In a recent article, it was surprisingly brought to my attention by my good friend Myth, just how much this very web site had evolved in as little as two years time.
I remember getting on this site just for news in late 2007, early 2008. It was the first news reference on Google when someone wanted to learn about upcoming comic book films. Naturally I was seduced by C.B.M. like a moth to a flame. But I longed for much more than news. I wanted a place to go to, a home away from home if you will, where comic book movie fans could bask in the magnificence of what was our “childhood dreams” come true; a place that could turn us individuals into a collective or rather a fellowship.
I started to research the nooks and crannies of the site to find where people could gather to discuss comic book films. I wasn't too internet “savvy” at the time so it took me a while but I finally found the message boards. Unfortunately, those boards seemed dormant to someone who would enjoy a conversation that didn't have a month's waiting time to get a reply. So I went back to read more news and that's when I noticed that people could post comments after every article. There weren't more than three or four comments per article and they were only the reader's "thoughts" on the related news. It wasn't a discussion but I decided to turn it into one. Instead of posting my thoughts, I posted direct replies to the people that commented. It took a few days at first but then a few of us that had nothing else to do but to click back onto previously read articles, started to post replies to one another. And so it began that regular visiting readers would click on every article to finally "discuss" on the matter related to the article. The average amount of comments per article jumped from four to fifteen replies. Then quickly, fifteen became thirty and so on.
The C.B.M. editor made himself known with his Galactus avatar. He then posted an article on a "gay superhero" that had a pink costume. What an uproar that article had unleashed! Opinions clashed and degenerated into hatred and prejudice. Faiths were questioned, books were thrown and people were condemning each other. The fellowship, which had grown exponentially, had separated like the red sea. That is the first time a single article had gone passed the hundredth reply milestone. The C.B.M. editor in the guise of Galactus had created a monster and fearing it's extinction at the bottom of the front page, decided to create a continuation article for the debate to rage on. And so he saw that it was good. As the dust fell back to the ground, civilisation had persevered and prevailed. The fellowship had risen from the ashes anew, in the form of a community.
When C.B.M. noticed how much his creation had grown, he went a step forward and created "fan sites". These fan sites were to each have but a single and original purpose in order to contribute to the home site. Being a popular member of the community, C.B.M. slithered down his tree and tapped on my shoulder. He brought to my attention how attractive and delicious the fan site fruit seemed. Five or so fruits or "fan sites" had sprouted in they're own creative and individual "colors" and "tastes". I was hesitant to create one for I had no idea what "other" purpose I could bring to the site. And so it hit me, for I had realised how passionate I was to find the perfect actors for our childhood heroes. And so was the birth of the very first fan cast article on ComicBookMovie.com which had for mission to demonstrate just how adequate Jensen Ackles was for the role of Captain America.
Naturally, great minds think alike and the fan sites had lost their "originality" in ignoring their initial guide lines when C.B.M. got engulfed with a virtual "tsunami" of creation. Fan sites were sprouting left and right and the community had grown to astronomical proportions. Fan casting had become a common contribution on every fan site. I was then left without a purpose. My fruit's taste had become stale and its colors had washed away. And so I decided to plant my fruit's seeds and grow my own tree using sketches to promote my fan cast. And that is how I ever got started "sketch-casting". Sketching actors I felt perfect for certain roles and adding the character's costume to those actors’ portraits. My first ever "sketch-cast" portrait was of Jensen Ackles dawning Captain America's uniform and in drawing him, it swayed many to realise how great of a Captain he'd make since he has all the physical requirements and facial features, not to mention the acting talent and commanding presence.
No later than roughly a year from my first "Jensen Ackles for Captain America" article, another editor by the name of Brent Sprecher created a fan cast poll to determine who would be the fans’ choice to portray The First Avenger. His poll shattered records and milestones and raised the bar to over 1700 comments. And in doing so, it created a malfunction on the article's page since no one would have thought of an article generating that many comments. After all, this was not nor ever has been a "message board"; it was a mere article page. Shortly after Nathan Best's repairs to the page, the poll continued on and Jensen Ackles immerged victorious as the fans favourite choice of actor to portray Captain America. The poll even influenced someone to post Jensen Ackles as a rumoured choice for Captain America on IMDB.com.
Word from Brent Sprecher was that Paramount had chosen to "not comment" on the fans decision but will they at least consider the fans’ choice or will Marvel even get to know about it? That is the question. But one thing is for certain and that is the fact that the fans have gathered and voiced their opinions more than ever! And they have chosen C.B.M. to do it! Thank you ComicBookMovie.com for giving all of us, another place to hang our hat, for bringing us the most amount of news that the comic book film industry has to offer AND to give us the means to voice our opinions and making them heard!!!
T'is "The Shaman's" tale. Thanks for reading and contributing! Each and every one of you is a reason why ComicBookMovie.com is the main resource for comic book movie news on the web today!
