Flash is a jack-of-all-murderous-trades.
Posts Tagged ‘Losers’
29 results.
I didn’t make it to Spider-Man this weekend. I really wanted to, but other things got in the way. Maybe I’ll get a chance this week. I keep hearing good things.
Spider-Man isn’t the only comic movie I’m going to have to see. After The Dark Knight Rises comes out, I‘ll be excitedly waiting for this:
As for today’s strip, Rob assures me that there are girls out there with “Geek Fetishes.” Where were these girls when I was young and single? I don’t know, but now it’s a thing. I’d blame Big Bang Theory, but I’m not sure that show deserves the credit.
Rob posing for all the ladies
Maybe as some of our levels are becoming mainstream, our passion doesn’t seem as foreign. Maybe, just maybe, people are starting to see how kind, talented, genuine, and passionate geeks can be. Maybe others are starting to see how awesome we are. To this I say, it’s about time.
It’s Finals week. I am tired and need sleep. I wanted to write about “The Avengers,” but anything I say will be half praise and half nonsense. Come back Monday for a much better blog and a sane Inky.
*** I was told by my business partner and our manager that Monday’s comic ruffled a few feathers (I’m surprised it took this long). So … I reiterate that we’re not picking on geeks. We know geeks are our audience. Rob and I are geeks ourselves. Heck, Rob IS a dice-roller. This isn’t about who is “better” among geeks. We are just providing a (hopefully) humorous gauge. ***
LEVEL 5: LARPING (LIVE ACTION ROLE-PLAYING)
I don’t know ANY LARPers, so I can’t pick on them. However, Rob knows a few. To quote Rob, “The thing about LARPers is that they own it.” I think that’s a good thing. Too often we hide our geekdom. I know I don’t talk about comics at every turn. You almost have to respect people that get dressed up on the weekend and beat at each other with padded sticks (I never thought I would write that sentence). LARPing isn’t much different from Civil War reenactments or public performance art. It’s something the people involved enjoy, and they don’t concern themselves with what others think.
This level is inhabited by die-hard geeks. Remember, levels don’t necessarily determine depth of geekdom, but by the time you are in this level, you a serious geek. When you begin LARPing, you are compounding geek levels. If you combine fandom with D&D, you end up with LARPers.
(Speaking of combining levels, the LARPing level has a sub category for cosplayers. They combine fandom and comic geekdom with dressing up. I am aware there are differences between LARPing and cosplaying, but at the core both groups have stepped up the fantasy. Both LARPers and cosplayers are creative and devoted to their characters.)
LARPing is something I’d like to see sometime. I think it could be interesting. I could never do it, but we geeks in different levels of the hierarchy need to support and be kind to our fellow geeks that occupy this level. They have creativity and devotion. Isn’t that we geeks are all about?
LEVEL 4: DUNGEONS & DRAGONS
Dungeon & Dragons is the oldest and most recognized level of all geekdom. Being a dice-roller has stamped you as a geek from the very start. This level has had very few changes throughout the years. I would call it the godfather of geekdom. It’s still around and still has devoted followers.
Throughout the previous levels you can still find “normal” people (if normal is a good word for any geek). Rob suggests I use “casual” instead of normal. You can have a casual interest in video games, comics and CCG’s. Not so for Dungeons and Dragons. I am sure there are a few, but I’ve never met a geek who is a casual dice-roller. (Remember a geek as defined by me is someone who can say “Well Actually…” ) If you can correct someone in D&D, you are too far gone to be a casual dice-roller.
I don’t know many dice-rollers. I have had the pleasure of meeting a few here and there. I tend to get along with dice-rollers better than gamers. Dice-rollers don’t suffer from the ego mania that gamers do. They also keep this geekiness hidden better. Sometimes you will be surprised to find out someone you’ve known for years is a dice-roller.
Despite my appreciation for the dice-rollers as a group, I think dice-rolling is one of the most dangerous geek levels. Flash makes it sound like a drug, and that’s kind of how it looks. Whenever I talk to someone who was or is a dice-roller, they talk about it like an addict. They never “were” a dice-roller they always “are” a dice-roller. They are always looking for a group. They may be in remission, but they are always looking for the next hit.
It may not be for me, but it’s a classic form of geekdom. Other levels may change with time and fads, but imagination never fades. As long as friends can get together, use their imagination and have a good time, there will always be D&D.
My wife signed us up for a bowling league. We are on a team with two guys from her I.T. department. I don’t know these guys very well, so I hope they don’t mind that I am throwing them under the bus with me in my blog. They were friendly, fun, and it was good to meet them. I also noted, as you may have guessed, they were kinda geeky. No worse than I am… probably less geeky than I am, truth be told.
I observed that fist bumping and high-fiving is not something we geeks don’t do well. We’ve all seen it. The tip-of-the-fingers high-five, or worse the “just-caught-the-palm-five.” Then there’s the miscued dance where one guy goes for the high-five the other goes for the fist bump. Then they switch to accommodate the other, and are still backwards. Then of course, there’s the most embarrassing of all, the “MISSED-five”.
I don’t know if it’s poor hand-eye coordination, High School PTSD, or not knowing how to handle overtly manly acts. It could be a combination of the three. It could be situational. I’ve seen geeks high-five at card tournaments and fist-bump at head-shots, but those same geeks can’t make a high-five on the street.
I think the phenomenon might go something like this: in a situation where it is clearly defined and approved to make a manly gesture, geeks are capable to perform these friendly gestures. The more the geek questions the situation, the more likely they are to perform a misread or misfire of said gestures.
My advice: Throw it up there in all cases. A friendly gesture is just that. Have a little bit of confidence. If you miss a gesture, be self-deprecating and have a sense of humor. Being prepared for these encounters is the only way to improve. With some hard work, you can blend in next time you’re at a football game, listening to car talk, or even bowling…
Flash can’t work alone, which is probably for the best. Flash should not be allowed to have the run of the store. Zack would come in to the store and it would resemble Lord Of The Flies.
I checked out “The Marvelous Land of Oz” and “Ozma of OZ” from my school’s Library. Yes, my college library carries graphic novels and trade paperbacks. It’s a fairly good collection for a small satellite campus in the middle of Kansas.
I can’t wait to dive into reading these two beautiful trades. Skottie Young does great illustrations. He has created an Oz that’s as rich of a world I could imagine. His work is fun to look at, because it has action and movement in the simplest of gestures.
I have liked Young’s work since I found out about him in 2003. His work gets better and better. He has developed his own style… a style that is accessible and adaptable to cover different types of tales. Be sure to check out his work on his site and in the comics he draws.
Rob doesn’t want me to go overboard with how Zack is taking this whole Missy-Ben thing. I don’t want to go too far at Zack’s expense either. Being depressed about a girl can only go on in a comic for so long. We’re in the business of making people laugh.
Rob saw Ghost Rider. I got no report back. I’m sure there is a reason for that. Rob hears, “I told you so” from me often enough. I’m sure he knew it was going to be bad. I enjoy few things in life, like kicking Rob when he’s down. However, in this case, I assume the pain of going to Ghost Rider was enough punishment.
We are working on some new things for the site. To the right of the blog, we added a place to “Like” us on Facebook. Go ahead and like us, so you can get updates when we post new strips. There will be more updates to the site next week, so stay tuned.
Current Read – “A Farewell To Arms” // Book Count 2012: 11
OH NOOOOOOS! She’s dating BEN!
We don’t strive for realism too often in this strip. This is one of the few instances where it needs to be done. I have had the privilege of knowing many geeks. This is a story they tell again and again. See if this sounds familiar. Geek likes girl, girl likes geek as friend, girl dates jerk, girl gets hurt by jerk, geek still there for girl, girl dates jerk. Rinse and repeat. It’s so cliche, it’s something you’d see in a sitcom.
It’s easy to look at the girls, and ask “why do they always go after the jerks?” Being a geek myself, it’s hard to say this:
Gentlemen, it’s your own fault!
I may be a geek, but I have the luxury of also being a jerk… a much bigger jerk than a geek. (***Warning: NSFW***For example.) The guys these girls are dating don’t see themselves as “the jerk.” They see themselves as we all do: as the hero of our own story. They see themselves as awesome, funny, cool and hot. While you follow around the girl like a puppy, “the jerks” are busy being awesome.
More often than not the ending of the story is that the geek gives up after YEARS of hoping that they will be the hero and get the girl. The moral of the story is: give up now. Stop investing time and energy in people that don’t appreciate you. Go invest time in meeting new people and finding a girl who will see you as the hero of her story.
Nice guys finish last. It looks like Missy said no. If Zack would stop crying like a baby and answer we’d know for sure what she said.
I watched the new Spider-Man trailer last night. The trailers look really well done. However, that doesn’t mean I will go see it. Sometimes a really good trailer is misleading. Look at any Michael Bay movie. Pearl Harbor had a good trailer.
- “Casino Royal” // Book Count 2012: 10
