This article or section has multiple issues. Please help improve the article or discuss these issues on the talk page. It needs additional references or sources for verification. Tagged since October 2007. It may require general cleanup to meet Wikipedia's quality standards. Tagged since May 2007.

A floating timeline (also known as a sliding timescale) is a device used in fiction, particularly in comics and animation, to explain why characters age little or not at all over years and decades, though real-world markers like notable people and technology reflected in the fictional work do change with the times.

Contents 1 Definition 1.1 Syndicated comic strips 1.2 Webcomics 1.3 Television 1.4 Film 1.5 Novels 2 See also 3 References

[edit] 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.^[1] 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 famous example is Archie Comics, in which all the characters have remained the same age since its inception in the 1940s, but have been adapted regularly to show current trends and fads. Archie Andrews and his friends have been high school teenagers since they were first introduced in 1941.

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.

[edit] Syndicated 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." Likewise, in one early Calvin and Hobbes strip, Calvin's unwillingness to live in the moment is criticized by his father, who says: "Yeah, I know. You think you're going to be six years old all your life." Indeed, throughout the strip, Calvin remained six years old, with the character Susie Derkins being the only character in Calvin and Hobbes to have a (shown) birthday.

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

[edit] 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 Metal Gear Solid 2 and Metal Gear Solid 4 have been seen within mere months of one another ^[2]. The comic Least I Could Do had a floating timeline until the July 9, 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.

[edit] Television

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.^[3]

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. 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." Other presidents have had cameos, including Bill Clinton during his presidential term.

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 the 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 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. The floating timeline has occasionally created problems, particularly in "That 90s Show", which heavily retconned series history in an effort to parody the alternative rock boom.

Exceptions to this lack of continuity are character deaths, with series regulars Maude Flanders, and Bleeding Gums Murphy having died in the show and remained off the show, except for occasional flashback scenes or Halloween alternate universe shows. 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
The popular cartoon Family Guy is yet another example of a floating timeline. While the show itself is ten years old (as of 2009), most, if not all characters have aged only a year or two at most. Chris Griffin was depicted as having attended Buddy Cianci Junior High school at the start of the series; however, six years later, in the 2005 episode Jungle Love, he began attending James Woods High School. His sister Meg has attended James Woods High for the duration of the entire series, another example of the floating timeline. The floating timeline has also been referenced on the show, in the episode Road to Rupert, when Brian tells Stewie that he thinks Stewie's getting a little old to have a teddy bear. Stewie responds with "Brian, I'm one," to which Brian responds with "Still?" The two characters then utter interchanging "What?"s before the story continues without either character mentioning it again. Similarly, Bonnie Swanson appeared to be pregnant through the first seven seasons of the show; Peter points this out in the episode "Blind Ambition".

Doctor Who
Due to the show's use of time travel as a major plot element, Doctor Who has on many occasions visited a past year which was at the time of the story's writing, still the future. For example, various contemporary stories from the original series which were set in their respective decades feature Earth actively involved in interplanetary travel. Later episodes, the new series, and Torchwood, are written assuming real-life progress in space travel. The UNIT Dating Controversy is the most well known attempt to explain a confused timeline, especially in light of the technology seen during those episodes.

[edit] Film

James Bond is one of the best examples of a floating timeline in film. Bond, according to the film series, remains in his early-30's through mid-40's consistently since 1962, visually decreasing in age every time the actor, visibly aged between films, changes. Even some of the supporting characters of the series, such as Felix Leiter and Miss Moneypenny exhibit the same ageless quality, in addition to a frequent change in actors. For Casino Royale, Bond underwent a reboot, discarding the Cold War history of the character for a modern day post-September 11th setting and ushering in the latest portrayal of Bond in the film series' history, showing Bond achieving his Double-O license to kill status.

[edit] 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." ^[4]

This phenomenon is even more evident in children's series. In the Sugar Creek Gang books, the series took place between 1940 and 1970, and yet the characters age only two or three years. However, the older books were continually being modernized to fit into the continuity of the series. Similarly, the Bobbsey Twins endure multiple school years and multiple summer vacations, never aging beyond twelve and six; and Nancy Drew in her original series solved fifty-six mysteries, all apparently in the summer of her nineteenth year.

[edit] See also

• Retroactive continuity
• Soap Opera Rapid Aging Syndrome

[edit] References