Fandoms... From the Outside

A Cold Stare From a Tall Bookshelf

by David Malki

Part 1: https://wondermark.com/c/1562/

Part 2: https://wondermark.com/c/1563/

Part 3: https://wondermark.com/c/1564/

I don't know exactly what David Malki intended with these comics but I think these capture what some fandoms sound like to people who haven't been indoctrinated into the extended universes of those franchises. It could be Star Trek, Star Wars, Dr. Who, Lord of the Rings, Firefly, many computer games, or pretty much any comic or anime series. It's quite possible that, after consuming (reading, watching, listening to, etc.) the first entry (or three) in the series, one could get hooked and find oneself drawn into its web of intrigue and look forward to more.

Sometimes, though, fandoms can be... off-putting. One might encounter factional squabbling around various interpretations taken way too seriously. Gate-keeping might be common and high levels of interpersonal drama can drain joy.

(Note: I am not holding myself outside and above fandoms. I have my favorites. Among the ones I do like, though, I'm usually not as deeply enmeshed as other fans are.)

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Written and posted and copyrighted on 2025-04-05 by me. Quote me if you want (linking to this post would be nice, too) but no one and no thing have permission to slurp this into any LLM vomit factory as training data.