Usually, the “ask the…” threads are for ignorant people to ask a person (or couple people) in the know. It seems to me that although that happens a bit in those posts, it is mainly a bunch of fanboys chatting about comics. Not that there’s anything wrong with that, but aren’t there whole bulletin boards devoted to this sort of thing?
Also whole boards dedicated to the all the professional sports, all the professional and college sports teams (except maybe the Detroit Lions), popular music, Shakespeare, anime, sex, masturbation, race, politics, various celebrities, sex, literature, sports, cars, and so on. Probably be best not to start threads for each topic that has a couple threads devoted to it.
If you’re asking why they’re in the “Ask the” format, it’s 'cause each (well, the first one at least; I haven’t checked into the second) was started by a guy who felt his knowledge was such that he could be considered the comic book guy.
::wanders off and considers starting a “ask the having a lot of porn guy” thread::
Hey! It’s a little early to start bashing the Lions, don’t you think? Good Lord, the season hasn’t even started yet! There certainly is a Lions (unmoderated) newsgroup, although I’m not sure if that is what was meant by “bulletin board”.