The Bullpen

[robomaniac]

Lots of people know I'm into comics at work, although I don't evangelize. It is a weird environment due to the fact my fellow engineers are all totally cool with them and are often into them themselves, but I tend to keep it pretty quiet around the major companies we contract with. Certainly I'm not ashamed at all about it, I just understand that there is often a misunderstanding about the medium in general and sometimes a perception that it is juvenile. The real joke of it is I'm the only person at work who I know who reads anything on a regular basis for pleasure. Reading for pleasure seems almost nonexistent among my peers.

[Lukeh]

Well I am ashamed to say I do. I didn't realise I did untill yesterday. I started a new job back in December, so I am still a new guy there, but anyways I was talking to someone about the iPad and how I was on the verge of buying one and they said "well really though its no more then a toy" and i was nearly going to say, it would be sweet for comics though, but I pulled myself back.

Sigh

[Luke_Sims]

I have a very simple philosophy that I didn't realize I had until a girl pointed it out to me. Other people can sometimes describe you better than you can.

"Love me or go home"

I love comics, I have Spider-Man on my right shoulder that I still don't regret after 10 years. Best medium of Earth and I will forever sing its praises.

[Luke_Sims]

Screw you John, I'm not hiding my love away

[leafinsectman (Dan)]

I don't hide it but I'm not outspoken about it either. That is how I am with most of the things/people I love. I don't speak out about it but if you ask me about it then I'll be happy to tell you how I feel.

I don't decorate my office space with anything personal because that's just how I am but if I were to, I'd probably do so with comic book related stuff. I like reading comics in public but I don't get a lot of chances to because I don't go out all that much and when I do, I'm usually doing something as opposed to just relaxing and reading. I don't lend stuff out because I have a thing about lending stuff to people. I'm more likely to just give it to people (if I'm done with it) so I'm not expecting it back and worrying about the condition and everything.

I tend to not open my mouth a lot in 'real life' but its different on the net. If I like something and I feel as though not enough people are talking about it then I'll tell whoever will listen.

[Jay Tomio]

When Wednesday Comics was coming out I was dead up in the trendy outdoor cafes by the beach in Sardegna and the Amalfi coast rocking it in front of semi-pro modeling grade hawties (and weird dudes). It was conversational and people love it. Only stopped because I stopped receiving them.

That said, and I've mentioned this before, but I do not and never have considered part of this new wave/age geek-is-trendy thing that seems to have sprouted online. I never really identified with that. Comics are so weird, because out of many hobbies it's the only one that people seem to take on as a lifestyle. Nobody points and goes , oh he's a Football fan or there goes that port collector, or that's the movie poster guy!

So the answer is it was never issue of hiding or not, I never really was at that level to think about it. Never in my life have I felt or been made to feel awkward or self conscious about any of my hobbies, because at the end of the day I'm on some "but yeah I can afford to drop 5 figures on a  funny book, homie, how's you're subprime loan going?".

My thought is that those it hinders probably went through a rough patch in school about it. That was never me. I do recall on several occasions when friends - girls or dudes - would first see my room that they would be shocked by how many boxes of cards or comics I had, but it wasn't because I hid anything, it was just that its was never a subject broached in regular conversation. I didn't go to class the next day finding myself banished to a new "group", lunch table, or suddenly unfuckable (though those groups certainly existed and were plain to see). I had a noticeable car as a teenager and I don't recall trying to hide my tracks rolling to an LCS or lying about where I was going. Comics are an entertainment medium for me, not a lifestyle. I don't go outside wearing a Cormac McCarthy t-shirt either.

The real joke of it is I'm the only person at work who I know who reads anything on a regular basis for pleasure. Reading for pleasure seems almost nonexistent among my peers.

I know people that I would label as rather brilliant who probably  haven't read a book since Sphere. I don't know a lot of readers in general myself.

[Franky THE DILDONATER]

In case you didn't know, Franky and I work at the same campus.  This afternoon the Windows 7 conversion project brought me to his desk:

unbelievable.... I know you saw my batman figure in the corner David. 

[ThePatheticClub]

Hey, morons at work talk about NHL all the time and wear retarded maple leafs hats and talk about how much they drank at the club. Why shouldn't I wear a Wonder Woman pin on my briefcase?

[evaD]

Hey, morons at work talk about NHL all the time and wear retarded maple leafs hats and talk about how much they drank at the club. Why shouldn't I wear a Wonder Woman pin on my briefcase?

Because it's Wonder Woman.





Kidding.

 

[thefreakytiki]

I'm an open book.  Be it comic book or skin mag.   


the Tiki

[evaD]

I don't know if I hide it or not. I'm kinda in a grey area. Almost every t-shirt I own is comic themed, I'm constantly drawing comics anywhere I can find time and space to do so. There are comics and comic art laying all around my house and work space. When asked what my favorite books are, my response is always "ones with pictures". I don't talk about them though. I have no interest in educating the general public about comics.

[Christopher Stark]

Hey, morons at work talk about NHL all the time and wear retarded maple leafs hats and talk about how much they drank at the club. Why shouldn't I wear a Wonder Woman pin on my briefcase?

It's attitudes like that the are the point of hiding in the first place.  Sports are just more accepted because of their broad appeal.  I like the NHL over MLB, but I get respect because it's a sport.  However, comics are considered comics no matter what genre they are.  And calling them morons are the same demeanor they have toward you liking something they don't understand.

Because it's Wonder Woman.

Channeling Vince there eh?   

[zack kruse]

I yam what I yam. Screw 'em if they don't understand. 

This is me. I make no apologies for who I am and who I want to be. I don't ask differently of anyone else.

[David]

unbelievable.... I know you saw my batman figure in the corner David.

There was a what now?