Is it gatekeeping or just having standards? Got into it with a guy at Midtown Comics in NYC last Saturday

I was flipping through some older issues and this dude tells me I'm not a 'real fan' because I didn't start collecting until the 2010s. I mean, I've spent like $400 on runs of Starman and Incognito alone in the past year. But he's been reading since the 80s so maybe his opinion holds more weight? Does being a longtime reader make you a better fan or does that just sound like elitist nonsense to you guys?

2 comments

2 Comments

kelly.keith8d ago

@the_joseph is right on the money here. Spending $400 on Starman and Incognito runs shows you care about the stories and the craft, not just being part of some club. The guy at Midtown Comics sounds like he was just trying to feel important by tearing you down. Gatekeeping is when someone decides there's a secret password to being a fan, and having a longer reading history doesn't make you a better one. It's not like you were pretending to know something you didn't or disrespecting his era, you were just buying comics. So why do people get so hung up on who came first when the real point is sharing a love for the medium?

the_joseph16d ago

Why does it matter how long someone's been reading when you're the one actually dropping cash on books and supporting the hobby? A gate's a gate when someone's telling you you're not doing it right, and that sounds like what happened to you. You're a fan if you care about the stories, not if you were around for some golden age.