Has a comic ever inspired you to take up an IRL hobby?

[MK_Wizard]

Contrary to what misconceptions say, comics can help people in the real world too. Besides changing our minds for the better, enlightening us or making us aware of something important, they sometimes inspire us to just make our lives better by taking up better lifestyles or hobbies. For me, the Webtoon "True Beauty" re-inspired me to take care of myself and find joy in making myself up the right way.

What comic inspired you to take up something in the real world and you're glad it did?

Here's the webcomic "True Beauty" by the way: https://www.webtoons.com/en/romance/truebeauty/list?title_no=1436

[powerplantanimations]

A little weird but every piece of media that involves fighting infuriated me enough to learn how to kickbox. Let me explain.

I always felt a little self-conscious that I didn't know how to fight? I don't know why but eventually I got my Dad to teach me since that dude was like the third scariest street fighter in his town (the other two were my uncles).

But if I were to give a specific comic that just straight up motivated me, it was Tomorrow's Joe. It helped me be less self-conscious with my fighting and made me realize "Wow.... I really am doing good" (the only thing that's killing me is footwork, I seriously need to find time playing handball). The uppercut chapter hyped me up so much I was like "is it really THAT hard to do an uppercut????" and made me wonder if I could take the characters in the manga which is a weird statement considering the fact one of the characters was knocking out bulls but like... realistically speaking.

Another one was this webcomic book in High School I found that showcased different webcomics and I was like "You know what? I should make a webcomic" and my teacher was like "Yeah you should do that".

Not a comic, but Steven Universe motivated me into writing again since I didn't like the show as a kid for whatever reason (probably the way they handled villains... yeah it was most likely that). In High School (before I found the book in the Library) I was sorta comic'd out. Felt like that scene from the Godfather "THEY PULLED ME BACK IN!". Hell, Red Giantess was created IN RESPONSE to Steven Universe and that was way back in 2016 when it began as a Green Lantern/Booster Gold rip-off. Flash forward to 2023 and it became it's own beast (that still retains the themes of the original, just expanded from Hell and back).

[MK_Wizard]

I think that's pretty cool! You know... I think you inspired ME to exercise more now with that info.

[NickRowler]

In my attempt to learn more about disabilities and mental health, it lead me to learning Grade 1 Braille as well as taking courses about helping marginalized groups get access to health care. I guess at point in the future I can help people in real life instead of just writing about it.

[MK_Wizard]

That's heartwarming.

[choilyriel]

Hmmm.. for drawing... Magical girl lyrical nanoha inspires me the most. I'm just a little girl, so watching two girls be doing transformation sequence is Hella thrilling with cute and lightning sound as background.

What I like is the fact both of their weapon are more mechanical looking, and the sounds of the weapon changing forms are just top quality.

So yeah, that anime got me delusional af and I literally started drawing cuz I wanna imagine myself in that world.

For personal life, I've got nothing. I just... Live I don't really have anything I wanna fix

[HGohwell]

I have the very cliche story that I started to play volleyball because of Haikyuu. While I was less inspired by and more was there with someone else playing a different sport when the volleyball coach spotted my phone charm and told me it makes it better if I know how to play, I also know anecdotally a lot of people who did read and then decided to check in out. And there are is substantial evidence this is semi-common across the world, everything from the massive uptick in volleyball club members at every level across Japan (because Japan is highly regulated and this is where most the research is done because manga) correlating with the start of the manga and then again with the start of the anime, to the irl Argentinian national team adopting one of the characters as an official member. And I think that's really special that a comic can have that much impact.

[abigaillmartin]

I wanted to try ballroom dancing ever since I started Elsie and making my own Victorian clothes!

Cracking Eggs has made me want to make more omelettes and quiches

Also my character Wellington has records so now I want to collect records and get my own record player!

[nachoguillotowriter]

Yeah! Watching ane reading D. Gray-Man and Dragon Ball as a kid made me want to write my own stories

It took a while to learn, but it was worth it

And thanks to Slam Dunk I started playing basketball, too

[MK_Wizard]

I admit I got into basketball because of a cartoon too as a kid. I can't remember which one though.

[Innocynce]

A comic hasn't, but a Novel had inspired me to start gardening...

[MK_Wizard]

I love gardening. What do you garden? Vegetables or flowers?

[feuersichel]

As a child I started with Jiu-Jitsu because of Avatar-last airbender. It didn't last to adulthood because of the workload but I learned quite alot I just made it to the yellow belt though.

[CarltonIsaac]

Reading Comic books inspired me to create Comic books as a hobby, and then turn that into a profession as a freelance ghost artist.

[darthmongoose]

I learned to play guitar and bass a bit because of Scott Pilgrim. Stuff like the bits where the comic shows the chords for the songs the bands are singing got me intrigued, and also it being about kind of crappy bands who play very simple music was reassuring for me as a beginner.

[Innocynce]

Flowers

I plan to try vegetables soon, but as for my impatiens: they're growing so fast that they already spread seeding lungs all around their pots! I feel bad also though, because this yard/area is a harsh environment for flowers...

(The sun killed a desert flower I tried to grow last year: THIS ISN'T A DESERT. And it incinerated a sunflower... It's a miracle the impatiens are still here!)

[MK_Wizard]

Aw, I hate it when nature doesn't cooperate with you. I usually do potted plants and outside, I intend to try doing vegetables next year.

[TheLemmaLlama]

Oh yeah, I answered this on the comicfury forums, but The Order of the Stick got me interested in D&D

[2DLenzy]

Well, reading comedies like Erma actually re-inspired me to get back into drawing comics(used to draw funnies as a kid), which is my IRL hobby now.

This post is making me realize that I don't have any other real hobbies, besides occasional 3D stuff, but that was inspired by Pixar in the 2010s.

On an off-note, maybe my comic will inspire others to raise chickens?

...Or maybe become vegan...(not a hobby tho, lol!)