Check out this NPR blog post to find out who the “longest running fictional character” (in any medium) is. If you want to guess before clicking, here are Glen Weldon’s criteria:
Consistent: Makes regularly scheduled appearances — no yawning gaps between adventures.
Continuous: The character’s adventures form a central narrative that builds on what has gone before. (Read: Katzenjammer Kids, I know you’ve been around a long time, but you’re a gag strip, not an ongoing narrative. Thanks for playing, we have some lovely parting gifts.)
New: The constant churning out of fresh content, not simply adaptations, retellings or reprints.
Writers, what do you think of this assertion?
“The very notion of an open-ended story is a basic corruption of what a story is for.”
