How My Fandoms Shaped Me

Hello my friends.

Today's blog has partially been inspired by my PTSD therapy. Part of confronting the trauma and dealing with the PTSD is going back and putting things in a timeline as best as you can, especially in the case of absent or repressed memories, which is a large part of what I am currently dealing with. However as part of that i am in a generally retrospective mood, and as someone who has always felt very drawn to my fandoms, wanting to learn as much as I possibly could about them and following them intermittently for years to an almost obsessive degree (not saying I'm AudHD but also not saying I'm not) and so I wanted to do a sort of timeline for my fandoms.

And so that is what this blog will be, me discussing what properties I have found myself being a large fan of over the years in a rough timeline order of when I was introduced to them. Through doing this I hope to explain in some ways why this fictional media tends to mean so much to me, and why I have such a passion for the fandoms I have. Now I won't cover all of them here, as there is a lot, but let me explain some of the biggest ones from my childhood and how they continued to stay with me throughout the years.

So the first thing I remember enjoying enough that I would call myself a "fan" of it - by which I mean not just enjoying something but taking a strong interest in it - was Thomas the Tank Engine. Now like many young boys I had an interest in trains, especially steam trains, but i grew up watching the original Thomas the Tank Engine TV series, adapting the Railway Series of books by Rev. W. Awdry, and I recall being fascinated by it. I remember seeing a making of for it on television, explaining how the minatures worked and made smoke. I remember reading through the entire Railway Series years later and finally learning where some of the characters I had die-cast toys from that had never appeared in the show originated, and I remember especially being fascinated by the smaller trains introduced on the Narrow Gauge railway in Season 4, which used a different scale of model. In fact this was the show I first noticed elements of filmmaking, such as the different model scales for the human characters to interact with the trains. As I grew older I learned that Rev. Awdry had written a lore book of sorts for the Island of Sodor, taking the fantasy elements of the talking trains and weaving it with real world history about British Railways from his own interest to create a historical chronicle of the entire Sodor Railways. While I have yet to read it myself it is definitely something i am interested in tracking down should it ever come back into print. I also greatly enjoyed discovering the newer characters added to the television series when watching it with my children, and I've loved reading the series with them over the years. There was even a similar spin-off show called Tugs, about two fleets of boats in a harbour, which I also loved for its incredible model work, and lovely music. Am I still a fan of it? Maybe. I enjoy the books, and there is something just lovely about it, but I am not an active fan of it and haven't been since my youth. 

The next things I remember being fascinated with, were the Gerry Anderson Supermarionation shows Thunderbirds, Stingray and Captain Scarlet. All of them were doing reruns on television when I was a kid, and I quickly became obsessed with them. I loved the modelwork on display and find the high-octane adventures thrilling. Thunderbirds especially I adored and have already done a podcast gushing about how much I enjoyed it, especially the incredible visuals, building tension, and thrilling music. The Thunderbird machines were some of the first things I remember really practicing drawing, and I had several of the toys as well to imagine my own adventures. I even remember a stage show that combined elements of all three shows, giving me my first real taste of a shared universe and inspiring my own creativity and play. I have a huge amount of childlike glee when rewatching these shows, and I am a huge fan of the recent Thunderbirds reboot series as well. Captain Scarlet was one I loved as a kid, and one of the only shows I remember the bad guys ever winning, which I think is something that kids TV should have on occasion, and as a result it is one I would love to revisit at some point, along with its own reboot.

Several of the prominent toy cartoons of the 80s I was too young for, such as Transformers and Masters of the Universe. I was familiar with them due to a slightly older cousin who had videotapes and toys of them. However the one I enjoyed was Teenage Mutant Hero Turtles, as it was known here in the UK. I loved the cartoon, and had several episodes from the early seasons out of order on VHS, and remember noticing the references to other episodes as well as the edits to them. I also remember watching all three of the 90s films in the cinema, and as I would have been very young for the first one I think that counts as one of my earliest memories. I also beat Turtles in Time with my childhood best friend at his house over several weekends, being one of my favourite gaming exeriences. However as much as I loved Turtles, with the toys especially being something i loved, the next big sensation for toys blew them away, and that was Mighty Morphin Power Rangers. I was fully caught up in the huge explosion of Power Rangers popularity. I loved the toys, the show, the way it looked, the way it sounded. In short, it was like nothing I had ever seen before, and yet at the same time the fascination I had with the complex miniature and model work in the previous two things I have spoken about perhaps explains quite why I enjoyed it so much. Its a passion that continues to this day, as I followed the entire franchise of Power Rangers for the next three decades. The Rangers, no matter which team, always felt like an ideal group of friends, and great characters for children to idolise, with plenty of the moral lessons in the show sticking with me and helping to shape who I am. TMNT I am not as passionate about, but I won't deny it is a franchise I still follow, and I am planning to take closer looks at parts of it in the future for the podcast, especially the first volume of the IDW comics, as it brings all the various rights issues for a myriad of characters together, allowing it to use all of the toys in the box.

Now besides trains, as a child I had two other big fascinations, namely space and dinosaurs, something that I think is true of many children. As a result I was drawn into the hype for Jurassic Park. Its a smaller fandom of mine, but one I have followed, especially as I became I huge fan of the novel series by Michael Chricton, with the first novel being one of my favourites for a long time, and the differences in adaptation between the two stuck with me for years, with me always being curious why certain decisions might have been taken in developing the films, especially with some of the additions and ommissions in the sequel The Lost World especially. That in itself is something that has continued to be something I want to learn more about, and has been a huge part of my podcast research and discussions.

I soon became a fan of video games, as I was lucky enough to have a Sega Mega Drive as a child, complete with Sonic the Hedgehog. Obviously Sonic-mania soon led to its own franchise, with cartoons, but most especially the comics. I was a huge fan of the Sonic The Comic published by Fleetway, and would go on to discover the American Archie Comics years later. The colourful cast of characters that built out from the franchise as it developed, as well as the characters introduced by the comics, for better or worse, were things I really enjoyed. Not only did it create a love affair with comic books that has continued in the modern day, but it also showed just how a world could be built from very little, as the original Sonic games on the Mega Drive are obviously very light on story, and so Sega Europe and Sega America both created their own versions of how to expand everything, the European one being published in the Stay Sonic book and inspiring STC. I'm aware the Sonic fandom has a certain reputation, but I just enjoy the characters and world. While I may have come up with fiction of my own though I never created my own Sonic OC - why would I need to when the various worlds of the franchise provided so many great characters I could use with stories for instead?

After reading Sonic comics and watching the superhero antics of Power Rangers, it was natural that I would soon develop a liking for superheroes. The animated antics of the X-Men, Batman and Spider-Man on television kept me watching, and introduced me to a lot of ongoing continuity, something that is obviously central to superhero comics, and something very different to most children's television of the day. This obviously then led to my first American superhero comics. I started with the X-Men, reading issues leading up to the Onslaught Saga, and some Clone Saga issues of Spider-Man, and continued to follow them both for years before I stopped collecting monthly comics, however I still followed them online and my Marvel Unlimited subscription is now an essential expense for me as it allows me the best way to enjoy all of the characters and heroes I have followed. By my teens and early adulthood I was a fan of most of the Marvel superheroes, collecting comics featuring the Avengers, Daredevil, and the Fantastic 4, and with the help of my local libraries I read many of the building continuity of the Universe starting with House of M and Civil War, as well as the Ultimate universe comics. Batman however I never really read as an ongoing comic, but I remember watching the Joel Schumacher films in the cinema, enjoying the cartoon, and reading several important stories over the years in collections from the library, including Hush, The Dark Knight Returns, Red Rain and Cataclysm, however it was the Arkham series of video games that gave me my favourite Batman story. I took a long time to come over to the rest of DC comics, as I felt for years that Batman contrasted hugely with what I saw were more boring characters in the other Justice League heroes. Smallville soon changed my mind though as I enjoyed its version of Superman, and branched out to learn more about the other characters, leading to my love of the Arrowverse and the discovery of my favourite comic event, Crisis on Infinite Earths. 

The final toyline I remember being interested in as a child was the one form the reintroduction of the Transformers IP, with Beast Wars. Firstly there was the cartoon, the first fully CGI animated series I remember seeing, which felt like something form the future, and then the toyline was incredible. The animal forms looked very realistic, and the ball and socket joints introduced for these allowed for an incredible amount of playability, and wonderful transformations. In the same way i used to sit with my Power Rangers toys and transform the Zords back and forth I could do the same with the Beast Wars, and I really enjoyed it. Like Power Rangers before it the show became a staple of school holidays, eagerly looking forward to future episodes, and my sibling and I loved playing with the toys, even coming up with characters for the figures we had that hadn't appeared in the show so that we could incorporate them into our games. 

Now there was a huge push to get kids reading when I was a kid, helped by the Scholastic book fairs, and what quickly took off with my generation was the short, easy-to-digest, almost pulp-like books, such as Goosebumps. Now while I enjoyed Goosebumps, I wasn't a huge fan of many of them, and much more enjoyed the more serious scares of Point Horror. However the Scholastic series that grabbed me, from the time I saw the first cover, was K.A. Applegate's Animorphs series. Focusing on a group of teens who are given shapeshifting powers by a dying alien in order to stop an invasion from mind-controlling aliens, it was just as awesome as it sounded. I remember the fact the books would cycle through the point of view characters in each iteration, allowing us to get a good understanding of all of the cast, how it featured some genuine tragedy and difficult emotional questions, and how the series ongoing continuity meant I was always eagerly awaiting the next one, and constantly rereading the previous books. It was something that always felt far bigger, and with a lot more promise than it presentation seemed to show, and I feel it has been written off by many in a lot of ways. The author released the entire series for free during Covid, including the final books I have not read, and I am eagerly looking forward to revisiting them as an adult for a future podcast. 

The last big piece of media that I remember becoming a fan of as a child was Star Trek. I was introduced to it by my father, who had the first five films featuring the cast of the original series, and I remember watching and being mesmerised by all of them. Sure some of them may not have been the best films in the franchise, but i found something to like in all of them, whether the incredible special effects or the great character work. While I struggled to go back to the original series for years, as even as a kid it was showing its age and the camp charm turned me off (I love a lot of it now but it was rough until it remastered), however I remember loving the Next Generation. I can't remember the first episode I watched, but the showings on BBC2 quickly became a staple of my week. I was enamoured with the characters, and the positive view of the world, and it has been something that has always stuck with me, and informed so much of my worldview. The idea of valuing all life, embracing diversity, and providing for the needs of all people is something that I am exceptionally passionate about, and seeing that exemplified, in the Next Generation, and then not just challenged but actively fought for in Deep Space Nine (and occasionally in Voyager as well I suppose) made me a lifelong fan. I watched the shows, I read the novels, I consumed this franchise in a desperate search to learn more about it, how it connected, and the history of this universe, especially how we arrived in that future. Its one of the biggest influences in my life, and one I am happy to be defined by. It exemplifies in many ways why I am so drawn to these fandoms. 

In the same way that someone who grew up religious might find their upbringing being a big part of their life whether they remain religious or not, to me Star Trek and the other things that have influenced me have developed the core of who I am. My morals, my politics, my passions, my personality, my humour and so much more comes from what has been imparted from Star Trek, and Power Rangers, and the X-Men, and Spider-Man, and so on. I can safely say that I wouldn't be the person I am without my fandoms.

I may do a follow up to this blog looking at some more fandoms that influenced me and how I came to them, like Warhammer which is big one that I haven't covered here, as well as Star Wars, Doctor Who and Mass Effect. However I'm going to sign off for now. Look after your physical and mental health as best as you can everyone. 

I love you all. Until next time.