Die by the Pen: Readers, Not Fans
Every Wednesday, Jared Gniewek discusses what feeds his fires as an author of comics, screenplays and radio dramas.
My esteemed co-contributor, Kevin Gillespie, filled in ably for me as I was stumbling about the back roads of England a few weeks back. And in his entry to the SAC blog, he wrote about something that I agree whole heartedly with. The use of the words “nerd” and “geek” bother him. I have to say that I’m in that camp (despite the title of my article last week) and would go even further in saying that the term “fan” is offensive to me as well.
With the release of this Watchmen movie last week, I am reminded of how the film companies want to make sure they make the “fans happy” while making their adaptations of comic stories. I hate this idea. It reeks of marketing nonsense. You see, I figure the average filmgoer (you know—the real money, not the paltry buying power that keeps pamphlet comics in print) is about a half a percent more likely to go see a movie if it has the “fans” endorsement. I’d rather see the endorsement of people who, y’know, study film and how it works and why. Screw the “fans” – make a good movie and let ‘em cry in their popcorn if Blue Devil’s trident is missing its crystal. They can then go home and read good comics. That used to be the response to crappy comic adaptations. They can never take away the comics experience from the reader.
