That one part of Geek culture you never got into

[Ishal]

I know there may or may not technically be a "Geek/nerd culture" so to speak, since it's so diverse now, but I needed a title. Sorry.

I recently visited a buddy of mine and he told me that he really was getting into comics. He showed me some of newer ones he bought and was telling me the parts he really liked. I just didn't get it. It's cool that he was so into it, but I just couldn't share the enthusiasm.

There's too much about the comic medium that I just can't get into. Especially the Super Hero ones or topics even tangentially related to them. The stories seem so complex and convoluted. I wouldn't even know where to start reading them. Then there's the issue of paying for them. I feel like I wouldn't be getting enough value of compulsively buying these comics only to read them then do nothing. Not to mention the amount of retconning could turn the events in those issues meaningless. Then there's the art, which is just kinda... strange. It's hard to explain. This is overly nitpicky, I'm aware, but I'm not a fan of how some pages have one or two small frames then a HUGE frame playing out a dramatic punch or whatever.

For me, couldn't get into comics.

Runner up: Anime

What about you? What part of geek/nerd culture did you never penetrate? Certain genres of games? MOBAS? Fighting games? What about books like Tolkien and Rothfus? Maybe you took a pass on the latest crazy fandom like MLP, Dr. Who, or SuperWhoLock? Not into the new "popular" stuff like Walking Dead or Game of Thrones?

 

[sageoftruth]

Star Wars. I saw 5 of the 6 movies, but I didn't miss them afterwards, and I'm not interested in the new one coming out.
Actually, science fiction in general has always been outside my area of interest. I've always had more of an affinity for the past then the future.

 

[Elfgore]

Add another to comics. I love manga, but for some fucking reason I can't get into comics. I've bought multiple Marvel and DC comics, the only one I've cared to continue is The Darkness and Witchblade... which aren't even Marvel or DC comics. When I read them, I'm usually thinking how this would be better in book form. We need a good super power novel.

 

[Eleuthera]

Far East cultures.

For some reason everybody loves Asia/Japan/Korea/Manga/Anime/whatever but I really couldn't care less.

EDIT: clarification.

 

[TimeLord]

Would be comics for me.
Manga would be the closest I've gotten to full on comic interest and even then, that's not very close. Never had any interest in them as a kid and nowadays I don't have the spare time and money to invest in them unfortunately.

 

[Sleepy Sol]

Western comics and (to a large extent) tabletop gaming. I've enjoyed manga and anime (anime more often generally), but have never much gotten into the Western equivalents. I casually enjoy Marvel movies but can't be arsed to buy comic issue after comic issue or remember what the hell happened in a specific alternate universe.

Tabletop gaming is hugely fun, at least based on the few games I've played. But I don't have consistent opportunities to play. :<

 

[bojackx]

Add another one to the comic bunch. I've never even tried them but they just seem, like you said, very convoluted.

There's also tabletop gaming and pretty much all those classic sci-fi TV shows like Star Trek/Star Wars/Firefly etc.

 

[Redlin5_v1legacy]

I've only ever dabbled in fandoms but I never got how people can get so absorbed by the fan-trends of a series.

 

[Hoplon]

Anime Shows, i just can't. not even a little.

 

[Colour Scientist]

Memorabilia.

I've never been into collecting merchandise; figurines, artwork, posters, clothes, accessories and what have you.

I was never really into the "geek look" either. I don't wear my hobbies on my sleeve.

 

[Queen Michael]

Add another to comics. I love manga, but for some fucking reason I can't get into comics. I've bought multiple Marvel and DC comics, the only one I've cared to continue is The Darkness and Witchblade... which aren't even Marvel or DC comics. When I read them, I'm usually thinking how this would be better in book form. We need a good super power novel.

Sorry to nitpick, but manga are comics. The word "comics" doesn't just refer to American comics about superheroes.

And if you want a good superhero novel, I recommend Soon I Will Be Innvincible by Austin Grossman.

Anyway, for me it was tabletop gaming. I would say Star Trek, but I did enjoy Next Generation very much and have fond childhood memories of Voyager. So yeah, tabletop gaming. Partly because I never had any friends who were into it, but also because the idea seems a bit dull to me.

 

[Scarim Coral]

Does a specific fandom to a media count?

If it does then to me it would be the Warhammer, Mechwarrior and a hint of Starcraft series. Just reading any threads on those just make me feel clueless. Yes this is sterm from the fact I never played the game but even then I tend to understand the general thing to something I am unfamilar with like Tekken or Dark Soul.

 

[Elfgore]

Add another to comics. I love manga, but for some fucking reason I can't get into comics. I've bought multiple Marvel and DC comics, the only one I've cared to continue is The Darkness and Witchblade... which aren't even Marvel or DC comics. When I read them, I'm usually thinking how this would be better in book form. We need a good super power novel.

Sorry to nitpick, but manga are comics. The word "comics" doesn't just refer to American comics about superheroes.

And if you want a good superhero novel, I recommend Soon I Will Be Innvincible by Austin Grossman.

I know, it's just easier to get a point across to refer to them as separate things. Even if they are similar in nature.

And that books sounds fucking awesome. Thanks for the recommendation.

 

[Casual Shinji]

Memorabilia.

I've never been into collecting merchandise; figurines, artwork, posters, clothes, accessories and what have you.

I was never really into the "geek look" either. I don't wear my hobbies on my sleeve.

Not even as a kid though?

OT: Star Trek and 40K. Especially the latter. I still don't even know what it actually is, apart from that it's so overly designed I get exhausted just viewing a single piece of artwork.

Also mech anime... Except for one obviously, which technically isn't really a mech anime.

 

[Phasmal]

Eh... quite a bit, I suppose..

I read a comic for a while a couple of years ago, and I keep looking for an excuse to get back into comics but I can't seem to find it. That and the fact that I cannot stop myself from reading comics in William Shatner's voice, which once it stops being funny is kind of distracting.

I've seen quite a bit of anime, but I can take or leave it.

Also my sisters are both quite into tabletop gaming, but I can't really bring myself to spend the money on them.

Oh, I think I have it- Warhammer.

I have never understood or seen the appeal of Warhammer. My ex was into it, but I really... don't get it.

 

[irishda]

Comics and anime for me as well. The tropes in both just do not suite me at all. It kills any sort of dramatic tension when characters never die (The Bucky Rule doesn't even fucking apply to the person it's named after!) and when everyone has to stop the action to have a dramatic soliloquy about friendship or family. I watched that episode of Attack on Titan when the dude gets his legs snapped off, and I kept thinking, "Just eat the fucking kid already." I think the problem is just how fans of anime and comics are usually the ones who want to write them, so it only perpetuates the tropes. As time goes on, and if comics and anime work to garner writers from other media, then I think we'll see a marked improvement.

But even beyond that, I never strayed very far into "geek culture" to begin with. I've played video games for a long time, and Magic, and tabletop stuff, and read lots of fantasy and sci-fi as a kid (MechWarrior was my shit), but I've never really considered myself a geek or anything like that. In fact, I'm usually pretty critical of a lot of aspects of geek culture, or at least cross-sections that usually are tied to it. There's a level of consumerism within geek culture, gaming in particular, some people have talked about before, and it's true. When people (both industry and consumer) make a big deal out of review scores, when there has to be a massive effort NOT to buy games that aren't finished yet, when there's a huge fit over a story's ending, it only serves to remind me there's a lot of people within geek culture that have priorities which I would say should be reevaluated.

 

[thoughtwrangler]

Star Wars... space opera sci-fi in general I guess, but mostly Star Wars. I've played KoTOR, liked it, but I'd like it just as much without the Star Wars stuff.

I don't know. I mean, I'll watch the movies every great once in a while, and they're fine, but I've never really been able to get into them the way most other geeks do.

 

[Colour Scientist]

Memorabilia.

I've never been into collecting merchandise; figurines, artwork, posters, clothes, accessories and what have you.

I was never really into the "geek look" either. I don't wear my hobbies on my sleeve.

Not even as a kid though?

Oh sure, I was really into Pokémon stuff when I was 7 or 8. I had the Pokédex, some other Pokéball game, cards (even though I never learned how to play the game properly) and stickers but other than that, nothing really stands out. I mean, I was also collecting Beanie Babies at the time.


I had posters and badges when I was in my early teens but that was mostly music related.

I don't mean that I don't like merchandise, it's just never really been a "thing" for me.

Does that make sense?

It probably doesn't.

 

[Queen Michael]

And that books sounds fucking awesome. Thanks for the recommendation.

No worries. I make sure to check out every superhero novel I see, but this is the only one that seemed good enough to be worth reading. Someday I'll have to read another one.