Who are thou comic book boy?

          Hey guys! This past weekend I went on a trip to Medieval Times. Medieval Times is this sort of restaurant/ show that entertains you by showing you a plot set back in Medieval Times that has knights battle it out. Coincidently, when I went there I was bombarded with thoughts of the superhero. It all started when the actor who played the King did a toast and said something along the lines of, for honor, for courage, and for peace. I thought to myself wow that really does sound like the values superheroes try to live by. Then when introducing each knight, who by the way wore outfits of distinct colors, each knight was presented as having some sort of distinct value or characteristic that made him special sort of like a super power. The people behind me seemed really into the whole show so I turned around to take a look at these interesting characters and one of them was wearing a Superman shirt. Then I thought these boys sort of look like the boys I would see at the comic book store. Could people who so wholeheartedly like this sort of stuff be so easily identifiable? I began to really think about who these people really were.


              In Matthew Pustz “Comic book culture: fanboys and the believers “ he touches on this subject. Pustz said that the typical comic book consumer can be described as , “Most regulars are male and relatively young, usually around high school or college age” (5). Society knows of these boys too. We grew up with them in high school and most of the time looked at them as if they were these strange beings. Growing up we referred to these people as nerds and many times they were outcasts. But why? Sure they are slightly awkward but aren’t we all. Don’t they just outwardly say that they like all the things society says it strives for? Why are we so intimidated and so quick to shun these boys then? I began to think about the countless times I refrained to do the right thing or something I wanted to do because it was not cool. These boys don’t have these parameters and I thought how lucky. They are beyond society’s hold. Perhaps, all the values superheroes try so desperately hard to live by aren’t these mystical values to them but things they actually apply to their everyday lives. In looking at these boys sitting behind me at Medieval Times cheering so loudly I could not help but smile, because even though everyone around them was staring at them, and even though it was not cool they shrugged it all off. They didn’t care. Who are these comic book guys and why are they so awesome?