The iFanboy Letter Column – 08.19.2011

Friday means many things to many people. For some, Friday is all about drinking away the realities of the global economy. For others, it’s about lighting cigars with hundred dollar bills and quietly chuckling to themselves.

At iFanboy, Friday means it’s letter column time.

You write. We answer. Very simple.

As always, if you want to have your e-mail read on the any of our shows or answered here, keep them coming — contact@ifanboy.com


I have a question about cult characters. I love cult characters and teams such as Howard the Duck, Lobo, The Great Lake Avengers and Nextwave. Hell, I even like Deadpool (even though Daniel Way’s writhing is less than desired). So, my question is why do these characters get so little attention compared to the mainstream characters? Also, who are you favorite cult character?

Alejandro O. from High Falls, New York

You’ve answered your own question, Alejandro. Cult characters are, by definition, popular with a small group of people — a cult, if you will. If they were as popular as other mainstream characters they would cease to have cult appeal.

The Great Lakes Avengers

I guess the bigger question could be why don’t the specific characters you listed have mainstream appeal? That’s a tougher question to answer because there are a lot of reasons why a character achieves mainstream status or why it doesn’t. There are also a lot of intangibles that can’t be identified. The characters that you mentioned all have one thing in common — they were all pretty much created as send-ups, jokes, or variations on existing characters. While it’s not impossible, it’s hard for those types of characters to gain mainstream traction.

(Although I would argue that Deadpool has gained much more widespread attention than the character he was “based on” — Deathstroke the Terminator, who himself is a cult character despite headlining a successful series in the ’90s and getting a series in the new DC Universe. Aaand I’m caught up in some kind of cult character mobius strip.)

Besides, just like we need supporting characters, we need cult characters. Not every character should be a star, standing out front with his hands on his hips. Some character has to be in the background chomping on a cigar and making fun of that character.

My favorite cult character? I’m going to have to go with J’onn J’onzz, the Martian Manhunter. Yes, everyone knows who he is and he featured prominently in a cartoon watched by more people than read the most popular American comic book, but you put a Martian Manhunter book out there and it is going to last 8 issues. To me, he’s not only the definition of a cult character but he’s probably Cult Character Alpha.

Conor Kilpatrick


I know you guys are ankle deep on new comics, and we thank you for your efforts on our behalf. “We read comics, so you don’t have to!” could be the iFanboy tagline! However, is it just me that re-reads my old stacks? I have about 10 long boxes in my loft that me, and my kids, go back to again and again, pulling out things we may not have checked out in a few years. I use your reviews to direct my digital and TPB buys, but current financial pressures mean that new purchases are limited (and I’m a reasonably paid professional!).

So, is re-reading a pleasure, a nostalgic crutch, a financial necessity, or all three? Don’t you ever wish Wednesday would take a few weeks off to let you catch up on reviewing some classics?

 Stephen

One of the best things about comic books is that once you buy them and add them to your collection, you have them forever (assuming you don’t mind keeping them and storing them.) We often get caught up in the week to week releases that we forget that we have amassed this large collection of stories that we can go back to and enjoy.

I have to admit, I don’t go back as much as I used to. There’s just so much new stuff out every week that I just don’t have the time. But over the 20+ years of my collecting, some of my best times have been re-visiting stories that I first read years ago. The first 5 years of my collecting were spent going back in time on the X-Men and savoring every moment I could glean from the previous years releases. More recently, the one title I seem to revisit and cherish the most, in issue form, is Astro City by Kurt Busiek and Brent Anderson. That series never gets old and the issues I have from it are some of my most read (and worn). The hours of enjoyment I’ve gotten from Astro City are priceless.

Now that said, you bring up a good point that in these tough economic times, if you can’t afford new comics, it doesn’t mean you can’t enjoy comics. Make the purchases you’ve made last over time and get as much enjoyment as you can. So in that way, to answer your question, I think that re-reading comics is all three types you mentioned. You can get great pleasure out of revisiting books, while also going down memory lane and feeling a bit of nostalgia and if you can’t afford books right now, then go back and relive some of the magic from books you already own! Comics are great that way, aren’t they?

Ron Richards

Comments

  1. A lot of cult characters also are often just plot devices that fill a niche in comic plots so well they gain traction. I would argue that the Punisher is a cult character. I’ve seen his skull used in everything during my time in the Army, but not one of the people who uses it reads his comic or even knows anything about him other than he kills evildoers. He fails to make good movies because his only really compelling story to a broad audience is his origin story. His current MAX comic aside, I think he’s at his best thrust into a story to add another variable to an already chaotic situation. The Great Lakes Avengers, or Initiative, are often a plot device, as is Dr. Strange or any other number of characters who continually pop up in great comics but cannot carry their own series. They add to the story in a meaningful way, but part of what makes them so likeable is the aspects of their character that make them good guest stars or team member only characters.

  2. I love the great Lakes Avengers. And Howard the Duck. And AMBUSH BUG!!!

  3. Rereading to me is mostly nostalgic pleasure. Whedon & Cassiday’s Astonishing X-men is a favorite of mine. I make it a habit (after reading my new stack) of grabing some tpb and floppies and making a “to reread” stack. On my list is Hush, Secret Wars,JLA/Avengers and Kingdom Come. Digging through the old long boxes can supply you with a nice amount of material to go through in one sitting

  4. “One of the best things about comic books is that once you buy them and add them to your collection, you have them forever.”

    Surprised that passed the Graphicly sensors. (JOKING!)

  5. I just purchased the first volume of Astro City and plan to start it this weekend while vacationing in Tahoe (I really need a vacation.) I CANNOT WAIT. I remember hearing about how good it was way back in the days when I collected Wizard, I have no idea what has taken me so long.

  6. A major reason why the cult characters cited here aren’t more popular is that they’re “quirky” or, put another way, fun. Often goofy fun. And the manchildren dominating the readership these days do not want a trace of goofiness in their books. They want everyone who looks at them funny for reading Spider-Man on the bus to know that comics are Serious Business, and a duck in a tie cannot be on the cover of that book.

    • Your comment makes me wonder, were there any “cult characters” during the silver age? Considering most of the most mainstream of characters were downright “goofy” during this period, what would the outlier have been? The whole grim and gritty movement certainly put the kibosh on goofy characters which is why suddenly anything that didn’t immediately get dark and serious had cult potential. Are these cult characters we’re talking about mainly a product of the bronze age and newer eras?

    • thats an interesting point about the audience and the anti-goofy campaign.

      i’m kinda the opposite. I often criticize books for being too serious and not much fun. I don’t like it when they get into serious interpersonal relationships and serious emotional issues. I just like fun superhero stuff. Then again, i don’t like gourmet hamburgers. I want something simple like In and Out…classic All American Hamburger…no angus, no fancy cheese or shitake mushrooms. Just keep it simple and let it be what it is.

      @maxpower–i’m sure cool kats like Snapper Carr were always a cult character. heh

  7. with Cult Characters i find that i like the *idea* of them more than having some great story of theirs that i fondly remember. For me, characters like the Phantom Stranger, Dr. Strange, The Spectre, Cloak and Dagger and Deadman…….I’ve read some of the old stuff, but i don’t have many modern stories to base my fondness of them on. I got back into Superboy (despite my issues with the art) specifically because of the Phantom Stranger. Its always fun to see those cult characters pop up in a current mainstream book, and for me, it turns into a selling point.

  8. Does Amadeus Cho count as a cult character? He may be the only character I know I want to read no matter what–I usually follow creators rather than characters, but I love him!

  9. After going to see the Thor movie this summer I immediately came home and dug out the Simonson run on Thor from the early 80’s. That was some of the most fun I’ve had reading comics in a long time. It’s made me start thinking of making a list of runs that I want to re-read: Peter David’s Hulk, JLI, Grant Morrison’s Doom Patrol and Animal Man just to start.

  10. I got into deadpool when he was a very different character. The Cirlcle Chase mini really cemented my enjoyment of the talkative hired gun. I remember going and getting his first appearance just because I liked the character who was sort of like a mix between spider-man and the Punisher. Now he has become something else, but I still go back and read his older stories when he was the cult character I enjoyed.

    I just tied both of today’s questions into one comment.