A Brave New World or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Deal with the Fandom Bomb.
Since establishing myself on this wonderful site, I've heard so much upheaval and complaints over the New 52. One day, while stopping by to pick up the first stack of issue #2s I noticed one of the two owner had fashioned a halloween-like gravestone. Grainy and age-weathered it looked, with these solemn words chiseled into its surface; R.I.P DC COMICS 1934-2011. Really? I noted his disapproval upon me picking up the new 52, but he was polite. Even so, I left the store with my head spinning. DC comics decides to relaunch their timeline, create a new playground of imagination and bring new exciting concepts into our (I'll say it) somewhat drab and predictable comic-world, and their long time fans disown them?
Hear me out, I am NOT a big fan of every 52 title, Its beyond me how racist drivel like Firestorm or lackluster offerings like The Flash or Deathstroke got green-lighted, but I DO like many of the new titles, and have always been a fan of DC's characters, just not always their story execution. Also, keep in mind my friends, Comic books are a living, constantly-changing, ever-exciting form of story telling, and there is something there for everybody! More to the point, I'm not supposed to like every single piece of the new universe, there are different dishes for every taste, including mine.
I'm both frustrated and angered that just because DC decides to do something somewhat drastic (beats closing the company down doesn't it?) like resetting their universe and recreating many of their beloved franchises from the ground up with a new more modern approach in mind, they are considered sell-outs and failures.
Do you know how much hate and fanboy-squeals of agony I've bee subjected to over the fact that superman and batman are now wearing honest to goodness armor? Do you know the frothing pot of discontent poured across the internet over Superman no longer being married to Lois (a relationship that did very little for either character)? Of course you know, your a comic book reader, and if there is one group of individuals who will simply not be pleased with any adjustments, adaptions, or re-imagining of their beloved fandom, its comic book readers. I'm not saying you personally bashed DC or are doing so right now, but I tell you honestly, we comic book fans are a fickle bunch; and the new 52 was not greeted with optimism or excitement as much as it was with cold blooded reservation, or white hot antagonism.
What kind of a fandom are we? The industry heads decide to change with the times, realize that they need to reach out to a new generation of readers or be forgotten by the ever-more-jaded 30 to 40 year old who are barely keeping the industry alive now, and what do we spend our time and money on? Paper-mache gravestones marking the passing of a company that in reality is vibrant and working harder than many comic book companies to change the status quo.
Moreover, their efforts seem to have worked! Fans young and old have returned to comic book stores, Teenagers and children, even gray-haired men who've long since forgone the comic industry return to see what the hubbub is about, all under one comic book roof? These are things I've given up on seeing in my home town, let alone most of the united states (if sales are anything to go by) and it makes me cautiously optimistic that maybe comics aren't dead, that perhaps we are on the brink of a brave new world.
This brings me back to my comic book shop, where two or three weeks ago I saw a man going in with his girlfriend, and a older man coming in with his son. The young couple looked like pioneers in a strange new land, and the older man looked a little apprehensive, as if there were going to be unpleasant consequences to him bringing his young son into the strange curiosity shop. That proprietor was talking with some particularly cynical comic fans about timeline atrocities in X-men First Class and barely even looked up when these people walked into his store, and when they asked for help he turned to them with the air of a man speaking to second class citizens, it was if he felt they didn't "belong" there; you know, in a comic book store.
The young couple were looking for batman comics, "the new ones" and the older man was wondering if the "young Superman" comic was there. The conceited smirk I saw pass over the proprietor's face as his suspicions that these new comers were not "true' comic book fans were confirmed, truly disappointed me. Furthermore, he began to ask them if they were looking for the old superboy comics, or the video game comics for batman; honestly the newcomers didn't have a clue, this caused the proprietor to wave them off to the "new comics" table, maybe what they wanted was there.
The proprietor returned to his friends and continued his discussion about how disgusting the newest X-man movie was, and the customers began to look almost embarrassed to be there. I stepped up an asked the group if they were talking about the "new 52, where everybody is young again and the stories are starting over?" this was exactly what they were looking for, and luckily, most of the reprints for the #1s they were looking for was on the shelf.
They all left happy, hopefully new readers who may swell the ranks of the comic-reading public, but the disgust and distaste they were treated with by a self-proclaimed hardcore comic book reader put me off my lunch. Is this our fandom? A squabbling, jaded, group of overgrown teenagers acting like a major hobby is our personal little whipping boy? I've seen Star Wars fans of all ages, whole families enchanted by Harry Potter, mothers and daughters addicted to Twilight, and tons of random Doctor Who fans, but a group of comic book fans who were united in their interest and eager to bring new people into their fold? Hardly never, and certainly not at the venue we are all known to frequent...The Comic Book Store.
We need talent in this industry that will help grow, change, and shake up the established status quo, I want to thrill at a mainstream comic book, and many of the new 52 teams are making that dream a reality now, today. In response, more and more members of the "mainstream" audience have expressed interest in this new world, in reuniting with their roots if you will, are they being welcomed with open arms? Is the comic industry growing in a healthy manner? Is there any way we can help it?
I purpose we stop treating change as a bad thing. Accept comic book movies and television as means of bringing in fellow readers into our fandom rather than things to pick at or dismiss, but more than anything, before all else, we as a group need to let go of our apathy. This is what is truly choking the industry, turning off potential fans of the work, as well as keeping comic books a "back store hobby" rather than a truly accepted all american tradition.There is no reason we as a group can not take a stand, agree to disagree (on comic companies, characters, relaunches), and just give the new comics and fans a chance.
Last week I brought home several more of the #2s and received a unexpected request from my visiting mother, she asked if I had any of the new batgirl comics. I was surprised as I didn't even know she had an interest in my comic book heroes, and gave her the first two issues which she read in a matter of minutes. When she was done she looked up, smiled, and asked "These are really good! When does she get the black costume with the red hair?" I laughed and quickly produced the batwoman comics, explaining that these were the ones she was looking for.
The new DC continuity is a brave new world full of possibilities I don't think we've had in a long time; for old fans of superhero material to reconnect with characters they read as children, for younger readers to see that comics aren't just for geeks, heck you can read em on your Iphone now, and for fans of other comics to see what DC is all about.
This is a tremendous opportunity to grow as a fandom and a industry, and all I hear are naysayers. Are we too jaded to succeed as a concentrated group of fans? Good god I hope not, we built this city on hope and friendship, the lifeblood of comics, let's do our best to keep it that way, and not squander any chance we have for redemption.
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