I always thought it was because comics and certain sci-fi novels are easier and more appealing to people at a younger age, and they've got enough depth to maintain you until you're older. Science fiction moves you from the simpler works of Asimov to multilayered literary pieces like Dune; unless you're actively curious about the rest of literature, you can evolve as a reader while staying in those bounds. Ditto the transition in comic books from early DC to modern Moore.
A person more receptive towards social expectations may be repelled from the same novel because they're aware of the lack of respect associated with the genre.
Partly, maybe, but I'm really insistent on this point that most people really don't worry as much about popularity as geeks do, and that a lot of what we might assume is driven by it is instead following a certain logic. I love science fiction, and my good friends read sci-fi, but if I came into a room and it was decorated by huge Star Trek posters, I'd still be turned off - not because Star Trek isn't popular, but because it doesn't strike me as being good enough to be worth such an intense love. It's like seeing a Titanic poster in a room. Or, if I see a copy of Watchmen in a bookcase, that's a good thing. If there're a bunch of comics scattered on the floor and no sign of any other form of literature, that's a little worrisome, and if there're energy drink cans and Star Trek posters, then there's an ugly stereotype in my mind, even when one of those things on its own might not trigger much.
A person more receptive towards social expectations may be repelled from the same novel because they're aware of the lack of respect associated with the genre.
Partly, maybe, but I'm really insistent on this point that most people really don't worry as much about popularity as geeks do, and that a lot of what we might assume is driven by it is instead following a certain logic. I love science fiction, and my good friends read sci-fi, but if I came into a room and it was decorated by huge Star Trek posters, I'd still be turned off - not because Star Trek isn't popular, but because it doesn't strike me as being good enough to be worth such an intense love. It's like seeing a Titanic poster in a room. Or, if I see a copy of Watchmen in a bookcase, that's a good thing. If there're a bunch of comics scattered on the floor and no sign of any other form of literature, that's a little worrisome, and if there're energy drink cans and Star Trek posters, then there's an ugly stereotype in my mind, even when one of those things on its own might not trigger much.