Hello my fellow fans of the illustrated magazine and graphic novel.
Although my identity is fairly new to this illustrious site, I have been more of a Watcher than a participator for as long as I can remember. The up-to-the-minute articles, the light hearted humor of the strong fan community, and the content of this site has served many hours of entertainment and news worthy articles that have made me a fan and a follower for years.
I would read through the articles with eagerness (skipping over anything I felt to spoilerific to the topic at hand), participate in the polls that I felt relevant (and glad to see that those have slowed down), and laughed out loud, more often than not, to the jabbering back and forth within the community.
However, especially with the release of The Avengers, there is a certain tug at my heart over the "WAR" between who will reign supreme at the box office. The banter can be funny at times, but there are those of us that seem to take this "competition" to heart. As I read the jabs of The Avengers over taking The Dark Knight, or how Nolan will reign supreme in the end, or even how WB can do nothing to stop the mouse train from running it’s course, I keep coming back to one question: Why does it matter???
As I exited the theater after being blown away by The Avengers for the first time, I found myself walking behind two elderly men and an elderly woman slowing making their way to the exit ahead of me. One of the men with his cane was rocking a Captain America T-shirt while the lady on his arm was wearing her Red, White, and Blue Flag Leather Jacket. As I was passing by, I saw him turn to his friends, and with a smile on his face say the following: “Well, it took them 60 years, but they finally got it right!” – Jesus Wept! As I come back to this site, that phrase holds more meaning me to me the more I spend time thinking about it.
Aside from a few gems, super hero movies in general, even well into the 90’s, did not give us reason to be proud. The technology did not exist and the audience would not support it. How we longed for more in between the years of Superman, Tim Burton's Batman, Conan, and a few others. But, as some stood on their own here and there, they just couldn't get it right.
But, the past 13 years, we have seen Spider-man, Iron Man, Batman, Green Lantern, Superman, Thor, X-men, Wolverine, Fantastic Four, and many, many more comic book heroes come to life on the big screen in a way we thought for so long would be impossible “to do right”. We are still riding high on the coattails of The Watchmen, 300, Sin City, and V for Vendetta, with so many more on the way. Have all of them been great movies? Of course not (Jonah Hex and Priest come to mind)! But the success of these movies has given us adults an opportunity to allow us to wear a spider-man shirt in public and have it be “cool” again. We can talk to our co-workers about The Hulk without having to wince of the outcome. People know who Silver Surfer is and can relate to Dr. Octopus as a villain. The comic book stores are picking up in business and reaching out to an even broader audience more now than ever before. And, what may be the top of the hill, these are movies we can take our ladies too. Oh how sweet it is!
We, as a fan of the medium, should be basking in the glory and success that these movies have brought onto our community as it means so much more than dollar bills. We should remain united and demand from our studios the product to be akin to the likes of The Dark Knight, The Avengers, and The Watchmen. I think Joss Whedon said it best when asked about the success of The Avengers compared to what is to be the success of The Dark Knight Returns:
"Let's look at the bigger picture: Our successes are a boon to each other. We're in the business of proving that superhero movies aren't just eye-candy. People seem intent on setting us against each other, and though I'm proud to be Woody Strode to [Christopher] Nolan's Kirk Douglas, I think they're missing the point. Whatever 'TDKR' does on its first weekend, the only stat that matters to me is the ticket I'm definitely buying."
True words for True Believers. And let’s be honest, our collections don’t solely belong to Marvel, or are exclusive to DC, or only contain Vertigo comics. In most collections, they are not built exclusively around a single artist or purchased only for a sole writer. If you are a fan, you have a variety of books, with your favorite characters from different publishers, artists, and writers in your boxes. Why? Because we love the medium as a whole. Some books we love, some stories we hate, but either way we can’t get enough. Why should we treat our movies any differently?
As the bar has been raised from Superman, to Batman, to Spiderman, to Iron Man and now The Avengers, in the end, it is the fans that are the winners. I don't know about you, but I can't wait to see what's next!
I will anxiously await your banter below!
Thanks for taking the time to read my opinion.