Floating timeline

A floating timeline (also known as a sliding timescale) is a device used in fiction, particularly in comics and animation, to explain why characters created years or even decades ago seem to have aged little or not at all since their inception.

Definition

A floating timeline is a subtle form of retroactive continuity. This is seen most clearly in the case of comic book characters who debuted as teens in the 1940s or the 1960s but who are still relatively young in current comics. Events from the characters' pasts are alluded to, but they are changed from having taken place years ago to having taken place more recently. Any dates given within the comic are relative to the publishing date of the comic (i.e. "10 years ago" means "10 years before you read this"). This device enables publishing companies to continue to use their characters for as long as they wish without changing them significantly. If used completely, the floating timeline allows all the volumes of a series to be viewed in any order while still maintaining a solid perception of the plot. A floating timeline is usually abstracted from that of actual historical events, but may contain subtle references to the real world timelines.

The use of a floating timeline in comics often requires somewhat drastic revisions of a character's history. For instance, in 1960s comics by Marvel Comics, the character the Thing states he fought in World War II. ["Marvel Two-in-One" #77] However, in comics in the 2000s, the Thing states that the idea of him fighting in World War II is ridiculous, as he would be much older than he is. Another example is the DC Comics character Wonder Woman. Wonder Woman was a heroine in 1940s comics; however, recent DC publications imply that she began as a hero in the mid-to-late 1980s. The fact that there was a Wonder Woman in the 1940s is later explained by the retcon that Diana is the "second" Wonder Woman, having inherited the mantle from her mother, Queen Hippolyta.

In the DC multiverse, alternate explanations have been introduced for such enigmas; in the 1960s, it was shown that the stories from various eras took place in different parallel universes, with the Wonder Woman of the 1940s, for example, being not Hyppolyta but an alternate reality Diana; later, in a series of stories entitled Crisis on Infinite Earths, they were consolidated in a single universe from which a new timeline started over again.

Such a timeline often creates confusion due to major historical events such as World War II or the Vietnam War, which many characters, such as Captain America or various members of the Justice Society of America, need to be based on. It seems that only storylines (apart from those based on real-world events such as 9/11, World War II, etc.), character designs, and dialogue abstracted from current affairs are truly canon, though as many of these fade into the distant past, it remains to be seen whether characters will be tied to these origins still or retconned for a more recent war. For example, shortly after 1986's "Man of Steel" miniseries, Superman's adopted father, Jonathan Kent, was revealed to have fought in World War II in the mini-series "The World of Smallville." Later, in the aftermath of 1993's "Death of Superman" he is said to have fought in the Korean War.

Batman's origin often shows his parents murdered in 1930s or '40s fashions, while the adult Bruce Wayne clearly lives in the present (this is shown in fashion and technology).

Another interesting effect has been seen in the "Fantastic Four" comics when run by artist John Byrne back in the 1980s. In these stories, characters appeared celebrating Christmas in the December issue and then, four issues later, they appeared in full Spring, although the events had happened just a few weeks ago in the storyline. This may be called "seasons shift" in periodical publications such as comic books.

The Phantom is known to be "The Man Who Cannot Die" and "The Ghost Who Walks" since it's a well kept secret that the persona of the Phantom is inherited from father to son. The Phantom still uses a floating timeline which makes it possible for the 21st Phantom to be married to Diana, have slowly aging children and keep his best friend Guran the same age.

yndicated comic strips

This effect is also seen in most syndicated comic strips and, in some cases, is even mentioned by characters. For example, in a certain "FoxTrot" strip, Andy remarks to Jason "You can stay 10 your whole life. I won't mind."

A different kind of floating timeline occurs in Peanuts. Newly born characters grow to a particular age and then stop aging.

Webcomics

Continuity-based webcomics often exhibit floating timelines as well; the webcomic "1/0" often mentioned the fact that an hour from the characters' perspective could translate into months to the author and readers, while Megatokyo, since the end of its first year, has had just over one day of in-comic progress per real-world year. Thus, for instance, preview posters for ' and ' have been seen within mere months of one another [see [http://www.megatokyo.com/index.php?strip_id=20 20] and [http://www.megatokyo.com/index.php?strip_id=766 766] ] . The comic Least I Could Do had a floating timeline until the July 9th, 2007 strip, in which the cast opened a "letter" from the writer and artist which stated that from that moment on, they would age normally rather than remain a perpetual age 24 or so.

"Upstairs, Downstairs"

The British drama series "Upstairs, Downstairs" also used a floating (and at times anachronistic and uneven) timeline. At the end of the first season, which was set in the 1901-1909 time period, London Weekend Television ordered a second season. The writers decided to keep the second season in the same time period as the first, interspersing the episodes temporally among those of the first season. However, certain aspects of the plot (Elizabeth's marriage, for instance) were continued as if the events in the first season had taken place immediately before those of the second. When the show was picked up for a third season, it was decided that the show would move forward in time. The final episode of the last season was set in 1930, 28 years after the first episode; while some characters (such as Rose Buck and James Bellamy, both in their 40s at the end of the fifth season) had aged appropriately, others (such as Daisy Peel and Georgina Worsley, both of which were in their mid-20s eighteen years after being introduced at age 18) had not. [ [http://www.updown.org.uk/default.htm The Upstairs, Downstairs Web Pages ] ]

"The Simpsons"

Another notable example of this is cartoons such as "The Simpsons", as the characters in the show never age, despite having significant character development as well as passage of time. Bart Simpson has stayed in the fourth grade, and Lisa Simpson has stayed in the second grade, for almost all of the show's run (with the exception of one episode, "Bart vs. Lisa vs. the Third Grade," in which they were both in the third grade).

A first season episode identified George H. W. Bush as the current President of the United States, while the seventh season episode "Two Bad Neighbors" shows Bush père as a private citizen writing his memoirs. By the 17th season episode "Regarding Margie," Homer had photos showing him "beating up former President Bush" as well as "current President Bush."

New technologies, inventions, and trends appear also, but the age and basic appearance of the characters never changes. In an episode, Bart is in love with a girl and wonders why she rejects him, asking Lisa: "Is it... [T] he fact that I've worn the same clothes day in, day out, for the last four years?", making reference to that he has always used the same T-shirt. However, there is little continuity in "The Simpsons", as major developments or changes in one episode are usually ignored in the next. On the other hand, there are all instances of the clear passage of time, such as the aging of Apu Nahasapeemapetilon's octuplets. One fake explanation was made in "Behind the Laughter", which was a parody of the VH1 show "Behind the Music" with Lisa Simpson stating that she was slipped pills to stunt her growth; the stories are similar to Archie Comics or "commedia dell'arte", in which stock characters with identifiable personalities repeatedly appear without much reference to what has gone before.

Exceptions to this lack of continuity are character deaths, with series regulars Maude Flanders, and Bleeding Gums Murphy having died in the show and remaining that way. Other characters such as Lionel Hutz and Troy McClure have been permanently retired from the show (in honor of Phil Hartman's death, who voiced the characters). Many other characters have also died, but most are unnamed or appear in few episodes.

"Family Guy"

In "Family Guy", Peter Griffin has commented on this concept in the Season 4 episode "Blind Ambition", pointing out that his neighbor Bonnie Swanson has been pregnant for six years with no signs of progress. The character of Brian Griffin also refers to it in the Season 5 episode "Road to Rupert," when Stewie Griffin mentions his age is one year old and he responds with, "Still?". Some characters have aged at least one or two years through the course of the series. At least three characters have had birthdays shown (Stewie in "Chitty Chitty Death Bang", Meg in "Peter's Two Dads." and Lois in "Stewie Kills Lois")

The third season (2001) episode "Mr. Griffin Goes to Washington" shows Al Gore as U.S. Vice-President performing his duties as President of the Senate, while the fourth season (2005) episode "North by North Quahog" shows Peter reminiscing about how he convinced Congress to go to war against Iraq. [A. Delarte, "Nitpicking Family Guy: Season 4", "Bob's Poetry Magazine" [http://bobspoetry.com/Bobs03Ja.pdf January 2006] : 13 - 14. "In this episode, Peter says he convinced Congress to go to war in Iraq by saying that anyone who doesn’t want to go to war is gay. That is is funny, as long as you don’t try to make it fit with the seeming lack of progress for Stewie. The show was cancelled in 2002, and long before that Jay Leno clairvoyantly joked that with George W. Bush as president the economy would take a dive and bombs would fall on Baghdad. By now Stewie should be in first grade."]

Novels

In fiction, Rex Stout deliberately created a floating timeline for Nero Wolfe and other principal characters in the corpus, while the stories take place contemporaneously with their writing and depict a changing landscape and society. Nero Wolfe's age is 56. "Those stories have ignored time for thirty-nine years," Stout told his authorized biographer John McAleer. "Any reader who can't or won't do the same should skip them. I didn't age the characters because I didn't want to. That would have made it cumbersome and would seem to have centered attention on the characters rather than the stories." [McAleer, John, "Rex Stout: A Biography" (1977, Little, Brown and Company; ISBN 0316553409), p. 383; and McAleer, John, "Royal Decree" (1983, Pontes Press, Ashton, MD), p. 49]

*Hypotheses of consciousness and spacetime
*Presentism
*Soap Opera Rapid Aging Syndrome