Gatekeeping or protecting the hobby? Met a guy at my local shop who told a new reader to 'go home and research first'
I was at Cosmic Comics in downtown Portland last Saturday, just browsing the new releases. There's this older guy, probably 50s, in a vintage X-Men shirt. A kid maybe 19 or 20 walks up holding a copy of House of X #1 and asks if it's a good starting point. The guy looks at him dead serious and says, 'You need to at least read the Claremont run from the 80s or you won't get half the references. Go home, do some research, then come back.' The kid just put the book down and walked out. I stood there feeling torn because on one hand, I get wanting to preserve the history and depth of these characters. But on the other hand, that kid might never pick up another comic again. So which side are you on? Is that kind of gatekeeping necessary to keep the fandom from getting watered down, or is it just pushing away new blood?