Back when I first got into comic books, superhero movies were just becoming mainstream. I got really frustrated since all the movies tied together but every comic seemed to be doing its own thing. Eventually I got tired of not understanding the lore… And decided to read every major event from DC and Marvel.
One day I realized I basically couldn’t talk to any casual comic book fan anymore. Sometimes I’ll start, but since the “incident” I don’t let myself go too far. The “incident” being that one day I thought I was having a friendly chat with another comic fan, when I reality I was straight monologuing. This guy was too polite to walk away and listened to me detail all the DC crisis points in order for an hour. It’s become one of my most embarrassing moments. So now, I’m not allowed to talk about comics for more than 5 minutes and only if the other person shows actual genuine interest.
When I was a little kid my parents had to sit me down and teach me the “non verbal cues” for when someone wants out of a conversation: no eye contact, weak or no confirmation (“oh yeah?” “And then what?” vs “uh huh”), and flat body language. It was sorely needed information at the time, and to this day I still occasionally run through a checklist if I catch myself getting too fired up about something or other.
Back when I first got into comic books, superhero movies were just becoming mainstream. I got really frustrated since all the movies tied together but every comic seemed to be doing its own thing. Eventually I got tired of not understanding the lore… And decided to read every major event from DC and Marvel.
One day I realized I basically couldn’t talk to any casual comic book fan anymore. Sometimes I’ll start, but since the “incident” I don’t let myself go too far. The “incident” being that one day I thought I was having a friendly chat with another comic fan, when I reality I was straight monologuing. This guy was too polite to walk away and listened to me detail all the DC crisis points in order for an hour. It’s become one of my most embarrassing moments. So now, I’m not allowed to talk about comics for more than 5 minutes and only if the other person shows actual genuine interest.
When I was a little kid my parents had to sit me down and teach me the “non verbal cues” for when someone wants out of a conversation: no eye contact, weak or no confirmation (“oh yeah?” “And then what?” vs “uh huh”), and flat body language. It was sorely needed information at the time, and to this day I still occasionally run through a checklist if I catch myself getting too fired up about something or other.