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Unpopular opinion: gatekeeping new readers hurts the hobby more than bad comics ever could
Had a guy at my local shop in Portland tell me last month I wasn't a 'real fan' because I started with the MCU movies and didn't read the original 60s runs. His criticism made me realize I was doing the exact same thing to my buddy who just picked up his first Moon Knight trade. Why do we act like every new reader has to pass some test before they belong?
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elizabethhayes20d ago
Maybe, but @nancybailey's got a point that gatekeeping just turns people off.
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nancybailey21d ago
Gatekeeping's almost as bad as my pull list organization.
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jamesm4820d ago
Wouldn't a little gatekeeping actually help new readers avoid getting burned by the big event cash grabs? The problem isn't that people are being kept out, it's that the gatekeepers are usually protecting the wrong things - back issues nobody cares about instead of the good jumping on points. Real gatekeeping should be more like a friendly tour guide pointing out the potholes, not a bouncer checking for a secret handshake.
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