Day: April 21, 2010

And I don’t want it to take over the other thread:

Yes. A “Young Justice” animated series has been announced. I look forward to watching it.

Discuss.

PAD

What I found most buoying at C2E2 was the number of young fans in attendance. Babies in strollers, sure, but there were also quite a few youngsters who were genuine comic book enthusiasts. At a time when young readers seem in short supply–when kids wear Spider-Man shoes and shirts and backpacks but would never come near the comic book–that was great to see. And the fan enthusiasm overall was high. I didn’t see as many people as I would have liked to, but it was a first-time convention, and not every city is capable of turning a first-time convention into a death trap that gets shut down by the fire marshal (New York is Number One!)

But I admit I find stark contrast between what I see in person and then what I read on the Internet. Panels that are well-attended and enthusiastically received in person are then dissed and dismissed by people who weren’t even there. Perhaps you get out of something what you put into it. To attend a convention requires time and effort, and you wear a badge with your name on it, and you’re spending money on it. So basically you’re invested in it, and you go into it looking to have a good time and thus seek out positives. By contrast on the Internet little time and no effort is involved, you’re cloaked in anonymity and it’s pretty much free of charge. With nothing invested, the default reaction is negativity.

And I just find myself wondering how many of those same young fans, so enthused in person, discover comic boards and think they’re going to encounter like-minded enthusiasts and instead find themselves sucked into a morass of negativity. How many of them have the joy and interest in comics sucked right out of them?

Indeed, it often seems that there are people who are not fans of books, but instead are fans of hating the books. What floats their boat isn’t anticipation of upcoming stories, but hating the upcoming stories. Hate fans dissing stories before they read them and slamming others who dare to have differing opinions.

Am I saying that such negativity is crippling the next generation of readers? No. Am I saying older fans need to muzzle themselves? No.

But I’m saying that when I was a young fan I existed in a bubble, judging stories on how they made me feel when I was reading them and oblivious of other fan opinions beyond what I read in the letters pages. In my ignorance, my enthusiasm for comics was blissful. And undiminished by adult negativity.

There’s something to be said for that.

PAD