Overheard a kid at the comic shop call my favorite run 'old people stuff'

I was grabbing the new issue of Nightwing at my local shop in Austin when this teenager pointed at the classic X-Men display and said that to his friend. It made me think about how we talk about different eras. Do you ever worry about sounding like a gatekeeper when you recommend older comics?

3 comments

3 Comments

finley77725d ago

That exact thing happened to me last month at BookPeople. The real gatekeeping is when people act like NEW readers can't handle older art or slower pacing. Do you think the problem is more about how we PRESENT the classics versus the material itself?

finley_flores2815d ago

Honestly, I used to be the guy saying "they just don't make them like that anymore." Then I watched my niece bounce hard off a classic because her teacher made it sound like homework. The next week, I just told her it was a weird, messy story about a guy who lies all the time. She ate it up. It's all in the pitch. Calling something "important" is a sure way to kill interest.

troy_ross24d ago

My buddy got called a dinosaur for recommending Miller's Daredevil, but the kid came back next week asking where to start.