I was watching some videos on YouTube yesterday and I came across several videos asking the question "Is The Joker overrated?"

Now that would be a matter of opinion, and I think an argument could go either way (so don't start arguing about it here, make another thread). But what really got to me is the concept that almost every video could basically be summed up as this: "The Joker is in every way the antithesis of Batman, and his ideal villain, but he's too popular."

And then it hit me. What is the number-one complaint you hear about characters like Deadpool, Wolverine, and Spider-Man? "They've become too popular." Half of the people who are fans of "popular" characters usually back up their fandom with "I was a fan of _____ before they were popular." Doesn't this seem like a case of hipster-ism? Do people completely overlook characters and bash them simply because they are well-known and not "underground."

Just a thought I had that I thought was worth sharing.

I was a fan of this thread before you even made it.

I was a fan of bashing comic book characters before they become popular. What's the deal with this Mirror Villian in the new Batgirl? LAMESAUCE, overrated.

I think there may be something to your observation.

"Wolverine is just too mainstream. I'm into Runaways. You've probably never heard of them."

Although, in some cases, it's because a character has become "Fonzied" or "jumped the shark" in some sense. For example, Bat-God.

Better have some "Bat Shark Repellant" on hand!

Must be a Bishop fan.

I sometimes find myself expressing distaste for or shying away from things that are too popular for a couple reasons.

1. I find many of its fans annoying and/or I'm tired of hearing about it. As such, I don't want to listen to people talk about it and I don't want others to mistake me for one of the fans I find annoying.
2. While I like the thing in question, I feel it's overexposed to the point where it may be eclipsing other things I'd like to see. Joker is a good example of this. I like the Joker, but instead of reading 5 Joker stories, I'd rather read 1 Joker story, 1 Riddler story, 1 Mr. Freeze story, 1 Poison Ivy story and 1 Black Mask story. I feel the current atmosphere of Batman-related media is closer to the former than the latter composition and I do begrudge Joker for hogging the spotlight away from my other favourite Bat-villains. In other words, I feel he is too popular and I like him somewhat less as a result.


I don't think the popular characters are being overlooked in a lot of these cases so much as people just get tired of each company's main characters.

You might be a hipster if...

Popularity seems like a waste of time to consider when figuring out if you like a comic book or character. When it comes to enjoying something, I try to take it on its own merits and not be bothered by what the majority of other people might be thinking. Unless your opinion is incredibly fragile, or nearly indifferent, I don't see why how something being popular or unpopular should have much of an influence.

If people can be mocked for liking something just because everyone else does (bandwagon jumper, etc.), then why wouldn't it be just as ridiculous to dislike something because everyone likes it? You're still letting the masses decide whether or not you consider it 'good'.

If there's a caveat to that though, I would say that when something is popular, it can be difficult to enjoy it if you're constantly hearing people rave about it. Expectations can build up, even if you try to ignore them, and sometimes something that's perfectly fine won't live up to the hype, and you end up disappointed. That seems less to be about popularity and more about people not knowing when to stop raving about something, but it's the closest argument I can think of for not liking something that's popular.

This right here is the first point a Bandwagon fan will make in their defense.

I see it all the time. From Nightcrawler, to Watchmen, to Deadpool and Hellboy.

When they use that to say they're a fan you know they're just following the masses and liking what is popular.

I'm a fan of Deadpool, and I know it took someone suggesting the book to me about ten years ago. It was two issues that made me a fan. The first was when he teamed with Bullseye to storm a Hydra castle. The second was when an old rich guy hired him to get the Rhino's horn so he could get it up with his 20 something wife. Those two stories were hilarious enough that I was instantly hooked on the character. Prior to that I disregarded the character as uninteresting.

Spidey I've been reading since I was four, same with the Teen Titans. Though I can site almost every time I've become a fan of a popular character, not just,"I've always been a fan."

Anytime I hear that said I know they have just recently become a fan. As is the popularity of the Watchmen.

I don't get the thought process of people who don't like it when their favorite characters become popular.

I was a hipster before it was cool.

As I have a small bit of an iconoclastic streak, I can grok this attitude. Often when things become too popular, it becomes difficult to appreciate what was originally enjoyed. This happens with restaurants, etc. when they become difficult to get served...in the case of comic characters it can be that appearances all over the place often don't preserve the essence of a character.

While never "my" character, I definitely feel that since "The Dark Knight Returns" (and especially post-Michael Keaton) that Batman has become more absurd than the character ever was in the 1960's, yet many Batman fans have been flinching at the Adam West portrayal for the past 30 years. Is a Batman that "can beat anybody with 15 minutes of preparation" really any more serious than a Batman that keeps Bat Shark Repellent in his utility belt?

Thankfully, the excellent Batman Brave and the Bold cartoon has provided a great booster shot of FUN back into that character...and I have a similar opinion of Marvel's Super Hero Squad and Avengers cartoons. And I don't even look down my nose at those folks who realized how great they were after I did

I was cool before it was cool to be cool before it was cool.