There are days when I love being a geek, and days when I don't.

[stoney321]

Yesterday? loved it. I ended up getting an audition call (for a back pain specialist, perfect timing, lol) and was right near the best comic book shop in town. Naturally, I needed to find out what I've been missing in the graphic novels/apocalypse horror genre. The owner was there and we talked about Joss, Dollhouse, Firefly, BSG, Lost, and most importantly, the end of the world. Would it be religious? Would it be due to our own hand? Most importantly, is surgery - installing a metal plate in your brain - feasible? Good times. Also, man there are SO MANY AWESOME Apocalyptic series out there, why wasn't I told?? There are about five or six series he showed me, but since it turns out that I'm made of flesh and not money, I only bought two starters.

1: Y: The Last Man, and are you freaking kidding me!? The sum-up is that something causes every single male mammal from sperm to fetus to geezer to drop dead, without warning. Planes falling from skies, cars crashing into each other, etc. All but ONE man and his pet monkey. (!!) Geneticists are trying to get a hold of him for obvious reasons, he's trying to get to his girlfriend half-way around the world, and a lesbian biker gang wants to kill him. SIGN ME UP, DUDE. :D Also, this is complete and available in trade paperbacks, nice.

2. The Preacher, sum up: Hobv. he's a religious man and God starts to speak through him. Like, Indiana Jones and the Lost Ark burning rays and melting faces speaking through him. It's a religious kind of End of Days thing, and he sets out to find out why God is such a jackass, and why he's using him. Featuring his hard-drinking ex-girlfriend and an Irish vampire. I MEAN, WHAT?! Cool thing: it was completed in 2000, so no waiting for editions, woot!

The other series looked more my speed, but he didn't have the first ones to the one that REALLY rang my bell, Crossed, so when he gives me a ring-a-ding-ding, I'll post about those, too, in case this strikes anyone's fancy. (Sum up: zombies are smart. It's an infection, they lick bullets and shoot people to infect them, that sort of thing. Smart Zombies? Can there be anything more frightening?? Also, it's more about the survivors than braaaaaaiiiiiins. Awesome.)

Yesterday I made a couple of iron ons (who doesn't like iron ons?!) and one of them may be the geekiest thing ever made. No, I'm not joking. I don't know if I'm incredibly proud of myself, or feeling a deep, paralyzing shame about it.



Hint: it's a play on a famous rebuttal in a famous sci-fi fantasy movie. And that's all the hint you get. *G*


And why I do not want to be aligned with geeks: the creepy baby robot that Japan made (STOP IT JAPAN. YOU'VE REACHED YOUR FREAK LIMIT.) now is trying to TEACH ITSELF HOW TO WALK. And it makes creepy baby noises. And flails like a baby. And it's teaching itself all of this. It's like the scientists WANT Terminator to come true!! If any company named CyberDyne starts up, I'm singlehandedly going in to dismantle it. Ditto on Weyland-Yutani. And if you got that reference, bonus points in your column.

Last, but not related, today is narrowing down which agents to submit my manuscript and to polish up my cover letter. Yeesh.

Comments

[gehayi.livejournal.com]

No Weyland-Yutani Corporation, but there already IS a Cyberdyne. In Japan (http://www.cyberdyne.jp/English/).

[anelith.livejournal.com]

The first thing I saw when I clicked on the Cyberdyne link was the OTHER scary SF reference. Near the bottom of the screen. Is the whole thing a joke? Otherwise, they have to be doing this on purpose.

[fannishliss.livejournal.com]

a -- The guys at my comix store also love Y. They can't make me buy it tho!

b -- Preacher is seriously hard corps horror material. I physically couldn't read it! but the guy who wrote it is universally beloved.

c -- creepy babies!! ack!! there is a company called Dynamix right on my intersection -- I can't decide if they're building skynet or just making catfood. :)

great iron on! I'm baffled tho!

fannishliss -- comix reader since 1974!

[stoney321.livejournal.com]

So no creepy horror stuff for you, then? More for me! :D

[jerusha]

OMG. That creepy baby robot is CREEPY.

(Also, I fail the geek-test. Woe.)

[stoney321.livejournal.com]

That baby robot is freaking the hell out of me. It's crazy WHINING!!!!

YIKES.

[entrenous88.livejournal.com]

IDG the iron-on, but I love iron-ons! Also, Shrinky Dinks.

[stoney321.livejournal.com]

We never determined what iron on should be made for you! Gimmie hints and I'll make you one! :D

SHRINKY DINKS ARE BOSS. \o/

[bitchygrrl.livejournal.com]

I love Y so much. *shoves her copies in you direction*
The robot scares me.

[stoney321.livejournal.com]

YAY!! i'm so happy to hear others like them, woot!

[jgracio.livejournal.com]

Oh, come on, Weyland-Yutani's robots are nowhere as bad as the Terminators.

They shoplift though.
At least the latest models do. :D

[stoney321.livejournal.com]

Well, I don't know. Ash is pretty damn awful - because no one knew he was cybernetic - that's how they get you!

[judetwee.livejournal.com]

I just thought you ought to know that I accidentally read 'WALK' as 'WANK' and wondered how on earth it managed to do that.

I wish they would change that face on the robot because it's kind of freaking me out, though not as much as the thought of it learning to wank is.

[stoney321.livejournal.com]

The face is so damn creepy right!??!?!?!

And hahahahaha, wank. Gross. :D

[dampersnspoons.livejournal.com]

We have the complete series of The Preacher if you want to borrow it when you're done with the first one.

Also, Y: the Last Man was recently used in an episode of LOST, which made me very happy. I picked that one up a few (holy shit, SIX?) years ago and really liked it but for some reason stopped getting new issues. I should rectify that.

Another great post-apocalyptic/steampunk short series is called Heart of Empire and it's AMAZING. I think it's only 8 issues long but each issue is jam-packed and gorgeous and dare I say sexy? Yes, I dare.

Also, in the next week or so, I'll be fluent in Japanese. HAI DESU!

[stoney321.livejournal.com]

DO YOU REALLY?! Why did I not think of that?

Whoa, really? Very cool!! How many of Y do you have? I may need to come borrow....

Heart of Empire... I think Keith showed me that one, actually, he just didn't have volume one. SWEET.

Chinpokomon, ah? HI BETH. I loved that shop, 10-Q!

[anelith.livejournal.com]

You and I must be in sync wrt graphic novels because last night I was in the mood to pick up and reread some of those that we have in-house. We collect Fables which is not apocalyptic but I still highly recommend it. Not finished, though, so maybe you'll want to wait till it is. I like the sound of the ones you're reading and should look into those.

I suspect I know the general source of your iron-on but my guess is based only on supposition about your favorite movie(s) and also that the character set is not our alphabet. But I don't have the memory for dialogue that you do so I can't remember any "famous rebuttal," so after that I'm stumped.

I always remember Cyberdyne but forgot Weyland-Yutani. My geek cred is low. :( However, when it comes to SF companies, my favorite is always Yoyodyne Propulsion Systems. They don't make robots but their employees are... interesting.

[stoney321.livejournal.com]

My sister (dampernspoons) up there has mentioned a few others, too. We all share very similar tastes in the sci-fi genres (even though you and I like the harder sf stuff.) I'm going to sit outside once it warms up and start on Y - I'll let you know how it goes! I'm a big fan of them being all done. You can buy them in 5 issue groups, too, another bonus!

Ooooh, just make a guess. Help me, Anne-girl, you're my only hope. ;)

Ah, but you remembered Weyland-Yutani in the end, so your geek cred is still good with me. You just need some spice. *eyes glow blue*

HAHAHAHA, Buckaroo Bonzai!! I haven't seen that in years, my laws!

[bastardsnow.livejournal.com]

Y: is a fantastic series. Brian K. Vaughan, the writer, is now a writer/producer on Lost, and I personally credit him with bringing that show back from the brink of suckitude (hence, I'm sure, the shout-out on the show).

He also writes an awesome series called Ex Machina, where the main character can talk to machines and get them to do his bidding. He is a former superhero and current mayor of New York...

I should not get started talking about my love for BKV, or else I will take up your whole comments page.

Preacher is also fucking awesome, Jesse Custer is a badasshole. Cas is one of the coolest of his kind ever. There is a whole host of awesome characters, which I will not expand upon because I do not want to spoil.

Excellent choices, both, IMO... ::will not start up recommending comics::


Re: iron ons: What? Untrue! Vile liar! ::is a purist::

[stoney321.livejournal.com]

The comic book shop guy (best. store. ever.) was telling me about that! And yeah - given the time frame of when he came on, I would totally agree with you on that one.

Oh, cool! I like cyber-series, too. I'll add that to my list.

HAHAHAHAHAHA!!! It was meant as a joke. (I also made an iron on for my friend that said THE TRUTH.) :D

*gives you a million bonus points to your awesome column*

[essene.livejournal.com]

Y:The Last Man is beyond awesome. It was the first graphic novel series that I'd gotten into since The Sandman.

If you do like it (which you will) I also recommend Ex Machina (by the same guy who did Y) and Fables (a bit more lighthearted, but interesting).

I've been thinking about reading The Preacher. I just may now.

You are the eipitome of geekitude--even though i don't get your iron-on--and I love you!

Good luck with the agents!

[stoney321.livejournal.com]

I've heard loads of good things from my flist about Sandman. I may need to get into that, too.

Oh - my sister just recommended the same things, actually! We're all on a similar wavelength, it seems.

Minus the geek code, which I am SO SAD no one but bastardsnow got. I thought a few more of you would immediately know what it was....

[sealwhiskers.livejournal.com]

You're in for a rough and yet sweet ride with Preacher, is all I'm saying. :)

[stoney321.livejournal.com]

Cannot wait!

[brunettepet.livejournal.com]

Just looking at the picture of that freakish Japanese child bot made my skin crawl. How would you like to come across this thing shuffling down a deserted, darkened street? I am going to have nightmares.

[stoney321.livejournal.com]

I WANT TO SEE A MOVIE ABOUT THAT!!!!!

And holy crap, nightmare city!

[harmonyfb.livejournal.com]

That Japanese robot literally made the hair on the back of my neck stand up.

Oh, there's no way that could go wrong. ::we're all doomed::

[stoney321.livejournal.com]

IS THAT THING NOT HORRIFYING?!?!?!?!

[cappy.livejournal.com]

That dude with the glasses who kept messing with it is going to be the first to go.

I just sent this to my kid & she responded:

Holy Fucking Shit.
That's scary...
I think they should be more gentle with it. It's not going to like them very much when it learns about human rights.
o.o

Did you see where they already have a Robo Teacher & plan to have Robo Nurses in 5 years? And did you see they made a TWENTY THREE FOOT TALL Robot that breathed fire???? for like at a MALL. They're crazy! Brilliant but crazy.

[fatpie42.livejournal.com]

Yeah, robots taking over the world? Not gonna happen:
http://www.phdcomics.com/comics.php

Still that robot on the Gizmodo site looks pretty disturbing. It's a pretty scary prospect to have something that looks like that attempting to 'terminate' you.

On the Garth Ennis thing, I'm a huge Ennis fan so I wanted to give you the heads up on a few things. First of all, yes "The Preacher" is absolutely awesome. Just started reading "Crossed" and it's pretty cool, but seriously disturbing. Ennis said in an interview that he's cutting out the humour, though there is something oddly silly about some aspects (check out the guy with the salt in the first issue. I'll leave it at that).

So, other Ennis outings:
The trade Preacher comic "Welcome Back Frank" is absolutely awesome. The ones following on from that are pretty awesome too. What isn't so good is the MAX comics. It's met with a favourble audience, but there's something about it that doesn't feel right to me. (Maybe it's just me.)

Don't bother with "The Boys". Ordinary guys decide to police superheroes. It just gets too silly and focusses far too much on sexuality. Also, when we discover that pretty much anyone can be a superhero by taking a weird kind of drug I couldn't see the point anymore. Feel free to take a look (if only to check out the character who's been drawn to look like Simon Pegg), but I wouldn't recommend it.

"Chronicles of Wormwood" - This doesn't appear to have been received so well, but I absolutely LOVED it. The Anti-Christ has worked out who he is and isn't interested in his destiny one bit. Nevertheless, in the end he's still a bit of an arsehole (and he knows it). He has the power to do something supernatural, but only once per day - and a result of using his powers one day he is now accompanied by a perverted talking rabbit. He is best friends with Jesus and they both share something in common in that they both disagree with their father's plan for them. Okay, that's all you need to know and I don't think I've spoilt anything there. Check it out. You won't regret it.

Two Ghost Rider stories. Garth Ennis has written "The Road To Armageddon" and "The Trail of Tears". I can't remember who the artist is, but they are absolutely amazing. I preferred the first one to the second, but both stories are brilliant.

Hellblazer "Dangerous Habits". Garth Ennis has written a lot of Hellblazer stories but nothing matches up to this. This is pretty much the best Hellblazer story in its entire history. Essentially the story starts with the chain smoking John Constantine realising he has cancer. Check out the magic Stout that gets made out of holy water at one point, lol! :)

Okay, naturally Ennis has done a lot more than just those, but I think that's enough information to get you started.

[bastardsnow.livejournal.com]

"The trade Preacher comic "Welcome Back Frank" is absolutely awesome."

I think you mean Punisher.

Also loved Wormwood. Good fun.

[mumsisdaughter]

And would accept a role in such a film? As the robobaby's 'mother'? Or as its kickass nemesis?

[stoney321.livejournal.com]

I would TOTALLY be in that film!! I love being creeped out, you see. :D

[cappy.livejournal.com]

As for the iron on, my brain is seeing it on like the side of a space ship or capsule or something, but it's not clicking & I'm not sure that's even close.

[stoney321.livejournal.com]

You are very close. The language I wrote it in was definitely used on the side of ships. And signs inside cantinas, etc.

****dropped a huge hint there***

[darkhavens.livejournal.com]

The only graphic novel I've read is Watchmen, so I could be prepared to rant about how bad they messed with it in the movie know the storyline going in. I enjoyed it, but I'm wary of reading any more in case I get hooked. I can't afford an expensive hobby like that and the bestest comic forum on LJ has just been killed, so I'd be lost as to where to find them. *g*

The ones you've been recommended do sound awfully tempting though...

And as for the iron-on: Hell no! I'm an original girl all the way through, and may never forgive that abomination, or the abominator. *exercises geek cred* :P

PeeEss: Creepy baby is creepy, but maybe not quite as creepy as hug-me-now robot (http://www.crunchgear.com/2009/03/05/japanese-lovebot-traps-intern-in-order-to-hug-her-repeatedly/) and I-don't-like-it-when-you-touch-my-breasts robot (http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/12/10/aiko-the-female-robot-inv_n_149860.html). o.o

[stoney321.livejournal.com]

OH MY GOD THOSE ROBOTS!!!!!!!!!!

And WOOT!! I'm so happy other people are getting the iron on!! (And it was sent as a joke. The appropriate exclamation was also turned into iron on form.) :D

[cityphonelines.livejournal.com]

Yay! for audition and Yay! for geek out at the comic book shop, but mostly I want to THANK YOU FOR TONIGHT'S NIGHTMARES. Ugh, no thank you Japan.

[stoney321.livejournal.com]

DO NOT CLICK ON THE OTHER ROBOT LINKS IN COMMENTS, VINNIE!!!!!

*holds you*

[fuvenusrs.livejournal.com]

Jesus H, how can you now know Preacher already? I love Tulip, she's my hero. How far through are you?

Also, if you like Preacher, you'll also like the Boys which is drawn by the same guy, with a brilliant storyline.

[stoney321.livejournal.com]

I've only just bought Preacher, I've not opened it yet. That's waiting for tonight when I have free time (and cheerins is in bed.)

It looks FANTASTIC. *add The Boys to my list* Thanks for the rec!

[solipsiae.livejournal.com]

Those are two of my favorite graphic novel titles ever. Y the Last Man is what really got Carlos and Erik (back) into (non-superhero) comics!

[stoney321.livejournal.com]

Angie, I LOVE IT. (I'm half-way through Y - I had to go and get as many of the issues as I could.) I loooove it! Can't wait to read The Preacher later tonight.

(And feel free to rec me any others that you like, too.)

[bienegold.livejournal.com]

You should check out Atomic Robo. It's far less serious in tone, but the main character is a sentient robot invented by Nikola Tesla. And the upcoming series features Charles Fort, H. P. Lovecraft and the Tunguska event!

[stoney321.livejournal.com]

I'll def. check that out, thanks!

[brunettepet.livejournal.com]

OMG, I just got the iron-on! My geek cred needs a big dose of sci fi, stat! What's on the Tivo...

[stoney321.livejournal.com]

ROCK!!!

Man, it was a pretty hard one. (Unless you know me really well, in which case yes, you failed on this one, ahahaha.)

[kseenaa.livejournal.com]

Now that Japaness robo-baby-thing.... was just creepy.... *shivers*

Also, fail on my part since I have no idea what so ever what that yellow stuff stands for... Is it supposed to be letters?

[stoney321.livejournal.com]

Isn't that robot thing horrid?!?! Just awful.

You'll have to tune in tomorrow for the answer!