Comic book fans like to complain. They like to complain on the internet, a lot! In fact, look, I’m a comic book fan and I’m complaining right now! Obviously comic book fans are not the only type of fan who like to complain. Fans are by definition passionate about the object of their fan love and such passion leads to strong opinions. But in my experience nobody quite reaches the level of incessant, entitled, tiresome whining as your average comic book fan. Recently I observed one fan on Twitter send twenty two tweets in one night to a writer complaining about the direction he’s taking a character. At no point did the writer enter into a discussion with the complainer. It was a completely one-sided rant. Of course, if you’re an artist on the internet then uninvited criticism of your work is to be expected and is not necessarily a bad thing providing it remains polite. And to be fair this particular complainer stopped short of swearing and death threats. But twenty two tweets in one night?! Twenty two! The writer had my sympathy. You have to ask yourself, at what point does it stop being legitimate criticism and become harassment?
One of the most common complaints is also, at least as far as I’m concerned, one of the most ridiculous and obnoxious. I’m referring to “That’s not [insert character]!!!” or “[insert character] wouldn’t do that!!” That particular fanboy whine regarding the treatment of comic characters drives me insane with frustration. Granted, if a comic was published tomorrow featuring Batman dropping his trousers, shuffling into police headquarters and soiling Commissioner Gordon’s desk, then that would be pretty out of character and perhaps some complaints would be justified. But let’s face it, whatever plotline is being moaned about is never as drastic as it’s made out to be. If DC or Marvel were ever to really change their characters so much as to make them unrecognisable then the people above them at Warner Bros and Disney who are trying to flog the branded lunchboxes would have something to say about it.
