The psychology of comic book fans

[emac1790]

Does anyone feel loyalty to only one comic book company? As in "I just buy DC, I don't buy anything Marvel" or "I'll buy anything from Dark Horse".

[Goggindowner]

Does anyone feel loyalty to only one comic book company? As in "I just buy DC, I don't buy anything Marvel" or "I'll buy anything from Dark Horse".

I have always favored Marvel over DC as far as just a preference, but that's really more circumstantial than anything. The X-Men cartoon of the early 90's was my gateway into comics, and my reading expanded from there. DC always seemed second rate to me back then. It doesn't impact my buying habits anymore. Image, DC, Marvel, Dark Horse, IDW, Archaia, First Second. It's all depends on the work.

[Spike-X]

There's also the case of fans (and I count myself among them) allowing annoyance/hatred of bungled and just plain awful storylines to avoid buying books once the writer responsible has moved on and a quality writer has taken their place. I also bought Spider-Man (pretty much all of his titles, which at the time was a lot) until they brought Aunt May and Norman Osborn back. I too was moved by Aunt May's death, and took it as a slap in the face that they not only took that back but walked back one of the biggest deaths in comics at the time in Norman.

When Ultimate Spider-Man came out a friend told me that it was surprisingly good (Bendis wasn't much of a name back then outside of indie comics), and since it was set outside of the clone/Norman Osborn/dead baby/live May continuity and it was drawn by long-time Spidey artist Mark Bagley I gave it a shot. It was wonderful, and continues to be a good comic even post-Peter. I can't think of a comic line that's had a run this long that was this good (even Uncanny under Claremont had some lows). I was even dipping my toe back into the 616-Spideyverse when OMD happened.

After that I said "feh" and just put Spider-Man (that version anyway) out of my head. Then Slott came on, and I was told it was really good, and I really liked Slott's She-Hulk and GLA comics (and I'd even liked a story he wrote as a back-up feature in one of the clone-era books about the black costume and Jean Dewolff). I just couldn't do it. And now I've missed out on what I'm told is a long run of really great Spider-Man comics, because I've been burned too many times (even the "Superior" Ock Spider-Man sounds fun because it was meant to be an experiment and not the new status quo). And that's all on me, it's all about my issues and has nothing to do with Marvel or anyone who's ever written Spider-Man. They're just trying to sell comics.

I'm pretty sure the Slott run is still available in TPB/HC. It's not too late!

And yeah, them's some damn fine funnybooks.

[Spike-X]

I saw a poster on a blog recently who said he thought Batman's origin should have been updated by him having more family killed as a boy because "more violence would make it more deep and relevant".

I'd like to think that blogger was taking the piss. I really would.

I didn't mind OMD that much, I thought it pretty much said that from now on every story might as well be a "what if story" so I might as well just enjoy them while it lasts.

Technically, they're all What If? stories.

[Spike-X]

Does anyone feel loyalty to only one comic book company? As in "I just buy DC, I don't buy anything Marvel" or "I'll buy anything from Dark Horse".

No, I think it's silly. That's like saying you'll only read books from one publisher, or movies from one studio. Good comics is good comics, and there are so very many good comics being published by so many different publishers, it makes no sense to limit yourself that way.

[tombo]

I do think a company I like is a seal of approval, I'm much more likely to try a strange new comic that looks interesting if it put out by Dark Horse, Image or Vertigo than a company I never heard of.

Speaking of Slott Spider Man, some of his run is being reprinted here in the UK in a big magazine form, I just read the first part of "new ways to die" in this form and really liked the look of it.

[Mikekerr3]

Does anyone feel loyalty to only one comic book company? As in "I just buy DC, I don't buy anything Marvel" or "I'll buy anything from Dark Horse".

I tend to buy Primarily from Marvel, and any Ennis war books I can find. I was reading DCs Blue Beatle when it was cancelled and nothing there interests me much. Of course I have dropped half my Marvel Pull list also because they have manage to make me lose interest in characters I have been reading for decades

[ed2962]

Does anyone feel loyalty to only one comic book company? As in "I just buy DC, I don't buy anything Marvel" or "I'll buy anything from Dark Horse".

When I was a kid i was more of a Marvel guy. Then I got a little older and I drifted towards DC. Then I was more an alternative comix guy and the only cape comics I read were Wildstorm/Image. I stopped reading. When I got back into comics, I leaned more towards Marvel cuz I was already more familiar with the characters, but I don't think of myself as loyal to one company over the other. I'll buy several title from one company for a awhile then switch to the other depending on my mood, creators, who's got a new title coming out etc. I also check out indies.

[Marvel_Is]

reading out of habit I would say is one of the reason that you can have a lot of medicore to bad comics going around for some time. It is also the reason why lesser known characters but good stories get cancelled because people are focusing on a character rather than the good stories. I'm not saying I not a victim of this my self. However it is a problem in the industry.

Shouldn't you then just follow writers who don't mischaracterises characters? I'm not trying to judge the view point is just far from my own. Even though I began to follow characters and I have my favourites I don't want to read every story with the character. I pick runs that are good (or has good reviews).

I choose to read runs that feature my favorite characters and don't offend me. My favorite writers (the ones I find least offensive) are not always available for these characters. As long as the writing is not offensive and I come away entertained(!) somehow - then I don't necessarily care who the writer is.

I feel like writers should be like a wizard behind a curtain: a nameless and faceless entity whose sole purpose is to entertain me. Once they come out from behind the curtain and start to inject themselves into the product, I'm extremely likely to lose interest.

Does anyone feel loyalty to only one comic book company? As in "I just buy DC, I don't buy anything Marvel" or "I'll buy anything from Dark Horse".

I don't care who produces the comics really as long as they're giving me what I want.

[Jeremi]

Does anyone feel loyalty to only one comic book company? As in "I just buy DC, I don't buy anything Marvel" or "I'll buy anything from Dark Horse".

I've always been a big Marvel fan but that has a lot to do with the fact that books like the X-Men and Spider-man was some of the few titles that got translated here and the anthology books were almost always different Marvel titles. While still a big Marvel fan I nowadays read pretty much anything from any publisher.

[CSTowle]

I have always favored Marvel over DC as far as just a preference, but that's really more circumstantial than anything. The X-Men cartoon of the early 90's was my gateway into comics, and my reading expanded from there. DC always seemed second rate to me back then. It doesn't impact my buying habits anymore. Image, DC, Marvel, Dark Horse, IDW, Archaia, First Second. It's all depends on the work.

Same here. My parents bought me comics from a nearby convenience store, I'd read a collection of old Kirby/Lee Fantastic Four stories at my local library, and my uncle had a sh##-ton of Conan comics he let me read, but the X-Men cartoon got me into buying regularly. So I came in Marvel-only at first (as a kid Superman and Batman, who I'd known mostly through '60s era TV reruns, seemed lame). Now it's all about who's writing a character and to a lesser extent the artist and characters themselves.

[Goggindowner]

Same here. My parents bought me comics from a nearby convenience store, I'd read a collection of old Kirby/Lee Fantastic Four stories at my local library, and my uncle had a sh##-ton of Conan comics he let me read, but the X-Men cartoon got me into buying regularly. So I came in Marvel-only at first (as a kid Superman and Batman, who I'd known mostly through '60s era TV reruns, seemed lame). Now it's all about who's writing a character and to a lesser extent the artist and characters themselves.

Yeah, there was a gas station that was close to the house my dad would always stop at, and they seemed to always keep the latest issue of Wolverine in stock. Then a shop opened up in town, and even though it didn't last that long, it managed to get me into buying more and more stuff. X-Men, Maverick, Wolverine, those were the first comics that I bought regularly. Then it grew out to Avengers, Iron Man, Captain Marvel.

Part of me misses those days, being a fresh, unjaded comic book reader.

[Michael P]

Wow, someone actually bought Maverick's series?

[Goggindowner]

Wow, someone actually bought Maverick's series?

Well, in my defense, I was only 11......

[Selena Musić]

For many fans, comics and its stories are some kind of escape from reality. I think more and more kids, teenagers, adults...etc who lead a peaceful and calm life (for example they are shy) are in need of action.