Other Corners of Spider-Fandom

[Mister Mets]

One weird thing in comics right now is how niche-ified and splintered things have become, so there's stuff that millions of people might be exposed to that regular comics fans aren't aware of.

For example, this video summary of fight scenes in Dead Language has 2.3 million views.



The account itself has 75,000 subscribers, so this seems to be a video that's atypically popular.

But this had odd implications. This could be how kids could be introduced to the Spider-Man comics.

I'm a teacher, and I remember hearing students talking about how Mary Jane died in Spider-Man: Reign. An illegally downloaded comic discussed in some corner of the internet can easily reach more people than a standard issue of Amazing Spider-Man.

Have you guys come across any examples like this? What do you think of it? What are the implications for Marvel/ fandom?

[IamnotJudasTraveller]

Have you guys come across any examples like this?

Yeah, in real life. A friend of mine, who I hadn't touched base with in a while, began talking about usual Youtube "feats" channels since the MCU was still more of a powerhouse than right now. Characters he was very unfamiliar with, like Black Bolt, interested him, because of how powerful they seemed to be.

What do you think of it? What are the implications for Marvel/ fandom?

Unfortunately, the implications seem very minor. Naturally, this is anecdotal, but as far as my experience goes, people consume it the same way they like trivia compilations or reading Guiness books. These are videos detailing absurd feats of strength and whatnot, or very uncommon happenings (I think I recall videos about "Assassin Spider-Man", from a What If based on his stint on Russia, also doing very well), but it seems like people like it more for the novelty of it ("did you know Spider-Man once beat Iron Man without wearing any armor of his own, then literally GUTTED the Kingpin? I mean, literally killed the guy dead! What the hell!", and, I think that the more they're exposed to how many What-Ifs there are, the novelty dillutes further and further, which I guess the relative obscurity of characters like Black Bolt help with.

But for this friend of mine proper I mentioned, none of these really made him go "wow, I should read some comics!" or what have you. The lore and continuity seems too dense and the reading orders too labyrinthean. Not to try to bloat the value of my experience, as I once again will remark it IS anecdotal, but it does seem like it's basically a gauge for how much curiosity people have in a subject more than anything. Million views are nothing to sneeze at, and there probably might be a way to properly exploit things that manage to catch so much attention such as this. But in an industry that seems overly comfortable redoing '90s excesses like gimmick covers, mandatory yearly crossovers, and not changing much about how to even get these comics to people, it very unfortunately seems like we won't see that happen anytime soon.

(Plus, provided such attention IS fleeting as posited, maybe it could be a blessing in disguise, lest viral videos dictate whatever things happen in comics - and given how fast they come and go...)

[Sr. Bungle]

I think there's some untapped potential for Marvel and DC in YouTube and social media. I'm sure better minds than mine could come up with something. The industry really needs some fresh ideas for promotion right now.

[Huntsman Spider]

I think there's some untapped potential for Marvel and DC in YouTube and social media. I'm sure better minds than mine could come up with something. The industry really needs some fresh ideas for promotion right now.

Indeed, though I would also caution that if they're going to get more seriously involved with promoting themselves through YouTube and other social media platforms, they should be very circumspect in dealing with the more virulent elements there that use those platforms to advocate for some frankly rather vile ideological notions. The last thing either of the Big Two need when they're already steadily losing (or at least not gaining) readers is to be caught next to or seemingly aligning with the kind of people who profit (or grift) by spreading hateful ideas.

[Lairston]

That is nice quality video summary.

And I have to say that the CA vs Spider-man scene was clever using Spider-man's sticky fingers to get Cap's shield to smash it into him.

[Garlador]

FAR more people - particularly younger generations - watch YouTube and Streamers than would ever pick up a monthly floppy.

Honestly, I think that’s just how media is consumed these days. And that’s fine. More people are exposed to Spider-Man via cartoons, toys, games, movies, and YouTube videos than comic books, and they’re just as valid as part of the fandom as anyone else that read every issue.

I think it’ll only continue down that path. And it’s not inherently a bad thing.

[Spider-Chan]

I made a series of poorly photoshopped images that showed that Anya and Mayday as couple, as a joke/wish fulfillment.

I've seen the occasional tiktok saying they're indeed a canon couple and using the poorly photoshoped images I made as "evidence".

I mean, if it eventually leads to them become a thing, I'm not complaining

[Rift]

I made a series of poorly photoshopped images that showed that Anya and Mayday as couple, as a joke/wish fulfillment.

I've seen the occasional tiktok saying they're indeed a canon couple and using the poorly photoshoped images I made as "evidence".

I mean, if it eventually leads to them become a thing, I'm not complaining

I misread this as Anya and Aunt May. I wonder if people would fall for THAT?

[Crazyspideyfan]

Many people only know of comics from YouTube shorts and TikTok’s that they see, I saw someone saying Peter and Black Cat’s relationship was problematic, which had me confused because they were both well into their adult lives when they met, so then I saw someone in the replies realize it was because they saw a youtube short with millions of views that covered them meeting in the Ultimate universe, the video never clarifies it is not set in main continuity. Basically there’s a whole lot of very short 1 minute videos with no context to the story out there for entertainment, and many are being introduced to the comics this way and sometimes taking the clips at face value.

[Mister Mets]

FAR more people - particularly younger generations - watch YouTube and Streamers than would ever pick up a monthly floppy.

Honestly, I think that’s just how media is consumed these days. And that’s fine. More people are exposed to Spider-Man via cartoons, toys, games, movies, and YouTube videos than comic books, and they’re just as valid as part of the fandom as anyone else that read every issue.

I think it’ll only continue down that path. And it’s not inherently a bad thing.

There will always be some commentaries that reach a larger audience than the thing they reference. More people may read a review of a Broadway play than will ever see it.

I agree it's not inherently bad, but it is worth considering as fans that some people will have a different understanding. And this has implications.

[Mister Mets]

I made a series of poorly photoshopped images that showed that Anya and Mayday as couple, as a joke/wish fulfillment.

I've seen the occasional tiktok saying they're indeed a canon couple and using the poorly photoshoped images I made as "evidence".

I mean, if it eventually leads to them become a thing, I'm not complaining

Er, how old are they?

Anya has to be at least a dozen years older than Mayday, and I'm unaware of Mayday ever being depicted as an adult.

[Spider-Chan]

Er, how old are they?

Anya has to be at least a dozen years older than Mayday, and I'm unaware of Mayday ever being depicted as an adult.

They're about the same age?

In Web Warriors they're both explicitly in high scool. Anya is currently a college freshman, and the last story of Spider-Verse Unlimited has Benjy being slighty older than his last appeareances in WW, so while it seems that she's still in hs, pressumably she's a senior at this point.

[Mister Mets]

They're about the same age?

In Web Warriors they're both explicitly in high scool. Anya is currently a college freshman, and the last story of Spider-Verse Unlimited has Benjy being slighty older than his last appeareances in WW, so while it seems that she's still in hs, pressumably she's a senior at this point.

So this is time travel/ going from one dimension to another and not an Alt U thing with the MC2 version of Anya hooking up with Spider-Man's daughter from her world?

[Spider-Chan]

So this is time travel/ going from one dimension to another and not an Alt U thing with the MC2 version of Anya hooking up with Spider-Man's daughter from her world?

Yeah, I'm talking 616 Anya and 982 Mayday.