If you follow me on twitter, you’ll know that I wasn’t really excited about Free Comic Book Day this year. Mainly, I feel it’s a day celebrated by those who already read comics, while there’s no indication that it has been successful at bringing new faces into comic shops. Also, as I’ve soured on the bigger publishers recently, due to their dependence on “Been There, Done That” events, I wasn’t really looking forward to grabbing the kick-off issues for “Flashpoint” and “Spider Island”. That said, there’s one thing I’ve always enjoyed about FCBD, and that’s the trivia contest held at a local shop called Alliance Comics.
In the past, I have CLEANED UP at the Alliance trivia contest. It was generally a fanboy free-for-all, and most of the questions were pulled from the Marvel Trivia Game – a game that was given to me by my friend, J. Lamb, back in college. So, I guess I had a bit of an advantage. Don’t get too mad at me, though, as the prizes weren’t really things you’d want. Usually, it’s merchandise that they couldn’t sell, so they decide to give it away. A few years back, I could’ve redecorated a house with all the Superman Returns merchandise they gave away after that movie failed to make a mark. Anyway, they switched things up this year, as the people who had been running the trivia decided not to do it anymore. I had been dreading FCBD because of my lack of excitement, but I believe a part of me secretly knew that I would discover a shameful fact about my role as a comic fan – a shameful, traitorous fact.
First up, let’s have some backstory. If you’re not familiar with comic books, the 2 biggest publishers are Marvel Comics (Spider-Man/X-Men/The Hulk) and DC Comics (Superman/Batman/Wonder Woman). Other publishers have come and gone, but these particular publishers stand tall as “The Big 2”. In any case, back in the silver age of comic collecting, it was pretty common for fans to choose a side. Sure, some people read offerings from both companies, picking up Batman and Spider-Man on the newsstand, but many fans only collected books from one of the Big 2. By around the 90s, there were so many companies that nobody really just stuck to those two any longer. Sure, you may have preferred the superheroes of the Marvel Universe, but you might have also collected gritty books from Vertigo – an imprint of DC Comics.
In the past, I’ve mentioned that I pretty much consider myself to be a “DC Guy”. I started reading comics with Batman and Superman and, while I eventually added Spider-Man and X-Men to my reading list, I acknowledged that it all began for me with DC. There were chunks of time (the late 90s) when I avoided DC like the plague, but I always found my way back in time for the latest Crisis. So, at the end of the day, in The Great Fanboy War of Midgard, I would be fighting on the side of “Time Warner Comics”. Or so I thought. You see, trivia made me realize something about myself. It turns out that I’ve been a fraud all this time. I only wanted to be a DC Guy, but I’ve secretly been a Marvel Guy all along.
Here’s what happened: this year’s trivia contest followed a different model, as there were new categories and elimination rounds. The thing started with about 20 people, and ended up with 3. I was one of those three, but I’m getting ahead of myself. For the folks sticking to the Marvel categories, like “Comic Cover Word Balloons” or “Thor On Screen”, everything seemed easy. I knew the answers to the questions even when the person asked did not. I knew which New Mutant loved soccer (Sunspot), I knew who said “If you don’t buy my book this time, I’m going to come to your house and rip up all your X-Men” (She-Hulk), and I knew the first appearance of Wolverine (Incredible Hulk #181). Unfortunately, I wasn’t asked any of those questions. No, for some reason, fate decided to dig up grandpa’s time capsule, and send me questions about Silver Age DC books. What comic & issue number was the first appearance of the Justice League? What comic & issue number was the first appearance of Hawkman? When DC recently lowered their cover price, what was the new slogan that they placed on all their books? Hell, I even struggled with “What comic and issue number was the first appearance of The Joker (Batman #1 – I knew it, but got a bit insecure before saying it. Here I was, supposedly the DC Guy, yet I knew nothing about a lot of the basic building blocks of that universe. I can, however, tell you in which issue the Avengers find Captain America (Avengers #4), or the first appearance of The Punisher (Amazing Spider-Man #129), or the X-Man who was demoted to the New Mutants roster (Kitty Pryde).
How did this happen?!! When did I go over to the other side? Honestly, I think it has to do with trading cards. In the comics explosion of the 90s, one of the most popular companion items was the trading card. They came in packs, they came polybagged with books, and they came bound into comics. I bought them all, in the search for the ever elusive hologram cards. I have binders full of them, as they listed the stats of the Hulk, The Guardians of the Galaxy or Fenris. You didn’t even need comics, as you could have you own imaginary battles because the strength/endurance levels helped you figure out who would win in a fight. Sure, these evolved into later collectible card games (CCGs), but the early 90s belonged to Marvel Universe and Marvel Masterpieces trading cards. On the flipside, DC only really had one card series: DC Cosmic Cards. I have binders of Marvel cards, but I only have a handful of DC cards. I studied those things weekly, which is how I know obscure Marvel characters like Saturnyne and Epoch. Those DC cards, however, added nothing to my comic education. So, it began as DC’s fault, as they just didn’t make good trading cards. Next, I also blame the multiple Earths/timelines of the DC Universe. The cards I did have were labeled “Modern Age Superman” or “Silver Age Batman”, yet I didn’t know what the Hell that meant! I had just begun reading comics! Marvel may have been around since the 60s, but nothing that happened earlier than 10 years ago “matters”. If you’ve been reading Marvel books since 2000, you know all you need to in order to understand their books. DC, however, has been around since the 3os, yet reboots every 10 years or so, while still referencing events that occurred prior to said reboot. How does one follow along with that?! So, I guess DC’s convoluted structure also hindered my education of its universe.
I’ve got to face facts: at the end of the day, I’m a Marvel guy. I truly wanted to be a DC Guy, as I look at that company as the elder statesman of comics, but it just goes to support that fact that old things/people are confusing. I was one of the 3 finalists for the contest, but I certainly didn’t get there based upon any knowledge of the DC Universe. Oh, and what did I win? A bunch of hardcovers that I’d seen in the markdown section just a few weeks ago. Anyway, in terms of comprehension, I’ve been a Marvel Guy all along. So, where do I go from here? Will I move to a new tax bracket? Will I have to get circumcised again? I just feel so dirty! I’ve been living a lie! I suppose I just continue to move forward. I guess…I guess I’ll just continue to…”make mine Marvel”.
