that syndicates in thousands of newspapers. And here again it exists in (more or less) real time. Coincidence?

The other mega-successful strips tend to be single panel comedies where nobody expects or wants any depth. So it could be argued that newspaper strips provide a good test of the “real time” theory. Thousands of strips compete for space, and the serious strips that make it to the top tend to be based in real time.

Erik Larsen’s "Savage Dragon"

• Larsen is an interesting case because he has a real time comic, but argues that mainstream heroes should not be real time. You can read his essay, unedited, here. Note that Savage Dragon has been a continuing success for many years when other independent titles tend to fold in just a few months.

Conclusion

Real time does not mean jumping forward to see elderly superheroes. It does not mean carefully planning the future. Real time means what it says - real time: one year for one year. Relevancy, immediacy, and real character development. Heroes progressing and developing just as real people progress and change. It happened in the early 1940s and early 1960s, and has not happened since, but it could happen again if Marvel wanted it to.

[HOME] [Lockjaw] [can he talk?] [adventures] [] [SUPERSCIENCE] [how powers work] [] [REAL TIME] [objections] [examples] [in the 1960s] [classic X-Men] [] [GOOD VALUE] [sales figures] [] [other stuff] [badtime books] [OTHER SITES]