Posted by utiti77 at 213.11.54.157 on August 19, 2001 at 04:24:15:
Kevin --
This is from your recent Dark Horizons ITW :
"If EVER there was a Silent Bob era, this is the end of it, to say the
least. I might still continue to work on him in the comics, because that
way, he'll never age, not to mention stay the same weight."
After reading that, I couldn't help wondering what exactely is your
stance on the Real Time Vs Marvel Time (or comic book time)
debate.
For those here who are unfamiliar with comic book lingo (I suppose
there is one or two of you out there), "Comic Book Time" or "Marvel
Time" refers to the way time flows in most super-hero comics :
although most of them originated in the 1940s or 1960s, and
although all these comics have references to the time periods in
which they are produced, the main characters (superheroes and
supporting cast) do not age, while the rest of the world evolves in the
background.
Example : in the "Fantastic Four" comic book, the two main
characters, Sue and Reed Richards, had a kid named Franklin. I
believe it took place in 1967 or 1968. Nixon was president back then.
"Fantastic Four" is still published now. George W.Bush is president,
and I suppose he is still referenced as a public figure in FF (haven't
read it in a while, but Marvel Comics *always* references public
figures). So the story *does* take place in 2001. 33 years after little
Franklin's birth. But he is still 4 years old or so.
Personally, that's one of the reasons why I stopped reading
superhero comics. (Even the Savage Dragon which was the only
comic book working in Real Time, since Larsen seems to have
ditched the concept : what's the point of having a book evolve in Real
Time if you don't have the contemporary world as a basis ? Dragon
now leaves in a crappy Kamandi pastiche world ...). I just wondered
what *you* thought of Real Time Vs Comic Book Time. Do you really
want Jay & Bob to become another set of immortal icons that might
risk to lose their meaning if they don't change while the rest of the
world behind them continues to evolve ?
I'm also asking because of the controversy created by Erik Larsen's
statement in Wizard that Marvel and DC characters should never age
and never be killed, in which he directly refered to your killing Karen
Page and Mysterio in a Daredevil story.
Take care,
utiti 77