Fantastic Fangirls: Comics and Culture

Posted by Jennifer

In May of 2006, I didn’t know that Wolverine had a healing factor.

There are a lot of things I didn’t know in May of 2006, actually. I didn’t know who the Avengers were. I’d never heard of She-Hulk. I couldn’t have picked Captain America out of a lineup of patriotic heroes. And if you’d put a comic book in front of me, I’m not entirely sure I could have followed the word balloons in the proper order.

Then, on that fateful last day of May, 2006, I went to see X-Men: The Last Stand in theaters. In the days that followed, I borrowed Joss Whedon’s Astonishing X-Men from a friend. And now, three years later, my pull list is regularly 15 books strong, and I’m sitting here on my couch, writing my 12th full-length blog post for a web site about comic books.

What a difference three years makes.

So in honor of my three-year “fandomversary,” I thought I’d reflect a bit on how my life has changed since I became a comics fan, and what that fan identity means to me. In list form.

Things I Would Not Have In My Life If I Wasn’t Into Comics

- More friends than I can count, including all of my fellow Fantastic Fangirls
- Everything those friends have introduced me to, from the music of Bruce Springsteen and Vienna Teng to Six Feet Under and new theories of feminism
- A senior undergrad thesis I’m both proud of and greatly enjoyed writing
- The confidence to strike up conversations with like-minded people at comic shops and cons
- The confidence to approach the creators of the stories I love and express my appreciation for their talent and hard work
- Most of my interactions on Twitter, which largely consist of a combination of the above two items
- Knowledge of comic book minutiae that will probably never be necessary for anything of substance in my life but makes me the go-to girl when my local friends have questions about “that Iron Man movie”
- Pets with awesome names like “Captain Amerifish”
- Hours of entertainment during my boring data entry job from the podcasts at iFanboy.com
- The drive and passion to write on a regular basis about something I love, and even to try my hand at writing comics of my own
- New career goals as a potential comic book editor or academic
- A keener eye for visual detail, and a keener ear for dialogue, both of which will help me no matter what shape my future writing projects take
- An education in the history and craft of a century-old art form
- All of the joy and excitement that my weekly comics bring
- A feeling of belonging in a larger fan community that I’ve never felt with any previous fandom

To be fair, I should create a complimentary list:

Things I Would Still Have In My Life If I Wasn’t Into Comics

- Quite a bit of money in my wallet
- Quite a bit of time I could have devoted to other pursuits
- Occasional petty frustrations with ongoing storylines
- My normalcy (Nah, I never had that to begin with.)

I think it’s easy to see which list wins out.

The fact is, I’m happier than I ever could have predicted before I found the comics world. And it saddens me that so many people find this community and interest to be so impenetrable. I won’t lie — my initiation into comics was given a big assist by friends with basements full of back issues to lend and a willingness to answer questions like “What’s the deal with this Hawkman guy, anyway?” But libraries, Wikipedia, and the broad internet comics community that is more welcoming and accepting than I ever could have imagined could easily have done the job just as well. And I can tell any potential new fan from experience: once you’re in, you’re in. And you’ll never want to look back.

So now I know that Wolverine has a healing factor. I also know his convoluted backstory in its entirety, from his origins in late 1800s Canada through his years as a soldier and a samurai. I know who the Avengers are, and I adore them. I consider She-Hulk to be one of my role models. And I love Captain America more than almost any other fictional character.

Let’s see what the next three years will bring.

By Jennifer
E-mail: Jennifer@fantasticfangirls.org
Twitter: throughthebrush

How long have you been a fan? How has your life changed because of it? And if you were to initiate a new fan into the comics world today, what comics, conventions, shops, or other resources would you recommend? I’ve shared my experiences — feel free to share yours in the comments!