by Glen Weldon

a man with a paper bag over his head
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Long-running fictional characters: Sure, there are a lot of candidates, but who takes the prize?

"Longest running" is open to interpretation, so let's define our terms:

In any medium, what character has been consistently featured in continuous new adventures over the longest stretch of time?

Got that? Just the three criteria, here:

Consistent:

Makes regularly scheduled appearances — no yawning gaps between adventures.