WARNING: The following column contains Walking Dead spoilers for no reason at all, just because it feels transgressive. Oh, and Civil War spoilers, too, but nobody cares. (See below.)
For Kirkmaniacs, things have never been so precarious. This may be the end of an era.
Last weekend, like everyone too old to dress as a ninja turtle and panhandle for candy, I was up late with the lights out watching AMC’s new show, The Walking Dead. It was everything I hoped it would be and more; it captured all the things I like about the book, and it turns out my problems with the book are instantly fixed by nothing more than having people act it out. (For some reason—maybe because I’ve been conditioned to expect disembowelment, cannibalism and savagery every three issues or so—I never truly connect with a lot of the characters on the page. In some cases, they’ve been in the book for years and I still don’t know their names. But cast an actress in the role of that character and have her speak the lines, and it literally puts a human face on something I used to think of as nothing more than a plot point.) I was at the edge of my seat throughout the premiere episode despite the fact that, where the story was concerned, essentially eighty percent of it was something I’d already read years earlier.
My laptop is never far from me in the living room, and I had to laugh as I reflexively glanced at Twitter throughout the broadcast. Every time I looked over, half the people I follow had posted something about what was happening on the screen. “OH SNAP SHANE IS TOTALLY DRINKING YOUR KOOL AID,” etc.
“Isn’t it funny?” I thought. “The first issue of The Walking Dead came out in 2003, and you’re still not allowed to discuss what happens in it among polite company without being banished to the edge of the village. The first episode of the show? People are livetweeting spoilers before it even airs on the west coast.”
Then I thought, “Oh. Oh! This is going to keep happening every week, isn’t it? So much for the Magic Kirkman Spoiler Bubble.”
What is it about Robert Kirkman that makes spoiling his books a capital offense in an era when I know what happens in most comics three months before they come out? A force field of “SHHHHH!” extends over everything he does. What power does he have over us? What infernal enchantment has he ensorcelled us with? To recite a spoiler from Walking Dead or Invincible is to have the power to make grown people plug their ears with their fingers in public, dropping plates of food to do so if necessary. Why, The Astounding Wolf-Man was so spoiler-proof I never heard anyone mention it at all.
I would have loved to read Kurt Busiek’s Thunderbolts years late without knowing the surprise twist, but nobody gives a good goddamn. When Captain America died, and when Spider-Man unmasked during Civil War, I had both issues spoiled for me by Marvel. They put out press releases that made headlines hours before my shop even opened. It literally was not possible for me to read them. Those, people had spoiled and said, “Eh, whaddya gonna do?” Go up to those same people and ask, “Did Rick lose his hand first, or did his wife and baby die first?” and before you catch your breath your head will be on a pike at the city gate as a warning to others. This for an issue that came out, what, five years ago?
The bubble is trying with all its might to extend to the show. I was just reading Paul’s wonderful recap/review of last night’s episode when I saw the warning, ”For the sake of those who haven't read the entire comic series, please refrain from spoiling major events from far down the line.”
What?
For every POW podcast or Special Edition movie thread I can ever remember seeing on this site, the policy has been, “It’s all detailed descriptions of the last three pages from here on out, so tough luck, hucklebuck! Spoilers ahoy!”
Of course, we’re also very anti-solicitation reading around here, and arguably book readers going into the TV show threads with their black-and-white Nostradamus visions is a lot more like that dirty pool of spoiling things that haven’t “happened” yet. Still… it’s like he’s got something on us.
It’s partly an acknowledgement of how many people read his work in trade paperbacks or other collected editions. Something about his writing makes an unusually large number people want to save it up for annual digestion, like a turducken. You may say, “Well, that’s the way I’m reading Dark Avengers, so don’t mention it,” but, well, see above re: hucklebuck. Majority rules.
Maybe it’s a testament to what separates the indies from the Big Two or Three. If someone dies in most books, it’s a stunt that pays off with next summer’s resurrection miniseries. Knowing that Batman "dies" absolutely could not matter less. When Rick loses a limb in The Walking Dead, no cyberneticist will be replacing it at STAR Labs next issue. It’s gone. It counts.
Maybe it also has something to do with the way these books are written. Not to dismiss Kirkman's characterizations or the acting work of Mssrs. Ottley and Adlard, but from where I’m sitting these books are a lot more about what happens than they are about how it happens or how it affects the books’ casts. I was late to the Kirkman party, but his books (Invincible more than Walking Dead) have a pace about them that is not quite on my frequency; he writes like he’s got somewhere else to be. That may imbue the comics with a visceral energy, but it also makes it hard for me to connect with the people in them, leaving only, “Oh my God, Michonne has got to get away from The Mayor!”
No matter why it exists, the Magic Kirkman Spoiler Bubble is fascinating to watch. A key component of the online comics community, the thing that brings us all here, is the ability to get together and talk about what we read, and yet there is this weird, bearded anomaly right in the middle of the room. I’m not studying it so I can pop the Bubble; if anything, I’d like to reverse-engineer it so I can bubble up some of my other books.
Jim Mroczkowski knows a spoiler for every book Marvel is currently publishing: it’s canceled as of issue #6.
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In some ways its like sports. There are some athletes whom everything they do is scrutinized because of how they conduct themselves off field. If they have a good game, its not good enough. They get torn apart on the talking head shows. A bad game is even worse. If they are a diva, they can do no right. If its one of the "good guys" who has a bad game he gets a free pass and no mention at all because they want him to do well.
I think for comics its similar in that there are the creators everyone kinda loves and roots for who put out good work constantly and are good to their fans. With that comes mass respect and i think thats where the spoiler bubble thing comes from.
Great article as always, Jimski
Also, Hulk Hogan=Awesome no matter how you frame it.
I’ve only read the first 12 issues of The Walking Dead. That no spoiler policy is there for ME. 😛
I hate the Walking Dead Bubble. It’s irrational and stupid, and I wish it would stop. Especially for issues/plot points that happened years ago.
I’d like to read this, but it has Walking Dead spoilers, so I can’t (Perhaps that’s why Walking Dead spoilers are so uncommon???)
Fun article Jim. I think the main reason people don’t like to have Walking Dead spoiled is that almost anything can happen and when it doesthere is some major shock value attached. You mention Rick’s arm in your post, but the really massive stuff (*cough*governor*cough*prison) is just so f-ed out the a that if it got spoiled a major reason for reading would be gone.
Also, I think the fact that a lot of people are trade-waiters on Kirkman’s stuff effects this even more. At my shop almost twice as many people by WD in trades as opposed to issues. If the singles readers went around shouting spoilers from the rooftops it would severely impact my enjoyment of the book.
You make an excellent point. I never really thought about it because I only discuss WD with other readers. Now that I’m watching the series with non-reader friends, it’s difficult/incredibly empowering being the one in the room saying "I can’t tell you that! Keep watching!" Though I was forced to shut down a friend of mine who boasted that the smartest thing to do would be to head for a prison. To which I had to say "They do head for a prison! It doesn’t work out as full-proof as you think, genius. Keep watching!"
Part of Kirkman’s magic is that he’s a fanboy turned creator. He’s already thought of everything the smarty-pants can conjur up, and he’s either chosen to ignore it or (in most cases) proven why it wasn’t a good idea after all. My only hope is the show lasts a long time so my friends can eventually see the reveals I can only smile mysteriously about.
Keep the bubble alive!
What I’ve always assumed led to this fact of comics, was that a larger portion of people read TWD and Invincible in trade as opposed to other books. Many people find Kirkman’s books to read fast. So they enjoy them better in trade form. Also, if you started on them in trade form, as many did, it’s a hard transition slowing down to single issues. With that being the case, people stick with the trades. When with other books, when people catch up, they jump on to the singles. Other factors help as well. Like what Jim said about Marvel and DC stuff being too hard to avoid if you wanted to. But I think mostly it’s that Kirkman’s series are likely some of the highest % trade-waited books out there.
Ron burst the Invincible spoiler bubble on the PotW podcast this week. The spoilers are usually tame in those but the one they did this week was a doozy:(
Damn. I’ve been spoiled. Thats what I get for reading in hardcover. Thanks Jim.
I think the spoiler-proof bubble also extends to Fables, also. To me, the common denominator is that most people read those books primarily in trade. Because you never know where anyone is in their personal reading progression, it is common courtesy to not spoil anything.
Oh, and by the way, I’ve only read the first trade of Walking Dead, so… "What?!? Rick loses his hand?!?" Aw, crap! I’ve been spoiled!
That’s not all he loses. 😉
I never spoil thing for those three (WD,Invincible,Fables) if it has not been released in trade yet since so many fans read it in that form. That being said, if you happened years ago or you only read the hard covers, stay away from articles on the show or book. If is really to avoid forum discussions about that topic or just skip past that section of the podcast. If it is THAT important that you want to avoid all types of spoilers, maybe trade waiting isnt what you should be doing.
Plus, major characters never really die in Invincible, there are never any huge changes in the status quo….much sooner than later, everything always goes back to the status quo.
I don’t really understand the hierarchy for spoilers, but I am under the impression that tweeting spoilers during the first airing of a show is generally considered bad form, too. I mean, people do it but people respond by bitching about it, which I imagine is basically the same sort of ‘penalty’ for spoiling the comic. Also, I figured out that Rick’s wife died ages ago just because of people saying "and then a really terrible thing happened which we won’t mention", which almost 100% of the time means somebody’s wife or girlfriend died.
The answer to this question is easy: most books are so predictable that they spoil themselves. In Kirkman’s books there are few sacred cows. It is always surprising when he changes the game. In other books the game almost never changes.
Great article. I love the analysis of "stunt spoilers." I hadn’t considered the fact that Rick’s losing his hand or deaths in Walking Dead affected me because I know it is for good and most of these things happening in mainstream super hero books would be for dramatic effect, but are ultimately diluted by the fact that they will often be reversed. I was moved when Captain America or Hawkeye died (hope I didn’t spoil anything for you) but I also knew that both would be back within 18 months. There is a genuine storyline-changing feeling when something happens in Walking Dead. You know that when someone dies it is for good.
So it’s inherently more dramatic to have terrible permanent things happen to characters you don’t necessarily care about than less permanent things happen to characters that you do?
@ohcaroline: Who said anything about not caring about characters in WALKING DEAD?
It was more of a hypothetical.
I would have read this article, but I’m behind in Invincible and Walking Dead… better safe than sorry.
if powers are involved, anything can be revearsed or retconned. Not with WD, if it happens it happens. I accidentally had that thing that happened to Rick in woodbury (hes all right now) spoiled for me very early on, it wasnt a huge deal but i was always ready for it from then on out.
I general I hate the no spoiler thing on any media released years ago. You try and talk about a movie released in the 80′ or 90’s and somebody is all "don’t talk about it, I haven’t seen it yet". It’s been 15 frickin years, you never going to watch it, who cares if I talk about it.
Certain characters die in The Walking Dead and I care far more than I care for any dead super hero.
That is it for that character.
They gone forever from that literary world never to kill another zombie, interact with another character or experience some horrible thing in their own special way.
I’m a individual who hates spoilers period, it doesn’t matter the medium. When certain events happened in Walking Dead, or Invincible, or in a movie I’ll say I’m glad I was not spoiled. I do find it irratating that people live tweet during new shows, but that can be solved by staying off twitter during that time period. I think it should just be common courtesy to not spoil things on purpose, in other words don’t be a dick
hucklebuck?