Love Superheroes. Never Read Comic Books.

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Since 2002, I been into Superheroes. It started with Spider-man when I saw reruns of the 90s animated series and the first movie and throughout the years it evolved. But at one point in my life I relised unlike other superhero lovers I've never had a comic book collection. Granted I've read and got few spider-man, x-men etc and even some graphic novels like Batman Under the Red Hood, Watchmen and Kick Ass but I've never really had any popular storyline from comic books like The Night Gwen Stacy Died or Secret Wars. I mostly get my info from animated cartoons and movies both theatrical and stv. I'm wondering if I should be considered a superhero fan since I don't actually read the source of their existence, the comics. I've never read any of the Captain America books but I do like the character despite not knowing much about him and I've seen him in one or two comic books and I get most of my info from the net and I've seen him in cartoons like the Spider-man cartoon from the 90s where he was the leader of these lesser known superheroes and was trapped in a vortex with the Red Skull for many years instead of getting frozen. I can't even remember how I knew Cap was frozen because I've never read the comic books but I've seen it in other incarnations like the Ultimate Avengers movie, The Avengers Earth's Mightiest Heroes cartoon and the X-Men Evolution cartoon where he was frozen on purpose because he was dying. Despite many of the things I've just said I'm really hyped about the movie coming out in July.

Is anyone else a superhero fan but not an occassional comic book reader like me?

I think if you like superheroes than you are a superhero fan. I am a huge comic fan and I think it sometimes makes the movies a bit more fun because of the cameos or the things that are in for the comic fans. Although I have disliked some superhero movies because they are so far off the comic books.
I say enjoy superheroes and enjoy the Captain America movie because it looks awesome.

I’m still very much interested in superheroes, but I’ve gradually stopped reading comics over the years, for numerous reasons. I don’t have the time or patience to sift through everything that’s out there to find what’s good, as I find the writing to be utterly miserable most of the time. I despise the contemporary trend for what they call “decompression” which makes it so that every 20-page comic only has about four pages of story. I easily grow tired of strict continuity rules which make it so that nothing can ever change (if a major character dies, you can expect a ridiculous and convoluted explanation for his return four issues later). I’m sick of multi-issue storylines that require me to buy six issues over six months as opposed to self-contained single issues. And I can’t be bothered to keep track of decades of backstory just to understand what’s going on in issue #427. Aside from trying to separate the good from the bad, superhero movies don’t have any of these problems. And hardcore comic fans will never admit this, but some superhero movies are simply better than the comics. Both of the Iron Man films are better than anything that’s ever been done in the Iron Man comics, for instance. On the rare occasion that I read any comics anymore, it’s only collected graphic novels with self-contained stories.

I basically got tired of massive Crossover stories between multiple series. I was a fan of the Hulk and whenever Peter David had a good writing streak or character development a big crossover story would s**t all over it.

As a kid, I read superhero comics pretty frequently and watched the cartoons as well (my favorite was the first X-Men cartoon...I still like it even now and have the entire series on dvd).

As an adult, I'm much like Jory. I buy the occasional graphic novel, but I feel like I've outgrown most superhero stories. Don't get me wrong...there's SOME stories I enjoy, but many more that just bore and/or confuse me.

However, I love live-action superhero movies. I even like ones, such as Daredevil, that most people hate. I saw the Thor and Green Lantern movies their second day in release, even though I've read very few of either characters' comics. I'm stoked for the Captain America movie and am especially glad that most of the movie will take place during World War II.

As much as I like superhero comics I now am more of a fan of the independent comics. Creator owned books that tackle more than superheroes. My favorite right now is a book called Chew. I think the great things about comics is they can cover all genres but I still really enjoy my superhero books.

I was a big Marvel reader back when I was a kid, but I gradually fell away. Today, my wife, who loves superheroes but was never previously a big superhero fan, has gotten me interested again. I've discovered that my knowledge is not so rusty, so that I can guide her through the Marvel characters. Only problem is, she tends to gravitate more toward DC, which I've never been a big follower of.

-Bill, otherwise known as Kraichgauer

No worries, Bill - looks like DC plans on rebooting their entire universe starting in September. No legacy heroes, no seventy years of continuity, no Final Identity Crisis On Infinite Crossover Titles - they're planning on scrapping the whole thing and starting over. As I understand it so far, Superman will have been the first super, starting his career about five years before the reboot opens, and the others will be just starting out.

I really hope it works, because I am grown weary of endless attempts to reboot their world piecemeal with "crises" that don't take. The beauty of this, though, is that if it doesn't work out, they can always blame the whole mess on Amalgam or Mr. Mxyztplk or somebody, and put the original clusterfrak right back where it was...

I can't get excited about the upcoming DC reboot, because the whole thing is just going to become f***ed again within six months anyway.

I think the DC reboot is a good thing. This is the first time there has been a company wide commitment to it. It is still somewhat of a soft reboot as some things will carry over. In the past when there was "reboots" it was never fully enacted. There was interference from editors and creators. Having been in some discussions with Geoff John he has ensured me that this is something that will last. I am still somewhat skeptical but I really just want some good stories and some of the new books awesome.

Of course comics in there very nature have to come up with new ways to reboot there comics every few years. It usually just isn't as obvious as this.

Is there anyone out there that is a big superhero fan but not a comic book reader?

I used to be like that, until a few years ago when I started reading deadpool comics. Havn't read any superhero comics besides his appearances and a few random batman books.

I haven't read any of the comics. I'm more familiar with the adaptations, like the DCAU and the Marvel Cinematic Universe.