Gatekeeping vs welcoming new readers in our hobby

I was at a local shop in Portland last Saturday when a teenager picked up a first issue of a popular run and some guy behind the counter started quizzing him on Silver Age lore. My friend says we need to protect the culture, but I think we're just scaring off the next generation of fans. Where's the line between educating someone and just being a snob about it?

2 comments

2 Comments

the_val27d ago

Oh man, this hits close to home. My buddy Dave took his 12 year old nephew to this shop in Seattle last month and the same thing happened. Kid picked up a new 52 Batman and the employee started grilling him about who killed the Wayne's and what year Detective Comics 27 came out. Kid just put the book down and walked out. Dave was pissed. He said the employee looked real proud of himself too, like he won some kind of contest. I get that people want to share their love for the old stuff but that's not teaching, thats just showing off. We all started somewhere and if that kid never comes back we lost a potential fan for life.

dianab6825d ago

Did that kid ever come back to the shop?