Comic strips and cartoons are often known to freeze their characters in time. The writers want to tell stories about a particular age or moment in a character’s life, and having characters get older can complicate the chemistry of a comic or cartoon. It is an interesting dilemma, as audiences often want to watch their favorite characters mature and get older. However, viewers also notoriously complain if something changes in their favorite media.
There are some comic strips that broke the mold when it comes to this particular trend. A handful actually depicted their characters aging in “real time.” Over the years, the stars of these comic strips would actually get older, changing things for both the characters and the dynamics of the overall comic strip.
Baby Blues Puts a Focus on Childhood Development
Baby Blues is a comic strip that started in 1990, and it is slated to end in March 2027. It was created by Rick Kirkman and Jerry Scott. It focuses on the MacPherson family and puts the focus on the children and their development throughout the years. In fact, the comic began with the parents having just had their first child, Zoe.
The children are the main milestones of the time that has passed since the beginning of the comic. Time is supposed to pass at about a 3-1 ratio with the children themselves. However, by the creator’s own admission, time has slowed or almost completely stopped since the birth of Wren, the last child, in 2002.
Luann Follows a High School Student Into Adulthood
This comic strip was created by Greg Evans and started in 1985, focusing on Luann DeGroot, who starts the series in high school. The series dealt with grounded, true-to-life issues such as Luann’s first period, drunk driving, and cancer. It also often dealt with Luann’s self-image issues.
Greg Evans’ daughter, Karen, is co-authoring the comic with Greg as of 2012. The comic has Luann aging at a relatively slow rate, as she is currently attending college to be in early childhood education, and she has been in college since 2014. Readers will likely see her graduate before long, and it will be interesting to see where Luann heads from there.
For Better Or Worse Follows a Family As The Children Grow Into Adults
For Better or Worse is a comic by creator Lynn Johnston that ran from 1979 to 2008. It focused on the Patterson family and showed the parents aging into retirement and the children growing into adulthood and getting married. It is a comic series where the reader gets to watch as a family grows and develops, and the kids reach maturity and see their own lives realized.
One of the most famous things about For Better or Worse is the saga of the Patterson sheepdog, Farley. The beloved dog aged as the rest of the family grew older. Johnston had plans to kill off Farley and even told Charles Schulz of the Peanuts about her plans to do so. Schulz told Johnston that he would have Snoopy hit by a truck if she killed Farley. Ultimately, Farley would die from a heart attack after saving April Patterson from a cold river, and Johnston kept it a secret from Schulz until publication.
9 Chickweed Lane is a Woman-Focused Multi-Generational Comic Strip
9 Chickweed Lane started in 1993 and is by creator Brooke McEldowney. It focuses on the Burber family, primarily Edda, her mother Juliette, and her grandmother Edna. Juliette was the primary focus at the beginning. The comic is known for focusing on more serious subjects such as school shootings and pregnancy out of wedlock. These serious topics have attracted controversy in the past.
While the characters were not originally meant to age, they have done so at a relatively slow rate. The comic has switched its attention from Juliette to Edda as the latter has aged over the years. She has since grown up and has kids of her own. The humor of this comic mainly comes from awkward social interactions and the slice-of-life narrative that so many newspaper comic strips maintain.
Gasoline Alley is the Longest-Running Strip Still in Publication
Gasoline Alley started in 1918 and is still running to this day. It is the longest-running comic strip still in publication, and the only American comic strip that has run longer is The Katzenjammer Kids. It was started by Frank King, who depicted his characters aging in real time. Dick Moores, Bill Perry, Bob Zschiesche, and Jim Scancarelli are the creators who have taken over in the time since then, with Jim Scancarelli being the current creator.
The comic focuses on slice-of-life stories, starting with furniture salesman Walt Wallet but continuing with his adopted son “Skeezix,” who would run the Gasoline Alley Garage. It has continued with generations of characters since then, as the progression of generations was baked into the comic from the beginning. The strip is in its fifth generation of characters now, with Walt Wallet still alive and making appearances in the comic.
D*kes To Watch Out For Showed Its Cast Progressing Through the Years
DTWOF was a long-running comic that focused on a group of lesbians living in a mid-sized American city. Created by Alison Bechdel, it ran from 1983 to 2008 and was one of the earliest mass media depictions of lesbians in the United States. It focused on characters such as Mo, Sydney, Ginger, Samia, Clarice, Toni, Lois, and others. It is also, notably, where the Bechdel-Wallace Test, better known as the Bechdel Test, originated. The Bechdel Test measures how much a movie respects its women characters by whether or not two or more women characters are allowed to discuss a topic that is not male-centric over the course of the film.
All the characters seemingly age to some degree in DTWOF. This is particularly shown in the progression of the relationship between Toni and Clarice, who have a child together named Raffi. The pregnancy, birth, and growth through adolescence for Raffi are shown over the course of the comic strip.
Doonesbury Shows a Crew of Students Graduating From College and Living Their Lives
Doonesbury, by Garry Trudeau, is a comic strip that is still running to this day and was initially centered around a group of college students. Its humor tends to lean toward the highbrow and focuses on biting political commentary. In fact, that political edge has gotten Doonesbury in trouble several times over the years, particularly with the late U.S. senator John McCain.
Doonesbury‘s characters did not age for the first few years of the comics’ existence. However, the comic went on hiatus in 1983 during which Trudeau created a musical that depicted the characters graduating from college. When it came back in 1984, the characters started aging as the comic progressed. It has continued commenting on current events to this very day.
The Peanuts Has a Number of Characters Who Age but Not All
The best comic where characters age is none other than Charles Schulz’s own Peanuts. This has a bit of a caveat, though, as not all characters seemingly age in Peanuts. At the very least, they do not age at the same rate as one another. For those somehow unfamiliar, Peanuts is a comic strip that ran from 1950 to 2000 that centers around Charlie Brown, his dog Snoopy, and their friends and associates. The comic is often a slice-of-life read with grounded themes which range from lighthearted to sincerely morose.
Lucy and Schroeder made their first appearances as toddlers. Linus, Sally, Rerun, and Woodstock all started as babies. Lucy and Schroeder seemingly age similarly to Charlie Brown, while the rest age up but are always treated as younger than Charlie Brown. Woodstock was hatched from a nest upon Snoopy’s stomach and has seemingly grown beyond the age of a baby over the course of the comic.