Watching "Unaging" Comics Characters "Move Past" Historical Events

[The Baron]

Elsewhere, some  of us were talking about the Silver Samurai, which led me to think of the time he fought John Belushi, which led me to think that the Peter Parker of 2023 cannot be the same Peter Parker that met the Not-Ready-For-Prime-Time Players on the set of  Saturday Night Live  in 1978..  Since Peter Parker is portrayed these days as being (approximately) in his mid-to-late 20's, then the Peter Parker of 2023 would have been born after John Belushi died.

Thinking about it, the sixteen year-old Peter Parker of 1962 would have been born in 1946 and would have had childhood memories of the Korean War.  Meawhile, the Peter Parker of 2023 would have been born in the mid-to-lte 1990's and would have been a kid at the time of 9/11. (So, he can't be the same Peter Parker that turned up at Ground Zero right after the attacks.)

In a few years, most of the mortal Marvel characters will be depicted as having been "born" in  the Twenty-First Century.

Anyway, the day that I'm older than Aunt May is depicted as being is a lot nearer than it used to be.

[Jeff of Earth-J]

"...the Peter Parker of 2023 cannot be the same Peter Parker that met the Not-Ready-For-Prime-Time Players on the set of  Saturday Night Live  in 1978."

If this story were to be referenced today (for some reason), that meetingwould be considered a "topical reference" and the Not-Ready-For-Prime-Time Players would be updated to be a later iteration. Marvel has done this from time-to-time, such as when President Carter was updated to be President Clinton when Peter David tied Hulk continuity to a Champions implant set in the past. 

This topic reminds me of the "Fixed Points in Time" discussion I started last year.

[The Baron]

The problem with that is that the new reference eventually becomes dated, too.  Cinton's as improbable as Carter, now.   it's a problem inherent in tying "unaging" characters to "real world" events and personalities.

Jeff of Earth-J said:

. Marvel has done this from time-to-time, such as when President Carter was updated to be President Clinton when Peter David tied Hulk continuity to a Champions implant set in the past. 

[Philip Portelli]

The same could be said about Avengers #239 (Ja'84) which was almost forty years ago! 

Given that modern Marvel history covers about a ten year span and David Letterman retired almost eight years ago and the evolution of the heroes involved, if this story is referenced, Letterman should be replaced by either Stephen Colbert or Jimmy Fallon! 

[Jeff of Earth-J]

What about when the Human Torch and the Thing met the Beatles?

[Philip Portelli]

One Direction? 

Jeff of Earth-J said:

What about when the Human Torch and the Thing met the Beatles?

[Fred W. Hill]

Fifty years after the Beatles broke up they and their music are still fairly well known.  One Direction?  I've heard of them but don't know any of their songs or much of anything about them.  I admit, I haven't been keeping up with the pop music scene of the past two decades now, But I don't think they had anywhere near the same cultural or musical impact that the Beatles had.  But then, the only other pop star who may have equaled the Beatles' impact was Elvis Presley, and in my estimation only Elton John and Michael Jackson came close to matching them in lasting mass popularity.  Must also confess that I got into the Beatles in a big way in the late '70s (yes, well after they broke up and I didn't have any older relatives who were into them; I got into them simply because I loved their music which still got a lot of radio play). I have about 30 cds or vinyl recordings of Beatles' music.  I got a bit into Elton John and have a few of his albums and hits collections.  I never got anything by either Elvis or Michael Jackson; I like a few of their songs, but not enough to have ever purchased any of their lps or cds.

Oh, and I got that particular story featuring Ben & Johnny "meeting" the Beatles in a reprint in Marvel's Greatest Comics from about 1970 (which also reprinted FF#'s 44 & 45.  At that time, at age 8 and having only recently returned from 3 years of living in Japan (dad was in the Navy), I was unfamiliar with the Beatles.  My dad was about two months older than Ringo and my mom was about 4 months younger than George and exactly a year younger than Paul, but they were mostly into country or easy-listening pop.  No Beatles' records in our home then.  But within the next six years, I had read up quite a bit on the Beatles and other rock stars of the '60s and their music began echoing throughout our home pretty regularly!

[Luis Olavo de Moura Dantas]

Reminds me of 1977's Teen Titans #46.  Parodies for the Wings and the Carpenters do not translate well into the 2020s.

https://captaincomics.ning.com/forum/topics/teen-titans-1976-79?id=...

https://captaincomics.ning.com/forum/topics/the-teen-titans-project...