Watchmen And The Dark Knight Returns Created The Graphic Novel In 1987
So why did Warner Brothers even take this gamble in the first place?
Well, two comic books with adult themes becoming bestselling books would be the reason. We all know this story since it’s so often discussed, but these two books started a process of comics being taken seriously and being seen as material for adults. It gave Moore and Miller a springboard to advocate for other comic artists: Miller in particular probably sold more reprints of The Spirit than Eisner did, in the ’80s.
That was the thing: Warners owned DC and as a result, they had the sales numbers. Batman comics were selling millions of copies… and selling them to adults.
But even that isn’t nearly as big a breakthrough as what was happening on TV.
Star Trek: The Next Generation Was One of The Most Successful Shows On The Air
In the nerd stereotype, Star Trek is integral: If your nerd isn’t wearing Spock ears, it’s because they don’t go with his gold shirt.
To Paramount, Star Trek let them pull off one of the biggest coups in the history of television.
The financial achievement Paramount put together on the back of Star Trek: The Next Generation is nothing short of staggering, so much so that it’s literally a case study in entertainment law and market economics. The Next Generation never aired in a specific time slot or day in any market, yet it commanded ratings that consistently crushed most network hits. Name a show that supposedly defines the late ’80s and early ’90s and it was probably beaten by TNG in the ratings.
The premiere alone was watched by 27 million people and right from the start, Paramount was making a 40% profit on every episode. And this was in 1987, when being a Trekkie was still supposedly a social disgrace.
More than the movies, this really emphasizes that arguing nerd culture was under the radar was a fallacy. It wasn’t. It was mainstream culture.
So enough with the noob arguments, OK? They’ve been around since the ’80s.
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If you know anything about John Cheese, like I and ZODIAC MOTHERFUCKER do, you know hes a steaming pile of ass. No surprises here.
I was about to attack the fuck out of you for badmouthing John Cleese.
Well argued, Sir.
I’d say Superman (the Salkind production) and Star Wars were gateway drugs. Once you admitted to liking those it made it easier to like a few of the knock-offs that came rolling down the pike.
Before you know it you’re mainlining Dr. Who while your girlfriend does it Triffid-style with a Centurion.
Um, there’s no way that Nintendo gets credit for changing what gaming was … me and every other gamer my age had either an Atari 2600 or Colecovision. Seriously.
Dude, the 2600 and 5200 sold less, combined, WORLDWIDE than the NES did in the US alone.
Don’t forget the Crash. Atari never recovered from that and Nintendo capitalized to say the least.
That said, the Atari 2600 was the OG of games. Maybe we can compromise and say anyone who’s ever rolled over Asteroids’ score to zero gets some sort of old-timer badge?
But, and here’s where I think I have a leg to stand on, you weren’t under threat of atomic wedgies if you owned an Atari/Colecovision, like you were if made it known you played D&D or read comic books … it was absolutely nerd culture, and yet the non-nerds were just as likely to own it.
Seriously? Nintendo doesn’t get credit for making the videogame market “mainstream” as this article suggests? I’m 27, so colecovision is before my time, but I know there are many people my age who don’t know what the hell it is. Yet if you asked most people my age who played videogames to say the first old system they experienced come to mind, they’d say “atari” or more likely “nintendo”. The bottom line is the sales tell you Nintendo took gaming and the way they market it to the next level, and “got the ball rolling” for the massive market it is today. I’m not talking tech specs, I’m talking nearly every kid had an NES in their household. I grew up with SNES but my brother who’s 7 years older had NES and I still remember everyone owning NES even years after it’s debut. Video game rental started popping up massively and you could rent NES games. (not really an argument I’m making, just remembering how awesome that was) but to say Nintendo didn’t change the way people looked at gaming is pretty insane. Again this is about the numbers, you can look at the sales and like me, a LOT of us can just remember every fucking kid we knew had an NES.
Also, you’ve totally overlooked the impact of Blade Runner and The Terminator. Both well before Batman. Both made gobs and gobs of money. Both have stronger nerd cred that Batman. For someone getting huffy about people overlooking nerd culture in the late 80′s, you seem pretty damn unaware of the early 80′s …
Mostly I’m aiming for the highlights, the massive massive hits. Not that Terminator wasn’t a big hit, but in terms of influence on broader pop culture, you can make a compelling argument “Batman” has been more important over the last twenty years.
Fair enough. I don’t agree, but there’s no denying Batman was huge.
I’d argue nerd culture still had a stigma up until the late 90s. The seeds were planted in the 80s, but it’s when those kids HAD kids, yet themselves forgot to grow up. The 90s (Generation X) had the first LARGE population of parents who were just as likely to want a toy, comic book, or video game for their birthday as their children.
Star Wars Special Edition, Matrix, the PS2…and finally, when Return of the King won Best Picture, the Nerd Knights had risen.
I know that pushed into the 2000s, but those are my 4 primary benchmarks.
I agree. It’s been a slow transition from anything “nerdy” to where we are now. Hell we had movies showing computers as magic in the mid 90s!
“Nerd culture” didn’t fully get accepted in pop culture until fairly recently. People making the argument against the recent acceptance are looking at the impact nerd culture interests made but what “normal” people thought of them. In society’s view, the acceptance is only fairly recent
The difference is the internet. If you liked D&D in the 80s you probably had 3 friends that liked D&D and they were your only friends. Today if you love D&D you have 200 people following you on tumblr.
Yes, and yet the internet ITSELF is part of the equation too.
Spock wore a blue shirt.
*hits inhaler, jumps out window*
Well, yeah, dude. That’s why they don’t go with the gold shirt. GOD.
Watchmen and Dark Knight Returns came out in 1986, not 87. I would bet almost anything by reading this article you are >30, because you have no idea what you are talking about when referring to events in the 80s. Geek has only become mainstream/cool in about the past decade or so and even with all the mainstream success of geek culture there is still a stigma. I point you to SDCC of ten years ago as opposed to SDCC today as a good example of this.
I’m thirty-one, actually. I just think the whole “NERD CULTURE HAS TOTALLY MUSHROOMED!” argument is more fallacy than fact.