Why do comic fans get stereotyped so much?

[superboyprime]

A friend linked me to this yesterday, and I just had to share. Written and drawn by some guy who works in a comic book shop, Our Valued Customers is a webstrip in which he quotes actual things he's heard his customers say.



Some other stand-outs beneath the cut...

Comments

[cuntfucius]

And I actually get REALLY surprised -- i mean lkwelawe it's totally jarring to go to s_d and less pleasant places like cbr forums and dc message boards and see the cynicism and fear of change and love of the status quo and the "just because" opinions everywhere and in my shop, have guys and gals come in who are actually excited about new stuff coming out, excited about lesser known characters, and have fun talking about characters and even recent bad decisions/events by the companies without having beautiful gems such as thoughts like "She should just die" "I just hate him, he's emo" "She's whiny" "She's useless" "He's boring"

[kamino_neko]

lkwelawe

Translation, please?

[cuntfucius]

FINGERS MAKING LOVE TO KEYBOARD , ANGRY HATESEX

[kamino_neko]

*giggles at that image*

*suddenly THINKS about that image*

*gets mildly disturbed*

*filed line away to use when the opportunity arises*

>_>

[fifthie]

The best kind of fans are the ones who feel a need to go on the internet and trash other fans for failing to like terrible things.

After all if people didn't incessantly trash other people for the vile act of having negative opinions of comic books, you wouldn't know that those people were better than all those negative fans they're trashing.

[cuntfucius]

yeah because i totally implied that if you have any negative opinions about a comic book, you're a terrible fan.


here let me get my hankie out :)

[fifthie]

yeah because i totally implied that if you have any negative opinions about a comic book, you're a terrible fan.

Nah you did a pretty good job phrasing your passive-aggressive swipe at a broad group of people well enough that any attempt to pin down specifically who you're shitting on is easily deniable on your part, you should be proud.

[cuntfucius]

passive-aggressive swipe at a broad group of people well enough that any attempt to pin down specifically who you're shitting on is easily deniable on your part,

Lmao GURL. Hmm, broad swipe? Let's see, I specifically name:

People who are stubbornly ONLY fans of A-listers and will only give A-list characters a chance.
People who are miserably and overly negative (as opposed to people who don't like something, different. Very.)
People who throw out phrases at characters like a net to flatten and simplify without substantial evidence to back it up or address anything contrary suggested at them.

Seriously. I named the phrases, and said it's annoying when people don't really give much behind their opinion on that. I have voiced displeasure at various story turns, treatments of a character, and writing decisions before. There is nothing wrong with not liking something.

But have a little perspective and distance. These are comics. This is a genre. This is an art form, learn to divorce personal taste and preferences with the actual view of composition and structure. Many people don't. This isn't a public sphere where people are speaking of social injustices and those who talk against the status quo or The Man are oppressed and silenced in a similar way. This is about cape comics and superheroes and marketing gimmicks and the whole shebang. There are public spaces (the comic shop I work at) where it is entirely inappropriate to be voicing rage over how crappy (and it is, imo) Brightest Day is when young kids are thumbing through it and having fun. It's called tact, and the rhetoric is just memetic and a bore. It's too much to ask for actual reasonable dialog about this stuff, though, I guess, and about voicing any sort of displeasure.

Now, it being broad, of course you had to project your oppressed fan insecurities. I admit it, I'm a total meanie jerkpants who hates everyone that doesn't like Geoff Johns, Grant Morrison, Bendis, and all of our comic overlords. I believe you all should shut up and be pleased with whatever comes out.

I have a more optimistic view on life. For example. one of my favourite characters is Really Really Defensive Fan. I think they've been written terribly lately, though, and I voice my criticism often, but I have faith that they will be written justly :') according to my vision. You are SO shat on for disliking Geoff Johns and all other shitty terrible bad comics put out today!! My god, I just am totally crapping all over, what happened to my bowels?

You know, I always wondered the identity of RRDF... I mean, I noticed you're always taking bathroom breaks and stuff when they're around but...nah. You wear glasses and they don't. Couldn't be.