Monday, May 05, 2014

Still better than the worst store I've ever seen.


You don't have to wade very deep into the internet, to find fanboys being horrible bastards. Or, and far more entertainingly, you could buy a comic with said horrible bastards instead! Eltingville Club #1, story and art by Evan Dorkin.

The guys in the club, and Joe, the owner of the comic shop, are horrible, horrible people. And bad fans. They're greedy, petty, sexist, stupid, violent assholes. Which makes this so funny. To use a comics analogy they would appreciate, it's like watching Dr. Doom, the Red Skull, and the Mandarin in a slapping match: whoever loses, we win.

There is a moment when a girl--the only one seen in the whole comic--comes into Joe's to try and pick up the new Saga trade. (It's the first page of the preview!) She's ogled until she's creeped out of there, then decried as a "fake geek girl." It's awful, and surprisingly, still happens today. It's tempting to believe fanboys and stores like this are exaggerated, or gone the way of the dinosaurs; and that Dorkin's exaggerating for the comedic effect. Maybe, maybe not. But here's hoping. In the meantime, the worst elements need to be held up to the light and laughed at.

Admittedly, Joe may have a point about the crapshoot nature of maintaining and stocking any sort of comics and merchandise; but even so. On Twitter Dorkin said the next issue would be late, but that's OK. The first issue is going to hold up to a lot of re-readings.

2 comments:

  1. Thankfully that does happen(that I know of) at my store, but I can still see it occurring. It's still mostly a boys club, and until that notion changes, expect more of the same.

    What'd you get for FCBD?
    I already posted my goodies on my blog already.

    Love that last panel btw. I gotta' steal that;)

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  2. Sadly, I can attest to the fact that it DOES still happen. I am fortunate in my beloved local Comic Book Store, but even there, sometimes I'm treated by non-regular customers as some sort of freak.

    *sigh*

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