As comics’ fan we’re quick to lament our place on the social hierarchy. We decry the Simpsons for their negative portrayal of our type specimen while secretly knowing that Comic Book Guy is a bit too close to the mark for comfort. Well when I stumbled across MRTIM’s webcomic OUR VALUED CUSTOMERS my head hung in realistic shame. The conceit of the single panel posts is accurate depictions of things said in the shop by some of the real dregs of our community. It’s funny, absurd, and often disheartening. I take some solace that perhaps by shining a light on some of the darkest corners our clique has to offer that we, as members of an often better example of fandom here at iFanboy, will keep our own demons in check with a bit more clarity. It’s as the man says, if we’re not careful, “The negativity is too damn high.”
I’ve posted a few of my recent favorites below but be sure to go check out more of the offerings so you’ll be sure to laugh till you cry.
What do you all think? Accurate? Too accurate? Self-defeating? I wanna know!
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Oh man, this webcomic, I mean, oh gosh, geez, it’s like so, dude, you don’t even wanna know.
Seriously, this is such a sad, hilarious, depressing, amazing, bummer of a webcomic. It’s painfully hilarious and made me rethink even wanting to make comics in the first place (because, y’know, this is part of the audience). I think my favorite was the guy refusing to run in his good sweatpants.
HAHA…I’ve loved this one for a while. The art is great, but the quotes are the best. It’s like a comic guy’s version of ‘texts from last night’ or ‘overheard’.
oy.
I’ve just been going through a lot of them. Makes me feel bad for for the comics medium. And all this is from one goddamn store. I really don’t want to read anymore but I can’t stop.
I love this webcomic so much. It’s hilarious but sad at the same time.
I want to go to this mystical store just to have a chance of getting drawn.
I’m already sending these out to my friends. There so funny, yet depressing in the mere fact that they’re true, and that it’s all one store.
A very funny webcomic. Often times, his commentary below just punches up the whole thing. I will definitely check this out regularly.
This will be the first thing i think of when i go to into my LCS today, because there are a few characters there that make me smile.
heh. someone could probably do this for a video or music store, too.
aw man…i’ve heard some things like that. hahaha
The stores that do gaming (especially magic) have some HOF moments like this. The sh#t talking and story telling by the gamers is hilarious.
i once heard an LCS owner loudly berate his employees for 20 mins for giving away an Iron Man standee with customers in the store…like really abusive. I just put all my books on the counter and left….won’t give someone like that any money.
My LCS’s contribution would probably be the guy that’s always talking about comics as porn.
Some of the stuff, being out of context, sounds worse than it probably really does.
@JumpingJupiter When the author of the comic provides the context, it definitely makes some of them worse, sadly.
This is an amazing find Ryan, nice job.
Good stuff!
While I think this is pretty funny (and have been reading it a while), taking it as commentary on the entire medium or specifically the collective “fanbase” is just silly and cynical. It’s sillical.
@ActualButt True true. I guess I’m kind of… disappointed? That this is focusing solely on th edark side of the hobby… I dunno… no big deal I guess.
not at all acurate in my case… I have a fine line but a line notheless between my hobby and my life…shoot me if I ever have a star wars wedding.
I’ll find subtle ways to show my love for something, but I’ll never go overboard with it.
It kind of just portrays the true diversity of comic book fans, in a way. I mean, I like to think of comic fans as way cooler and smarter than your typical drooling frat boy, but then you get reminders like http://ourvaluedcustomers.blogspot.com/2010/12/to-his-me-after-he-flipped-through.html that we get all kinds of douches as well.
If it were all just Simpsons Comic Book Guy types in this comic, that would be sad. Seeing the universality of lameness of all sorts doesn’t bother me at all. It just means comics are more popular than I knew!
aWesome!
This written in the website:
This site depicts REAL things said to me (or at least near me) by customers in the comic book shop that I “work in. These are real people. This is what they look like and this is something that they actually said.”
I can’t believe that!
Are we as people so out of touch with reality
@Jetstorm “Are we as people so out of touch with reality”
No, this webcomic just zooms in on the cruddy stuff.
well this goes back to discussions on here in the past about the “comic book guy stereotype” and how it needs to die because comic fans aren’t all like that….
unfortunately stereotypes are sometimes created from truths so…
They’re all true…
Dragons are pretty fuckin cool though . . .
That’s the nice thing about my shop, I never see any customers like this and the people that run the store are normal. I have never actually run into anyone like this.
lol!!! Our Valued customers is one of the best blogs, I have read this year!!! Thanks for the post!!
“You got batmobile?”
While there are certainly some jerks and clueless people in those comics, a lot of the people listed as “crazies” or “creeps” just seem to be enthusiastic fans of whatever they are talking about. Enthusiasm and geeking out about whatever it is you like seem like cool things to me.
Anyone who’s worked in retail or customer service can confirm that this really has nothing to do with comic books or being a geek. You’ll get these customers from all walks of life whether they read comic books or not. Listen to sports fans chat and you’ll get the exact same lines — just replace ‘The Joker’ with ‘Brett Favre’.
@NeonAce I agree. A lot of these quotes could be comic fans just goofing around and trying to make with the funny rather than being deadly serious.
@JRScherer That’s what I was thinking…
I was being deadly serious.
Ok. I read it. And….. what?
I think Kevin Smith said it best in “Chasing Amy,”:Holden-“Our bread and butter is over and under weight guys that can’t get laid.”
These people are the minority of the minority of the minority, right? Geeks who are also comic book fans who are also what you see above.
I think that young man needs to meet some sexy lady-dragons.. then his life would be allllllll right. – said in the voice of Lando Calrissian.
I worked in comics/gaming store for a few years. These are dead on. Nothing is as absurd or as unbelievable as the truth. Oh the stories I could tell from my own time behind the counter…. *sigh*
@JRScherer – Totally agree with that; you’ll hear these stories from anyone who works in retail or food service or customer service.
BUT the idea that the majority of these things are just “taken out of context”… I read the whole site and a handful, at most, jumped out at me that way. The large majority of them, there was no excuse for a living, breathing human being saying the words being depicted.
Hysterical, really. Nothing’s funnier than the tragic truth.
I’m too concerned with comic continuity to worry about politics.
I work in a shop and this is all TOO true.
Why can’t I find a woman who looks like Jessica Drew?
The interesting thing is that the central conceit of the panels seems to be to present unfiltered truth, but there’s so much judgment (slouchy positions, sweat globs/spittle) and situating the reader to a negative viewpoint (“Creeps,” “Crazies,” “Jerks”) that I have to wonder, what places the artist in a place to judge? Are the opinions silly? Sure. But honestly, you get these types of things anywhere, in any type of fandom (Sports, books, religion, politics, etc.). I’m disappointed that we have a site like this that thrives on making fun of people (his own customers, even!), but more disappointed that we’re giving any attention – positive or negative – to something that does nothing but present a stereotype we’re trying to change.
Those people are all the typical people on Xbox live and World Of Warcraft too.
@PraxJarvin I don’t think he is going for unfiltered truth on this. The quotes are unaltered however its art so it’s obviously going through somekind of filter.
I went through the whole site and really enjoyed the “jus’ folks” catagory.
Worst… Comic.. Ever..
@PraxJarvin: But… but… it’s funny.
I don’t actually know anyone like this.
@stasisbal I know maybe one guy.
@PraxJarvin I’m sort of leaning towards your viewpoint as well. Though maybe not so intensely. I mean, some of the panels are funny and that seems to be the point, comedy.
I’ve personally have never met anyone like this, but I’m pretty sure they are out there.
@PraxJarvin –yeah you want to change the stereotypes, but really, this guy who works in a comic shop has seen and heard so much of this stuff that it moved him to create a comic and website out of it. That says something. You’d rather just hide the truth than laugh at it?
I wonder how many of these quotes are embellished…i mean we’ve all played the telephone re-quote game, and we always add a little bit extra to get the idea across and make the story better. I don’t buy that they are 100% accurate quotes regardless of the disclaimers. They are too perfect.
this site is sooo great
I can’t help but laugh when people here or any other site say “I’m trying to change the stereotype!” Yes, you’re a real crusader, doing God’s work.
Don’t worry about a stereotype, just read the comics, come here or whatever and talk about them in an educated way. And hey…here’s a secret, being really nitpickey and upset over this guys webcomic… doesn’t help that stereotype you’re trying to bring down it shows you living it. Shocking i know, but it’s true. Just read it and enjoy it, or if you don’t enjoy it, understand it’s not for you. To me? this webcomic is hysterical.
I loved it! Had my wife and I rolling. I honestly think I’ve met a few of those guys and gals at my lcs. Actually, a few of these could have been me…. I am so embarrassed.
Guess I missed the memo where insulting people was funny.
@JurassicAlien I fail to see how prax thoughtfully deconstructing the panels is him fulfilling a stereotype? It’s not nitpicky, it’s competent analysis.
My life is not a stereotype.
I think my favourite is, “What is this, some kind of fucking comics store?”
This is epic on several levels.
My favorite was “ya got batmobile”? I’m perplexed by the fork he had too.
This one turned out to be hilarious as it sank in. http://bit.ly/eQptOM
I think the majority of these cartoons happen because some people can’t stand not talking so they say what ever comes to mind.
I don’t know anyone like that. Hell, I don’t think I’ve even ever met anyone like that.
Thank heaven!
Pretty funny in general though he does have a bit of a douchey air occasionally. http://ourvaluedcustomers.blogspot.com/2010/05/regarding-tron-tshirt-in-window.html