So, in the tradition of all the past cons and fests we’ve gone to, we’ve done several new flow comics! Get ready for some non-canon Street Fighter action below!
Panels are brought to you (in order by panel) by: Ray, Ami, Mike (Ami’s bf), Branson, Dern, Claire, Bree, Colin (Bree’s bf), Ray again, Ami again, Mike again, Mike’s friend, and Claire again. Thanks for playing kiddos! Check back for more flow comics!
Whew!
It’s been a while, but hey, 2/3 NERDs (bree and ami) did MoCCA this weekend! We found out that we got a table a mere 3 weeks before the festival, so most of the past month has been us scrambling to get things ready.
If you came by, you might have seen our little spot shared with Dern of Dernwerks.com down one of the center isles. At our table, we had stuff on the webcomics we do, but also our first mini comics, hand bound with my snazzy new long reach stapler. I sold a few of my Trix Rabbit comic, and managed to get some awesome mini books for trade from some of the many cool artists exhibiting at the show.
I also had my “I’m a Self-Aware tote bag”s with me, which were laughed at by many and even went home with some discerning green bag fans.
It was a great first comic-specific show for us (and ami’s first show ever!). We will be digging through the swag and business cards of some of the people whose hands we shook in the coming days, hoping to give a shout-out to as many as we can! Keep watching for those updates and news bites.
Also, if you dropped by and we don’t mention you, please drop us a line. The lack of atmosphere in the armory made for a rather dizzy, flakey NERD duo.
Hypocritical Nerds and The Revenge of the Jocks: A rant in 2 parts
I don’t know how old you are, random reader… but for the sake of simplicity i will first assume that you are a 20 something of my generation or older. This being the case, you are of course aware of such fun social tools as SMS and twitter. I have heard many people (notably older [be it physically or socially] people) complain en mass about our apparent dependence on these nuances. “RABBLE RABBLE” I hear them yell, and I assume they’re complaining about how wrong it seems to see someone in 2nd grade with a cell phone…
And to an extent I see their point: When I see an 8 year old texting on his sidekick, a part of me just goes “What the hell? (WTF mate?) Are you getting live updates on Jimmy and little-Phil’s double doggy dare to steal Ms. Schwartzchild’s chalk?!”… but then another part of me turns around and slaps that first part in the face for being a hippocritte: Now pay attention fellow Nerds, cause this is where I drop some wisdom bombs.
We can not in any way shape or form yell at or think badly of these teched up kids… What were we doing instead when we were their age? Going out and playing sports? Hell No! (Except when our parents made us play little league and soccer on Saturdays) We were the indoor kids! These lil gadget-brats are at least outside (assuming we didn’t follow them into their house when we noticed them) while they indulge their technophilia. Maybe we’re just jealous that all we had was RC pro am and Zork, but in that case we should do our best to be a little more mature than the kid who just learned how to read.
Speaking of which, guess what: Being a pre-pubescent technophile usually gives you a pretty advanced skill set. I don’t know about you nerds: But I’m sure as hell glad I glued myself to that CRT so many years ago. I’m spending upwards of $600 a month paying for a degree in animation i never even finished… and how am I paying for this degree? By being a computer Technician… Did I go to expensive school for computers? No. Did I even take a cheap online class? No. What did I do? Had my head buried in the 1990 equivalent of a smart phone (The apple LG II). I was merely the kid with his head stuck in a monitor typing on a keyboard when most everyone else was learning to write with fancy pens and use whiteout. At the time, -I- was the techno-brat; and because I kept with it I got a grasp on the current technology (And way too much knowledge of LOGO coding) the calligraphers don’t have… and now I have a high paying job because of it.
Long story short: Regardless of whether or not they NEED the technology they’re using right now, being familiar with it will give them an edge and also let technology as a whole evolve faster. So the 8 year old wants to blog on twitter about what he’s doing, he’s prolly got more goin on than me, and I took 2 hours writing this blog… who’s really the loser when ya think about it (The jerk who spends 3 hours writing a scathing response to this blog… That’s who!)? You can either deal with it, or not… It doesn’t really matter, cause either way: You’re already obsolete.
Yes young nerds! Laugh at us older Nerds! But I also have a note for you!: The age of the Nerd is ending, and the jocks will have THEIR revenge, and soon! Tech-Smarts and First Person Shooter social skills alone ain’t gonna cut it anymore.
I think every male nerd my age remembers the golden summer of 97, even if they don’t know why. This was the summer Weezer made it big and geek-sheik more or less got it’s start. Suddenly girls were swooning over Rivers Cuomo as he sang about his 20-sided die, Penny Arcade and PVP were getting their starts, and miraculously those of us in the Talented and Gifted Programs suddenly saw the possibility of some AP poon-tang (though most of us wouldn’t realize this goal till 2000ish). I look around, and 25 years after the movie of the same name, it indeed truly is: The Revenge of the Nerds… Nine tenths of the prime-time programs I see (Reality TV non-participatory) is centered around a nerdy protagonist. Gone are the days of the dim but physically strong hero, instead America watches Hiro Nakamura and Chuck Bartowsky for their action (As well as of course anything that Joss Whedon so much as touches). The alternative HAS become the mainstream… but what have we done with our power? Become elitist jocks about it. Whether it’s a football game or a WOW raid, the mentalities are freakily similar, we are 1337 and you are n00bs! We’ve finally got popularity, and all we use it for is to put down other people for being posers, dumbasses, or god forbid: Fuckin’ Hipsters! The whole thing is pretty animal farm if ya think about it…
To top things off, the revolution has come and gone: We ARE the new ruling class, but suddenly that high school QB is actually USING his college scholarship and taking some business courses. While all you little nerds-to-be are flayme-ing Doll House, confident in your position in the after highschool world architecture, that promised place is being taken out from under you. Yes you’ll get to be a tech analyst or sci-fi author or whatever it is you wanted to do… But without proper people skills your boss or your publisher or WHOEVER will end up being that same guy who wedgied you in gym class. Your get the test scores, but he gets the girl because while you were learning to build the system, he learned how to schmooze it: It’s high school all over again. It sucks, but it’s true, and all the DE-AD-BE-EF and Pi jokes in the world won’t save you…
Unless you back up your normal talents with a lot of broader social skills. I am not saying give up on your geek ways (especially since that would involve not reading my comic), I am merely saying like any good Player Character: You need to round out your skill set, and that DOES include learning to speak Orc when necessary.
-Foley
/rant
Ha ha why thank you bree, now now: “Mr. Foley” is my father, you guys can all just call me “Foley”… …
AAAAAAAAAaanyways, i am very hung over right now and out of cigarettes so i’m gonna make this unfortunately a bit brief as my need for nicotine and Advil is somewhat overwhelming. Alo alo alo! how are you all doing? good? Awesome, Hey you over there in the blue hoodie: Can I bum a smoke?… Whatta ya mean you don’t smoke? bullshit! You are lying to me! You are a filthy god damn ibogene snortin’ liar! I’m gonna…. …. … oh my… Did I mention i’m not much of a morning person? Shuttap! I know it’s 3:30, screw you imaginary viewer in a Blue hoodie!
Assssssssss i was saying: I’m very happy to be a part of the nerd Collective and represent for all you folks out there sportin a Y-chromosome! ha ha, well as part of my “Hi there, please read my comic” strategy, I have put a double update up on my comic (www.dinglecomic.com or www.nerdcomics.com/dingle… YOUr choicE!)
I hope you enjoy yourselves, and if you dont, just remember that nothing pisses me off more than when you keep visiting my site over and over and over again!
Onward! To cigarettes! To Advil! To maybe even a cheeseburger! THE SKY IS THE LIMIT!!
…Foley out
I’m sure when Foley wakes up, he will have something to write, but I realized that we still don’t have a formal intro for our third NERD. Please give a round of applause (or something) to the first new NERD in 8 years of us doing this, Mr. Foley of Dingle Comics!
A lot of exciting stuff is slated this year as Ami and I (and now our lacky, who will fetch us coffee and bourbon to get in our good graces) are getting more bizy-serious about our work. We have an appearance at Small Press Expo scheduled this year and some in-print stuff. Also, we will be setting up shop in uh… a shop (online) for our crazy ideas for shirts and stuff. We will probably begin this on a pre-order basis until we get our ears wet.
Finally, today I am 25. Some people are shy about their birthdays. I am not shy about anything. What is troubling, however, is that I often forget other peoples’ (cus that feed on facebook gets really fucking easy to ignore after you see 300 birthdays from people in grade school you happen to have friended). In theory, 25 means I am getting more and more into the adult category (and a new makeup subset as well eeek!). However, I won’t let this get me down or force me to be any less juvenile than I have been for the past 24 years and 363 days.
Thanks for reading, cats and kittens, and look forward to a formal “hullo” from our new lacky.
Creator: Mitra Farmand
Genre: humor, cleverness, lots of cute comics about pasta and dogs
I apparently had one of these comics as my desktop background at work for weeks without knowing whence it came. At NEWW, I found a flyer for a comic that immediately spoke to me. I decided right then and there, I had to meet Mitra Farmand, as she must be a kindred spirit!
While I did not get to meet the creator of this comic at NEWW, I did check out Fuffer Nutter, and am in love. The humor is very simple, yet super intelligent. As a huge fan of puns and that type of humor, I love the awesome one-shot cartoons with brilliant punchlines. I only wish I could be half as clever with SDJC.
This is a great comic for anyone, and you can’t say that about every comic. Read it at work, as each comic is fairly short, and will make you giggle for a long time, even deep into that boring meeting you have in an hour. Some of these comics, you could even link to your mom to in an email and she will totally forward it to everyone in the office.
Fuffer has become one of my favs, and you should read it, too, because I have amazing taste *pats self on the back*
Yep, after much debate as to whether or not webcomics weekend is in fact ready for us (ok, it was really about whether or not we could get a car), Aulix and bree will be coming up to the first annual New England Webcomics Weekend! Although we will only be there Saturday, hope to see some of you there, and we will be tooling around with some creators of cooler comics, so you will totally want to find us!
W00
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Hey y’all, looks like webcomics of the tri-state area (and anywhere nearby, if ya wanna travel) are conspiring to inspire chaos and take over the world! The great people at Onezumiverse.com are hosting a monthly meeting on the old stomping ground of both Auilix and I, Rutgers University, for art, babble, networking, and general nuttiness, followed by hanging out and drinking (I hope) after all the “work” is done.
If you’re a webcomic creator in NY, NJ, etc etc, RSVP to onezumi@onezumi.com.
CHAOTIC!
So, a few weeks ago, Ami and I went to NYComicCon with some of our kickass webcomicer friends. As Ami is wont to do, she whipped out a small sketchbook, urging (forcing) our comrades to add to a comic, panel by panel. Of course, when you’re hanging with such artistic storytelling geniuses (or at least people who do this for fun), things get pretty strange. Here is the first comic:
The contributors may or may not include the following: Bree and Ami, Ross of the System, Darren of DernWerks, Marty and Nick of Art Fight High School, Oni and Harknell of Onezumiverse, writer with unmockable ideas- Brian , and too-cool Canadian actor guy- Colin. (I realize the punctuation in this post is crap).
Stay tuned for Ami scanning in part 2!
capture your attention, whether you like fantasy or not, within a matter of pages, and pull you into a world so deep, mysterious, and well thought out that you will not be able to stop reading it.
You just can’t describe Gunnerkrigg Court with words alone to explain how amazingly original and beautiful this tale of mystery and mythos is. Each page is so lovingly and carefully drawn and colored, each plot point is so well thought out, every chapter leaves you hungering for more. No webcomic series I’ve read so far has hooked me so quickly and drawn me deeply into such a deep and infinitely interesting world. Reminiscent of something like a marriage of Bone and Harry Potter, Gunnerkrigg Court: Orientation follows the remarkable occurrences surrounding a young girl named Antimony Carver in her first year of school at Gunnerkrigg Court. Accompanied by her steadfast friend, Kat, and her possed stuffed animal Reynardine, she uncovers a world full of endearing characters and locations. The Court and its characters are all vaguely modern/science fiction related but also have some deep roots in world mythology and fantasy. However, it all fits together so naturally in Gunnerkrigg Court- I think it’s pulled off very well.
Ultimately, like all good stories, Gunnerkrigg Court goes above and beyond the restraints we put on it by calling it a “fantasy.” Like another now classic tale of a child in famous British boarding school, all the character have become so real and believable, that you know you’re there with them for the long haul, no matter where this journey takes them. One of my favorite parts of Gunnerkrigg Court, aside from the magical setting and characters, are the friendships, particularly those of the main character, Antimony, and her best friend Kat. These two girls share such a deep friendship and bond that’s so believable, it makes you cry and laugh right along with them.
I have a lot of respect for the artist and author, Tom Siddell. He unfailingly updates this comic Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays. He has a lot of dedication to his fans on the website and has put a lot of time and effort into answering questions from his loyal (and sometimes a little to obsessed) fan following. Want to find out who the other girl is in “that picture”? Or who the undefined stranger is in the “Handful of Dirt chapter? Why not check out the Gunnerkrigg Court forums, where the author himself will answer some of your questions, but certainly not all.
The book that is out now is pretty high quality - a nice heavy hardcover with lovely full-color pages. It chronicles the first year of Antimony’s time at Gunnerkrigg Court, and is nearly 300 pages long! This is the first in what I hope are many more books to come.
I highly recommend this book to anyone of any age who loves any of the following: graphic novels, fantasy, science fiction, stories of growing up, friendship, family, or adventure.
