Being a reader & enjoyer of comics I feel there is 3 questions one is bound to be asked when interacting with those who don't read comics in a social situation:
- What's your favorite comic book?
- Who is your favorite super hero?
- Marvel or DC?
These seem like great conversation starters & I don't mind this questions. At least they are about comic the books themselves. I have been in way to many conversation where when I bring up or someone mentions I read comic books, people want to talk about comic book movies. I get why. They might not read comics but they might of gone & seen the latest movies based off one. BUT if you tell me you like sports, I'm not going ask you about the latest video game based off that sport. Related: Yes. What you said: No.
Getting back to the topic at hand: the 3 questions. Given that comics are more in the spotlight due to the big budget blockbusters (there are like 3, 4 coming out this summer) & people just grow up around them. In this day & age it's hard to not have some basic knowledge on the topic. A few years back the "Marvel or DC" question wouldn't be an as asked a question. For some people all characters came from the same place/company. At least most people now know the reason why Batman doesn't normally team up with Spider-Man.
What are my answers for these questions? I don't have easy answers or answers at all. One would think that after reading comics for 20 plus years I have nicely prepared answers for these things. Growing up I didn't exactly make it well know that I read comics & really it wasn't that big of a deal since most kids did that for some period of time. All my "not having a lot of friends" as a kid tended to keep conversation like this at a minimum. These 3 questions started to pop up more as a entered high school & beyond! This is partly due to the fact that I got way more into comic during that period & I started to attend more & more parties (why? I because I was invited to such things). Given that I had spent years not thinking hard about such things when confronted by these questions it's hard to choose.
I've responded to the "favorite super hero" question with saying it's like choosing your favorite kid. This gets some laughs & the conversation moves on. I don't have that one true hero (my OTH if you will) that I like. I have many heroes that I like for various reasons. I could easily say some well known hero but then that runs the risk your talking to a person who really that character & you end up showing you don't know about then (this can also happens with the person who really likes the character). I feel that choosing 1 character is very limiting. The world of comics so wide & vast, why choose just 1 person? BUT then that sounds (even to me) like I'm trying to avoid the question which I guess I am. I do have more firm answers for sub-genres of this question: Favorite Avenger? Demolition Man. Favorite super hero team? TIE: JSA & Great Lakes Avengers. Also, I have a tie for my favorite super villain? Doctor Doom & Kang the Conqueror. Yes, I have no idea who my favorite hero is but I know which villains I like. Take that how you will.
The "favorite comic book" question I dread more then other questions. This can lead to rambling answers that the person isn't interested in listening to. I have felt like this in a number of conversations (Shut up, Brian. They don't care anymore. Just stop talking. They are only continue to listen out of politeness. If you stop talking they can go talk to someone more interesting). A lot of the comics I truly enjoy I either find hard to put into words why I like it or I feel like it would take to long to explain what it is. A related question is "what are you reading now?" If I say I'm enjoying the comic Superior Foes of Spider-Man (which I totally am & you should totally pick it up) I feel like to properly explain it I have to also explain the book/events of Superior Spider-Man which I only vaguely know about. After explaining it, I then have to say "well... none of those things really matter for this book." Then why did I just spend the last 5 minutes explaining it to them? context.
Many of these question I feel don't work without context & I think a number of people don't really want to listen to me poorly explain the full context. This is partly because comic book are confusing in general. When you bring together alternate pasts, futures & timelines. Add in multiple books written by multiple people over the period of decades. What is in & not in continuity: it can all be confusing by even people in the know. Even if I mentions words they might recognize: Superman, Batman, Justice League, Avengers, X-Men, etc. What is happening now in the comics might be hard to explain to someone who isn't in the know. Gaining more knowledge might just confuse them more.
The great debate question up there with Kirk or Picard? Who is your favorite Doctor? Which house are you from? Pirate vs Ninjas? Jacob or Edward? is Marvel or DC? I've been known to answer this with another question "which era/time period?" I feel that both companies are good but some times in their histories one is better then the other. I have an answer for my favorite time period in comics but that's a topic for a whole other post.
Another question: In a fight between HERO A & HERO B who would win? The answer is always: The Fans. Depends on who is relating the fight there will always be a bias to one hero over the other. There will never be a "fair fight". Also if you start putting limits on the heroes (Superman can't use any of these powers in the fight, what Batman can & can not pull out of his belt, etc.) then the fight won't work since you'll spend more time debating what you can bring into the fight then the fight it's self. That's sort of the point I think: not really the answer but the debate. You can play the fights a dozen times & come out a different answer of who won each time.
I think I've rambling on long enough. So until next time (maybe the next part of my Age of Ultron review?): Stay Jazzy Everybody!
- Brian
