is-this-fandom-who-knows - Tumblr blog

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a story in 2 parts

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I feel that the 2003 Teen Titans cartoon has a weird chokehold over a lot of the DC fandom, particularly the parts that don't actually READ or even like COMICS, to the point where this show, whose creators openly admit had to be simple enough for a toddler to follow, largely informs a lot of fans' interpretations of some pretty complex characters, themes and continuity. The show, specifically, can tend to become nostalgia bait, and I think it's due time for a lot of this fandom to take off their rose-tinted glasses and let the show go.

Like I enjoyed the show growing up and I still have a soft spot for episodes like Lightspeed and Hide & Seek, but...frankly it's a simple show tailored to young kids that just does not, and was never meant to, do justice to the Titans' comic canon. This show could never have done Who is Donna Troy? and conveyed the unlabelableness of Donna and Dick's relationship, but it was never supposed to. Characterisations are intentionally dumbed down, themes are broken down into bite-sized morals, half of the show is dedicated to comedy, and character development is purposely few and far between because this show was designed for kids aged 2-11. And all that is fine but it's just not at all a reflection of what the Titans really are in print. It should not really inform any serious reading of the DC comic universe.

On the one hand, I really didn't need to see a Red X comic arc or Starfire talking in broken english in a comic, it's all just cheap nostalgia bait that people need to stop falling for. It's sacrificing theme in favour of cheap references. On the other hand, I do think the fans I'm talking about probably owe it to themselves to a) be a little more honest and critical about their engagement with DC media, and b) challenge themselves more when engaging in media to avoid wallowing in flanderized fluff.

[is-this-fandom-who-knows]

This isn’t commonly known but one of the rings of hell is actually being in a fandom wherein the popular bloggers have the worst opinions known to man that everyone else parrots

[is-this-fandom-who-knows]

also i do think that the pervasive idea where "canon doesn't bother to respect itself, why should i respect canon" wrt comics is like. hm. the idea that the many different iterations of characters due to a variety of writers seeing them a variety different ways isn't a bonus actually....the variety means there are many different ways and opportunities for a character to vibe with you in a certain story or under a writer. rather than decry it all as useless because it's so inconsistent therefore you can do whatever you want because the characters don't matter, there is probably *more* opportunity than most within comics as a medium to find a characterization thay works for you. but in order to do so, you do have to interact with the canon to find it. because there's a difference between personal interpretation of characterization and just making stuff up.

[is-this-fandom-who-knows]

In terms of 'people haven't read comics' I actually think there's a nuanced position people sort of instinctively understand and don't spell out:-

A lot of people enter comics fandom via an adaption medium (be that movies, video games, tv shows, cartoons)

That means they come in with a level of background understanding of various characters existing and some knowledge of them via osmosis, either from adapted stories or reading fic

General fandom discussion tends to coalesce around a small subset of characters and story runs

Because getting into comics is expensive, people preference what's easily available and/or what's most highly recommended in an attempt to maximise a story they will like

This is where all the panicking about 'where to start' comes in - it's overwhelmingly huge to look at and people are scared of 'getting it wrong'

They then read a run of a comic. Given all of the above for DC it's probably going to be a Bat comic, and there's a good chance it's UTRH, Red Robin 1-12, Batgirl 2000, Robin: Son of Batman, or The Court of Owls. They want the best storyline after all and that's what people tell them are favourites

They have also from being peripheral to the fandom noticed discourse about how certain stories/writers 'don't get' or 'ruin' characters and then avoid reading those stories

Because people are likely to only have read this small subset of stories, the discussion then focuses further on that subset

Echo chamber, the narrative that there's no such thing as a consistent canon in comics causes people to continue to avoid reading further, because they've been told Not To Read certain writers, and what they read doesn't really match how the fandom describes it

Because they're enjoying the fandom, they lean into the fanon and just...never read more comics. Sometimes pride themselves on not doing so

You end up with people who have 'read comics' but they mean about 3 famous runs totalling well under 100 issues, and very little comfort with even DC teams or families outside of the Bats

The current situation compounds because people aren’t comfortable with reading characters written by different writers and how that changes the story, even though that’s a huge part of comics

[is-this-fandom-who-knows]

Ra's, to Talia : I'm allowed to criticize you. I made you. You're my mistake.

[is-this-fandom-who-knows]

Ted: Dinah, you're never going to get a husband by being sarcastic.

Teen!Dinah: Alright, no husband.

[is-this-fandom-who-knows]

Happy anniversary, Jason

Commission info / ko-fi

[is-this-fandom-who-knows]

Happy not birthday!

[is-this-fandom-who-knows]

those not here during my ‘dear jason’ era gonna be confused asf

to clarify, this is NOT the ‘big brother’ timeline. this is another universe based on my fanfic ‘dear jason’ on ao3. we are safe

[is-this-fandom-who-knows]

Bat Family Fact Files from DC Comics: The Ultimate Character Guide

Baby's first bat family. Sorry, there wasn't a Black Bat.

My favourite bit is that Steph's epithet is "Daring Defender" while Tim's is "Daring Detective".

[is-this-fandom-who-knows]

[is-this-fandom-who-knows]

A collection of Dick being baby in Batman/Scarecrow:

(She gets it)

[is-this-fandom-who-knows]

Justice Society of America Vol.3 #43

He's not perfect... But he's trying! He wants his kids happy! 🥺🥺🥺

[is-this-fandom-who-knows]

Justice Society of America Vol.3 #40

Jay do you know I love you bc I do

[is-this-fandom-who-knows]

Important not to mess up the timeline when doing time travel shit and meeting your younger self but that doesn't mean you can't make bad jokes about future trauma they have no clue about

[is-this-fandom-who-knows]

Important not to mess up the timeline when doing time travel shit and meeting your younger self but that doesn't mean you can't make bad jokes about future trauma they have no clue about