Unpopular opinion: the best comic book fans are the ones who can admit when a run went bad

I was at a con in Portland last Saturday and overheard this guy in a 90s X-Men shirt telling his friend that Grant Morrison's New X-Men lost him after the first 12 issues, and it hit me that being a real fan means calling out the bad stuff too, not just hyping the classics, has anyone else noticed how rare that honesty is at shows?

3 comments

3 Comments

nancycooper19d ago

Yeah that Portland con moment you described really got me thinking. I remember at the last con I went to, I was talking to this guy about the Bendis Avengers run and I straight up told him how the pacing got really weird around the time jump stuff. He looked relieved and said he felt the same way but never said it out loud before. It was like a weight lifted, you know? We ended up trading recommendations for runs that actually stuck the landing instead of just pretending everything was perfect. That honesty opens up way better conversations than just nodding along to protect your collection's honor.

the_tessa19d agoMost Upvoted

Honesty definitely opens the door to better recommendations. Just being upfront about a run losing its way led to me finding some hidden gems I never would have tried otherwise.

drew_reed6219d ago

Portland con brings back memories. I stood next to a guy at a signing who swore by the whole Onslaught saga, and I just nodded. There's a big difference between liking something and admitting it wasn't good. If you can't say "that run lost me after issue 12," then you're just a hype man, not a fan. Honesty at shows is rare because people feel like they gotta defend their whole collection.