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/).

[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!

[jerusha]

OMG. That creepy baby robot is CREEPY.

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

[entrenous88.livejournal.com]

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

[bitchygrrl.livejournal.com]

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

[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

[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.

[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.

[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]

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/

[stoney321.livejournal.com]

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

[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!

[stoney321.livejournal.com]

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

And hahahahaha, wank. Gross. :D

[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!

[stoney321.livejournal.com]

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

YIKES.

[stoney321.livejournal.com]

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

[stoney321.livejournal.com]

At least they're not Cyberdyne SYSTEMS. Then I'd have to load up some flame throwers and bio weapons.

I also saw the HAL reference and about bugged out. STOP MAKING BAD SCI-FI HORRORS COME TRUE, WORLD!! Have we learned nothing!?

[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!

[gehayi.livejournal.com]

HAL apparently stands for Hybrid Assistive Limb. It's a robot suit for people who have been paralyzed due to strokes and/or spinal cord injuries.

And no, neither HAL nor Cyberdyne are jokes. They're real:

http://www.spectrum.ieee.org/oct05/1901

http://gizmodo.com/5060379/hal-robot-exoskeletons-available-for-rent

[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::

[gehayi.livejournal.com]

Yoyodyne exists too (http://www.wired.com/techbiz/media/news/1998/10/15555). Or it did, before Yahoo bought it in 1998.

[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*

[gehayi.livejournal.com]

STOP MAKING BAD SCI-FI HORRORS COME TRUE, WORLD!! Have we learned nothing!?

On that theme, did you know there's also a Blue Sun Corporation (http://www.gobluesun.com/)? They make biodiesel fuel.

Where's the crew of Serenity when we need them??

[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!