History OlderThanTheyLook / ComicBooks

* ComicBook/{{Wolverine}}:

* The original ''ComicBook/AgentsOfAtlas'' consisted of characters that had been around since the 1950s. For various reasons, none of them actually look it:
** The elderly Jimmy Woo was severely injured in a Comicbook/{{SHIELD}} operation gone bad. Marvel Boy used alien technology to heal Jimmy's body, but because the mechanism's last recorded imprint of Jimmy's genetic structure was from 1959, it revived him at the physical age he would've been back then.

* [[spoiler:Max Griffin]] from ''ComicBook/{{Amulet}}'' looks like he's somewhere in his teens. He's actually well over 50 years old [[spoiler:due to being kept alive by the Amulet spirit as part of a deal.]]
* ComicBook/{{Artesia}} has a very good example, with [[https://40.media.tumblr.com/cf17895d0286b64da9767aba8334f312/tumblr_o4ajddLO0e1rk0k4co1_540.jpg one of her commanders]].

* Baron Helmut Zemo is the son of a Nazi war criminal, and was initially depicted as having already been born around the time of World War 2. Even with ComicBookTime in effect, his father's connections to WWII have remained despite Helmut himself looking fairly young. A flashback story in a special issue of ''ComicBook/{{Thunderbolts}}'' suggested that Compound X, the chemical developed by his father, had special regenerative effects that had kept Helmut's body young. He later used the moonstones to repair his hideously disfigured face for a time ([[StatusQuoIsGod though it eventually wound up getting burnt again]]), which may have had the side effect of making him appear more youthful as well.
* The second ComicBook/BlackCanary owes her existence to this trope. In the early 1980s, DC decided to explain why Black Canary still looks 20 despite being active since the '40s. The reason was a convoluted explanation involving body-swapping with a never-before-implied identical daughter and eventually it was streamlined into Black Canary being a LegacyCharacter.
* ComicBook/BlackWidow also has been handwaved as being experimented on with something to keep her young. It explains how she could be a spy during the UsefulNotes/ColdWar and still not look a day over 30.

* ComicBook/{{Blade}} was born in 1929 and barely looks out of his mid 30s due to being half vampire.
* Apparently, Nick's youth formula is starting to malfunction, leading him to retire. Even if it wasn't, he gave the last of it to ComicBook/BuckyBarnes when the latter was suffering from a massive injury. This also means that Bucky will retain his age for a while as well. Even more notable since Bucky is already Older Than He Looks, having been kept in cryo between missions after WWII. He was a teenager during WWII, and is portrayed as a man in his late twenties in modern times, but he's actually at least 80 years old by this point.
* ComicBook/CaptainAmerica himself, obviously. The man was at least in his late 20s when he was frozen at the end of WWII, and in modern times, is depicted as being probably mid-thirties. He's actually close to 100 years old.
* ComicBook/DoctorStrange was born in the 1930s but remains 40-something (since that was his age when he met and accepted Death just prior to becoming Sorcerer Supreme). His apprentice and lover Clea appears to be in her twenties, though she's [[ReallySevenHundredYearsOld a century or two older than that]].
* Copycat from ''ComicBook/Gen13'' is, like the rest of the Deviants, 19 give or take a year or two. However, she's very small and somewhat physically underdeveloped; as her teammate Frostbite puts it, "ain't an ID fake enough to make her look older than ''thirteen.''"
* Cecil in ''{{ComicBook/Ghostopolis}}'' [[spoiler:at first]]. He looks approximately 10 years old, despite being the ghost of a 60 to 70-year-old man.

* Gert from ''ComicBook/IHateFairyland'' looks six, but is really in her thirties.
* After Oliver Queen[=/=]Comicbook/GreenArrow was killed in the 90s, his old friend [[Comicbook/GreenLantern Hal Jordan]] resurrected him. However, because Ollie's body had been [[NotEnoughToBury atomized by the explosion that ended his life]], Hal was forced to completely reconstitute it from scratch. Since Hal chose to recreate his friend back as he'd been during the famous "Hard Traveling Heroes" era, the resurrected Oliver was consequently about 10 years younger than his chronological age.
* Monster Girl from ''ComicBook/{{Invincible}}'' is 29 and looks about nine. Every time she uses her powers she gets younger but her powers get stronger. She manages to regain her approximate age later on and becomes a MsFanservice.
* Many of the surviving members of the ''Comicbook/JusticeSocietyOfAmerica'':
** The team has been active since the early 1940s, with some of its members pushing 100 at this point. Initially, this was explained to be the result of the JSA having spent years in a magical alternate dimension that rejuvenated their bodies. However, this was undone during ''Comicbook/ZeroHourCrisisInTime'', where Extant forcibly reaged most of the team, resulting in the deaths of the Atom, Hourman and Doctor Mid-Nite. While Comicbook/DoctorFate, Johnny Thunder and Sandman were physically aged to such an extent that they could no longer fight crime and had to retire, a few other members like [[Comicbook/TheFlash Jay Garrick]], Comicbook/{{Wildcat}} and Ted Knight got off lucky, only aging to their late 50s or early 60s. This was later {{Lampshaded}} in James Robinson's ''Comicbook/{{Starman}}'' series:

** For a while, [[Comicbook/GreenLantern Alan Scott]] was kept young by the Starheart, the source of his power. Even after this was undone and his physical body became closer to his chronological age, he ''still'' looked far younger than he should've, complete with his hair still being blond.
** The Carter Hall version of Comicbook/{{Hawkman}} is technically ''thousands'' of years older than he looks, having been reincarnated multiple times throughout history, dating all the way back to ancient Egypt. Despite this, he's usually drawn as a man in his late 30s or early 40s at the oldest.
* [[Characters/KangTheConqueror Kang the Conqueror]] is chronologically in his 70s, but appears several decades younger thanks to the advanced futuristic technology at his disposal. His future self, Immortus, [[TheAgeless is significantly older than that]], but still appears at most middle-aged.
* The ''ComicBook/LeagueOfExtraordinaryGentlemen'' has Mina Murray, who's immortal due to her bath in the fires of youth at the lost city of Kor (from ''She: A History Of Adventure''), and thus always looks to be in her twenties. This might lead to her becoming Really700YearsOld after awhile but, at the time of the Victorian-era comic book, it just means she looks really good for her age.
* ''ComicBook/LenoreTheCuteLittleDeadGirl'' looks like she is 10 years old and her friend, Ragamuffin, looks like he is a 25-year-old guy. ''[[UndeadChild She is actually 100]] and [[TheAgeless he is 400]].

* [[Comicbook/SubMariner Namor]] was born in 1922 and fought alongside Captain America during UsefulNotes/WorldWar2. However, due to being half-Atlantean on his mother's side, he possesses slowed aging and physically looks to be in his 30s or 40s at the very oldest.
* ComicBook/NickFury was a World War II combat sergeant and hero, heading up the ''[[ComicBook/SgtFuryAndHisHowlingCommandos Howling Commandos]]''. By the time he became "Agent of ComicBook/{{SHIELD}}" in the 60s, he was taking a special "youth formula" to explain why he had barely aged a day since then without some outlandish retcon. Not that that youth formula isn't any weirder.
** Parodied with ''ComicBook/{{Nextwave}}'''s "Dirk Anger", who was 90 years old and kept alive with drugs and pureed live chickens.
** Nick Fury is completely removed from World War II in the Franchise/MarvelCinematicUniverse, with Captain America taking his place as the leader of the Howling Commandos.

* In ''ComicBook/{{Planetary}}'', there are certain characters called "century babies", that are born at midnight of a century's initial year (i.e. 12:00 a.m. January 1, 1900, etc.). These characters can still be killed, but once they reach a certain point in adulthood, they stop aging and it's never made clear if they can in fact die of old age. Century baby Elijah Snow looks about 40 but is (at the time of the book) in his late 90's; Jakita Wagner and Anna Hark are the daughters of century babies (Lord Blackstock and Hark, respectively); both are in their mid-70's and neither look a day over 30, with Anna predicting that she will live for at least three hundred years. Spy John Stone has been aging at about 1/5 normal speed since his 40s. Then there's [[Literature/DocSavage Axel]] [[{{Expy}} Brass]], who figured out how to [[CharlesAtlasSuperpower stop his aging]] when he was 43. Jenny Sparks from ''ComicBook/TheAuthority'' is also a "century baby" and stops physically aging at the age of 19, though she looks to be in her mid-20's.

** The MAX series depicted Frank as the 50 to 60-year-old man that he was, who relied on massive firepower and methodical planning to kill his opponents, but was nevertheless still extremely dangerous in hand to hand combat. The final (and extremely well-done) MAX story showed Frank's age (and mental problems) finally catching up with him, although he stayed alive and kicked ass long enough to get the job done.
** The miniseries ''History of the Marvel Universe'' fixes this by creating the Siancong Conflict. The fictional country of Siancong first appeared in ''Avengers'' #18 (July 1965) as "Sin-Cong". The miniseries establishes that characters that were originally written as having fought in Vietnam (Punisher, War Machine, [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arclight_(comics) Arclight]], etc.) as well as certain characters previously stated to have fought in WWII (Reed Richards, Ben Grimm) had actually fought in the Siancong Conflict.
* Max from ''ComicBook/SamAndMaxFreelancePolice'' looks, acts, and sounds (in the game and cartoon adaptations) like a child, but he's actually an adult.
* Neil Nordegraf from the ''ComicBook/ScottPilgrim'' series is generally known as "Young Neil" among his friends due to being the youngest of the gang (at least before Knives Chau showed up). [[spoiler:This was played with to such an extent that when Scott finally acknowledged him simply as "Neil" in the final volume, Neil thought it was the best day of his life]]. Many people will, however, argue that a lot of other characters in the series look younger than they're made out to be due to the comic's art style, and due to ArtEvolution, it becomes less and less obvious. [[http://www.esrb.org/ratings/synopsis.jsp?Certificate=29430&Title=Scott%20Pilgrim%20VS%20The%20World Also, the ESRB even mistook Scott for a child in their parental guide for the video game adaptation.]]
* ''ComicBook/{{Seven Soldiers|OfVictory2005}}: Manhattan Guardian'':
** Ed "Baby Brain" Sargard. In flashbacks to the Newsboy Army, he's a [[BrainyBaby superintelligent baby]]. In the present, he looks like a baby who's got old without maturing.
** [[http://www.writeups.org/fiche.php?id=3941 Sally]] [[http://www.comicvine.com/sally-sonic/4005-54310/ Sonic]] is 15 years old, [[WhoWantsToLiveForever permanently]]. In her human form. Her [[OlderAlterEgo super]] [[SexierAlterEgo form]] is very[[MostCommonSuperpower ...adult]]. (The female characters in the series are deliberately drawn in a fanservicey fashion.)
* The members of DC's ComicBook/SevenSoldiersOfVictory spent over four decades lost in time after a fight with the Nebula Man. As a result of this, the Star-Spangled Kid (later Skyman), Stripesy, Crimson Avenger, Shining Knight and Stuff the Chinatown Kid [[YearOutsideHourInside all aged roughly a week despite having been gone more than forty years]]. This is explicitly acknowledged in ''Comicbook/InfinityInc'' #50, where Skyman is incensed to learn that his teammates are celebrating his 61st birthday despite him physically being in his early 20s.
* ComicBook/{{The Shade|DCComics}} hasn't aged since gaining his powers in the mid 1800s.

* Jessica Drew, also known as the first ''ComicBook/SpiderWoman'', went into cryogenic stasis to speed up the effects of an experimental spider serum her dad injected her with. She went into stasis when she was four, spent at least thirty years in it, and came out looking seventeen.
* ''ComicBook/StarmanDCComics'': Jack Knight looked like he was somewhere in his late 20s, when he was really in his mid 30s. It's not that drastic, but they do lampshade it a few times.

** The Man of Steel himself in some continuities. In the Creator/ChristopherReeve [[Film/SupermanTheMovie movies]], it's said that the voyage from Krypton to Earth took "many thousands of years" (it was an experimental starship, after all), during which Kal-El aged only slightly--from swaddling infant to toddler. Stories taking place in the future generally show Superman's aging to be much slower than that of humans, and that's if he ages at all, with generally the worst of it being him getting some gray hair. One particular storyline says that he actually shouldn't age at all, and he only does so because he grew up thinking he should.
** ComicBook/JimmyOlsen generally falls under VagueAge, but in ''ComicBook/ActionComics'' #865 he's captured by [[ActuallyADoombot a version of Toyman]] who is an adult-hating child. Toyman says that he can trust Jimmy, since they're both kids--and Jimmy angry kicks him, noting that he's 23.
** ''ComicBook/{{Supergirl}}'' as well, at least in modern adaptations; she also made the journey from Krypton to Earth, but [[ComicBook/TheSupergirlFromKrypton1959 unlike in Pre-Crisis continuity]], she took longer to reach Earth and be released from suspended animation. As such, when she lands in ''ComicBook/TheSupergirlFromKrypton2004'' and ''ComicBook/LastDaughterOfKrypton'' she looks and thinks like a 16-year-old girl, but is actually a good few years older than Superman himself. In ''ComicBook/RedDaughterOfKrypton'', Kara insists that she's mentally and emotionally older than she looks.
--->'''Supergirl:''' My entire planet was destroyed. My civilization is gone. That makes you grow up fast.
** ''ComicBook/SupermanSupergirlMaelstrom'': At one point, Kara complains that her adult cousin treats her as a baby only because she looks like a teenager due to suspended animation, even though she is older than he is.
** Supergirl's villain Blackstarr, who made her first appearance in ''[[ComicBook/Supergirl1982 Supergirl Vol 2]]'', looks like a 20-year-old woman, but she is in her fifties.

** ''ComicBook/WayOfTheWorld'': In a scene set in an alternate future, Kara is a sexagenarian who looks like she is in her late twenties, at most.
* Number 5 from ''ComicBook/TheUmbrellaAcademy'' thanks to TimeTravel is a 40-something old man trapped in the body of a 10-year-old. Despite this whenever 5 does anything violent or he's in a bad mood he's drawn looking older. In the [[Series/TheUmbrellaAcademy Netflix adaptation]] Number 5 becomes particularly pissed off when he gets invited to a kid's birthday party at a bowling alley.
* Most of the heroes in ''Comicbook/{{Watchmen}}'' are starting to show their age, but Doctor Manhattan is immortal and ageless, while Ozymandias is the epitome of the CharlesAtlasSuperpower trope and is in terrific shape for his age. The Ultimate Watchmen edition contains commentary suggesting that he might live to be 150 through simply staying really fit!

** Logan's son ComicBook/{{Daken}} counts (while Wolverine himself, being born in the 19th century, just tips the scale at Really700YearsOld). Daken was born in 1946, which makes him old enough to be the father of most of his teammates when he served with the ComicBook/DarkAvengers. He barely looks like he's in his early 20s [[DependingontheArtist most of the time.]]
** Wolverine's daughter/OppositeSexClone, ComicBook/{{X 23}}, shares the same mutation and will eventually join them if she hasn't already (ComicBookTime being what it is).
* ''ComicBook/WonderWoman1942'': While Franchise/WonderWoman and the other Amazons tend to skirt and bypass Really700YearsOld when her Earth-One ([[UsefulNotes/TheSilverAgeOfComicBooks Silver Age]]) iteration travels to Earth-Two she finds that her local [[UsefulNotes/TheGoldenAgeOfComicBooks Golden Age]] iteration has formerly left Paradise Island to live out the rest of ComicBook/SteveTrevor's life with him and is thus aging, but at a much slower rate than a normal human and therefore looks decades younger than her similarly aged husband.

* ''ComicBook/SevenSoldiers: Manhattan Guardian'':
** Ed "Baby Brain" Sargard. In flashbacks to the Newsboy Army he's a superintelligent baby. In the present he looks like a baby who's got old without maturing.

* Number 5 from ''ComicBook/TheUmbrellaAcademy'' thanks to TimeTravel is a 40-something old man trapped in the body of a 10-year-old. Despite this whenever 5 does anything violent or he's in a bad mood he’s drawn looking older. In the [[Series/TheUmbrellaAcademy Netflix adaptation]] Number 5 becomes particularly pissed off when he gets invited to a kid’s birthday party at a bowling ally.