Why Twitter comes naturally to me...

I’ve moved quite a few times in my life. Basically, throughout my formative years, I moved four times (and five times total for six different locations). At age 6, at age 11, at age 12, and age 18, I moved to entirely different states and communities. From Houston, Texas to Fargo, North Dakota, to Long Island, New York to College Station, Texas, and having recently settled (and going on five years) in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, it’s clear that the places are…diverse.

Quite possibly the last picture taken of me before my rigorous moving cycle began...

Now, the reason I’m telling you this is because I think these moves have resulted in a strong passion for social media and, specifically, a social medium like Twitter. Many of my friends seem to struggle with the concept of Twitter. Part of that is because I currently live in Sioux Falls, where we’re occasionally a few months to a few years behind many communities in terms of technology and things of that nature. Another reason, however, is that many of my friends don’t understand the benefit of having numerous friends in numerous locations.

This makes me think back to my days of junior high and high school. Specifically, the cafeteria. Now, most people grow up with their childhood friends and they sit with those friends every day at lunch from first grade through their senior year of high school. But, when you’ve left your childhood friends behind to move into uncharted territories, you don’t have the luxury of lifelong friends. The result? For me, it was floating around to various places and hanging out with various people. Different lunch tables meant different conversations, different learning experiences, and different elements of life to appreciate.

This process continued after I moved to Sioux Falls for college. Different class schedules on different days meant I was spending time with different people. Although I might spend a Friday night celebrating a victory with the Men’s Basketball Team, I was just as likely to turn around and spend that Saturday night hanging out with all of the theatre friends I made while taking Theatre 220 (an acting class…which was a unique experience in itself that I recommend everybody do at some point in their lives). Or, I may have just spent the weekend with my regular, non-acting, non-athlete friends and had a great time going to a Twins game in Minneapolis or hitting up a Joey Ryan & The Inks concert in Dinkytown.

Here I am, rockin' a Twins game with friends @Hale_Storm & @brennifresh

The bottom line – My life has almost always been a social one that involves many different people in many different places at any given time.

Enter Twitter.

Suddenly I’m presented with an online version of what my life has always been. Now, I can make friends with people in different states (which eventually lead to the realization that inspired this post), come across new people who live here in Sioux Falls, or I can reconnect with friends from the past, all in a much more direct and open way than I could do through Facebook or regular, old-fashioned e-mails.

Twitter is basically a huge win for me – it gives me the usual benefits of moving (new friends, new thoughts, new avenues in life to pursue), without the downside of moving (moving). That’s not to say I don’t intend to move again at some point in my life. Although it’s usually not easy, moving has been ingrained in my life as a necessary element. Especially when South Dakota ends up being colder than 32 degrees five months a year. The only thing that could be worse is if polar bears lived here too.

Social media does for me what moving used to do for me. It allows me to open new doors and new conversations, ultimately forming new relationships with people all over the world. In the last few months alone, I’ve been able to discover new music, new TV shows, and entirely new mindsets, all as a result of listening to others and sharing my thoughts with the world.

So, if you enjoy Twitter and other online media services, I'm curious - What do they do for you? How do you use a social network like Twitter? Is it strictly business, is it meeting new people, or is it a reason you can’t quite put your finger on? I’d love to hear your thoughts, so leave a comment and let me know what you’re thinking.

-“…said I dig ya baby, but I gotta keep movin’…on…keep movin’ on…”

Dude to Dad: One man's social media journey into fatherhood...

I’ve had some exciting things happen in the last few days. The most exciting of which was posting this blog post about Marvel Comics’ dominant social media presence on the internet and then finding out that Marvel’s Editor-in-Chief, Joe Quesada, passed it around to folks at the Marvel office (I even have the tweets to prove it, here, here, and here) and THEN having the Marvel Twitter account tweet it for everyone to read.

That completely rocks my world. Especially since that was not even in the least bit an expected result. As a long-time comic book fan (if I could find my homemade childhood Spider-Man and Captain America Halloween costume pictures, I'd post them here), my head just about exploded.

Thankfully it didn’t, and I’m back to post again. This time, it’s about a social media presence on which I am actually working. The concept is called “Dude to Dad,” and it’s the brainchild of my friend (and future boss) Hugh Weber.

Hugh decided that, seeing as he’ll be a father in fewer than 100 days, he needed to soon make the transition from “Dude” to “Dad,” by the time his child was born. Unfortunately, many of the “books” you can buy regarding this subject are more or less based on helping the mother-to-be during her pregnancy and not so much based on being a not-crappy father.

So, Dude to Dad is Hugh’s real-life journey into fatherhood, and it will be told through videos, tweets, blogging, and the Ning-created social networking site, dudetodad.com. The videos, which I personally think are hilarious (I’ll embed the intro video below if you’d like to see for yourself) are a huge part, but another major area we’re focused on is the back-and-forth discussion taking place on the site’s forum section. We want to know what makes a good “Dad” (both from the male and female perspectives), how difficult it is to transition from the ever-enjoyable “Dude” phase of life (I promise that is NOT me), and any other bits of information Hugh (and all dudes to dads) should know during this terrifying journey into dadhood.

Find more videos like this on Dude to Dad


So what role do I play in this shenanigans-filled combination of humor, true-life experiences, and fellowship, cooperation, and unity of soon-to-be fathers? Well, as a 22-year-old with no intentions of becoming a father anytime soon, I will be serving as Hugh’s “Dude Wingman,” and representing the urges of “dudeness” that he will need to be overcoming as he makes his transition.

Also, on a more technical note, I’ll be serving as the social media presence, site maintainer, writing editor, rap song parody writer (you don’t even know what’s coming), and eventual video guest star. I'll also help maintain the Dude to Dad Twitter account and Facebook page, all in the name of helping dudes become dads. It’s going to be an awesome ride and I definitely hope you’ll join us for it. Dude, dad, dudette, or anything else, you’re welcome to join us at dudetodad.com today and contribute to the site, the discussion, or anything else to which you care to contribute.

I could use some backup in the realm of Dude Wingmen as well, so if you’re young and not planning on being a dad anytime soon (like me), help me come up with ways to challenge Hugh to overcome the pratfalls of dudedom (all with the purpose of helping him become a better father, of course).

Bottom line, this is a big project and I’m looking forward to taking it on and changing the way dads grow into fatherhood. I hope to be on the path from Dude to Dad someday, and I have a feeling that Dude to Dad will be the first place to which I turn for advice, guidance, and friendship. Especially if this initial run goes well for Hugh. I guess we’ll find out together as we go...

P.S. - I'll go ahead and embed the latest video (which features Barack Obama, by the way). It's a pretty sweet video if you ask me:



-Then to my knees and I begged the Lord please…let me be a good daddy , all he needs…”

Marvel - The most "powerful" social media presence on the web...

Social networking and social media make my life fantastic. Hours of my day spent on Twitter, Facebook, MySpace, and various blogs are actually considered “work” for me. Concepts like this drive people like my dad (killer 'stache, pops) crazy because “it just doesn’t make sense.”

But it rocks my face off. And pays me dollars. What a great, great combo!

Consequently, many organizations have yet to grasp the concept of exactly what New Media can do for them. However, a few companies have managed to approach and enter the doors that new, social, and online media can open for them, and I’d like to point one out as having done this very successfully.

The company to which I’m referring is my life-long (metaphoric) friend, Marvel. Yes, Marvel as in Marvel Comics. Here’s why (and don't forget to click a link or two)…


The Marvel Twitterverse…

Marvel isn’t just on Twitter…it basically dominates Twitter. 80+ affiliates of Marvel (comic writers, artists, art directors, editors, online creators, audio and video production staff, interns (EDITOR'S NOTE: @ldnallen721, as formerly linked to on the "interns" link, is NOT an intern, she is a web developer...my sincerest apologies...I only know past interns like@nogs), Skrulls, and more...even Senior VPs!) range from light/moderate usage to downright living on Twitter (much like myself) in terms of the number of tweets they send out. Courtesy of @Agent_M (arguably the most active-online facet of Marvel.com’s editorial staff), the Twitterverse has been blessed with a bevy of benevolent Twitterers who are willing to share their lives online (and, consequently, draw me in even closer to the organization that is Marvel). Beyond that, the Marvel account itself (@Marvel on Twitter) is constantly present and available to share new developments, teasers, links, and, most importantly, the account actually ENGAGES Marvel fans by answering questions and sharing in conversations with its 2,500+ Twitter supporters (yes...that's Marvel telling me that it loves me).

On the flipside, I don’t know if the Distinguished Competition (DC Comics) even has a single Twitter account. If so, it hasn’t caused much of a buzz at this point as far as I can tell. Which is quite typical of them, but we’ll get to that later.

Bottom line, @Agent_M got on Twitter long before many people in general, and Marvel has reaped the benefits of being willing to let him encourage anyone and everyone to jump on and share a more personal side of the organization. They’re also wise enough to use Twitter to find stellar interns and other talented individuals in order to stay atop the comic book industry.

Marvel and Facebook/MySpace…

Another thing Marvel does very well is cover its bases with the older social networking sites like our dear friends Facebook and MySpace (both of which are networks you’ll quickly abandon once you spend a few weeks on Twitter). Not only do they use these sites effectively, but they also work hard to incorporate various methods of keeping fans engaged. For example, a Marvel employee might ask for questions for the weekly “MyCup o’ Joe" Q&A with Marvel Editor-In-Chief Joe Quesada via Twitter. Those questions, asked for on Twitter, can then end up being asked in the Q&A which is featured on the website. This engagement takes you beyond having an interview shoved in your face and creates a conversation between the fan and the Marvel organization. As a comic book fan, having your question asked to Marvel’s Editor-in-Chief is just sweet (I mean…the dude goes on the Colbert Report all the time). The next step they take is putting these interviews up on MySpace, adding links on Facebook, and, most importantly, keeping all of these networks fresh and updated. Marvel works hard to accomplish this, which is certainly no easy task for a company that creates comics, movies and TV shows, video games, toys, exclusive interviews, exclusive art, and dozens of other things I could link to if I had time.

Bottom line: Marvel maintains a strong presence on various internet fronts. And that’s not even on the Marvel.com site itself…

The Marvel.com site…

Speaking of the Marvel.com site, just check it out. Marvel.com presents, provides, and shares as much content as any other company’s website you can find on the internet. From news releases to writer and celebrity interviews to wallpapers to games (and an entire site devoted strictly to kids), Marvel.com is vast, powerful, and full of reasons to keep coming back. Most importantly, the comments and replies are unrestricted. If you don’t like a certain comic, let that comic's editor know in the comment section of his blog. If you loved the Iron Man movie, share your thoughts on an Iron Man news story comment section. It’s all open (although I believe it might be edited to keep out profanity/vulgarity/etc.), and that’s what makes Marvel’s leap into the social media world even more impressive. Right now, in December, 2008, the number of companies willing to be that transparent is very small in the relative sense of how many companies in the world have an online presence.

The rest of Marvel’s depth…

Beyond these social and online media elements of the site, Marvel does plenty of other stuff to engage people. From the entertaining Mighty Marvel Podcasts (hosted by Twitterer @Suterman himself) to an EXTENSIVE Online Digital Comics archive (where you can read thousands of comics straight from your computer) to other cool, fan-interactive tools like @Agent_M’s CoverItLive liveblogging at some of the recent ComicCons (comic conventions…which are awesome…just ask Johnny Drama), Marvel is unafraid to dabble in all sorts of new technologies. This leads me to believe that they will continually be on the cusp of technology in relation to the comics industry and beyond. Which is awesome as a Marvel Comics fan.

Last (and probably least)…

This is the website for DC (Marvel’s largest rival): http://www.dccomics.com/

No, I’m not kidding. That’s it. For the company with the second largest market share of the comic book industry, that is what they consider an online presence (apparently they do a podcast, but I couldn't find them on Facebook or MySpace or Twitter). My instincts tell me that they MUST have a site revamp coming sometime in the near future but…if not…wow…

Even non-comic fans can agree - it's "Spectacular"...

Honestly, I challenge you to find companies with such an engaged, engaging, and innovative online presence as Marvel. I’m sure you’ll come across a few that can compare, but I honestly doubt you’ll find many that surpass Marvel by much. You may not be a comic book fan, but in an age when forming tribes, communities, and conversations is a key to business success, Marvel has managed to do so with a group of individuals who are fiercely loyal, with or without superpowers. On that, I commend them. And thank them.

So, if you have any examples of good social media efforts, I'd love to see them in the comments section. Disagree with my post? Let me know. Want to talk about comics? Drop me a line. I could talk about comics all day, so I'd be happy to discuss them with you. Share your thoughts and I'll be happy to respond, no matter what the topic may be.

And now, I’m off to go spend too much of my money on the non-digital aspect of Marvel - comic books.

“I’ve been browsin’, inspectin’…X-Men comics, you know I collect ‘em…”

UPDATE (12-5-2008): It has come to my attention that Marvel's Editor-in-Chief, Joe Quesada, is now on Twitter (@JoeQuesada). That is so awesome. Not that it was in question, but I will forever be making mine Marvel...

UPDATE 2 (12-16-08): As of today, DC has joined Twitter with the name @DC_Nation. A little late to the party, but it's still a better late than never kind of thing and I can commend them for starting now. They just have a LOT of ground to make up. Make mine Marvel, either way!

We may be alumni, but we're NOT old!

For the past six months, I worked on a political campaign.

That is NOT, however, what this post is about. I’m just letting people know that my posts were few and far between (and for awhile, locked up) simply because I didn’t want anything I had written on my personal blog to be held against my unbelievable boss, South Dakota’s 2008 Republican U.S. House candidate Chris Lien. Not that I had much to hide, other than my thoughts on why comic books aren’t just for kids and why men shouldn't have to put down the toilet seat (although I’m sure someone could probably find some way to turn that into sexism in one way or another…good thing I locked it up).

I served the campaign as the official “New Media Director,” running the campaign’s blog, social networks, mass e-mails, and other online duties, and I’m now pursuing new ventures, not necessarily politically-related.

I do, however, plan to continue a career in social media and online community-building in some way or another. One project I will be taking on (as I rashly decided in a light bulb flash of excitement last night) should be a really fun one and I would love input from anyone reading.

The plan is to create a (NOT-officially named) Young Alumni Sports Fan Organization of some sort for my alma mater, Augustana College. Augie is small and it’s in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, so don’t feel bad if you haven’t heard of it. Many people haven’t. By many people I mean millions of people. In fact, more people have probably heard of the band Augustana than the school Augustana…the band, unfortunately, is in no way related to my alma mater.

Anyway, the project will involve engaging recently graduated alumni who still have that fiery, “Augieholic” passion for its athletic teams but aren’t able to express that passion because they are sitting next to 94 year olds that don’t like when people yell things like “That’s garbage, ref!” or “Aiiirrrbaaallll!” (seriously…a woman once chastised us for yelling “airball” at an opposing player because “it’s just so mean”…I wish I could say I were kidding…).

Since I'm not a student, I can no longer do things like this...

...but that doesn't mean I have to sit with people who watch games like this...

So...the plan is to get all of these “Past our Senior Year, but not quite in our senior years” students to sit in the same general location in the arena or gym rather than interspersed throughout the stands with James Naismith’s high school friends. The plan also involves creating a shirt, or various shirts, that have expressions like “Who needs class?...We’re alumni!”, potentially creating and maintaining an e-news letter, and, if we want to get really serious and it’s worthwhile, creating a social network on Ning for the group. We would also try to do real-life things like pre-game or post-game celebrations at a local sports bar on game nights (for football, pre-game tailgating, obviously).

I have every intention of making this happen and I’d be thrilled to see some comments with recommendations for which steps YOU would be sure to take if you were to create something like this. I’d also love to read your thoughts on what it would take from an organizer to get YOU involved in such an effort as a recently-graduated sports fan. Insight in both areas would be much appreciated and respected.

One great suggestion I received on Twitter came from my friend (and frequent blog-commenter) Holli, who mentioned that I should already begin discussing this opportunity with current Augustana College seniors in order to involve them next year. It was a great thought that I (hopefully) probably would have thought up on my own at some point down the line, but her input helped me rethink my approach immediately as the project, in my head, had been entirely alumni-centric until that point. While this won’t be an easy venture, I look forward to trying to make it happen and I hope you’ll be willing to share your thoughts on the matter.

I’ll be doing some more frequent posting now that I’m back in the personal blogging business, so I’m excited to get back in the rhythm of normal life. Hope you all are doing well, and don’t forget to leave your comments and thoughts!

“I’m takin’ it back to the old school, cause I’m an old fool, who’s so cool…”

An unlikely conversion...

Growing up, I thought baseball was the most boring sport in the world. It took forever, nothing exciting happened, and when it did, I didn’t particularly care because I didn’t have a “favorite team” in the first place. It was basically a sport that was on when basketball wasn’t (which is probably one more reason I didn’t particularly care for it).

I still played it growing up, but enjoyed it about as much as I enjoyed pre-season conditioning in high school basketball. For the record, I did not enjoy pre-season conditioning in high school basketball. But I did it anyway. Needless to say, not having a team to support and not enjoying the actual playing of the sport left me quite jaded about baseball.

Also, I sucked at the Nintendo 64 Ken Griffey Jr.’s Major League Baseball in junior high (watch the intro, then skip to about 4:20 to see the gameplay and you'll understand), and that’s like…the best baseball game of all time. So that was always a degrading procedure when I’d have to play that game with my friends and lose 14-1.

After living that many years not liking baseball, you’d think I would have hated it by the time I was in college.

Well…I did. And, worse, I was in a region where everybody within 450 miles worshipped the same team. Always having been a guy who supported teams that nobody in the area liked (Arizona Wildcat college basketball ((and AZ Wildcat Softball)) and the Chicago Bears while living in Texas), it was mind-numbingly painful to see these Minnesota Twins-obsessed fans who were all infatuated with both a team and, more specifically, a sport that I truly couldn’t stand.

Those weird Twins fans understood (and loved) stuff like this...

Befriending the obsessed...
Well, turns out I ended up rooming with possibly the most Minnesota sports-loving person in the entire region (yeah…it’s like something out of a cheesy sitcom). I mean, my roommate could tell you the hometowns and high school baseball stats of guys who are on the Twins minor league teams. He knows the high school and college football stats for probably 90% of the Minnesota Vikings. He lives and dies with every Minnesota Golden Gopher touchdown, wrestling pin-fall, and hockey goal.

Although I clicked with him better than probably anyone on the campus of Augustana College, we were exact opposites when it came to sports.

But…after a full year of listening to him tell me about Minnesota Twins trades, players sent down to and brought up from the minor leagues, and season-ending injuries that would devastate the team, I realized that I knew the entire Twins roster without seeing a single game. I was also fascinated by the fact that there were individual players in Major League Baseball who, for one season, were paid almost half as much as the Twins ENTIRE roster's total payroll. And the Twins were still somehow playoff contenders.

So, I figured I should give them a chance.

The conversion...
It just so happened that I began to disprove my entire life’s schema about baseball. It might have been the fact that my roommate, who I genuinely enjoyed being around, watched games every night in our room and it was easier to just sit and watch them than it was to leave. It might have been the fact that all of my friends would sit around and have beers while watching the Twins play (and usually play some drinking game based on hits, strikeouts, runs, etc.), and I certainly wasn’t going to be left out of that. Or it might have just been the fact that I was tired of fighting a losing battle against Minnesota sports team-obsessed fans (just kidding, I still hate the Vikings).

Whatever it was, my roommate’s passion had rubbed off on me. I was a Twins fan. I’ll say it again: I was a Twins fan. Then, in the 2006 season (my junior year), the Twins ended up winning the A.L. Central Division and the excitement around that process basically cemented the fact that, from now on, I would be responding with “Twins, baby!” when asked which baseball team was my favorite.

There I am at the Metrodome, actually being a Twins fan...

Can he do that?...
Now, I justify my Twins fandom as not being a bandwagon jump (one of the most loathsome acts one can commit in the sports universe...I think the last sentence of that link's story sums it up nicely) due to the logic that I was never a baseball fan to begin with and, therefore, did not abandon a team I had once supported for a winning, locally-popular team. I simply began to truly appreciate the Twins and what they accomplish in Major League Baseball, as well as the efforts the organization puts into its regional fan bases to keep the connection with fans strong not only in the heart of Minneapolis-St. Paul, but also out in rural communities three, four, and up to six or seven hours away. It’s a group of hard-working athletes who do everything they can to win. It’s just about impossible not to respect them. And, consequently, it makes their success all the more enjoyable.

Unfortunately, the Twins lost tonight to the Chicago White Sox (a club I’ve grown to dislike) in a playoff tie-breaker game that would have made them Division Champions and thus would have gotten them into the American League playoffs. In a gut-wrenching, 1-0 loss, hundreds of thousands (and possibly millions) of fans had their hearts broken by an always-lethal Jim Thome home run that put Chicago ahead for the win.


So...now what happens?
Three years ago, I wouldn’t have cared (and probably would have laughed at the “whining” Twins fans who took their baseball just a little too seriously). Tonight, it just sucked. Straight up. Now, there is no doubt in my mind that there are Twins fans who are much, much more upset than me right now (it’s safe to say my former roommate is one of them). The problem is that, now, I empathize with those fans and I’m quite frustrated that I won’t be watching the Twins and supporting them in the playoffs, enjoying beers with my friends while the Twins tried to win the pennant, and celebrating the joy that can only come from that fiery passion that a sport ignites in the hearts of competitors around the world.

Instead…I’ll have to sit around waiting for basketball season to start. And for one of the rare times in my entire life, that does not appeal to me anywhere near as much as the thought of watching Justin Morneau hit a walk-off game-winner or watching Joe Nathan seal the win in the bottom of the ninth with a low fastball. It’s a weird feeling, but thanks to my friends, this region, and the Minnesota Twins, it’s one that I hope lasts for a long, long time.

But man…do I hate Jim Thome right now…

Have you had a similar experience? Let me know which team won you over (or lost your love) over the years. Which teams would you cry for in a championship loss or celebrate with ecstatic joy for in a championship victory? Do you even like sports? If not, which video game, computer operating system, or awesome book series won you over? Leave a comment and let me know so I can look into any and all of them. Maybe I'll be converted to those too...

Please help me with this...

Somebody please explain this to me:

I acquired the above image from this site, which has listed multiple pictures of bad parking jobs (the specific blog post title being "Parking a Car Too Difficult For You?"), but I find it hard to believe that this was any legitimate attempt whatsoever by a human being to actually park a car. It looks like it was on the WCPO-Channel 9 News, so I feel like it is probably legitimate.

I would love any and all comments that might give some insight as to how this occurred. I posted a similar post a few months ago, but that was more for comedic effect. This one...I just need some explanation.

I promise you, I will not mock ANY response you post in reply to this. I will only mock the person who "parked" this vehicle. So...if you are the person who "parked" this vehicle...then I probably will make fun of your comment. Or maybe just you. Sorry.

Comic books are NOT just for kids...part 2

This blog post is (also) for all the idiots in the world who think comic books (and other fantasy stories) are only for kids.

Ok, that may have (still) been harsh, but I needed to get your attention (again) without you immediately discarding the blog post.

First of all, read this post. Then read the one below.

This post will focus on the merits of reading literature that many may deem “childish” or immature. I can assure you that this is a somewhat ignorant outlook to take regarding the issue. Fortunately, brilliant philosophical and intellectual minds like the one belonging to C.S. Lewis are here to support me in my quest to prove that comic books aren’t “just for kids.”

Here’s Mr. Lewis with this quote on fiction:

“It is usual to speak in a playfully apologetic tone about one’s adult enjoyment of what are called ‘children’s books.’ I think the convention a silly one. No book is really worth reading at the age of ten which is not equally (and often far more) worth reading at the age of fifty – except, of course, books of information. The only imaginative works we ought to grow out of are those which it would have been better not to have read at all. A mature palate will probably not much care for crème de menthe; but it ought to still enjoy bread and butter and honey.”

-C.S. Lewis, from the essay On Stories

Comic books = ...dessert?
Now, I’m not going to sit here and analyze each line in the quote. I think if you take time to read through it more than once, it should make sense. But I am going to look at, and elaborate on, the last line of that quotation.

See, I look at that quote in a more specific way. This is my (or possibly Lewis’s in another essay or book that I can’t remember) interpretation:

When you are young (childhood age), you enjoy some form of desert (fill in cake, ice cream, brownies, etc…for simplicity’s sake, I’m going to stick with ice cream). As a kid, you enjoy ice cream whenever you can get your hands on it. At that same age, you may not at all enjoy meatloaf (substitute a meal you did not particularly care for in your youth). However, as you grew into adulthood, you may have, over time, acquired a taste for and enjoyment of meatloaf. This, however, DOES NOT mean that, in your maturing process, you lost your love for ice cream. In fact, it is quite likely that you will not only enjoy a meatloaf dinner, but you will also still savor the delicious sweetness of an ice cream cone or an ice cream sundae. While you’ve added to your palette, you haven’t necessarily “changed” your pallet.

This, to me, describes my passion for comic books. I have always enjoyed them. Since my youthful innocence when I would beg my mom to buy me Spider-Man comics in the grocery store as a kid, to buying them for $2.99 and $3.99 each every Wednesday at the comic book store, comic books have been an intellectual and mind-freeing medium of fiction that has consistently satiated my love for visual effects combined with fantasy storylines (and the “man I wish I could do that” factor in my life).

You may still enjoy THIS as a "grown-up"...

...the same way I still enjoy THIS as a "grown-up"...

The difference is, now (as an adult) I am able to enjoy so many more forms of fiction than I could in my younger years. I can read a 448-page historical fiction war novel, and be as captivated by the exploits of Alcibiades in Ancient Greece as I am with the Silver Surfer’s command of the Power Cosmic throughout the galaxies. I can be as blown away by the conclusion of 1984 and Of Mice and Men as I can by the deeply moving self-sacrifice made by Colossus in order to prevent the mutant race from being exterminated by a deadly virus.

Can you enjoy both?

To me, the comic book is simply one more medium that has remained on my palette as a form of intellectual stimulation. I refuse to “replace” it with a more “substantive” medium of fiction because I don’t feel it is necessary to do so. Can I read Great Expectations and decipher the themes and motifs within such a literary masterpiece? Yes, I feel that I am quite capable of doing so. Can I read Alan Moore’s Watchmen and find intense gravity and depth in Rorschach’s absolutist outlook on life or Ozymandias’s consequentialist attitude? Yes. Those themes (and more) are present in a work such as Watchmen. They are simply packaged in a visually-stunning comic book series/graphic novel. That, however, does not take away from the content of each page and each dialogue bubble.

So, my overall point is this: comic books, when given the chance they deserve, contain plenty of wisdom and profundity as long as they are well-written. Comics may be unrealistic fiction, but that doesn’t take away from the overall purpose of the writer’s efforts as a serious author. If a space novel or fantasy tale can be considered literature (and many of them are), then I find it hard to believe that comic books don’t deserve the same. Whether or not one thinks they are strictly for kids, the truth of the matter is that even if a “kid” can enjoy a comic book, there is often plenty of substance for a 22-year-old (or 42-year-old for that matter) to absorb and later reflect upon.

Unless you believe that name-calling and pretentiousness are the only ways to handle someone else’s passion for a literary format you have yet to examine. In which case, keep making fun of the people who read comic books.

P.S. - I understand that one argument against my C.S. Lewis quote may be “What if I never liked ice cream (fantasy stories) in the first place?” and I agree that, in such a case, comic books are probably not a fictional medium of choice for you. I can respect that. My point is that I should not have to defend my enjoyment of comic books due to the notion that they “are for kids.”

I’m also very much open to any discussion you may deem relevant in the “Comments” section of this post (or the previous one) regarding this subject. In fact, I encourage you to participate if you have any interest whatsoever. I’d love to hear some other sides/elements of this argument if you have any to offer.

I won’t be as rude as I was in the opening line. I promise.

"Spider-Man, Spider-Man...does whatever a spider can..."