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I can't add personal anecdotes; I saw and processed their work much the same way eveybody else did. Through their craft. I don't have any special insights into who they were as a person, and what I can say about what their work meant to me... well, others can say basically the same thing more eloquently. (Read \u003CA HRef=\"https:\/\/www.marvel.com\/articles\/movies\/marvel-studios-black-panther-director-ryan-coogler-on-the-legacy-of-chadwick-boseman\"\u003ERyan Coogler's statement\u003C\/A\u003E, if nobody else's.) \u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EIn the case of Chadwick Boseman in particular, I am by far \u003Cb\u003Enot\u003C\/b\u003E the best person to be ulogizing him. Honestly, I'm probably below \u003Ci\u003Eat least\u003C\/i\u003E 13% of the entire US population in terms of being qualified to ulogize him. Because I'm not Black. What I want to do, though, is tell all you white folks out there why Boseman's death is maybe a bit different.  \u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EThe weekend \u003Ci\u003EBlack Panther\u003C\/i\u003E opened, it banked $242 million. However, the initial projections Disney was putting out suggested it'd be closer to $90 million. Disney started seeing box office receipts as they came in, though, and revised their estimates several times over the weekend; but even as late as that Monday, their estimates were \u003Ci\u003Estill\u003C\/i\u003E too low by $25 million!  \u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EWhy? \u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EI wrote about it \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/www.kleefeldoncomics.com\/2018\/02\/on-business-ahead-of-our-modeling.html\"\u003Emore extensively here\u003C\/a\u003E but basically they based their modeling on your typical white audeince member. What they didn't count on -- what their modeling did not take into consideration -- was that 40% of their audience would be Black. That's saying something given that they only make up 13% of the overall population. What Disney did \u003Cb\u003Enot\u003C\/b\u003E take into account was that they weren't just making another Marvel movie, but they were making a Black-written, Black-directed, Black-acted, Black-designed movie set in Africa about Africans. The representation across the board on this movie was phenomenal! So not only did the movie represent \u003Ci\u003Emany\u003C\/i\u003E versions of the Black experience, none of them were filtered through a white lens; everything remained \u003Ci\u003Eauthentically\u003C\/i\u003E Black.  \u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EThat was largely started by Boseman himself when he was cast in \u003Ci\u003ECivil War\u003C\/i\u003E and protrayed the character as a native Xhosa speaker who spoke English with a South African accent. Both of these were his decisions to make the character more authentic. In one sense, he was one player in an ensemble cast movie, but it also followed his lead. Between his own contributions and the fact that he was playing the title character, Boseman was the literal face of \u003Ci\u003EBlack Panther.\u003C\/i\u003E He represented everything about that movie, including all the hopes, dreams, and aspirations that Black people everywhere placed on it. \u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/www.kleefeldoncomics.com\/2017\/10\/on-isms-tears-of-joy.html\"\u003EBack in 2017\u003C\/a\u003E, I said what \u003Ci\u003EBlack Panther\u003C\/i\u003E meant to Black people (even before it was released!) was roughly equivalent to what the Cubs winning the World Series meant to everyone in Chicago. \u003Ci\u003EPanther\u003C\/i\u003E is a movie that celebrates Blackness at every opportunity, but it unapologetically celebrates it in front of everybody.  \u003Cblockquote\u003E\u003Ca href=\"https:\/\/youtu.be\/WTF-TycdAPU?t=350\"\u003EThat roar you heard erupting in Chicago after the Cubs won?\u003C\/a\u003E That was 2.7 million people, the population of the city. The roar you're going to hear when\u003Ci\u003E Black Panther \u003C\/i\u003Ecomes out? That will be coming from the Black population of the US: 42 million people. And it's not just 100 years of not winning a game. It's 250 years of slavery, 100 years of formal segregation, and another 50-some years of less overt but still palpable discrimination.\u003C\/blockquote\u003EBoseman was far more than King T'Challa, of course. Far more than Jackie Robinson and James Brown and Thurgood Marshall. By all accounts, he was a kind and decent man. Far more than a good friend to many, and more than a loving husband to his wife.  \u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EThe Black community did not \u003Cb\u003Ejust\u003C\/b\u003E lose another talented actor. They lost the living embodiment of everything Black Americans have tried to celebrate about themselves for generations. Boseman was able to do that in front of the world and everybody -- for once, everybody -- was able to celebrate that with him.  \u003Cdiv class=\"blogger-post-footer\"\u003E\u003Cp\u003EAnd don't forget that \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/www.patreon.com\/skleefeld\"\u003EI'm running a Patreon campaign\u003C\/a\u003E now, and I would really appreciate your support in helping to continue my comics research.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E"},"link":[{"rel":"replies","type":"application/atom+xml","href":"http:\/\/www.kleefeldoncomics.com\/feeds\/1420726991008940065\/comments\/default","title":"Post Comments"},{"rel":"replies","type":"text/html","href":"http:\/\/www.blogger.com\/comment.g?blogID=19387347\u0026postID=1420726991008940065","title":"1 Comments"},{"rel":"edit","type":"application/atom+xml","href":"http:\/\/www.blogger.com\/feeds\/19387347\/posts\/default\/1420726991008940065"},{"rel":"self","type":"application/atom+xml","href":"http:\/\/www.blogger.com\/feeds\/19387347\/posts\/default\/1420726991008940065"},{"rel":"alternate","type":"text/html","href":"http:\/\/www.kleefeldoncomics.com\/2020\/08\/long-live-king.html","title":"Long Live the King"}],"author":[{"name":{"$t":"Sean Kleefeld"},"uri":{"$t":"http:\/\/www.blogger.com\/profile\/10492399469370737192"},"email":{"$t":"noreply@blogger.com"},"gd$image":{"rel":"http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail","width":"16","height":"16","src":"https:\/\/img1.blogblog.com\/img\/b16-rounded.gif"}}],"media$thumbnail":{"xmlns$media":"http://search.yahoo.com/mrss/","url":"https:\/\/1.bp.blogspot.com\/-tXKRc4pFkqo\/X0xVC291nTI\/AAAAAAAAku8\/SKgGWJlp_Mkzj-dsbK5Ge5Jhzo9vUViJACLcBGAsYHQ\/s72-c\/Djalia-3.jpg","height":"72","width":"72"},"thr$total":{"$t":"1"}},{"id":{"$t":"tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19387347.post-9182520240365404135"},"published":{"$t":"2020-08-27T09:00:00.035-04:00"},"updated":{"$t":"2020-08-27T09:00:07.806-04:00"},"category":[{"scheme":"http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#","term":"fandom"},{"scheme":"http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#","term":"On Fandom"}],"title":{"type":"text","$t":"Find a Community!"},"content":{"type":"html","$t":"\u003Cdiv  style=\"clear: both;\"\u003E\u003Ca href=\"https:\/\/1.bp.blogspot.com\/-Taz45PrJwCw\/X0ck0_ts-rI\/AAAAAAAAks8\/wsb36OBf1AMd_GMGyqTwtwqliAjfGrxigCLcBGAsYHQ\/s750\/BLISS_Comic_Book_Club.jpg\" style=\"display: block; padding: 1em 0; text-align: right;\"\u003E\u003Cimg alt=\"Comic Book Club graphic\" border=\"0\" width=\"320\" data-original-height=\"421\" data-original-width=\"750\" src=\"https:\/\/1.bp.blogspot.com\/-Taz45PrJwCw\/X0ck0_ts-rI\/AAAAAAAAks8\/wsb36OBf1AMd_GMGyqTwtwqliAjfGrxigCLcBGAsYHQ\/s320\/BLISS_Comic_Book_Club.jpg\"\/\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/div\u003EWe're all agreed that Twitter is horrible, right? I mean, yes, I'm on there way too much, probably doing more doomscrolling than I should, \u003CI\u003Ebut\u003C\/I\u003E I do also use it to get actual useful information from comics creators and to keep up with some of my friends. But, even so, there's a lot of horribleness on that platform -- and I don't personally even experience all that much of it! I can't imagine being... well, anyone besides a cishetero white male and having to deal with all the bullshit that gets thrown around there! \u003Cbr\u003E\u003CBR\u003EThe thing is, though, any open platform is going to have some major problems like that. Just by virtue of being open. I'm not saying that to absolve Twitter, certainly -- they aren't doing \u003Cb\u003Enearly\u003C\/b\u003E enough -- but there's always going to be some contigent of garbage that wants to barge in and screw things up for everybody because they're just awful people. \u003Cbr\u003E\u003CBR\u003ELife is kind of like that, though. You meet folks -- through school or work or mutual friends or whatever -- and some of them just are bad people. The problem is that the internet speeds up and amplifies everything, so instead of the one jackass you have to deal with for eight hours a day at work, you've got a couple dozen jackasses to deal with 24\/7 online.  \u003Cbr\u003E\u003CBR\u003EThe flip side to that is that you can connect with some pretty amazing people that you might not otherwise meet because of geography! I'm pretty sure I've mentioned before that in the small town I grew up with, comics fandom consisted mostly of just me. (This was obviously pre-internet.) So I didn't really join a comics community of any sort until I was well into my 20s!  \u003Cbr\u003E\u003CBR\u003EBut let's say you're in a small town like that AND you can't stand being on Twitter because of all the bullshit. The thing is that you can still join a comics community. Maybe it's at the local comic shop. Maybe you don't have a local comics shop, so you meet with some fans at the local library. Maybe you're too isolated to get to a library, you can talk with people on venues OTHER than social media. There are still old school message boards out there! Hell, \u003CA Href=\"https:\/\/www.comicboards.com\/\"\u003Ethe one I helped moderate back in the 1990s\u003C\/A\u003E is still around! You can build your own site and host your own community -- that's what most webcomikers do! \u003Cbr\u003E\u003CBR\u003EMy point is that there are a ton of avenues to connect with other comics folks! That was something I didn't really understand as a kid. I didn't understand why that was important or how to even go about it. But today, in 2020, there are plenty of opportunities. Both in person and online! And you \u003Cb\u003Edon't\u003C\/b\u003E have to deal with all the bullshit on Twitter to connect with folks! But find your people! There's no reason you can't, and a million reasons why you should! If you can't find some folks in comicdom that don't share your particular enthusaisms, you ain't looking!\u003Cdiv class=\"blogger-post-footer\"\u003E\u003Cp\u003EAnd don't forget that \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/www.patreon.com\/skleefeld\"\u003EI'm running a Patreon campaign\u003C\/a\u003E now, and I would really appreciate your support in helping to continue my comics research.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E"},"link":[{"rel":"replies","type":"application/atom+xml","href":"http:\/\/www.kleefeldoncomics.com\/feeds\/9182520240365404135\/comments\/default","title":"Post Comments"},{"rel":"replies","type":"text/html","href":"http:\/\/www.blogger.com\/comment.g?blogID=19387347\u0026postID=9182520240365404135","title":"1 Comments"},{"rel":"edit","type":"application/atom+xml","href":"http:\/\/www.blogger.com\/feeds\/19387347\/posts\/default\/9182520240365404135"},{"rel":"self","type":"application/atom+xml","href":"http:\/\/www.blogger.com\/feeds\/19387347\/posts\/default\/9182520240365404135"},{"rel":"alternate","type":"text/html","href":"http:\/\/www.kleefeldoncomics.com\/2020\/08\/find-community.html","title":"Find a Community!"}],"author":[{"name":{"$t":"Sean Kleefeld"},"uri":{"$t":"http:\/\/www.blogger.com\/profile\/10492399469370737192"},"email":{"$t":"noreply@blogger.com"},"gd$image":{"rel":"http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail","width":"16","height":"16","src":"https:\/\/img1.blogblog.com\/img\/b16-rounded.gif"}}],"media$thumbnail":{"xmlns$media":"http://search.yahoo.com/mrss/","url":"https:\/\/1.bp.blogspot.com\/-Taz45PrJwCw\/X0ck0_ts-rI\/AAAAAAAAks8\/wsb36OBf1AMd_GMGyqTwtwqliAjfGrxigCLcBGAsYHQ\/s72-c\/BLISS_Comic_Book_Club.jpg","height":"72","width":"72"},"thr$total":{"$t":"1"}},{"id":{"$t":"tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19387347.post-9070936845361172962"},"published":{"$t":"2020-08-21T09:30:00.133-04:00"},"updated":{"$t":"2020-08-21T09:30:00.910-04:00"},"category":[{"scheme":"http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#","term":"fandom"},{"scheme":"http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#","term":"On Fandom"}],"title":{"type":"text","$t":"Do You Cull Your Collection?"},"content":{"type":"html","$t":"\u003Cdiv  style=\"clear: both; text-align: center;\"\u003E\u003Ca href=\"https:\/\/1.bp.blogspot.com\/-Wl49seQI2h0\/Xz88_NR2cbI\/AAAAAAAAkqk\/gioBT5WRGtUzNZVvkna8ySQnvS4kPXGgACLcBGAsYHQ\/s500\/toomanycomics.jpg\" imageanchor=\"1\" style=\"clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;\"\u003E\u003Cimg alt=\"Photo of comics overflowing throughout a room\" border=\"0\" data-original-height=\"362\" data-original-width=\"500\" height=\"232\" src=\"https:\/\/1.bp.blogspot.com\/-Wl49seQI2h0\/Xz88_NR2cbI\/AAAAAAAAkqk\/gioBT5WRGtUzNZVvkna8ySQnvS4kPXGgACLcBGAsYHQ\/w320-h232\/toomanycomics.jpg\" width=\"320\" \/\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/div\u003EThe thing about comic book collectors is they collect comics. I mean, that sounds obvious on the face of it, but what that means is that they go out and obtain comics, and then keep them. Maybe they buy new comics every week at their local comic shop, or they only go to conventions to pick up back issues, or they just order trade paperbacks from Amazon, or they back a lot of Kickstarter projects. However they get them, the point is that there's an ongoing influx of comics being added to their collection. And with that comes storage. \u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EWhen I was eleven, I had a subscription to \u003Ci\u003EThe Fantastic Four\u003C\/i\u003E and that was pretty much the extent of my collecting. I got one new comic each month, and very, very occasionally a handful of others if Mom had a little extra pocket change and I was being really whiney at the grocery store. Between the two, let's call it 20 comics a year. Storing 20 comics is not a big deal. You could drop those as a stack on the kitchen table and it wouldn't cause too much of an issue. \u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EAfter five years of that, though, you've now got 100 comics. It's not impossible to find room for 100 comics, but that's probably enough that if you tried just dropping them on the kitchen table, you wouldn't be able to just slide them to side a bit to have lunch. They could still pretty easily fit in a short box, but you're now starting to consider their space and size, and how much room they take up.  \u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EBut hey, we added five years to an 11-year-old. That's a sixteen-year-old now. One who can drive and works part-time at McDonald's. That single title subscription is now six titles. And instead of begging Mom for pocket change, McDonald's allows for discretionary income, meaning more purchasing power and more regular trips to the comic shop. So instead of 20 comics per year, we're looking at maybe 100 comics per year. Under the original premise, it would've taken fifteen years to fill a single long-box. Now, it's down to three years. Three years to figure out where you're going to put another long-box isn't a terrible endeavor, but it's certainly more thought-consuming in terms of storage logistics than a single long-box over a decade-plus. \u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EWhere I'm going with this is that the more comics you buy, the more storing them becomes a concern. Because not only do you have to consider where you're going to put all these new comics you just got, but that's \u003Ci\u003Ein addition to\u003C\/i\u003E the ones from before that you were already storing! If this keeps happening throughout your life -- you keep buying comics -- you eventually start run up against the financial constraints of storing them. You've bought as many bookshelves as you can fit in your home, the books on the shelves are all two or three deep, plus there's two or three more books lying horizontally across the tops of everything else too. You're now essentially running up against three options... \u003Col type=\"1\"\u003E\u003Cli\u003ECreate additional storage space in your home   \u003C\/li\u003E\u003Cli\u003ERent a storage unit at another location   \u003C\/li\u003E\u003Cli\u003EGet rid of some of your collection   \u003C\/li\u003E\u003C\/ol\u003EMe, personally, I have yet to intentionally do #3. I lost a long-box full of comics in a flood back when I was in college, and I've gotten rid of some duplicate books I wound up with, but I've never sat down and thought, \"I should sell some of my comics to make more space.\" The first one I did once basically by selling one house and buying another; I didn't do it \u003Ci\u003Ein order to\u003C\/i\u003E get more storage space for my comics, but I did take advantage of that opportunity. I have tried renting storage space, as well, but that was a consciously temporary endeavor while I was moving.  \u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EWhat I don't know, though, is which of those three methods might be more common than the others. When folks run out of space for their comics, how do most people handle that? I see some people selling their comics online, often with a distinct \"I need to make more space\" type of message, but I have no sense of how common that is against other options. \u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EPlease do me a favor, and in the comments, let me know if\/when you found yourself running out of space to store your collection, and how you tackled it. One of the three options here, or maybe a combination? Or maybe something else entirely that I haven't thought of! I'm genuinely curious what might be more\/less common.\u003Cdiv class=\"blogger-post-footer\"\u003E\u003Cp\u003EAnd don't forget that \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/www.patreon.com\/skleefeld\"\u003EI'm running a Patreon campaign\u003C\/a\u003E now, and I would really appreciate your support in helping to continue my comics research.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E"},"link":[{"rel":"replies","type":"application/atom+xml","href":"http:\/\/www.kleefeldoncomics.com\/feeds\/9070936845361172962\/comments\/default","title":"Post Comments"},{"rel":"replies","type":"text/html","href":"http:\/\/www.blogger.com\/comment.g?blogID=19387347\u0026postID=9070936845361172962","title":"2 Comments"},{"rel":"edit","type":"application/atom+xml","href":"http:\/\/www.blogger.com\/feeds\/19387347\/posts\/default\/9070936845361172962"},{"rel":"self","type":"application/atom+xml","href":"http:\/\/www.blogger.com\/feeds\/19387347\/posts\/default\/9070936845361172962"},{"rel":"alternate","type":"text/html","href":"http:\/\/www.kleefeldoncomics.com\/2020\/08\/do-you-cull-your-collection.html","title":"Do You Cull Your Collection?"}],"author":[{"name":{"$t":"Sean Kleefeld"},"uri":{"$t":"http:\/\/www.blogger.com\/profile\/10492399469370737192"},"email":{"$t":"noreply@blogger.com"},"gd$image":{"rel":"http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail","width":"16","height":"16","src":"https:\/\/img1.blogblog.com\/img\/b16-rounded.gif"}}],"thr$total":{"$t":"2"}},{"id":{"$t":"tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19387347.post-9163047110367305521"},"published":{"$t":"2020-08-20T09:30:00.027-04:00"},"updated":{"$t":"2020-08-20T09:30:05.965-04:00"},"category":[{"scheme":"http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#","term":"fandom"},{"scheme":"http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#","term":"On Fandom"}],"title":{"type":"text","$t":"Super Inspiration"},"content":{"type":"html","$t":"I don't know that I've actually mentioned it on my blog here, but shortly after I put it on hiatus back in 2018, I was hit by a car. I was just crossing the street on the way to work, and this guy zipped around the corner and plowed right into me. Shattered my left leg, and broke and dislocated my right shoulder. I was in the hospital for three weeks, and wheelchair-bound for another 7-8 weeks after that. I literally had to learn how to walk again.  \u003Cbr\u003E\u003CBR\u003ENot surprisingly, that put a bit of a crimp in my ability to run as well. Before the accident, I would run a six-mile-run four days a week, and I trained for and ran a full marathon every year. That's well over a thousand miles of running every year. I'd have to replace my running shoes every 3-4 months.  \u003Cbr\u003E\u003CBR\u003ERight now? With a lot of effort, I can do a three-mile-run three days a week.  \u003Cbr\u003E\u003CBR\u003EThat I can run at all is amazing, I think, but it's still frustrating not to be able to push myself in the ways that I did just a couple years ago. When I get to a mile-and-a-half now, I feel like I used to when I'd get to 10 or 12 miles before.  \u003Cbr\u003E\u003CBR\u003E\u003Cdiv style=\"clear: both; text-align: center;\"\u003E\u003Ca href=\"https:\/\/1.bp.blogspot.com\/-GxEVuVzS4hw\/Xz3wlcH2_bI\/AAAAAAAAkqE\/FT77rJVB6GUl2pvzIeDgc5OZCn3EweDiwCLcBGAsYHQ\/s1323\/2870058-Hero-Envy-Thing-vs-Dr-Doom1.jpg\" style=\"clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;\"\u003E\u003Cimg alt=\"Thing vs Dr. Doom\" border=\"0\" data-original-height=\"1323\" data-original-width=\"900\" height=\"328\" src=\"https:\/\/1.bp.blogspot.com\/-GxEVuVzS4hw\/Xz3wlcH2_bI\/AAAAAAAAkqE\/FT77rJVB6GUl2pvzIeDgc5OZCn3EweDiwCLcBGAsYHQ\/w222-h328\/2870058-Hero-Envy-Thing-vs-Dr-Doom1.jpg\" width=\"222\" \/\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/div\u003EBut, because I grew up reading superhero comics, I keep heading out. Running until my feet hurt, and my lungs can't take in any more oxygen, and I'm wring-your-shirt-out soaked with sweat. And I look at the road ahead of me, and I start moving again. Why? Because that's what The Thing would do. That's what Batman would do. That's what Monkey D. Luffy would do. They will fight until their literal last breath, and then summon the willpower to get up and keep charging ahead. \u003Cbr\u003E\u003CBR\u003EThat's the beuaty of superheroes, of course. It's not the super-speed or flight or whatever other amazing powers they possess, but that they have an indominable spirit that challenges us, the readers, to live up to their example. You're never going to get blasted by cosmic rays and gain fantastic stregth. No matter what you do, you'll never be able to become Superman. Or Spider-Man. Or even Green Arrow. Those characters are all fictional ideals to inspire us to be better, not to aspire to become. \u003Cbr\u003E\u003CBR\u003E\u003Cdiv  style=\"clear: both; text-align: center;\"\u003E\u003Ca href=\"https:\/\/1.bp.blogspot.com\/-Qs_QkEACfK0\/Xz3yvI5YH2I\/AAAAAAAAkqQ\/ukh9719npKww69FVUoPLpJmH06_pfahdACLcBGAsYHQ\/s1879\/DTITKoLVAAAbpLS.jpg\" imageanchor=\"1\" style=\"clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;\"\u003E\u003Cimg alt=\"Batman vs. Ra's al Ghul\" border=\"0\" data-original-height=\"1879\" data-original-width=\"1280\" height=\"328\" src=\"https:\/\/1.bp.blogspot.com\/-Qs_QkEACfK0\/Xz3yvI5YH2I\/AAAAAAAAkqQ\/ukh9719npKww69FVUoPLpJmH06_pfahdACLcBGAsYHQ\/w223-h328\/DTITKoLVAAAbpLS.jpg\" width=\"223\" \/\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/div\u003EThat's actually a curious notion, too. I have several superhero-themed songs on my running playlist, and I think about this every time one pops up -- all these superheroes that I use for inspiration? They're not real. Superman is never going to swoop down to save the day. Batman is never going to come to the rescue. Which means I have to be my own superhero. I can't rely on Spider-Man, no matter how friendly he is or who's neighborhood I'm in. He's just not coming. \u003Cbr\u003E\u003CBR\u003ESo I'm looking to these heroes to tell me how to be better for myself, because they're fictional and will be unable to help me for real. There's a bit of irony in there, I think. Pushing yourself towards a fictional ideal because the proponents of that ideal are themselves fictional.  \u003Cbr\u003E\u003CBR\u003EI read comics about superheroes as a kid because their adventures were fun and exciting, and showed the power behind the proverbial never-ending battle. I read comics about superheroes as an adult because their adventures are fun and exciting, and show the willpower behind humanity's never-ending struggles. And while that doesn't make the next three miles I need to run any easier, it does make them more attainable.\u003Cdiv class=\"blogger-post-footer\"\u003E\u003Cp\u003EAnd don't forget that \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/www.patreon.com\/skleefeld\"\u003EI'm running a Patreon campaign\u003C\/a\u003E now, and I would really appreciate your support in helping to continue my comics research.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E"},"link":[{"rel":"replies","type":"application/atom+xml","href":"http:\/\/www.kleefeldoncomics.com\/feeds\/9163047110367305521\/comments\/default","title":"Post Comments"},{"rel":"replies","type":"text/html","href":"http:\/\/www.blogger.com\/comment.g?blogID=19387347\u0026postID=9163047110367305521","title":"0 Comments"},{"rel":"edit","type":"application/atom+xml","href":"http:\/\/www.blogger.com\/feeds\/19387347\/posts\/default\/9163047110367305521"},{"rel":"self","type":"application/atom+xml","href":"http:\/\/www.blogger.com\/feeds\/19387347\/posts\/default\/9163047110367305521"},{"rel":"alternate","type":"text/html","href":"http:\/\/www.kleefeldoncomics.com\/2020\/08\/super-inspiration.html","title":"Super Inspiration"}],"author":[{"name":{"$t":"Sean Kleefeld"},"uri":{"$t":"http:\/\/www.blogger.com\/profile\/10492399469370737192"},"email":{"$t":"noreply@blogger.com"},"gd$image":{"rel":"http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail","width":"16","height":"16","src":"https:\/\/img1.blogblog.com\/img\/b16-rounded.gif"}}],"thr$total":{"$t":"0"}},{"id":{"$t":"tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19387347.post-568551442227966704"},"published":{"$t":"2014-04-11T09:00:00.000-04:00"},"updated":{"$t":"2014-04-11T09:00:13.844-04:00"},"category":[{"scheme":"http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#","term":"On Fandom"}],"title":{"type":"text","$t":"On Fandom: What's in a Collection?"},"content":{"type":"html","$t":"\u003Cdiv class=\"separator\" style=\"clear: both; text-align: center;\"\u003E\u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/4.bp.blogspot.com\/-tAI546DYRYU\/U0dVkJjnJGI\/AAAAAAAASCk\/eoIaWaGNXt4\/s1600\/wintersoldier.jpg\" imageanchor=\"1\" style=\"clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;\"\u003E\u003Cimg border=\"0\" src=\"http:\/\/4.bp.blogspot.com\/-tAI546DYRYU\/U0dVkJjnJGI\/AAAAAAAASCk\/eoIaWaGNXt4\/s320\/wintersoldier.jpg\" \/\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/div\u003ELet's say you had zero comics. Maybe you read them as a kid and gave them up years ago, but after seeing the Captain America movie, you decide you might want to see what they're like these days. A combination of nostalgia and curiosity. So you go into a bookstore and pick up one of the trades. Now you have one graphic novel. You'd hardly call that a collection, would you? You can't have a collection of one. \u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EBut let's say you really liked what you read. So you go back to the store and pick up another book. (That makes two for any of you who are mathematically challenged.) Is that a collection? Probably not.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EYou get a third book. Then a fourth. And a fifth...\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EAt what point do these individual books become a collection? Certainly by the time you get to, say, a hundred. But how many define it as a collection? \u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EIs it even a set number? Is it, instead, a percentage of the overall possible? It doesn't count as a collection until you have, say, 20% of all the Captain America books out there. If that were the case, would you count just Captain America trades or include the comics as well? And if you include the comics, would that be all of the series, including \u003CI\u003ECaptain America Comics\u003C\/I\u003E from the 1940s? \u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EAnd at what point does it go from a graphic novel collection to a Captain America collection? When you get a Cap action figure? Or a movie poster? How much Captain America stuff do you need beyond the comics to qualify as a collection? \u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EOr, as yet another alternative, is it more of a mindset? Does it not count as a collection at all if you don't care about Captain America and just inherited a bunch of books from an uncle who passed away? Conversely do two items make it a collection if you're really, really, really, really into them? Is it more about intent than realization?\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EI think that's really the key: intent. Not everyone has the same resources to get all the same stuff. Consider what you were able to get as a 10 year old compared to what you can get now. You almost certainly have more resources now, and probably a much greater number of comics than you did then. But that doesn't make your 10 year old self's collection any less valid! Because you were still out there, trying to get what you could with whatever meager finances you had. Just like you're still trying to get whatever you can with whatever finances you have, meager or not. \u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003ESomething to dwell on when you find yourself comparing your collection to someone else's. \u003Cdiv class=\"blogger-post-footer\"\u003E\u003Cp\u003EAnd don't forget that \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/www.patreon.com\/skleefeld\"\u003EI'm running a Patreon campaign\u003C\/a\u003E now, and I would really appreciate your support in helping to continue my comics research.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E"},"link":[{"rel":"replies","type":"application/atom+xml","href":"http:\/\/www.kleefeldoncomics.com\/feeds\/568551442227966704\/comments\/default","title":"Post Comments"},{"rel":"replies","type":"text/html","href":"http:\/\/www.blogger.com\/comment.g?blogID=19387347\u0026postID=568551442227966704","title":"1 Comments"},{"rel":"edit","type":"application/atom+xml","href":"http:\/\/www.blogger.com\/feeds\/19387347\/posts\/default\/568551442227966704"},{"rel":"self","type":"application/atom+xml","href":"http:\/\/www.blogger.com\/feeds\/19387347\/posts\/default\/568551442227966704"},{"rel":"alternate","type":"text/html","href":"http:\/\/www.kleefeldoncomics.com\/2014\/04\/on-fandom-whats-in-collection.html","title":"On Fandom: What's in a Collection?"}],"author":[{"name":{"$t":"Sean Kleefeld"},"uri":{"$t":"http:\/\/www.blogger.com\/profile\/10492399469370737192"},"email":{"$t":"noreply@blogger.com"},"gd$image":{"rel":"http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail","width":"16","height":"16","src":"https:\/\/img1.blogblog.com\/img\/b16-rounded.gif"}}],"media$thumbnail":{"xmlns$media":"http://search.yahoo.com/mrss/","url":"http:\/\/4.bp.blogspot.com\/-tAI546DYRYU\/U0dVkJjnJGI\/AAAAAAAASCk\/eoIaWaGNXt4\/s72-c\/wintersoldier.jpg","height":"72","width":"72"},"thr$total":{"$t":"1"}},{"id":{"$t":"tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19387347.post-4732598833952857991"},"published":{"$t":"2014-04-04T09:00:00.000-04:00"},"updated":{"$t":"2014-04-04T09:00:09.647-04:00"},"category":[{"scheme":"http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#","term":"On Fandom"}],"title":{"type":"text","$t":"On Fandom: Organization? In My Collection?"},"content":{"type":"html","$t":"Let's say you have a collection of comics. And let's say that it includes a mix of pamphlets and graphic novels and manga. And let's say you want to store it all in such a way that you can find what you're looking for relatively easily. So how do you organize all that?\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EAt a basic level, there are three (somewhat) obvious ways to sort all these. First is alphabetical by title. Second is alphabetical by creators' names. I think these first two methods could work pretty well, and the only reason to prefer one over another is your personal focus. If you're a big fan of Batman, it probably makes sense to keep all the Batman titles together. If you're a big fan of Jack Kirby, it might make more sense to keep all the books that he worked on together. A third method would be to organize them all chronologically, but I think that would become awkward with more contemporary works where a single story might be spread out over several issues and, if you've got more than one monthly title you're dealing with, that could get challenging to keep straight.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003ERegardless, here's a quirk you immediately have to deal with if you're using long boxes to store your pamphlets: a lot of graphic novels don't fit in long boxes. Many do, and I've seen plenty of folks who store tradebacks in with monthly floppies. But many don't. \u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EAnd going in the opposite direction isn't easy either. Sure, your typical manga can fit in a long box, but they're so short and narrow comparatively that you wind up wasting a ton of space. Not to mention possible damage to your floppies if they're pushing up against and start bending over the smaller manga. \u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EI think many fans come to the same conclusion: that you just have to store them separately. Oh, sure, you could put your pamphlets on a bookshelf in and amongst your graphic novels, but it's much, much hard to sort through them since they (generally) don't have a spine thick enough to include any identifying information. \u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EOK, so long boxes for your comics, and bookshelves for your grapic novels. Maybe a separate bookshelf for your manga, as you run into that wasting space issue on the regular bookshelves as well. \u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cdiv class=\"separator\" style=\"clear: both; text-align: center;\"\u003E\u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/2.bp.blogspot.com\/-Ms7EeU8EkYQ\/Uz4xDFDtTmI\/AAAAAAAASBI\/Vr8uADQCdho\/s1600\/completeelfquest.jpg\" imageanchor=\"1\" style=\"clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;\"\u003E\u003Cimg border=\"0\" src=\"http:\/\/2.bp.blogspot.com\/-Ms7EeU8EkYQ\/Uz4xDFDtTmI\/AAAAAAAASBI\/Vr8uADQCdho\/s200\/completeelfquest.jpg\" \/\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/div\u003EBut then we have another concern: what to file each book as. Even within the idea of \"alphabetical by title\" sometimes that can be challenging to determine. For example, I've got twelve ElfQuest graphic novels. The first four books are from one publisher and the next eight are from another. Furthermore, the second four were issued a full decade before the third four and came out under a slightly different set of branding. So if I listed them in strict alphabetical order, I would put the books containing chapters 5-8 first, then the books containing chapters 1-4 before finally getting to chapters 8a-11a. (The numbering there poses yet another problem!) \u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EAnd here's another issue: oversized books. I've got about two dozen books that don't even fit on my largest shelves! Am I supposed to build shelves big enough for those books simply in order to have them alphabatized with my \"normal size\" graphic novels? \u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EI was cataloguing and storing some books over the weekend, and I bemoaned on Twitter that I wish I had a library sciences degree to help sort everything. Carol Tilley (you know, the woman who debunked all of Wertham's bullshit last year?) engaged me a bit about how I could still go back for an MLS degree. She actually has a PhD in Information Science and, on top of her teaching duties, has a pretty active hand in library science journals and such. All of which is to emphasize that she knows more than a thing or two about library sciences. Do you know what she said when I noted I was having trouble with some obscure titles? \u003CCenter\u003E\u003Cblockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" lang=\"en\"\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Ca href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/skleefeld\"\u003E@skleefeld\u003C\/a\u003E I think very little would help you in that quest. Ppl who do serials cataloging and management are wizards of the highest level.\u003C\/p\u003E\u0026mdash; Carol Tilley (@CarolGSLIS) \u003Ca href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/CarolGSLIS\/statuses\/449557403219267584\"\u003EMarch 28, 2014\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/blockquote\u003E\u003Cscript async src=\"\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"\u003E\u003C\/script\u003E\u003C\/center\u003EThis coming from a librarian who loves comics and wrote her doctoral dissertation on \"How Youth Services Librarians Responded to Comics Between the Years 1938 and 1955\"!\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EYou know, I used to scratch my head over comic shop owners who sorted their long boxes, as near as I could tell, by alphabatizing whatever the largest word on the cover of any given issue was. \u003CI\u003EAction Comics\u003C\/I\u003E would be listed under \"S\" and \u003CI\u003EDetective Comics\u003C\/I\u003E was under \"B.\" After getting pretty sick of sorting this past weekend, I realized that I threw \u003Ci\u003EAlfred Bester's The Stars My Destination \u003C\/i\u003EVolume 1 right next to \u003CI\u003EThe Complete Alfred Bester's The Stars My Destination\u003C\/I\u003E. And both of them are listed under \"S\" despite the word \"Complete\" and Bester's name being part of the formal titles. I kind of don't wonder about those comic shop owners any more. After all, if folks with a doctorate in sorting exactly this type of stuff out can't figure it out, I'm pretty sure I'm not going to solve the problems any time soon.\u003Cdiv class=\"blogger-post-footer\"\u003E\u003Cp\u003EAnd don't forget that \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/www.patreon.com\/skleefeld\"\u003EI'm running a Patreon campaign\u003C\/a\u003E now, and I would really appreciate your support in helping to continue my comics research.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E"},"link":[{"rel":"replies","type":"application/atom+xml","href":"http:\/\/www.kleefeldoncomics.com\/feeds\/4732598833952857991\/comments\/default","title":"Post Comments"},{"rel":"replies","type":"text/html","href":"http:\/\/www.blogger.com\/comment.g?blogID=19387347\u0026postID=4732598833952857991","title":"2 Comments"},{"rel":"edit","type":"application/atom+xml","href":"http:\/\/www.blogger.com\/feeds\/19387347\/posts\/default\/4732598833952857991"},{"rel":"self","type":"application/atom+xml","href":"http:\/\/www.blogger.com\/feeds\/19387347\/posts\/default\/4732598833952857991"},{"rel":"alternate","type":"text/html","href":"http:\/\/www.kleefeldoncomics.com\/2014\/04\/on-fandom-organization-in-my-collection.html","title":"On Fandom: Organization? In My Collection?"}],"author":[{"name":{"$t":"Sean Kleefeld"},"uri":{"$t":"http:\/\/www.blogger.com\/profile\/10492399469370737192"},"email":{"$t":"noreply@blogger.com"},"gd$image":{"rel":"http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail","width":"16","height":"16","src":"https:\/\/img1.blogblog.com\/img\/b16-rounded.gif"}}],"media$thumbnail":{"xmlns$media":"http://search.yahoo.com/mrss/","url":"http:\/\/2.bp.blogspot.com\/-Ms7EeU8EkYQ\/Uz4xDFDtTmI\/AAAAAAAASBI\/Vr8uADQCdho\/s72-c\/completeelfquest.jpg","height":"72","width":"72"},"thr$total":{"$t":"2"}},{"id":{"$t":"tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19387347.post-5844524404648079411"},"published":{"$t":"2014-03-28T09:00:00.000-04:00"},"updated":{"$t":"2014-03-28T09:00:03.755-04:00"},"category":[{"scheme":"http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#","term":"On Fandom"}],"title":{"type":"text","$t":"On Fandom: Who Watches the Watchmen's Watchers?"},"content":{"type":"html","$t":"\u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/www.kleefeldoncomics.com\/2014\/03\/on-isms-something-positives-happening.html\"\u003EYesterday\u003C\/a\u003E, I was looking at C2E2's increased attention to traditionally marginalized groups. In looking through the material they have on that, I also came across this description for another panel...\u003Cdiv class=\"separator\" style=\"clear: both; text-align: center;\"\u003E\u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/1.bp.blogspot.com\/-dnLas4OSpqw\/UzTu8kNH45I\/AAAAAAAAR-w\/6cTPyEhmqCg\/s1600\/ghostery.png\" imageanchor=\"1\" style=\"clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;\"\u003E\u003Cimg border=\"0\" src=\"http:\/\/1.bp.blogspot.com\/-dnLas4OSpqw\/UzTu8kNH45I\/AAAAAAAAR-w\/6cTPyEhmqCg\/s200\/ghostery.png\" \/\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003CBlockquote\u003EA Data-Driven Comic Universe\u003Cbr \/\u003EGhostery users have a unique visibility into the data collection technologies that are spread across the web. For independent\/digital comic producers, these technologies are essential tools to supporting their art; but for privacy-minded users, they can raise serious concerns. How can comics live on the web without killing reader privacy?\u003C\/blockquote\u003EThe presenter is the \"Senior Product Strategist\" for Ghostery. Who or what is Ghostery, you ask?\u003CBlockquote\u003EGhostery is a browser tool available for Firefox, Chrome, Safari, Opera, Internet Explorer, as well as a standalone app available for iOS. It scans the page for trackers - scripts, pixels, and other elements - and notifies you of the companies whose code is present on the webpage you are visiting. Usually, these trackers aren’t visible, and they are often hard to find in the page source code. Ghostery allows you to learn more about these companies and their practices, and block the page elements from loading if the user chooses.\u003C\/Blockquote\u003EA big part of convention panels is to help promote whatever it is you're doing, so I've got no qualms there. It's no different than any of the Marvel or DC panels in that regard. But what I find interesting is that 1) there was at least one guy who thought that data privacy was an issue\/concern for comic book\/pop culture fans enough to warrant pitching the panel idea, and 2) the ReedPop folks agreed. \u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003ESo what does that say about the state of comic fandom?\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EWell, the most obvious thing is that fandom is decidedly more technological than it used to be. Back in the day, data privacy (not that the phrase was even used) meant that you were mildly concerned if you had a letter printed with your address in the back of a comic. These days, of course, even the most oblivious comic fans know that you need to supply more personal information than that to get an account with Facebook or comiXology. The issue of data privacy is much greater than that, of course, as you can tell just from reading that Ghostery description.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EBut there's also greater engagement with both other fans, as well as the sites you frequent. These corporations (they're usually corporations) can follow what you're doing online, but they can also help tailor your overall experience. Did you know, for example, that if you and I do a Google search on the exact same word or phrase at the same time, that we'll get different results? Because Google knows what you've searched on in the past and, more significantly, they know what you've \u003CI\u003Eclicked\u003C\/I\u003E on in the past. So they present results that try to address what would best answer \u003CI\u003Eyour\u003C\/I\u003E specific search query, based on your historical interests.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003ESo what that means is that you should have at least some greater sense of awareness of what's being tracked, by whom, and why. Frankly, that can be said of everyone these days, not just comic fans, but there are specific relevancies to comic fans that might warrant closer scrutiny. What's comiXology tracking? And Amazon? And, for that matter, ReedPop?\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EI don't know if this one panel will be useful or not, but I do find it fascinating that we're at a point in fandom's overall history where this type of thing is being discussed openly and to a broad population. In any event, I'm going to try to attend the panel, and see what I can learn. More knowledge, even if it does skew towards a single company, isn't a bad thing.\u003Cdiv class=\"blogger-post-footer\"\u003E\u003Cp\u003EAnd don't forget that \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/www.patreon.com\/skleefeld\"\u003EI'm running a Patreon campaign\u003C\/a\u003E now, and I would really appreciate your support in helping to continue my comics research.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E"},"link":[{"rel":"replies","type":"application/atom+xml","href":"http:\/\/www.kleefeldoncomics.com\/feeds\/5844524404648079411\/comments\/default","title":"Post Comments"},{"rel":"replies","type":"text/html","href":"http:\/\/www.blogger.com\/comment.g?blogID=19387347\u0026postID=5844524404648079411","title":"0 Comments"},{"rel":"edit","type":"application/atom+xml","href":"http:\/\/www.blogger.com\/feeds\/19387347\/posts\/default\/5844524404648079411"},{"rel":"self","type":"application/atom+xml","href":"http:\/\/www.blogger.com\/feeds\/19387347\/posts\/default\/5844524404648079411"},{"rel":"alternate","type":"text/html","href":"http:\/\/www.kleefeldoncomics.com\/2014\/03\/on-fandom-who-watches-watchmens-watchers.html","title":"On Fandom: Who Watches the Watchmen's Watchers?"}],"author":[{"name":{"$t":"Sean Kleefeld"},"uri":{"$t":"http:\/\/www.blogger.com\/profile\/10492399469370737192"},"email":{"$t":"noreply@blogger.com"},"gd$image":{"rel":"http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail","width":"16","height":"16","src":"https:\/\/img1.blogblog.com\/img\/b16-rounded.gif"}}],"media$thumbnail":{"xmlns$media":"http://search.yahoo.com/mrss/","url":"http:\/\/1.bp.blogspot.com\/-dnLas4OSpqw\/UzTu8kNH45I\/AAAAAAAAR-w\/6cTPyEhmqCg\/s72-c\/ghostery.png","height":"72","width":"72"},"thr$total":{"$t":"0"}},{"id":{"$t":"tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19387347.post-4940861215353605545"},"published":{"$t":"2014-03-21T09:00:00.000-04:00"},"updated":{"$t":"2014-03-21T09:00:02.841-04:00"},"category":[{"scheme":"http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#","term":"business"},{"scheme":"http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#","term":"On Fandom"}],"title":{"type":"text","$t":"On Fandom: The Aw Yeah Comics Anniversary Bash"},"content":{"type":"html","$t":"This past weekend, I attended \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/www.awyeahcomics.com\/\"\u003EAw Yeah Comics\u003C\/a\u003E' (the store) Second Anniversary Bash. A month or two back, a cousin of mine said that he had noticed this kind of new comics shop open near him and was wondering if I'd ever been to it. I hadn't -- it's \u003CI\u003Ejust\u003C\/I\u003E out of the way enough to be a little inconvenient for me -- but I was certainly aware of it and wanted to at least stop by to check it out at some point. Then he suggested that if\/when I decide to do that to let him know, so that he could check it out too. He appreciates local shop owners and wants to help support them, but he hadn't been in a comic book shop for a couple of decades and wouldn't know where to start. Well, since I knew their anniversary party was coming up, I suggested we target then.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003ESo we met at the shop around 8:00\/8:30 in the evening, a good hour and a bit after things kicked off. My cousin kind of got wrapped up into a conversation with Marc Hammond (who co-founded the place and I think handles the day-to-day management) as he was walking in. Then we grabbed a couple drinks and started looking around. \u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cdiv class=\"separator\" style=\"clear: both; text-align: center;\"\u003E\u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/3.bp.blogspot.com\/-1eyqWFNGYVA\/UyuTPBl20sI\/AAAAAAAAR6k\/6tDY6Rmko28\/s1600\/aw-yeah-comics2.jpg\" imageanchor=\"1\" style=\"clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;\"\u003E\u003Cimg border=\"0\" src=\"http:\/\/3.bp.blogspot.com\/-1eyqWFNGYVA\/UyuTPBl20sI\/AAAAAAAAR6k\/6tDY6Rmko28\/s320\/aw-yeah-comics2.jpg\" \/\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/div\u003EThey had pushed the center shelves that housed some toys and a few long boxes to one wall to allow for a little more movement, but you could still tell that it was a generally open atmosphere most of the time, even with the coffee table and comfy chairs in the center. The place was packed with people, though, and they seemed to have a great turnout. Which made for a great atmosphere, but a tad difficult to do a whole lot of browsing. From what I could see, though, it was a really nice shop with a good mix of material available. Very friendly and inviting layout and colors and such. If it were closer, I could easily see myself being a regular there.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EMy cousin and I spent about three hours there. Mostly chatting with each other about various aspects of pop culture. Everything from the general badassery of Batman to economics of serialized pamphlets relative to bound collections. We chatted with a few of the other patrons, one of whom \u003CI\u003Emay\u003C\/I\u003E have convinced my cousin to attend a con. And before we left, he browsed around to pick up a few things. (He ended up with a \u003CI\u003EWalking Dead\u003C\/I\u003E TPB to see how it stacked up against the show, a \u003CI\u003EWonder Woman\u003C\/I\u003E issue for his girlfriend who's a big fan but mostly by way of Lynda Carter, and a signed G-Man posted for a co-worker who's nicknamed \"G-Man.\" I picked up a stack of TPBs for \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/www.supermooc.org\/\"\u003EChristina Blanch's current SuperMOOC\u003C\/a\u003E.) \u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EHammond checked us out, and we chatted a bit more with him. About the signed Kristen Bell photo he's got on the back wall, the other shop who was stocking up on various issues of \u003CI\u003EAw Yeah Comics\u003C\/I\u003E (the comic book) while we were there, their mailing list... But what stood out to me was Hammond's response to our saying that we had a great time and it seemed like a great place. He said that they try to hold parties like this pretty regularly and make it just a fun place to be. And that most of the people who were there that night -- the ones who were casually chatting and drinking like old friends -- most of those people didn't know each other six months ago. These parties not only were there to drum up new business, but also to help create and cement relationships. \u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EWhat kind of goes unsaid with that is that they're working to make Aw Yeah Comics (the store) a destination in and of itself. Sure, you can buy the latest issue of \u003CI\u003EAction Comics\u003C\/I\u003E there, but they're establishing the store as a place to go. You can get your comics from any of a number of places, but you go to Aw Yeah (the store) so you can hang out with the other people who go to Aw Yeah (the store), some of whom are comic creators in their own right. The shop isn't a means to an end, it's its own end.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EI don't know how much money the laid out for this party, but they seemed to have plenty of drinks and snacks for everyone. And I expect most of the people there would come to the store regardless if they had parties or not. So it wasn't really a \"necessary\" business expense, and one that I haven't seen too many shops employ. It costs money, and probably doesn't show any direct returns. But it goes a long way to fostering a community. A group of people who come together, not just as comic fans, but as fans of the shop itself.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EAnd even though it's a business decision here, it's one based on a very genuine sense of kinship and getting in touch with their audience. That leads to a kind of shop loyalty that you don't see in many other industries, and probably very few within comics. I've been arguing this comics-shop-as-destination model for several years now, and it's great to see it executed so well and working exactly as it should. \u003Cdiv class=\"blogger-post-footer\"\u003E\u003Cp\u003EAnd don't forget that \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/www.patreon.com\/skleefeld\"\u003EI'm running a Patreon campaign\u003C\/a\u003E now, and I would really appreciate your support in helping to continue my comics research.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E"},"link":[{"rel":"replies","type":"application/atom+xml","href":"http:\/\/www.kleefeldoncomics.com\/feeds\/4940861215353605545\/comments\/default","title":"Post Comments"},{"rel":"replies","type":"text/html","href":"http:\/\/www.blogger.com\/comment.g?blogID=19387347\u0026postID=4940861215353605545","title":"3 Comments"},{"rel":"edit","type":"application/atom+xml","href":"http:\/\/www.blogger.com\/feeds\/19387347\/posts\/default\/4940861215353605545"},{"rel":"self","type":"application/atom+xml","href":"http:\/\/www.blogger.com\/feeds\/19387347\/posts\/default\/4940861215353605545"},{"rel":"alternate","type":"text/html","href":"http:\/\/www.kleefeldoncomics.com\/2014\/03\/on-fandom-aw-yeah-comics-anniversary.html","title":"On Fandom: The Aw Yeah Comics Anniversary Bash"}],"author":[{"name":{"$t":"Sean Kleefeld"},"uri":{"$t":"http:\/\/www.blogger.com\/profile\/10492399469370737192"},"email":{"$t":"noreply@blogger.com"},"gd$image":{"rel":"http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail","width":"16","height":"16","src":"https:\/\/img1.blogblog.com\/img\/b16-rounded.gif"}}],"media$thumbnail":{"xmlns$media":"http://search.yahoo.com/mrss/","url":"http:\/\/3.bp.blogspot.com\/-1eyqWFNGYVA\/UyuTPBl20sI\/AAAAAAAAR6k\/6tDY6Rmko28\/s72-c\/aw-yeah-comics2.jpg","height":"72","width":"72"},"thr$total":{"$t":"3"}}]}});