Until I got involved in comics fandom, I'd have gone for A without a doubt. The trouble is that, in comics, it's damn impossible to read everything. Characters like Dick Grayson and Roy Harper have been around for sixty years - there's simply too much going on, most of which has been retconned over the years.
For most fandoms, though, I have to have seen the source material completely. I wasn't even happy writing Lawrence of Arabia until I'd read Seven Pillars of Wisdom and a couple of TE Lawrence biographies, despite the fact that the film doesn't have a great deal to do with the real TEL.
Same here. In Buffy fandom, I knew every little nook and cranny, but the same doesn't apply to comics, where the more I read, the less I feel I know.
I think in order to stay sane in comics fandom, the rule of thumb is just be as familiar as fuck with the last 4-5 years (real human time) worth of storylines, and pick up anything that's mentioned an awful lot, like Jason's death, Babs getting shot, or Dinah getting tortured.
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8/8/04 01:33 (UTC)For most fandoms, though, I have to have seen the source material completely. I wasn't even happy writing Lawrence of Arabia until I'd read Seven Pillars of Wisdom and a couple of TE Lawrence biographies, despite the fact that the film doesn't have a great deal to do with the real TEL.
(no subject)
8/8/04 15:52 (UTC)I think in order to stay sane in comics fandom, the rule of thumb is just be as familiar as fuck with the last 4-5 years (real human time) worth of storylines, and pick up anything that's mentioned an awful lot, like Jason's death, Babs getting shot, or Dinah getting tortured.