Are we really any different from sports fanatics?

[Optimus_Prime_]

When it comes to the wild world of weird neither sport fanatics or comic fanatics register.

There are a lot of sick sick things out there, I'd direct you toward Japan's underground, but it doesn't stop there.

It's just to me, with sports, it's a predominently social activity. It's easy for me to imagine someone being wrapped up in comics to the point that it stymies their social life. With sports, yes you have basement dwellers, but at some point they'll probably catch a Braves game or two. What I find comical is the stigma that the guy who paints himself is clearly some wacko. Most of those guys I know live fairly typical lives, and you need to be incredibly people savvy to find enough guys to finish the word "PACKERS".

 

[Optimus_Prime_]

I never liked the way sports fans used the word "we" when their team won.

Allowable exceptions:
College Sports if you had indeed played for said team. I would also begrudgingly accept if you went to school there.

All other sports, if you are currently playing for that team now.

I catch myself doing that from time to time. Teams tend to encourage this a little bit. In basketball I think they often refer to fans as "the eleventh man" (I feel like that's the term, but I could be wrong). It is rather silly though. Although I've seen fans heckle basketball players and then seen those basketball players go out of there way to shove the dude's words back down his mouth. That's kind of the opposite, but to a certain point fans at games can have real impact of team performance.

It's also hard to imagine Duke being as successful as they have been without the Cameron Crazies.

 

[Bubonic]

I make the top of the page whether I want to or not, I'm just that in control of the game.

 

[RockSP]

Yeah, but it also kind is a little more crazy, hence why it's viewed as such. It's a somewhat bizzare emotional attachment.

In the quote from terry78, he said worshipping. That's nuts either way. Put it like this: If I go an a murdering spree because Spider-Man came to me in a vision and told me to, I'm a nutjob who belongs in prison. Switch Spider-Man with Jordan and the end result is the same. The jury is not gonna be like "Well yeah, he killed 15 people but...c'mon son! 6 rings!!"

Crazy is crazy.

Teams and fans do interact, on both a incidental and direct level. Comic characters and fans do not.[ You're emotional attachment is one sided, and therefor a tad bizzare.

I remember a couple years back a few members on here got upset because I said I don't get emotional about comics. Hell one board member called Darthphere actually typed that I should stop reading comics because "they have failed me". He and a few others went from thread to thread (in their minds) mocking me because Cap isn't a real person to me. So yes, the over the top emotional attachment you're talking about exists but it's not a mandatory part of being a comics fan.

On the sports side, fans and teams may interact to some degree but for the most part it's through a tv screen or from a seat at a game. Fans do not know these guys personally and these guys definitely have no emotional attachment to the individual fan, regardless of what they may say in their victory speeches. So that is pretty one sided as well.

 

[Bubonic]

If you're obsessed with Spider-Man the last thing you'd do is start killing people, come on now, put more effort into your hypotheticals!

Now if you'd said Punisher...

 

[Optimus_Prime_]

In the quote from terry78, he said worshipping. That's nuts either way. Put it like this: If I go an a murdering spree because Spider-Man came to me in a vision and told me to, I'm a nutjob who belongs in prison. Switch Spider-Man with Jordan and the end result is the same. The jury is not gonna be like "Well yeah, he killed 15 people but...c'mon son! 6 rings!!"

Crazy is crazy.

Well you're talking about a delusional schizophrenic, regardless of who is coming to you in your sleep and telling you to do bad things. That's hardly what a "fanatic" is though. I know a lot of people who are overly obsessed with one thing or another, I know none who kill people over it. My point was, and still is, being emotionally attached to a fictional character will always seem a little more off than emotional attachment to real things. Emotional attachment hardly means you want a piece of that person's hair though, it just means you feel an emotional connection however faint it may be. While you may not know Tom Brady personally, it's entirely possible you could. Like you said, you don't feel emotionally attached to comics. Neither do I (anymore), and I gather you probably don't live in your parents' basement and go apesh** everytime Marvel kills a character. In comics though, in my opinion, that type of fandom is far more prevelant than it is in sports.

 

[Bubonic]

I wish I was the Punisher.
Way it is I'd probably be stabbed to death on my first night out.

 

[Optimus_Prime_]

I wish I was the Punisher.
Way it is I'd probably be stabbed to death on my first night out.

In terms of being able to survive for a significant amount of time, I'd say Punisher approaches some realism there. I think he'd likely be arrested before he was killed. I think because he's kind of a lone wolf and cipher, blends into a crowd and is nomadic. All of this would make him fairly hard to catch. The thing about the Punisher is he'd likely get lumped in with the criminals he was pursuing, so it's doubtful he'd look like a hero to anyone.

 

[twylight]

Comics level 3-4ish and Sports level 1.

I am not ashamed!

Also Optimus_Prime_ (Or O_P in my head.. or rather something else....) chill darling

 

[Bubonic]

In terms of being able to survive for a significant amount of time, I'd say Punisher approaches some realism there. I think he'd likely be arrested before he was killed. I think because he's kind of a lone wolf and cipher, blends into a crowd and is nomadic. All of this would make him fairly hard to catch. The thing about the Punisher is he'd likely get lumped in with the criminals he was pursuing, so it's doubtful he'd look like a hero to anyone.

It's just impossible to be as prolific as he is and have a guy like Micro pointing you in the right direction. I'm sure I could find out where the criminal hot spots are, but how often would I end up killing innocents?

Also law enforcement is a real bummer about people doing their job for them, makes them feel inadequate.

 

[Asteroid-Man]

Sports fans are fanatical about real things. Sports can actually make a difference to the world. Sportsmen can be real inspiring icons. Like Lance Armstrong or Muhammed Ali. Or how about teams that represent entire nations? Or maybe even cities?

Some people obviously go over the top with it, but in my eyes, there is more valid reasons for people to be fanatical about sports.

Whereas Comics? It's FICTION. It's not real. There really is no reason to be so obsessed over fictional characters and fictional universes.

The Count of Monte Cristo:
The first major publication to challenge the futility of revenge.

Sherlock Holmes:
Led to the inception of real life DETECTIVES (they did not exist before then)

A Christmas Carol:
Made Christmas a vastly celebrated phenomenon.

Frankenstein:
Introduced ethics to science.

Jekyll and Hyde:
Led to many theories of cognitive science including what later proved the existence of split personality.

Superman:
Led to mass appreciation of heroism.

Captain America:
Helped give hope to youth and instil patriotism in them during WWII.

Oliver Twist:
Led to the passing of a bill introducing social welfare and public education for children.


Think before you post.

 

[Hobgoblin]

That and authors tend to bring real social problems to light. Charles Dickens was very good at this. From his own experiences in childhood living in a poor jail to visiting insane asylums in research for his books. The stories he wrote about helped to change the public's perception of previously taboo subjects.

 

[BlackLantern]

I still get emotional reading David Copperfield....that dude got **** on for 95 percent of life

 

[Optimus_Prime_]

Asteroid-Man also just highlighted another problem with comic nerds: did you seriously just compare Captain America to The Count of Monte Cristo. Captain America was a very small element of WWII, so small he's not even worth mentioning. ALL superheroes of Cap. America's era were American propoganda, and Superman was way more popular and still not really worth a mention. Pro-American propoganda was the norm of WWII, you found it on everything from food stamps to women's magazines, of course all the superheroes aped this and they were NOT the major icons that started pro-American propoganda. Yeesh.

 

[Asteroid-Man]

No idea why I clicked view post, but I'll amuse you.

You are once again pettifogging. I was replying to this "There really is no reason to be so obsessed over fictional characters and fictional universes." Obsession is obviously a no go for anything INCLUDING sports, but to suggest that fictional characters don't have significant impacts on our society is completely ridiculous.

I was simply mentioning fictional characters who have had an impact on society - for you to split them into sub-categories to try to discredit my point is pettifogging (in case you are confused on why I've accused you of such).

To deny that Captain America had a significant impact on our society is just plain foolish. I'm not saying the impact of Cap vs. Cristo is equal, I'm just saying they've had an impact on society - you're looking at this too narrowly once again. It's all about degrees, or would you like me to make you another graph?

You're seriously just trolling - I told you I was done with you, and yet you continuously pester me and other posters in here who clearly have their opinions - and to say "Asteroid-Man just highlighted another problem with comic nerds" - first of all who the hell are you to make a statement like that? Secondly, I'm not even that nerdy when it comes to comics - I'm more of a literature nerd, so I guess your foot's in your mouth now. Also, let's assume I was saying Captain America and The Count of Monte Cristo have had the same effect on society (which I am NOT at all saying), to call that out as a "problem" is rude.

So stop being a goad and an irritant and stop making ridiculous accusations and stop trolling. SHH Forums have never been a place for significant trolling, so I can tell you know, you're only making your own reputation worse by keeping this up.

God I hope a mod reads through your posts in this thread...

 

[Chris Wallace]

The Count of Monte Cristo:
The first major publication to challenge the futility of revenge.

Sherlock Holmes:
Led to the inception of real life DETECTIVES (they did not exist before then)

A Christmas Carol:
Made Christmas a vastly celebrated phenomenon.

Frankenstein:
Introduced ethics to science.

Jekyll and Hyde:
Led to many theories of cognitive science including what later proved the existence of split personality.

Superman:
Led to mass appreciation of heroism.

Captain America:
Helped give hope to youth and instil patriotism in them during WWII.

Oliver Twist:
Led to the passing of a bill introducing social welfare and public education for children.


Think before you post.

Didn't Wonder Woman lead to the invention of the polygraph?
Star Wars inspired many of the advancements in prosthetics.
I tend to think Spider-Man helped bring about lo-jack & GPS.

 

[greenrage36]

I would count myself a sports fan more-so then a comic fan. Mostly because its just plain easier to keep up with...at least for me it is.

With that out of the way, I think the only real difference I've found is that its easier to find sympathetic fans of a sport you like then sympathetic fans of a comic you like.

Ex: at my last place of work I could go in and b***h and moan about how the Angels stumbled in the playoffs and all the baseball fans would understand to some degree; yeah there might be a few rib-kicks tossed in as well, but for the most part everyone would be on the same page and enjoying the topic.

If I tried to bring up a certain comic series I was following, the folks who I knew that collected and kept up with comics would be MUCH harder to gell with - like I was going to have to work hard to break their clique. Whether it was me reading the 'wrong' kind of comics (Horror) or enjoying a particular creative team that they didn't it was not nearly as much fun to hang with 'em.

Granted, this certainly doesn't apply to all cases or anything, but I have seen variations on each example time and again. It may not be much of a case, but its all I got..lol!

 

[BlackLantern]

I would count myself a sports fan more-so then a comic fan. Mostly because its just plain easier to keep up with...at least for me it is.

With that out of the way, I think the only real difference I've found is that its easier to find sympathetic fans of a sport you like then sympathetic fans of a comic you like.

Ex: at my last place of work I could go in and b***h and moan about how the Angels stumbled in the playoffs and all the baseball fans would understand to some degree; yeah there might be a few rib-kicks tossed in as well, but for the most part everyone would be on the same page and enjoying the topic.

If I tried to bring up a certain comic series I was following, the folks who I knew that collected and kept up with comics would be MUCH harder to gell with - like I was going to have to work hard to break their clique. Whether it was me reading the 'wrong' kind of comics (Horror) or enjoying a particular creative team that they didn't it was not nearly as much fun to hang with 'em.

Granted, this certainly doesn't apply to all cases or anything, but I have seen variations on each example time and again. It may not be much of a case, but its all I got..lol!

a lot of that going around

 

[BAH HUMBBUG!]

To go along with much of the above mentioned, I would say that I don't think any comic book fan has any serious health risks related to enjoying the medium.

Where as studies have shown that fanatic sport fans do have the potential to cause themselves serious issues with their blood pressure.

 

[greenrage36]

To go along with much of the above mentioned, I would say that I don't think any comic book fan has any serious health risks related to enjoying the medium.

Where as studies have shown that fanatic sport fans do have the potential to cause themselves serious issues with their blood pressure.

That may certainly apply to me, lol! I've been known to scream, yell, and stomp around the room if my team isn't doing well...but I think the worst I've been while reading a comic is a major-eye roll if I'm not happy with the direction things are going.

 

[BAH HUMBBUG!]

That may certainly apply to me, lol! I've been known to scream, yell, and stomp around the room if my team isn't doing well...but I think the worst I've been while reading a comic is a major-eye roll if I'm not happy with the direction things are going.

Agreed, on the opposite end I went to Warriors vs. Mavericks game four at home in Oakland and I was out of my mind, in a good way. I yelled so hard I almost passed out a couple of times.

I think the biggest positive reaction from a comic book would have been a verbal, "damn that was awesome."

 

[Optimus_Prime_]

I've always felt that sports have a sort of primal connection to man the animal making it stick a little more. Writing is a passive activity, as is reading, and comics are pretty esoteric even for those activities. There's a natural emotional response that lends itself to sports, politics and the rest of real life. There are real consequences even if they don't directly affect us.

Comics also are fairly fantastical and silly. That's kind of what makes them fun. Even Frank Miller's TDKR is still about a cartoon character man in a bat costume. Basically what I'm saying is it's a far cry from reality. So yeah, it's fun and insightful, but not real. I think the amount of time something like sports warrant is higher than something like comics.

Like having a lot of sports clothes is not as weird and owning a bunch of comics. Reality kind of trumps it in that regard.

 

[KalMart]

Are we really any different from sports fanatics?


Yes....you're much....much....wussier.....

 

[SuperSoldier985]

At the core, we're pretty much the same, but when it comes down to social acceptance and general cultural norms, we're a lot further down the totem pole..

At least we were 10 years ago..

It's true that nerd culture is becoming more and more mainstream. I think that line right now is becoming quite blurred in this day and age.

 

[Optimus_Prime_]

Well I think there is some trends that come out of 'geek/nerd culture', but actually acting like either one of those stereotypes is still not 'socially acceptable'.