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Subject: Ramblings About Comics and Stuff #78: Live and Let Live | Author | Messages | 
Jim Johnson
Posts: 461
 | Posted: 11/6/2007 2:49:14 PM | It’s hard to believe that it’s already been two years since Mark Millar introduced zombie versions of Marvel’s best known characters in Ultimate Fantastic Four #21.
And if I may venture an opinion, and I may, since it’s my column, it’s even harder to believe that Marvel’s decision to squeeze sour milk from this rotting cow has met with the success that it has. While Millar’s original story and creations were clever, creepy, and downright horrific, Robert Kirkman’s follow-up in the first and wildly popular Marvel Zombies mini-series was a more sensational, pulpy, over-the-top effort that, for my money, just didn’t work, and read like something that a ten year old would come up with.
But what’s hardest of all for me to believe is that, with the mini-series, Marvel successfully redefined what, for decades, had been a slanderous term. Most people reading this will recall that “Marvel Zombies” was a derogatory term used for comic buyers who not only bought Marvels exclusively, but bought all Marvel comics published. Maybe that’s what truly hard to believe: that there was a time where one could afford to buy Marvel’s entire published line, month in and month out. But notice I used the term comic buyers and not comic readers, because Marvel Zombies weren’t necessarily regarded as Marvel fans; they just bought all of Marvel’s comics because, well, they were Marvel Comics. Whether they read them or not. More out of habit, meaning both as a reflexive, mindless act; hence the “zombie” part, and to support the maintenance of a complete collection.
Suffice it to say, the term was not considered a friendly one. The stereotype of a Marvel Zombie was that of a closed-minded kid or young adult who cared nothing about, say, DC Comics. Or independent comics. Or any comic without the “Marvel Comics Group” label. If you were called a Marvel Zombie, whether it was a fitting description or not, you had just been insulted. And the term was often unfairly applied to genuine Marvel fans, who may have bought mostly Marvels because that’s what they enjoyed or preferred, not because they were rabid, single-minded collectors who simply had to have every single comic the company published.
But now, the mention of Marvel Zombies evokes different things to different people. Readers think of “cool” images like a rotting-corpse version of Spider-Man munching on a dismembered leg. Collectors see a genuine, modern-day collectible, especially the first issue, and retailers see cash, if they’re fortunate enough to have a few of those elusive issues on hand. The term is no longer a wholesale slam. So congratulations on this feat, Marvel, and thank you; I never liked the term in its prior incarnation, and I never appreciated it when it was directed at me early in my collecting days.
Now, with all of that said, I’m taking it on the word of those who allege that such kinds of buyers even existed at one time. I have no reason to deny that they did; I’m sure there had to have been one or more people, somewhere, who bought every Marvel comic being published. But I sure didn’t know any. And I didn’t know anyone who did. And it never made sense to me; wouldn’t it stand to reason that there would be “DC Zombies,” as well? When I first heard the term, I remember thinking how it was not only an insult to buyers who were called that, but also to Marvel, as well. I thought that if there were no corresponding term applied to DC buyers (DC Deadheads?), that blindly buying all DC titles wasn’t seen as the same disregard, for some reason. As though it were okay, if someone wanted to grab every DC of the rack in the same robotic frenzy. Like DC’s were better somehow, or more trendy. The same way is was okay to wear, say, Levi’s jeans to school, but not the other brands you could find at Sears or Meijer. Or how it was okay to like Rush, for instance, but not Kiss.
In high school, what was “okay” and what wasn’t was a very nebulous concept to a lot of kids there. So I guess I questioned the existence of Marvel Zombies for reasons beyond the fact that I didn’t know anyone who fit the archetype. I also questioned the term because, like any social trend embraced by the “cool” people, I didn’t know why it was “bad” to like and buy only Marvel comics. This came at a time of self-awareness where I was already figuring out in school that, whatever “cool” was, it certainly wasn’t what some group of jocks said it was. So it was with comics; there was no reason why I should acknowledge some empty and arbitrary term that “they” blindly and negatively applied to a certain group of people. Because I was quickly learning that the absolutely last way a person could ever be considered “cool” was by buying into someone else’s predefined version of what that exactly meant. Therein lies madness. Once I realized this, I also realized that the term Marvel Zombie was just another one of those labels applied to people by others who think they’re better somehow. If there really was, or still is, someone out there who fits the stereotypical description and chooses to buy every Marvel comic, but no others, well, so be it. I’ll maintain that it’s wasteful and close-minded, but that doesn’t mean it’s wrong. Or deserving of insult. Live and let live, pun most definitely intended. So if there’s one thing that I hold in regard about Marvel Zombies, the franchise, is that it‘s helped put Marvel Zombies, the stereotype, to rest.
And as we all know, stereotypes about comic fans are a hard thing to kill, indeed.
- JJ
"You can live your life in a thousand ways,
But it all comes down to that single day
When you realize what you regret,
Which you can't reclaim but you can't forget."
www.facebook.com/QuiGonJimm
www.twitter.com/QuiGonJimm |
Jim Johnson
Posts: 461
| Posted: 11/6/2007 2:49:14 PM | It’s hard to believe that it’s already been two years since Mark Millar introduced zombie versions of Marvel’s best known characters in Ultimate Fantastic Four #21.
And if I may venture an opinion, and I may, since it’s my column, it’s even harder to believe that Marvel’s decision to squeeze sour milk from this rotting cow has met with the success that it has. While Millar’s original story and creations were clever, creepy, and downright horrific, Robert Kirkman’s follow-up in the first and wildly popular Marvel Zombies mini-series was a more sensational, pulpy, over-the-top effort that, for my money, just didn’t work, and read like something that a ten year old would come up with.
But what’s hardest of all for me to believe is that, with the mini-series, Marvel successfully redefined what, for decades, had been a slanderous term. Most people reading this will recall that “Marvel Zombies” was a derogatory term used for comic buyers who not only bought Marvels exclusively, but bought all Marvel comics published. Maybe that’s what truly hard to believe: that there was a time where one could afford to buy Marvel’s entire published line, month in and month out. But notice I used the term comic buyers and not comic readers, because Marvel Zombies weren’t necessarily regarded as Marvel fans; they just bought all of Marvel’s comics because, well, they were Marvel Comics. Whether they read them or not. More out of habit, meaning both as a reflexive, mindless act; hence the “zombie” part, and to support the maintenance of a complete collection.
Suffice it to say, the term was not considered a friendly one. The stereotype of a Marvel Zombie was that of a closed-minded kid or young adult who cared nothing about, say, DC Comics. Or independent comics. Or any comic without the “Marvel Comics Group” label. If you were called a Marvel Zombie, whether it was a fitting description or not, you had just been insulted. And the term was often unfairly applied to genuine Marvel fans, who may have bought mostly Marvels because that’s what they enjoyed or preferred, not because they were rabid, single-minded collectors who simply had to have every single comic the company published.
But now, the mention of Marvel Zombies evokes different things to different people. Readers think of “cool” images like a rotting-corpse version of Spider-Man munching on a dismembered leg. Collectors see a genuine, modern-day collectible, especially the first issue, and retailers see cash, if they’re fortunate enough to have a few of those elusive issues on hand. The term is no longer a wholesale slam. So congratulations on this feat, Marvel, and thank you; I never liked the term in its prior incarnation, and I never appreciated it when it was directed at me early in my collecting days.
Now, with all of that said, I’m taking it on the word of those who allege that such kinds of buyers even existed at one time. I have no reason to deny that they did; I’m sure there had to have been one or more people, somewhere, who bought every Marvel comic being published. But I sure didn’t know any. And I didn’t know anyone who did. And it never made sense to me; wouldn’t it stand to reason that there would be “DC Zombies,” as well? When I first heard the term, I remember thinking how it was not only an insult to buyers who were called that, but also to Marvel, as well. I thought that if there were no corresponding term applied to DC buyers (DC Deadheads?), that blindly buying all DC titles wasn’t seen as the same disregard, for some reason. As though it were okay, if someone wanted to grab every DC of the rack in the same robotic frenzy. Like DC’s were better somehow, or more trendy. The same way is was okay to wear, say, Levi’s jeans to school, but not the other brands you could find at Sears or Meijer. Or how it was okay to like Rush, for instance, but not Kiss.
In high school, what was “okay” and what wasn’t was a very nebulous concept to a lot of kids there. So I guess I questioned the existence of Marvel Zombies for reasons beyond the fact that I didn’t know anyone who fit the archetype. I also questioned the term because, like any social trend embraced by the “cool” people, I didn’t know why it was “bad” to like and buy only Marvel comics. This came at a time of self-awareness where I was already figuring out in school that, whatever “cool” was, it certainly wasn’t what some group of jocks said it was. So it was with comics; there was no reason why I should acknowledge some empty and arbitrary term that “they” blindly and negatively applied to a certain group of people. Because I was quickly learning that the absolutely last way a person could ever be considered “cool” was by buying into someone else’s predefined version of what that exactly meant. Therein lies madness. Once I realized this, I also realized that the term Marvel Zombie was just another one of those labels applied to people by others who think they’re better somehow. If there really was, or still is, someone out there who fits the stereotypical description and chooses to buy every Marvel comic, but no others, well, so be it. I’ll maintain that it’s wasteful and close-minded, but that doesn’t mean it’s wrong. Or deserving of insult. Live and let live, pun most definitely intended. So if there’s one thing that I hold in regard about Marvel Zombies, the franchise, is that it‘s helped put Marvel Zombies, the stereotype, to rest.
And as we all know, stereotypes about comic fans are a hard thing to kill, indeed.
- JJ
"You can live your life in a thousand ways,
But it all comes down to that single day
When you realize what you regret,
Which you can't reclaim but you can't forget."
www.facebook.com/QuiGonJimm
www.twitter.com/QuiGonJimm | 
brettw
Posts: 240
| Posted: 11/9/2007 6:31:49 AM | In high school, I had a friend who bought every Marvel and every DC. The only thing I called him was "lucky."
Classic Home Video Games 1972-1984
Brett Weiss: Words of Wonder | 
Lee Houston, Junior
Posts: 1036
| Posted: 11/9/2007 3:27:09 PM | Even if I had the time to read ALL that material, I've never been financially secure enough to buy everything from everyone.
But I have always been more of a DC fan than anything else.
Probably because I'm
A comic book reader, and I do stress the R word, since Action Comics #434, May 1974!
Editor-In-Chief of The Free Choice e-zine.
Associate Editor at Large Affinity Storm Press. |
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