Wrapped Up Like a Blog

I think a good barometer of pop culture, I think, is seeing something appear on a casual game. So the appearance of NICKFURY as a clue in Draw Something certainly caught my attention.

As a kid, I was lucky if people knew any Marvel Comics characters beyond Spider-Man and the Hulk. MAYBE they knew Captain America, but talk about Thor, the Thing, Daredevil or Hawkeye, and you'd get blank stares. Now, if I mention the name Tony Stark, people understand. And that is amazing to me.

Now, to be fair, most people only know the characters from the movies (if I tried to show them a picture of the gray-templed, cigar chomping version of Nick Fury who started in the comics in the 1960's they'd probably be confused (and no, I won't discuss the David Hasselhoff version)), but beggars can't be choosers. I am somewhat sad, though, that most people who sample these movies never make their way into a comic shop. I love the medium. I always have. And I think Scott McCloud should be required reading in elementary school classrooms. But at least it gives me a starting point, a frame of reference to talk Mjolnir and repulsor rays with people. And to draw them on my iPhone to win coins.