Celebrities whom you were surprised to learn were comic book geeks

[Buried Alien]

Some celebrities are famously comic book geeks, but occasionally, you are surprised to discover that a particular celebrity is a comic book geek. What revelations have you encountered?

According to this interview with Lisa Coleman (of Prince and the Revolution and Wendy & Lisa fame), Lisa has long been a comic book geek. SANDMAN is a favorite of hers, and she's also followed SPIDER-MAN and BATMAN over the years, identifying Jeff Loeb and Tim Sale as among her favorites.

https://web.archive.org/web/20091012...gest-regr.html

Had no idea Lisa of the Revolution was a comics geek.

Buried Alien (The Fastest Post Alive!)

[Hybrid]

Eazy-E.

I learned that he attended Image Comics' first opening and got his picture taken with Rob Liefeld, having followed them from Marvel. It's just funny to imagine that one of the most hardcore, distinctive, hedonistic and dangerous gangsta rappers of his time sitting down on a chair (possibly with reading glasses) reading through issues of Spider-Man or X-Men.

As for proof...

[CliffHanger2]

I guess I would say the Wu-Tang Clan. Eazy-E is kinda surprising but then again in the 90s comics weren't just for geeks. You could be a cool regular person and still read comics back then. It wasn't a big deal.

[WestPhillyPunisher]

Well, Nicolas Cage of course. He's a big fan and took his stage surname from Luke Cage. Check this out:

How Big of a Comic Book Fan is Nicolas Cage? The Tale of His Stolen Action Comics #1!

[numberthirty]

I guess I would say the Wu-Tang Clan. Eazy-E is kinda surprising but then again in the 90s comics weren't just for geeks. You could be a cool regular person and still read comics back then. It wasn't a big deal.

Along this line...

If you are of a certain age, you probably lived through spinner racks being just about everywhere.

Add that to three major networks and UHF/VHF, and you have a time when comics were a bigger part of the landscape.

[shooshoomanjoe]

Had no idea about Easy-E. Apparently he was creating a comic with Liefeld.

Edit: couldn't post an image but here is the link with the characters:
https://www.instagram.com/p/6oYz1sj3...ource=ig_embed

[seismic-2]

If you are of a certain age, you probably lived through spinner racks being just about everywhere.

I am of that age, and back then being a kid who read comic books meant simply that you were a kid who was old enough to read. Comic-book reading was just something that kids did, like going to the movies or listening to music. It was a normal part of growing up.

[Hybrid]

I guess I would say the Wu-Tang Clan. Eazy-E is kinda surprising but then again in the 90s comics weren't just for geeks. You could be a cool regular person and still read comics back then. It wasn't a big deal.

What do you mean? Geek culture is more mainstream now, if anything.

[numberthirty]

What do you mean? Geek culture is more mainstream now, if anything.

We talking "So Mainstream That No One Even Points Out That It Is "Geek" Culture..."?

Because that's how mainstream comics were back in the day.

[WestPhillyPunisher]

I am of that age, and back then being a kid who read comic books meant simply that you were a kid who was old enough to read. Comic-book reading was just something that kids did, like going to the movies or listening to music. It was a normal part of growing up.

I am also of the age. I fondly remember seeing the spinner racks in Woolworth's where I often went to buy my comics, along with the corner newsstands.

[Hybrid]

We talking "So Mainstream That No One Even Points Out That It Is "Geek" Culture..."?

Because that's how mainstream comics were back in the day.

Thing is "geek" doesn't have the same kind of negative stigma attached to it now as it used to. Many proudly proclaim themselves to be geeks. Plus, what you describe was to a fault, as that era nearly killed the industry over the speculation boom.

Also, the Wu-Tang Clan being comic geeks isn't surprising. They've always embraced that culture. They're known for their frequent references to comic books within their lyrics, as well as Star Wars, and of course, Wuxia -- their namesake being an homage to it, along with how they commonly refer to Staten Island as "Shaolin". It's actually impressive because they were still hardcore gangsta rap, and referencing nerdy things didn't take off until later.

[numberthirty]

Thing is "geek" doesn't have the same kind of negative stigma attached to it now as it used to. Many proudly proclaim themselves to be geeks. Plus, what you describe was to a fault, as that era nearly killed the industry over the speculation boom.

Also, the Wu-Tang Clan being comic geeks isn't surprising. They've always embraced that culture. They're known for their frequent references to comic books within their lyrics, as well as Star Wars, and of course, Wuxia -- their namesake being an homage to it, along with how they commonly refer to Staten Island as "Shaolin". It's actually impressive because they were still hardcore gangsta rap, and referencing nerdy things didn't take off until later.

Which is inherently less mainstream than when everyone and their cousin would just walk into a Woolworth's or a Piggly Wiggly and buy a comic off of a spinner rack.

No one was bothering to point it out because it was something that was not the least little bit unusual to do.

[CliffHanger2]

Along this line...

If you are of a certain age, you probably lived through spinner racks being just about everywhere.

Add that to three major networks and UHF/VHF, and you have a time when comics were a bigger part of the landscape.

Yeah the corner store used to have em. We'd buy comics along with candy and quarter water, fun times.

[Hybrid]

In fairness, there's also digital which makes a lot of sales nowadays, and trades being sold at mainstream bookstores that before would reject them. There's more to it than that, because the '90s were a different time. Anyways, I feel we're running the risk of going off-topic.

[numberthirty]

In fairness, there's also digital which makes a lot of sales nowadays, and trades being sold at mainstream bookstores that before would reject them. There's more to it than that, because the '90s were a different time. Anyways, I feel we're running the risk of going off-topic.

While I don't want to speak for anyone but myself, that wasn't really the stretch of time I was talking about.