Fandom and Continuity

In the world of mainstream comic books, that is to say those of the major publishers of DC and Marvel, the sacred cow amongst the creators and fans alike is something known as continuity. Continuity is the timeline between all of the characters and titles that make up the shared universe in which all of the stories take place. In the Marvel Universe the continuity goes back as far as 1961 with the inception of Marvel’s two flagship characters and titles, Spider-man and The Fantastic Four. That both stories take place in a fictional version of New York City, one in which these kinds of super-powered characters could exist. Fans of these books enjoy these stories because of this continuity. They can follow their favorite characters over the course of years and even decades and see their progression. Recently the Editor-in-Chief of Marvel Comics made a decision to co-write a storyline that would violate this sacred contract between publisher and fans. Joe Quesada set into motion the conclusion of the Spider-Man story-arc titled “One More Day” in which to save his beloved Aunt May, Spider-Man’s alter-ego, Peter Parker agrees to sacrifice his marriage to Mary Jane in a deal with Mephisto (Marvel Comics’ answer to the Christian Devil) that would effectively erase any traces of Peter and Mary Jane’s twenty year relationship, causing temporal anomalies throughout the Marvel Universe. In a single storyline Editor-in-Chief Quesada effectively nullified twenty years of continuity. His argument was the story line was to keep the character fresh for new readers, however long time fans are infuriated stating that to have a single person retroactively eliminate beloved stories was selfish and not good for the character. Here lies the quandary; do these characters, their universe and continuity belong to the writers or the readers?

The Importance of Comic Books

Many times I find myself coming off as a “Comic Book Apologist” or a “Geek Apologist.” That is to say, I’m often times found in the position of defending or apologizing for being a fan of comic books and other genre-fiction such as animation, science fiction and video games. However, if it weren’t for comic books I wouldn’t be the person I am today. When I was in the 3rd grade I was put into a remedial reading program. The tests and teachers had determined that I apparently had a below average reading ability. I don’t think that was the case, I just didn’t have the motivation to do it. By the time I was in the 5th grade and discovered comic books I was reading at a beyond-college level and had also graduated to other authors such as Stephen King and Douglas Adams. If people could just get beyond the stigma of reading something that also contains pictures and understand the art and craft behind the work. I think others could also benefit from this often overlooked literature.

Tao of Geek: Being a Grown-Up Geek in a Grown-Up World.

I’m a product of what you’d call the “Nintendo Generation.” Being too young to be in Generation X, and still needing a trendy generational designation, this is a term that has been coined to describe those of us who grew up on 3 ¼ inch GI Joe figures and Japanese import cartoons before they were called “Anime” like “Thundercats,” “Silver Hawks,” and of course the quintessential “Transformers.” Not to mention growing up post Atari, yet pre-internet, probably the biggest invention of our generation was the Nintendo. The game system that started the home video-game craze, hence the moniker, “Nintendo Generation.” However there is another movement that I think is more appropriate as our generation get’s older. As we all start becoming adults, moving into the working world and seeing things from our childhood come back again for the first time. Movies such as “Spider-Man” and “Transformers,” and the rise of comic-book culture, I think now is the time to embrace the movement to reclaim the term Geek. As the world becomes a scarier place the older we get, there’s a greater importance felt not only on people who are free thinkers, but also on properties that allow people to escape even if only for a short time. So now, I’m more proud to say I’m a Geek, than a member of the “Nintendo Generation.”

Growing up as a comic fan.

IFanboy just did a podcast dedicated to Hellboy. I think I had what would be described on G4tv as a "nerdgasm." The basis of their singular focus on this one book for the episode was that they had all read Hellboy when it first came out and didn't care for it and had come back some years later and loved it. They made the comment that they were maybe not mature enough for it at first. That got me to thinking as I find myself looking down the barrel of age 30 how have my tastes changed. I discovered that Hellboy was actually the book that got me back into comics after my hiatus in college, and has ever since been the book that I measure new books in my collection. Hellboy led me away from X-Men, Spiderman, and others towards Preacher, Transmetropolitan, Ex Machina, DMZ and others. But that's not to say I went all dark and Vertigo-gritty. That's the wonderful thing about Hellboy, it contains a good balance of the dark supernatural and whimsy that it also led me to seek out books such as Invincible, and Amazing Joy Buzzards. It taught me what good writing in comic books could be. So thank you Mr. Mignola, for teaching me what modern comic books can be.

Not your average Fanboy....

I've been noticing something lately, as my tastes in comics change and I get busier and busier with school work and more work, I haven't been into a comic books store in the better part of a year. I know that's partially due to the fact that the nearest comic shop is a good 20 minute drive into the deepest darkest depths of suburban west omaha where the untamed suv's and the wildest trophy wives and soccermoms fight for dominance but I digress. My wake up call was when I logged on to my Amazon.com com account and realized it knows me better than some of my friends! I'm not entirelly sure how to feel about this. I jumped on there during class the other night to get a publishing date for a book we were talking about and found myself distracted by the "Recommended for you" front page. Ohhhhhh Hellboy! Dear god, I don't think I've ever gotten a Hellboy comic from there but they still know!
Now I'd love to be the new-age hipster who rails against the depersonalization of the electronic age touts that cell phones, ipods and computers are causing us to all be anti-social. But the fact of the matter is every "LCS" I've ever been to (save for one in K.C.) has been run by some facsimile of Comic Book Guy who's gonna sit there and make me feel stupid for not digging on Silver Age Green Lantern or some shit. I know my experience is not the norm but out here in the fly-over states I'm more than happy to let a web-page be my LCS and to have my comic friends on message boards. So I guess I'm not your average fanboy.