Bad comic discussions

[bean6344]

A lot of times as an employee you become familiar with regular customers, and your conversations take on a looser, more personal tone.  That's often what the customer wants right up until you made a joke about their Sonic comic (or whatever their hot button topic is that day)...and suddenly they throw up that customer/employee wall again in a huff.

I agree 100%.  There are things I would say to certain long time customers that I would never say to a cold call.

Bean

[valance_the_hunter]

So if I brought my 12 yr old in there (hypothetical) and he/she asked this staffer his opinion on a certain book, would the guy say to them, it's good if I was your age?  Cause that sounds pretty alienating and not a good way to build a fan/customer base.

[evaD]

I don't think a reevaluation of what you enjoy is necessarily a measure of being jaded. I can point flaws out in things I enjoyed when I was younger.

I think the ramp of cynicism(which can be confused with people just not liking something) has lead to people being overprotective and lightly stepping around things that if they were honest are not as good as they remembered them but because the other person is being negative it is almost required that it be stood up for by someone.

Also the Team Comics mentality comes into this of you can't bad mouth any comics or else it all might come tumbling down.

I don't think this is a "Team Comics mentality" issue. The difference between dismissive and critical is the difference between being able to articulate why you don't like something and just stating you don't like it. No one is saying the guy can't dislike it, but he should be able to say why. Essentially he was saying the book was childish but wasn't providing any concrete thoughts to support his comment. I would think this would be particularly important when dealing with a customer.

[GrimlocksPS]

The employee was acting like a 12 year old so it fits.

His job is to chat up customers and make sales. He could have a had a civil conversation and stated his reasoning why he didn't like it in a coherent and rational manner.

BTW. I loved Spidey 2099 when I was 12, I still love it now.

[Dave Faust]

The employee was acting like a 12 year old so it fits.

His job is to chat up customers and make sales. He could have a had a civil conversation and stated his reasoning why he didn't like it in a coherent and rational manner.

Exactly. This is just typical retailer stupidity. Reminds me of when I was 16 and working at the local video store. I might have worshiped at the twin alters of Lynch and Cronenberg, but most of the customers wanted Encino Man and Pretty Woman, and it was my job to respect that.

<a href="http://www.youtube.com/v/5xillqqt0Y0&rel=1" target="_blank">http://www.youtube.com/v/5xillqqt0Y0&rel=1</a>

[S. Earl]

I don't remember posting that... 110Gremlins!

[lugaru]

I love Spidey 2099 too and I'm super happy everytime he apears somewhere (a game, a clix, Exiles, etc). I also had a soft spot for Punisher 2099 and X-Men 2099, they where very imaginative.

That said I hate it when people are snobbish about comics... for me comics are a refuge from snobs. 

[slurmo]

Spider-Man 2099 was "good when I was 32".   (That's how old I was when it hit the stands).

This is why you are awesome. If you like it you like it, age doesn't really matter when it comes to these types of books.

I loved Spidey 2099 because it was good. It didn't matter of I was in high school (although I was).

[lugaru]

Kind of on a side note: I posted before that a diner in my neighborhood has Max Carnage pages laminated on a table. The dialog is awful, but man do they get me psyched about digging up those old issues sometime. Talk about a fun event.

[Christopher Stark]

Kind of on a side note: I posted before that a diner in my neighborhood has Max Carnage pages laminated on a table. The dialog is awful, but man do they get me psyched about digging up those old issues sometime. Talk about a fun event.

That was the first major crossover I ever read.  It reads pretty mediocre today but it still is fun.  I'm on part 10 currently.

And as someone else said, it wasn't his opinion that was bad, it's that he really didn't have any valid point to his opinion other than he doesn't like it now.  He also didn't really seem to want to pursue the conversation which I think is essential at comic shops nowadays.  Specifically in Chicago where there are so many shops per area.