The bro's bizarro opposite
A hipster is one whose taste in popular culture is based upon pretentions and/or irony. Favorite hipster films include Bergman’s Seventh Seal, and Jacques Tati’s Play Time. Hipsters pride themselves in their pretentions by quoting Voltaire and Camus and they claim that they have a longing to be understood, yet, they further spiral into their pretentions to distance themselves from society.
Where the bro tries everything he can do to fit in and belong to a group, the hipster does all he can to avoid fitting in. Some hipsters have an ironic streak, though, and will do things specifically because they abhor them. For instance, a hipster’s taste in beer happens to be Pabst Blue Ribbon simply because it’s not cool to like PBR. Therefore, a hipster takes something that the general consensus doesn’t like and pretends that it is cool, thereby making it cool.
Last week, at my work, we he a hippie day, and I decided to pretend it was hipster day instead. So, I grabbed my copy of Seventh Seal, and Albert Camus’s the Stranger, wore my Of Montreal t-shirt with a hoodie, and my Chuck Taylor’s and put myself in the mindset of a hipster. Being in that mindset, I began to wonder what a hipster comic book fan would look like. Comic books are already a niche habit that are certainly far from popular, but what would a hipster’s taste in comic books be like?
Hipster philosophy via R. Crumb.
The hipster comic fan would praise the works of R. Crumb and Daniel Clowes. He would have anxiously been awaiting Asterios Polyp because the hipster comic fan would also be into architecture as well. American Splendor used to be a favorite until Harvey Pekar sold out to HBO. The same goes for Ghost World and Scott Pilgrim. In fact, the hipster has gone on entire rants about the only way for a Scott Pilgrim movie to truly be true to the source material is if it was a series of animated shorts on the internet and all the art looked like 8-bit pixilated characters.
Hipster comic fans believe the form of the medium shouldn’t be relegated to the superhero genre. They hate Frederic Wertham more than anyone else but only because the “purest” form of comics – romance, western, horror, etc. – had been lost forever after Seduction of the Innocent took down the industry. Though western, romance, horror, and cartoon animal comics are few and far between these days, the hipster comic fan reads all of them and acts insulted when other comic fans don’t know what he’s talking about. Classic Tales from the Crypt issues are sought after and cherished like a rare vinyl EP from Neutral Milk Hotel.
Comic hipsters can tell you when the Shanhara armor was destroyed and how it was superior to the Pol-Bekhara armor.
The hipster comic fan would generally avoid all superhero books, but when the topic of superheroes came up, he would lament the destruction of Valiant comics and claim that X-O Manowar, Solar Man of the Atom, and Archer and Armstrong were the last “great” superhero comics made (at least in the U.S.). If pressed to name a comic from the big two that he liked, the hipster comic fan would begrudgingly admit that Mike Grell’s Green Arrow was the best comic DC ever made. He would also be in full support of Spider-man Loves Mary Jane but it’s unclear why. Perhaps the hipster comic fan views it as an attempt from the mainstream to delve into the romance genre or perhaps it’s an ironic choice.
Awwwww . . .
Alan Moore’s ABC line of comics was pretentious enough that the hipster comic fan loves it. They also consider Lost Girls to be his best work and they chalk it up to being largely misunderstood. They would consider Grant Morrison to be a sellout and claim that Zenith was his only good work (though Invisibles had its moments). David Lapham’s Young Liars would be hated publicly but loved in secret because the hipster comic fan would claim that he had a similar idea in a notebook underneath his bed. Other than this title, most Vertigo comics are largely ignored by the comic hipster because it is just too close to DC comics. Strangely, Neil Gaiman’s Sandman is still on a hipster’s top ten favorite comics of all time, but it sits at number eight on that list.
You’re totally right. I DID pick up Asterios Polyp because a modern home design blog said it looked cool. No joke.
I…I have seen these people…So cringe worthy. Very nice article Cody. The quality of your articles just keeps bringing me back every day just to see if something new is up. Keep up the good work buddy.
So where would hipster comic book fans stand on “I was kidnapped by Lesbian Pirates from Outer Space”?
You know, I’ve never been a fan of all this hipster bashing. I feel like if we didn’t have hipsters then nobody would make the kinds of things that I like. This leads me into the strong suspicion that I might well be a hipster myself. This feeling persists despite the fact that everyone I’ve ever met (regardless of their opinions toward hipsters) says, quite bluntly, that I’m not.
I love Ingmar Bergman’s work and draw a lot of inspiration from him in my own rather sad attempts at film-making. Camus is alright as well, but I get a bigger kick out of Kobo Abe as far as absurdism goes. The Mountain Goats are my favorite modern band, but I want to punch the guy from Of Montreal. The feeling persists that I just like things which are “good.” I’ve hung out with these “hipsters” and I find them to be very dull, but still better company than the baseball fans at my job.
Oh, and I’m not much of a comics fan- but my favorite series would have to be the Sandman, probably followed by Morrison’s run on Doom Patrol.
Allow me to clear up some confusion. Just because I have listed some books on here and declared them hipster books isn’t to say that I don’t enjoy these books. I am merely saying that these would be the ONLY books that they would enjoy and they would do so because they refuse everything else.
Katie – I love me some Asterios Polyp. I think the art is just absolutely fantastic and the story has a lot of heart. I read it in a night.
Joven – The hipster comic fan would love it ironically.
Alexander – I mention Camus and Bergman and yet, I own both. I agree that if hipsters didn’t exist, things wouldn’t be made that I enjoy. We’re in the same boat . . . especially about Doom Patrol.
Yea, hipsters may quote what many claim to be obscure, but sadly, whether or not the things they quote are obscure or not, or whether the hipster even likes them, the item in question might very well be amazing.
Out of the things listed about i’ve only ever watched Seventh Seal, but that was because i was a TV/Film major and we watched it in class. I knew about it before, and wanted to see it, and yes its a damn good movie, as many will admit. My previous experience with it being Last Action Hero and The Meaning of Life
Regardless of the quality, your point still rings true. I for one used to have a fan i would definately classify as a hipster, as he often admited he hates many things just because they are popular, though he does have some good actual opinions on occasion. Though he “honestly” loved The Room, so….
As a quasi hipster (I love hispter shit, but wont wear the uniform) I do agree with your description of hipsters. For me, the issue with hipsterism is that it is largely inauthentic. It is like the nihilist in Big Lebowski saying they believe in nothing. Well, if you believe in nothing, then you are still believing in something. Any good Hispter with an introducing size knowledge of Sartre or Heidegger can back that idea up, or should.
Hipsters are children secretly pining to be added to society, but have fostered a detachment from society in order to placate their own ego and fear of rejection. So, next time you see a hipster, go up to them and quote The Dismemberment Plan’s “You are invited” to them and give them a hug.
You are invited by anyone to do anything
You are invited for all time…
You are so needed if you really want to go
You are invited for all time
For all time
Cheer up hipster kids. Death comes soon for us all.
Yes I agree with everything here. Plus maybe recent comic books like Phonogram and Optic Nerve. Although hipsters might find some of the music choices on Phonogram “too obvious” or “played out”.
Your knowledge of hipster culture leads me to suspect that you are a closet hipster yourself. lol : )
Gian – At work, it was a hippie day, and since I am firmly against hippies, I decided to interpret it as hipster day. So, I put on a newsie hat, a shirt from Urban Outfitters, grabbed my copy of Seventh Seal, and put Albert Camus’s the Stranger in my backpocket. I thought it was really funny until I realized that I didn’t have to go out and buy any of those things and they are distinctly hipster items. I was a little horrified by my hipster tendencies, but then I decided to just go with it.