If you’ve listened to Geek This since the podcast started in 2012, you may have noticed a trend: we have rarely talked about DC Comics and DC Entertainment. It’s been brought to my attention by myself that maybe, just maybe I hate them. In fact, my loathing for DC has been brought up a couple of times with friends and I’ve never truly been able to explain why I might hate them. So, on this episode I want to explain my point of view and how I’m going to remedy the issue.

I was born in 1987, so my childhood took place in the 1990s. What I find wild about this era is that when it came to comics themselves, while I wasn’t very interested, there was a boom going on. With it, though, came the rise of comic book cartoons. These were my jam. Since that was the case, it was easy for me to become familiar with characters like Spider-Man, the X-Men, Hulk, and the Fantastic Four. Marvel cartoons were just more prevalent, which meant the superhero toys I had were primarily Marvel.

I had watched and re-watched the Michael Keaton Batman films a lot of times, but any other character outside of those I was oblivious to. It wasn’t until sometime later that I discovered Batman: The Animated Series. Still, I didn’t understand the concept of a shared comic book universe, so I had no idea Superman, The Flash, or any other DC Comics character outside of that particular show even existed. Once Superman: The Animated Series was on, I watched it, but not with the interest that I did Batman. (Still, to this day, Superman isn’t as interesting as Batman to me. But that’s another episode.)

As I grew older, comic book characters and superheroes faded away. They didn’t hold much value to me once I became interested in books, music, video games, and movies. When I was a teenager, the only person I knew that liked comics was my older cousin. Then, in 2002, a certain web-headed hero was brought to theaters. After that, I started to read some comics, namely Ultimate Spider-Man. In 2007, after another Spider-Man movie, I stumbled upon the Civil War event. It pulled me in, leading me to today, where I still love everything Marvel.

As you can see, I didn’t have a lot of exposure to DC Comics outside of Batman. My parents didn’t have an opinion one way or another when it came to comics. In fact, the only ones they ever bought me were a Marvel Comics adaptation of John Bunyan’s Pilgrim’s Progress and two issues of a Christian series called Archangels: The Saga, which I liked enough to spend my hard-earned money to buy every single issue until it was discontinued. (I still have them, by the way.)

So it isn’t that I hate DC Comics, I’ve just never given them an honest chance outside of Batman. Here’s the deal, though. In an effort to become a more well-rounded person, I’m going to start reading a non-Batman DC Comics series. I want suggestions from you, though. What is a good series to start with if I’m just dipping my toe into the latest books? And, yes, I’ll even read a Superman book, but I still need someone to help me understand the appeal.

All of this is in my quest to understand the world of comics and truly appreciate what’s out there, even if it is unfamiliar.
Thanks for your podcast review!

* None for this episode

Announcements

* None for this episode

Share Feedback

* Comment on the show notes
* Email feedback@geekthispodcast.com (audio files welcome)

Connect

* Subscribe to Geek This! on Apple Podcasts or Android