And I think what Greg is referring to is where you have stuff like characters from Superbad and Juno referencing Ghostbusters and Thundercats, respectively. I don't know that this book will really be too nostalgic at all anyways, so the point might be moot.

But I can't really understand not liking creators having nostalgic obsessions over anything, which is a larger issue than making pop culture references (although it can certainly encompass that).

I could argue that DC Comics' series of Crisis events is essentially a nostalgic obsession with its own history. Super-hero comics in general today could be seen as more often than not a nostalgic obsession with super-hero comics either of the late 1930s/early 1940s or the 1960s. Or both.

Robert Kirkman has come right out and said on more than one occasion that Invincible is basically a love letter to the super-hero comics he grew up with. His Walking Dead is a nostalgic obsession with zombie movies with the twist of "what if the movie didn't end?". Just reading the letters page enforces that, as maybe half of that content deals with readers recommending various zombie movies or asking what Kirkman thought of some zombie movie, and Kirkman then responding.

Heck, a majority of Will Eisner's entire career consists of his nostalgic obsession with New York City. Jack Kirby probably has a healthy percentage of that, too.

I understand it can be a bad thing. I've seen that happen. But I've also seen it be a good thing. I think it comes down to the individual creator and how he or she expresses and/or translates the particular nostalgic obsession(s).

Anyway, as others have pointed out, the time period of the book doesn't have much to do with it, so it's all probably a moot point anyway! If the book is more character-driven and less cultural nostalgia, it doesn't really matter when it's set. I'm not as jazzed by the central conceit, which is too "Peggy Sue Got Married" for me, but it's probably going to be a good comic.

In your reviews, you only talked about pop culture references that pre-date the age of the character making the reference. But in Alex Robinsin's new comic, the character is middle-aged - old enough to have lived through the '80s and make such references.

Now you seem to have a problem with creators having a nostalgic obsession with the '80s. But in your reviews one of your examples is a reference of a show from the '70s.

Do you just not like pop culture references that pre-date the '90s?

P.S., just now I noticed that the cover looks like a pack of cigarettes...

The thing that sounded most interesting was that the main character actually LIKES his present day life, and has to suffer through much of the crap he slogged through in high school for fear of disturbing the time line. That's something I can get on board with.

S

But in all seriousness, I graduated high school in '98 and I was still very familiar with eighties culture, particularly things like Pretty in Pink and Duran Duran. I wasn't an enthusiast, but they were not foreign. It might not be the same for people younger than me, but I suspect that certain relics of the '80s will remain a part of youth culture for a while.

sounds like a really cool concept -- can't wait to pick it up later this summer!