We originally did an interview with a non-fan of comic material, and what her views were when it comes down to this type of material. Now, I’ve decided to interview our very own, Phil, in his views and what makes him fall under a different category. You can read our first interview here.
Phil is one of the co-founders of Comic Universe and has written close to 300 articles since the Universe began.
Phil specialises in comics, owning easily over 3,000 different comics, physically. He also watches every single show that is comic related without fail. He’s also one of the running drives behind our site and social media. Especially being on top with brand new trailers or news.
Without further ado, here’s the interview;
1. What makes you a hardcore fan?
The stories and the characters mainly, there’s so many characters which I have connections within all settings.
2. When you’re labelled as a ‘hardcore fan’, what makes you more of a fan in comparison to someone who enjoys the movies and shows?
Because a hardcore fan reads/watches everything, not just one thing, like people who think everything in Marvel has to be about the MCU when it’s actually much more than that. The comics compared to film is insanely bigger and more in-depth, and I keep up with all aspects of it.
3. Do you read a lot of comics?
Yes, absolutely! Anything from actual comics to graphic novels, if I don’t have the comic I go to YouTube instead.
4. Good stuff, at what age did you become a fan of comic material?
5-6 I’d say, around about then anyway.
5. That’s quite young, how did you get into it at such a young age?
My brother, he was literally like me, an avid comic reader. He collected everything and put me onto Teen Titans at first, and it kind of just went from there.
6. If you were stuck on an island and could only bring one comic series, one tv show and one movie, what would you bring and why?
The show I would have to choose Smallville, I grew up on that, I can watch it endlessly and can sit for days just watching it.
The Darth Vader comic series is truly great, shows us what Vader went through and something the movies didn’t touch upon.
Smallville is also similar to the Vader comic, it showcased to us what Clark went through in Smallville before he became Superman, it showed him trying to fit in.
I’d also choose Batman vs Superman Ultimate Edition for the movie because it gave us the best live-action Batman and gave us the trinity on screen which was perfect.
7. Interesting. Do you have a preference on a franchise you love more such as DC, Marvel or Star Wars, or do you equally prefer them all?
I prefer them all equally but Star Wars is endless, that universe is so big that you could write anything and it would fit in.
8. That’s fair. What was your dream job growing up?
I didn’t have one dream job, I wanted to do a few things from doing animation to running a news site, I wanted to illustrate comics too.
9. So even as a child you wanted to be in an environment surrounding by superheroes?
Yes, from a young age I saw the potential it had, I just didn’t realize the scale of how it would become today.
10. Would you have admitted that growing up in school? Especially with a stigma surrounding enjoying stuff like this. Being called “nerd, geek etc”.
Yes, I’ve admitted it to a few people but growing up that kind of had to take a back burner cause of the surroundings.
11. Do you believe that now there is still a stigma surrounding enjoying this type of material? From comics to shows and movies etc…
No, the movies have become that huge that it’s very much mainstream now. I think the tables have turned and people look at you weird if you haven’t saw a Marvel or DC movie.
12. Going back to your dream of running a website, do you feel happy you’re now able to showcase your passions with the entire world?
Yes, I believe what we are doing at Comic Universe is great, from reviews to news to even calling out clickbait sites is great and this is just the beginning.
13. Talking about clickbait sites, how do you feel when you see someone share an obvious fake site that has gathered a lot of attention?
I see it happen on a weekly basis on Facebook. I try to tell them that the sites are liars, people don’t listen because of the massive following the sites gained cause of lies and the “sources” that don’t exist. It makes me mad because Comic Universe could get that recognition or other smaller sites like us that actually care more about our readers than clicks.
14. Finally, what are you most excited for within the universe going forward?
I’m most excited for the rise of Comic Universe going forward, I’m excited for the DCEU and the Disney+ shows, I’m also extremely excited for more Star Wars, especially the next season of The Mandalorian.
So, there we have it. A huge thank you to Phil for taking time away from writing an article and measuring posts for social media to answer my questions today. As you can imagine, we’re fairly busy in what we do here, but this is the perspective from someone who’s biggest passion is this.
It highlights how huge this universe now is, and that it’s okay to just be the biggest nerd ever. We all have a bit of nerd in us, but superheroes are here to stay. We’re happy with that.
