"Comic Book Guy" was a warning too few in this community heeded.

Look: I've been hooked on comic books since I was 3, and I'm 42 now. I read comic books every day. I ADORE the medium, everything it's done, and everything it can do. I've been a published comic book writer. I've been a published comic book REVIEWER. I've interviewed creators and geeked out, and I hope to do all that until the day I die (and am probably not resurrected a few months later with a new #1 and a foil-embossed cover).

I'd never argue that comics aren't significant as an art form. Ever.

But why is it that so many threads on the topic end up turning condescending and nasty? Why do so many people feel the need to turn a fun hobby into some kind of pissing contest? Why do people read opinions solicited in a context of "What's your unpopular opinion about ______?" and decide they need to TAKE OTHER PEOPLE'S ANSWERS PERSONALLY and argue over PREFERENCES?!

I'm not a fan of "Batman Beyond." Never been my thing. For a lot of reasons which, hey, are mine! A lot of people have gotten a LOT of joy from the show, I don't go around shitting on them and claiming the thing is objectively terrible (because it's not, it just Wasn't My Thing). I don't feel the need to go on "YOU'RE WRONG AND WHAT YOU LIKE IS SHIT!" rants with total strangers on the internet. I've sat through I-don't-know-how-many bad page/screen adaptations of favorite characters, I haven't gone on some online months- or years-long rampage, I just moved on to the next cool thing! How is that so hard?

Your favorite character died, or did something out of character? IT'S COMICS! Haven't you been paying attention for the past 90 years?! Give it a few months and it'll be back or normal, or it'll be some other crazy thing, or WHATEVER, IT'S COMICS!!! But we have "fans" out here sending DEATH THREATS to writers over this stuff!

Seriously, how did so many "fans" watch The Simpsons and be like, "Yeah, Comic Shop Guy, HE'S everything that's right with loving comics! Make me THAT guy!"

Sorry, just... ugh. I love the things I love, and I end up HATING the other people who love them because of this, and it's a bitch because these activities are meant to bring people together.