How Old are (Retool Era) Johnny and Carl?
Contrary to the fanon wiki result that appears when you search "How old is Johnny Bravo?" on Google, Johnny does not age between seasons (excluding the Valentine's Day special) — nor is he ever supposed to be a teenager. Neither is Carl.
In the original Season 2 bible by Partible and MacFarlane, Johnny answers his age as "legal." While the mini pitch bible for Season 1 doesn't give him any specific adult age either, this was later elaborated on in canon as "twenty-something."
The roadblock here is that those bibles were scanned in 2020. The retooled Warner Bros. era bible (mini or full) still has not shown up online in any form. This leaves the Partible bible, character bios, old comics and books as the only sources to glean anything from.
It can be presumed "legal" was changed to (or used alongside) the family-friendly "twenty-something" as Johnny is referred to in the Cartoon Network: Name That Toon trivia book. Name That Toon appears to use Season 2-era bios only, although a mix of Season 1 and retool quotes are used on a different page.
Carl's age is never given in Name That Toon, likely because he's introduced as Johnny's old best friend from high school. However, a card printed in the Cartoon Network Starring comic states his age as "early 20s." If the retooled bible had the same set-up for introducing characters, this could mean Carl wrote that himself or it was otherwise listed. It's slightly more specific than "twenty-something," so I'm usually of the opinion that it was not made up for the card. His full name isn't listed, but it isn't in Name That Toon either. Carl's favorite hobby is listed as "looking at spores," which is backed up by this corner of his room.
However, Suzy's age on her comic card is listed as an even vaguer "very young." The pre-retool bible and most bios give her an age between 6 and 8. Maybe this gives less credibility to "early 20s." To be fair, Suzy is also simply described as a little girl in Name That Toon. She was written to be in the first grade in the "To Sea or Not to Sea" comic story despite being in the 4th grade in canon. Could just be an inconsistency problem.
In canon, it is implied that Johnny and Carl are around the same age in "Carl Be Not Proud." It's confirmed outright that they're the same age in "Freudian Dip" when Carl comments that he's three weeks older than Johnny. If he's not in his early 20s, he's undoubtably a "twenty-something."
Johnny's age isn't listed on his card, which may have been left out to make room for the long joke here. His height (one inch taller,) weight, turn-ons and turn-offs are listed in a very similar way to the pre-retool bible profile.
The hair and eyes sections of the cards could very well be added on / not in the bible at all, as I'm not too sure "Eyes: Black" on Carl's or "sensitive to light" on Johnny's would've been included. Ultimately, "early 20s" / "twenty-something" are the closest to a canon age for the two.
