It might be hard to admit but there was a time you were, well...
A Noob.
Its a modern term but appropriate.
Comics and their characters have been a passion for millions but all of us at one point had to discover them for ourselves. Unless you had a sibling who had all of the comics in the house already, chances are you had to find out about comics yourself. Its not something that parents (except modern ones I suppose) would actively promote for their kids to read.
Chances are if you are over 30 it might have started like the picture of this kid above^.
The color, the print, the dynamic art was all meant for you to stop, look over the cover in awe and tear into the thing with eyes and mouth wide. You pick up the next issue and its even better. Then you notice the comic is surrounded by others with even weirder and different storylines. This isn't Dr. Seuss or the moral story picture books your mom gives you to read, this is exciting! The heroes are always there in time, the villains get more and more diabolical with each issue and every new character you find out about is more interesting than the last! As time goes on the awe effect wears off, but you have gotten something even more from these stories. These characters you follow; they develop, they have problems, they will struggle, and at times to our complete disbelief- they fail. You might not have your blood pumping like when you were younger but this world, this whole mythology that continues to build and build and you progressively understand more and more becomes a passion. One that lasts longer than your folks had hoped for. Then you see more and more of the real world in these characters' situations and as you become an adult you recognize that you see a bit of yourself in their problems.
Or maybe it started out like the picture at the top, especially if you were (like me) a product of the 90's and the Golden Age of Comic Book TV.
Spider-Man X-Men Batman Superman Justice League. Every Saturday morning like clockwork.
I didn't matter if you didn't understand the plot or dialogue in full, but you were getting older and wising up (You start to see that Power Rangers was the same thing in EVERY episode) and the action and characters in these shows were living breathing things that played out their stories and developed over time. These series gave us our first glimpse at famous storylines for each series like the Symbiote Saga, and Dark Pheonix. Even if we had seen a rerun episode a dozen times we would take that over whatever crap Nickelodeon was pandering.
TV series for Major heroes continued into the 2000's but these new incarnations (Batman Beyond, Justice League Unlimited, Teent Titans) were just...
It didn't feel like those older shows.
So we searched for the source material in our time and by way of graphic novels and collected works we came to appreciate our childhood heroes and their universes even more.
And we might not like it because it’s not accurate to the source and (average fan boy grumbling) but this
is where people are going to start getting into comics and while many of us diehard fans resent that fact, it is only us who can benefit.
We are in the middle of a Golden Age of CBM and the fan base is growing exponentially because of it.
Casual fans will see every movie and get most of what it’s trying to do, but us fans who come from those first 2 generations will be able to appreciate it most.
The world wants to bring every two-bit hero to the big screen, which is what we wanted all along (be honest with yourself).
Compromise is inevitable, but these CBMs are causing people to go out to wherever comics are still sold and check em out. DC/Marvel have the most to gain, but as Kick-Ass and Hellboy have shown, 3rd party series will benefit too.
Those kids who obsess over every minute of those movies will find out about the source material and devour it like nothing else, even more so than what we of the 2nd generation did.
I (and many I know) didn't get into actual comics until later in life. I mostly read the classic storylines by getting the graphic novels from the library. If I found out about a big one they didn't have, I found and bought it.
So if you are a CBM movie fan who is just getting into this crazy mad universe of ours and tearing through the gloried classics (Dark Knight Returns)of actual comics or are the most a-typical comic book shop frequenter who knew about it "Before Joss Whedon butchered it" we all need to recognize our passion and support each other.
"NERD" might be the highly acceptable trend right now, but in the future it might wane and we might be shelved with obscurity (again).
Even if the movies and shows stop getting made, we have the original thing that will ALWAYS be there. In time all true fans will return to that which made everything else possible.
So you 'Lifers' and 'Power Users' here on ComicBookMovie.com need to respect those who are immersing themselves in our collective passion and
DONT BE DISCOURAGING.
YOU
YOU at one time were right where that 'noob' is; you didn't know everything about everything comics.
So let them explore and experience and learn like we did and continue to do.
WE as a community have never been larger or more informed. But despite everything we think we know:
WE are still that wide eyed kid at heart who is picking up a new thing for the first time.
So now I ask you
YES. YOU.
I want to see where all of us started. Be honest!
What was the character/show/story that made you realize
YOU LOVE THESE THINGS AND ALWAYS WILL.
Comment Below!
Thanks for doing so and making it to the end of this editorial!
(I know my articles tend to be wordy... I will work on that)