Most comic book universes operate with a sliding timescale that helps explain why characters don't age much despite starring in their respective series for decades, though it can be a loose and unspecified scale that affects characters differently. For example, Peter Parker has aged from teenager to adulthood while Iron Man's wartime origins keep shifting to suit his unchanging age.
However, there have been a number of other ways that characters in the comics have retained their youthful appearance over the years that have ranged from universal reboots to broken powers and maybe even the ongoing wish of a powerful child. However they have accomplished it, these characters somehow managed to find the fountain of youth.
10 Captain America Was Frozen In Time And Cosmicly De-Aged
Steve Rogers has always been a man out of time as the WWII hero Captain America who was frozen for decades before he unthawed to join the Avengers, though his age caught up to him after an enemy eradicated the super-solider serum in his blood.
Rogers was eventually restored to his peak age by the sentient Cosmic Cube Kobik, though she was manipulated to transform him into a Hydra agent, and she later brought back a renewed Steve Rogers once again to take down the Hydra version.
9 Magneto Was Reduced To Infancy And Restored By The High Evolutionary
While Iron Man's origins have shifted over the years, characters like Magneto whose origins in the war are integral to their story have had to find other ways to avoid the aging process, even with the sliding timescale of the Marvel universe.
Magneto was initially reduced to infancy by Alpha the Ultimate Mutant before he was aged by the Shi'ar Erik the Red to his peak physical condition. After once again aging normally for decades along with the rest of the X-Men who grew to adulthood, Magneto was again de-aged by the High Evolutionary, which also fully restored his abilities.
8 The JSA's Aging Was Slowed And Characters Rebooted Multiple Times
DC's Justice Society of America features some of the comic company's oldest characters and have been casualties in a number of multiversal reboots that have seen a number of returns for the characters who helped inspire the modern Justice League.
While the JSA had their aging magically slowed to further account for their appearance in modern storylines, members like Wildcat have frequently been de-aged or re-aged to suit their place in the new timeline, while Jay Garrick/The Flash has operated at different ages or regained youth from the Speed Force or reboots like Flashpoint.
7 Batman Was De-Aged By The New 52 Reboot And Restored By A Lazarus Pit
When the DC universe underwent a reboot after the Flashpoint event, it severely truncated the existing timeline to five years instead of decades for most characters, though Batman proved to be a difficult challenge. Batman was de-aged like other heroes, though his personal history was extended to help explain all the Robins.
However, that wasn't the first time Bruce Wayne had been renewed, as he was forced to use a Lazarus Pit after a vicious battle with Ra's al Ghul in Birth of the Demon that restored his body, though he had to share the restorative energies with al Ghul.
6 Nick Fury Slowed His Aging With The Infinity Formula And Was Restored By The Watcher
The original Nick Fury operated alongside Captain America during WWII and continued to appear throughout the years as a top spy for S.H.I.E.L.D. in various wars and global conflicts, resulting in a required explanation for his longevity.
This was first explained by a yearly dose of the restorative Infinity Formula, though it was later revealed that he was using Life Model Decoys to maintain the illusion. The elderly Fury was then replaced by his younger son while he became the cosmic character known as The Unseen, though he appeared to have been recently de-aged again by The Watcher.
5 Cable Was Reborn In An Alternate Timeline And Replaced By His Younger Self
Nathan Summers/Cable's lifetime has spanned over two-thousand years and multiple realities, so while he hasn't technically been de-aged like some of the other characters that have been discussed, fans keep seeing young versions of the character appear in his place.
When the X-Men's reality was rewritten into the "Age of Apocalypse," a younger version of Cable named Nate Grey appeared and migrated to the mainstream Marvel universe. More recently, the aged Cable was killed and replaced by his younger self, as he felt that his older self was failing in his mission to protect the timeline.
4 Monster Girl Was Trapped In A De-Aging Body By A Curse
Invincible not only introduced the breakout titular hero to readers, but the series also developed a huge universe of heroes for Image Comics that included a young girl named Amanda who could transform into a powerful monster, leading to the appropriate moniker of Monster Girl.
However, the transformation was a magical curse that also resulted in her aging backward every time she used her monster form, extending her life but trapping her in a child's body. Eventually, her teammate Robot was able to adjust her transformation to begin re-aging her.
3 Professor Xavier Was Reborn In A Cloned Body Then Took Over A Younger Body After His Death
Much like his best friend and former enemy Magneto, Professor Charles Xavier has undergone a few rebirths over the years to account for his age, which has been stayed around the same as Magneto even with his frequent age reductions. After Xavier's body was taken over by an alien Brood and destroyed, the Shi'ar were able to clone him a new, younger body.
However, he was later killed by a Dark Phoenix-powered Cyclops which left his psyche trapped in the Astral Plane by the Shadow King. When he was discovered, Fantomex offered his younger body to Xavier while he remained on the Astral Plane.
2 Green Lantern: Hal Jordan Was Reborn And Alan Scott Was Rejuvenated By The Starheart
When Hal Jordan was transformed into the power-mad Parallax, he was noticeably aged by streaks in his hair that came to represent the corruption of an alien entity that remained with the character until his death. However, when Hal returned in Green Lantern: Rebirth, he was de-aged and the streaks were removed from his hair.
Alan Scott was the first Green Lantern, and he also dealt with similar de-aging as the JSA, though he also regained his youth as the hero Sentinel thanks to his connection with the mystical Starheart. Alan Scott was also rebooted with the New 52 into a younger version during the Earth-2 series.
1 Franklin Richards' Age Frequently Fluctuates Which Might Be His Own Doing
Franklin Richards of the Fantastic Four has aged very infrequently over the years and only recently begun to explore his life as he neared his teenage years. Franklin aged and de-aged depending on the writer, and it even became a running joke in the comics when his birthday was celebrated that no age was revealed.
This soon led to a fan theory that Franklin's incredible reality-altering power was actually responsible for not only his slowed and sometimes reversed aging, but also the rest of the heroes in the Marvel Universe so they remained at a static age alongside him.