When Spoilers Didn't Matter

I've written about my disdain for spoilers, but as we prepare for the arrival of “Thunderbolts*” in theaters next week, I'm reminded that my position has changed over the years.

I still haven't read the landmark “Thunderbolts” #1*, and obviously could not have continued reading “Avengers” by Kurt Busiek and George Perez then – or Marvel comics in general over the last nearly 30 years – without knowing the twist there. And in case you're like one of those YouTubers who somehow haven't heard the most culturally ubiquitous songs and don't know how the issue ends, I won't spoil it for you here.

I'll probably do it next week, when I post about finally reading theissue. But as I considered that, I anticipated going down a rabbit hole about why, even though I haven't read it, I knew what happened and didn't feel any outrage about it.

I read about the Thunderbolts' introduction in Wizard magazine, and I figure I read about the twist there too. Even for people who get more of their Marvel through the movies than the comics, I never thought there was a way the movies could replicate that in the Internet age, and they don't appear to be trying, although I do hope there's some kind of twist we didn't see coming. If there is, be cool and don't spoil it.

Thunderbolts wasn't the first time I'd had the contents of a comic spoiled for me because, at that point in time, as much as I may have wanted to read all the issues, I never believed it would be possible.

And of course it's still not possible, but these days many of us have the opportunity to read a lot more comics than we did back in the olden days.

When I was a kid, I had something in common with Number 5, the protagonist in the “Short Circuit” movies** – I craved major input. Sure, reading the comic, seeing the movie, etc., was ideal, but I needed to know what happened.

I'm not sure why it took me so long to see the live-action “Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles” movie in 1990, but by the time I did, I knew the story. A friend of mine saw it opening weekend or close to it and told me the details between classes in the form of an improvised role-playing game, where I took on the role of Casey Jones. I believe I also read the novelization before finally making it to the theater. Neither experience prevented from loving the movie then and today.

A year earlier, I had missed the entire theatrical run of “Back to the Future Part II” when, as my stepdad and I were preparing to leave for the theater, I tested out a boat made of popsicle sticks, rubber bands and straws that I was going to race as part of a school activity the next day. The boat fell apart. I reacted poorly and tried to cobble together a new one instead of going to the movie.***

I saw “Back to the Future Part III” in the theater without ever watching the middle chapter thanks to a Scholastic book I got from school that briefly summarized the movie and included bookmarks. I knew about the Almanac, and I knew where Marty and Doc were when the third one started.

With comics, Wizard spoiled a lot of things for me, but not without my complicity. I had heard good things about “Batman: The Long Halloween,” but did I look away when they published an explanation of the mystery's solution, like the month after the series ended? I did not.

I knew the major storylines in Grant Morrison's “JLA” and Kurt Busiek's “Astro City” well before I ever read them, again thanks to Wizard. But I never even thought twice about reading their recaps and greatest moment lists. Fortunately, both of those series are so amazing that they worked even when I did know how the stories unfolded.

I also have a healthy stack of Official Handbooks of the Marvel Universe, which I would devour sometimes for research purposes when writing about the comic book origins of various characters appearing on TV and in movies but often just for the fun of learning characters' histories. I think a lot of that went back to simply not knowing if I would ever get the chance to read those stories myself.

Today, my local library has a pretty hefty selection of comics, trade paperbacks and graphic novels. If they don't have what I want to read, I can probably have it sent there from another library. And that's assuming I need to go to the library at all, since the Hoopla app has an insane amount of comics to borrow for free through my library. Plus there's Marvel Unlimited – or DC Universe Infinite if that floats your boat. And we have three comic book shops just in my immediate vicinity, with affordable back issues galore.

I've gone from one extreme to the other. When I was following the X-Men comics along with the X-Lapsed podcast, one episode dealt with a couple issues of the “Power Pack” limited series written by Ryan North. North has become one of my favorite writers, establishing Squirrel Girl as my favorite character and now knocking it out of the park writing “Fantastic Four.” But when a show I listened to regularly crossed paths with a writer I loved... I didn't listen, and I didn't read the issues.

See, the Power Pack series was part of the “Outlawed” crossover that focused on the Champions. I followed that series for a while when Mark Waid revived it with a focus on younger heroes. Although it eventually became a budgetary casualty, I kept an eye out for subsequent issues in back issue bins or on Hoopla. Waid's tenure gave way to Jim Zub, whose stories looked interesting. Eve L. Ewing was writing the new version, but before I jumped into that story, I wanted to finish Waid's arc, then Zub's and experience them fresh before moving on to Outlawed. Plus, I needed to read the first three issues of Power Pack before reading THEN listening to the episode about 4 and 5.

What happened to the carefree kid who certainly appreciated the craft and skills of the creators but also just wanted to know what was happening, who could still go back and enjoy the details of those stories even if he knew the broad strokes? Well, now he knows reading all those comics that came before wouldn't just be neat, it's (theoretically) possible!

And yet, I still haven't read them, nor many stacks of bargain-priced issues I snag whenever I get the chance.

I think balance is the way to go. By all means, enjoy diving into the stories and artwork that my favorite creators and future favorites produce, but don't miss out on the good stuff just because I don't have the time to get it all, or at least all in order. Comics and other forms of entertainment can be wonderful and meaningful or frivolous and fun, and we need both. Collecting is fun too, but I don't feel like I'm getting my money's worth – whether it's the $3.99 or $4.99 cover prices of today or a four-for-a-dollar sale on Free Comic Book Day – if I'm only adding to the stack of things I could read someday.

And those massive text histories in the Handbooks are fun in their own right.

* – The first #1 being the landmark volume; no offense to any of the 73 or so
other “Thunderbolts” #1s Marvel has put out over the years.

** - I watched the second one a lot more than the first and believe it deserves
an honorary Oscar for best use of Bonnie Tyler's “Holdin' Out for a Hero.”

*** - You're probably not wondering how the replacement fared, but just in case you are,
I believe the results could best be summed up with: “Meh.”