Interests, Comics, and Problem

 I have a problem with my interests. I like some things that are in a continual and constant change. The problem is, that some people enjoy the same things, but they drop in and out of interest.

When it comes to comic books, I think people fail to realize that they don't really stop. Just because you stop reading Spider-Man doesn't mean he quit having adventures published about him. Being surprised that stories have progressed is a pet peeve of mine. I strongly dislike when someone claims to be a "fan" of something, but has no idea what is going on with that supposed "fandom".

I work in a comic book store. I have done so for far longer than I like to admit. Being around these things and the constant change in story, tone and character just makes everything blend together. I may remember that a thing happened, but can't explicitly point out exactly when it occurred. I just know that it did. Hell, it could be changed back to the original by the time of asking. Strike that reverse it.

This happens a lot when supposed bigger events occur. A story gets hyped up, so people want to jump on. Then the reader might feel a bit left out when they don't quite know what is going on in the book. While there may be a pay off for a long time reader, it just seems too many new readers are thrown in the deep end of the story pool. It is this disregard of the new reader that pushes too many away from the comic medium. Just saying that a reader should read a pile of comics to play catch up doesn't help. Most people want the story, but don't want to read years or decades worth of comic stories to have the full grasp of what is going on in a current story.

I guess the problem I have is that trying to enjoy something gets tougher every day. There is no real easy way to get into a thing. I used to tell people that the sign of a good comic is that any comic should be able to be someone's first. There should be enough in there to grab the attention of the reader.

Now, there is no easy introduction. All that leads to is lapsed "fans" who have a passing knowledge of what is going on. They tend to be stuck wherever they stopped though. I just dislike when they are surprised things progressed without them.