Although this situation got off to a rocky start for jefbot, it looks like he might just have another chance at a new friendship and a look inside that arcade!

Although at first you might think you’re reading a typical “Beauty and the Geek” type story, you’ll soon find that the girl, Noel, is no typical beauty, and the guy, Jason, is no typical geek. Noel’s a somewhat snobbish, avant-garde artist, who looks down on “the mainstream” and is new to the whole “fanboy” scene (and the neighborhood). Jason’s a guy who, although he loves reading comics and playing videogames, hasn’t entirely embraced his inner geek. In fact, that’s one of the things I liked most about the book – it doesn’t blindly embrace the geek lifestyle of many of its characters, and isn’t just a bunch of Star Wars references and D&D jokes. In fact, in many cases it casts a critical eye on this behavior, most notably when Noel and Jason head down to the “Super Con” with his comic store friends. When Noel starts lashing out at all the costumes, adolescence and testosterone on display on the convention floor, it only seems especially harsh because of the truth behind the words. 

So how does it all end up with this seemingly mismatched pair? Can they reconcile their differences and make it work? Is Noel’s artwork just too “out there” for Jason? Will Jason’s geeky roommate and friends down at the local comic shop ruin it for him? Well, you’re gonna have to read the book to find out. And with Kevin providing the great dialogue and story, and Stan providing the visuals that continue to impress me twice a week at SubCultureComic.com, it’s worth buying the book to see what happens.

Now’s a great time to buy, too, since they’re having a sale on the book right now. Go check out your options here (they have a regular edition and a signed-and-numbered edition). And while you’re there, check out the SubCulture webcomic if you’re not reading it already, since if nothing else, you just know the characters have impeccable taste in clothes and webcomics, as evidenced by this strip.

To *ahem* “keep it real” I created most of this strip while listening to nerdcore hip hop, especially MC Frontalot‘s latest release, “Final Boss” and some tracks from Optimus Rhyme and MC Hawking. If you have trouble relating to a lot of the modern rap music out there, but like science fiction, videogames, robots and math, then give nerdcore a shot.

Note: Sorry if you came to the site and all you saw was this. A big “thanks” for all the awesome comments and emails sent my way while I’ve been fighting this cold. Definitely helped me get back to the drawing board.

I really thought I was going to get that part, but I suppose I don’t hate Wil Wheaton (anymore) because I didn’t. In fact, the more I read and hear about all the cool things he’s done, the more I want to have a beer with him and talk nerdy about things like classic coin-ops and comic books.