Comics, especially superhero comics, have been around for a long time. Despite being around for so long, almost no comic book character has really aged. Characters that have been famous for generations, like Batman and Spider-Man, are more or less the same age as when they started. Why is this? Well, if superheroes aged in real time, Spider-Man would be geriatric and would need to be replaced. The two biggest comic companies, Marvel and DC, have separate tactics for keeping their characters eternally young.

Marvel uses a "sliding timescale," meaning that time moves differently in-universe and out. Everything has still happened, just a lot closer together than fans experience. A Spidey story written in the '80s may have happened only ten years ago for the web-slinger. DC chooses to reboot their universe every few years. They wipe the slate clean and reset the characters and the universe. This has the added benefit of also giving new readers a jumping-on point! Both styles have their merits and achieve the same thing but slightly differ. Marvel's characters are technically ageless, existing across multiple generations. DC characters, on the other hand, just keep getting younger.

10 Superman is an Ageless Alien

The Man of Steel has been with DC Comics since the beginning, having debuted in 1938. If he had aged normally since then, he would be well into his eighties. However, many continuity shows that his Kryptonian physiology would probably spare Clark the worst effects of old age.

With each DC reboot and reset, Superman has reverted to a young hero near the start of his career. Some attempts have been made to age him up more, but it's clear that editorial wants to keep him young. His son Jon Kent was recently aged from a young teen into his early twenties to seemingly keep Clark and Lois young while still having an older son.

9 Raven is Stuck as a Teen

​​​​​​Raven is a hero synonymous with the Teen Titans, and rightly so. She helped found one of the most popular iterations of the team and has gone on to star in multiple TV shows about them. Her cool mystic powers make her an awesome hero, but her age is incredibly inconsistent.

When she debuted, she was a peer of Dick Grayson and the other Titans. She seemed to stay this way until The New 52 when she was de-aged to be a contemporary of Tim Drake's Titans. She was de-aged further in subsequent years to fit in amongst the newest batch of heroes. She was also made younger to be a viable love interest to Damian Wayne and Beast Boy.

8 Batman Has Endless Clones

Batman should be much older than he is. The Caped Crusader has nearly ten wayward sidekicks, including a biological son who is nearly fifteen. The New 52 condensed Batman's entire history into a five-year span, which only complicated this problem. Plus, there are the clones.

The New 52 Batman run concluded with the reveal that Batman had developed cloning tech to have a young, skilled Batman in Gotham in perpetuity. This means that DC will, hypothetically, always have a Batman in the prime of his life to defend Gotham City. Granted, Batman's contingencies have gone wrong before, so it's likely an army of clones might have the opposite effect on Gotham.

7 Damian Wayne Was Genetically Altered

Damian Wayne's age has always been a little circumspect. When he was first introduced, he was stated to be in his early teens and already an incredibly dangerous foe. This made sense, as Bruce Wayne had been Batman for more than ten years in that timeline. However, The New 52 changed things too irrevocably.

The New 52 made Batman younger and had him active for only five years. So, they decided that Damian was still biologically twelve but had been born six years ago and modified to age faster. Now, Damian's age is a little up in the air. He's somewhere in his mid-teens, but it remains to be seen if this will last.

John Constantine, DC's resident British bad-boy mage, is a total wildcard. Originally existing primarily in the Vertigo imprint, Constantine's transition to the main DC universe was odd. His original comics featured him aging realistically, but this has since been abandoned.

Constantine appeared in the DC universe a few times but was only brought over permanently in The New 52. As such, he was de-aged from nearly sixty to his late twenties to coincide with the other adult heroes in the universe. With his magic, it's possible Constantine could actually be older. A definite answer has yet to be given on whether John might continue to age in some way.

5 Beast Boy's Name Holds Him Back

Beast Boy is one of DC's best young heroes. He's been a stalwart champion of good times and good people since his debut in Doom Patrol. Unfortunately, Garfield Logan is one of the many young heroes stuck in limbo by editorial decisions.

Beast Boy first appeared as a friend and peer of the New Teen Titans, making him around sixteen. Later stories, like Geoff John's Teen Titans, saw him age up and take a leadership role. The New 52, meanwhile, reverted him back to a young teen and made him red for some reason. Gar has since recovered but will probably never get the chance to really mature, considering his moniker.

4 Hal Jordan Lost His Grays

The original Green Lantern of Earth carries a lot of credibility. He's one of the most established heroes in DC and has a seniority over his fellow Lanterns. However, he used to show his age quite a bit more. Before his sacrifice to restart the sun, Hal was shown to be sporting some distinguished graying hair.

Hal's gray hair sprouted up before becoming the deadly Parallax, but he also stuck through that identity. After his death, he disappeared for several years. When he returned, he seemed a little younger. It was also retconned that the Fear Entity had given him the grays. With The New 52 de-aging everyone, Hal went from being in his mid-forties to being on the cusp of thirty.

3 Barbara Gordon Got Demoted to Sidekick

Barbara Gordon has undergone some serious trials in her time as a masked vigilante. When she was originally introduced, she was a few years older than Dick Grayson. This continued throughout her Batgirl career and into her time as Oracle. However, it was mentioned less, and they became more adult peers.

When The New 52 came, Babs was made Batgirl again, with a stylish new suit. While this was certainly a step backward in her hero career, Barbara still felt like an adult hero. Later, she made the Batgirl of Burnside costume. While this is a fun and stylish suit, the homemade look makes Babs feel younger. Plus, she was stated to be much closer in age to Dick Grayson than before, making her less of a mature hero.

2 The Hawks Will Live Forever

Hawkman and Hawkwoman have some of the most convoluted backstories of any DC hero. They are trapped in a cycle of endless reincarnation, meaning there have technically been multiple versions of each. Sometimes at the same time. Yes, it's as confusing as it sounds.

This reincarnation, of course, means that the Hawks just keep coming back. They are technically thousands of years old but don't show it. Even if they live a nice long life, when they die, they'll start as newborns again. Of course, this power and their undying love are what make the characters such a unique pair in the DC universe.

1 Tim Drake is Still a Teenager

Tim Drake is barely allowed to age, so it's hard to say if he's getting any younger. However, his status as a perpetual teenager is so famous it has become a joke amongst DC fans. Tim was introduced as a young teenager and has never been able to move past that age range.

When Tim became Robin, he seemed to be between fourteen and fifteen. He aged gradually in his active years, settling somewhere between seventeen and nineteen during his Red Robin days before The New 52. This relaunch, of course, de-aged Tim once more to be sixteen, where he has more or less stayed since. It makes fans wonder when he will get to grow beyond Robin, like Dick Grayson and Jason Todd before him.