Who are you?

I mean, who are you as a comic book reader? This column can help you figure that out. Even if you aren’t a comic reader yourself, this column can help you understand those of us who are. Note that I’m not talking about types of collectors (that’s a whole other column).

What I’m presenting here aren’t hard and fast categories either. Rather, I’m presenting axes in a multidimensional hyper-space, and we all exist within this continuum. I’m avoiding distinct separate categories because all of us are different and we need flexibility to define ourselves. So each of us comic readers falls partly into different groups. You probably lie a little more in some categories, and a little less in others. (And perhaps more in some than you might like to admit.) With that, I give you…

The Types:

The Generalist (G): The generalist loves the comic book medium. He/she reads anything he/she enjoys from super-hero to western to romance from any publisher in any format. The generalist loves discovering new titles and new genres.

The Super-Hero Only (SHO): The SHO loves super-hero stories. She/he reads comics to read super-hero stories. The SHO is more interested in the super-hero genre than the comic book medium. She/he tends towards the Big Two (Marvel and DC) but not exclusively.

The Independent Only (IO): The IO is different and proud of it. He/She doesn’t read anything from the Big Two because the stories published by Marvel and DC are too mainstream. The IO only likes books that would be classified as “alternative” by most people. The IO tends to be a bit snobbish.

The Creator Follower (CF): The CF is a fan of a creator (or possibly a creative team). The CF has her/his favorite writer or artist and he/she buys any books touched by that creator. Publisher, genre and format are irrelevant.

The Everything Is Crap But I Still Read It All Anyway (EICBISRIAA): The EICBISRIAA lives to complain. She/he is only happy when complaining about how awful a comic book character, publisher, creator, format or any other thing is. And yet, the EICBISRIAA buys and reads a large number of books every week. The EICBISRIAA respects only her/his own opinion and anyone who disagrees with her/him is a “moron” or a “Ricky Retardo”.

I think I’m 20% G, 50% SHO, 5% IO, 20% CF, and 5% EICBISRIAA.

How about you? Let me know where you fall in the comic reader’s type continuum.

Who are you?

I mean, who are you as a comic book reader? This column can help you figure that out. Even if you aren’t a comic reader yourself, this column can help you understand those of us who are. Note that I’m not talking about types of collectors (that’s a whole other column).

What I’m presenting here aren’t hard and fast categories either. Rather, I’m presenting axes in a multidimensional hyper-space, and we all exist within this continuum. I’m avoiding distinct separate categories because all of us are different and we need flexibility to define ourselves. So each of us comic readers falls partly into different groups. You probably lie a little more in some categories, and a little less in others. (And perhaps more in some than you might like to admit.) With that, I give you…

The Types:

The Generalist (G): The generalist loves the comic book medium. He/she reads anything he/she enjoys from super-hero to western to romance from any publisher in any format. The generalist loves discovering new titles and new genres.

The Super-Hero Only (SHO): The SHO loves super-hero stories. She/he reads comics to read super-hero stories. The SHO is more interested in the super-hero genre than the comic book medium. She/he tends towards the Big Two (Marvel and DC) but not exclusively.

The Independent Only (IO): The IO is different and proud of it. He/She doesn’t read anything from the Big Two because the stories published by Marvel and DC are too mainstream. The IO only likes books that would be classified as “alternative” by most people. The IO tends to be a bit snobbish.

The Creator Follower (CF): The CF is a fan of a creator (or possibly a creative team). The CF has her/his favorite writer or artist and he/she buys any books touched by that creator. Publisher, genre and format are irrelevant.

The Everything Is Crap But I Still Read It All Anyway (EICBISRIAA): The EICBISRIAA lives to complain. She/he is only happy when complaining about how awful a comic book character, publisher, creator, format or any other thing is. And yet, the EICBISRIAA buys and reads a large number of books every week. The EICBISRIAA respects only her/his own opinion and anyone who disagrees with her/him is a “moron” or a “Ricky Retardo”.

I think I’m 20% G, 50% SHO, 5% IO, 20% CF, and 5% EICBISRIAA.

How about you? Let me know where you fall in the comic reader’s type continuum.