So last night Terra and I went over to the comic shop to play Galaxy Truckers with a few friends of ours. To my surprise I found myself NOT playing as it was a four player game, and somehow I ended up as rule boy, or bank boy, or piece boy, depending on what the players needed at the time. This quickly got old and I decided I wanted to buy myself a nice comic trade, and read. After a moments consideration on what comic I wanted to buy I decided to go with a nice Batman comic.
Quick Back Story: When I was a kid I was very much a fan of comics, and I had several large collections. Most were of the Spider Man variety, but there were others including X-Men, Superman, etc. When we moved from Texas to NC my box of comics mysteriously didn’t make it onto the truck, and for some strange reason I didn’t pick comics back up till I moved out to WA.
Part of the reason I didn’t pick up comics for so long was the longer I didn’t read comics the harder it got to know where to pick the story back up. Keep in mind most of the comics I was familiar with were over 15-20 years ago. The story has come a long way since then.
When I moved to WA I met Gabi who owned and operated Olympic Cards and Comics. She was one of the main reasons I picked comics back up. When she heard why I had not picked up comics in so long she started to make a few suggestions, and before I knew it I was driving home with a stack of trade comics ready to get back into the stories.
And Now Back To Our Main Story: As I said I decided to pick up Batman, so I sauntered across the store and found Gabi.
Gabi: Whats Up?
Me: Whats a good Batman Trade to start with if I want to get back into reading that story?
Gabi: (after a few brief moments of staring at her giant wall of trades) This one.
Me: Ill take it.
So far Gabi has not steered me wrong when selecting a trade. After making my selection I proudly walked back to the table my friends were gaming at and sat down to read my new possession. Suddenly I hear from across the table in a not so pleasant tone
Corinne: What is that your reading?
Me: Batman
Corinne: Your dead to me.
Me: Why?
Corinne: Because you cant read both DC and Marvel its wrong, its bad, its not right.
Me: Why?
Corinne: Because you have to pick a side.
Authors Note: I should mention that Corinne was just kidding overall, but she is a HUGE X-Men nut, so I imagine there was a small amount of truth to what she was saying.
So my question is to all the geek nerds and dorks out there…Is there a line, and must sides be chosen? If so what side have you chosen, and why?
So would she have been happy if you had then disavowed all Marvel and sided with DC? Or was the only “right” answer in her mind for you to stick with only Marvel?
I’m not a comic nerd, but I enjoy stories–movies and TV shows based on comics–from both sides (though I have made jokes about Ryan Reynolds being a traitor/playing both sides). I would think that a real comics nerd would know both. The guys on Big Bang Theory like both DC and Marvel. So I think you should be fine.
I read comics that I like. The publisher’s imprint literally means nothing whatsoever to me.