NEW VALENTINE'S DAY VOTING INCENTIVE!!!
The February voting incentive is here, and it's ... a voting incentive! (Now with EXTRA INCENTIVE!) (And remember: fans who donate $5 or more a month get a say in what voting incentives run! If you want to join their controlling ranks, HEAD ON OVER TO PATREON and join the select club!)
VOTE FOR PUCK AND WARM MY ICY HEART!!!
ALSO...
I recently put a bunch of work into updating the PDF collection of voting incentive images, and the results are finally assembled! This new PDF volume contains all the voting incentives from 2011 all the way to 2017 (including some that never even ran) in a print-ready high resolution! That's almost 200 pages of stuff! So if you'd like to buy a copy, please do!
As for this comic…
This is not the beginning of an actual story arc, but it's the start of a little mini-episode concerning the nerd store that was briefly mentioned in previous comics. It'll maybe last eight comics or so, but nothing too crazy. (I know I've said that before, but I mean it this time. Besides, we've got another REALLY long and fun story arc coming up, so I'll be back to my old ways soon enough.)
Well, nerds come in many different flavors. We accept yours wholeheartedly. (And to be honest, you follow a webcomic, which immediately qualifies you as a card-carrying member of the nerd club.)
Well, I’m not saying that following my comic is the magic thing that grants you nerd status. I assume that most readers come as card-carrying nerds already.
You don’t have to like everything nerdy to be a nerd Susan. Plus, you get bonus points for being a woman. We’re too awkward a people to turn away women that share our interests.
Phooey. Just because I got hooked on Puck doesn’t mean I will not dress up Friday night in a micromini and a low-cut white satin ruffled blouse and blow their eyeballs out at “The Blue Fox.” 😛 My bf hates it when I do that.
That sounded really hot until I got to “ruffled blouse”, and now all I can think of is the pirate shirt from Seinfeld. I’m sure yours looks better than that but that’s the connection my brain makes.
Or non-existent status, you mean. Part of the deal with Lucas was that Spaceballs could produce no merchandise so as to not ‘sully the brand’. Everything in the movie was a custom mockup. Somewhat famously, the ‘Spaceballs the colouring book’ that Yogurt holds up is very obviously a Transformers colouring book with the word ‘Spaceballs’ slapped onto it. You can CLEARLY see Optimus Prime in shot.
The ‘stylish’ observation is an interesting one because it’s going to come into question soon in the comic. Awkwardness with the opposite sex may or may not be a factor. Honestly, a lot of female nerds I’ve met have an easier time talking to boys than they do talking to girls. But robots are pretty consistent.
There’s something for everyone at the nerd store. Though true, nerds tend to have very different interests depending on age. Though the internet and the instant availability of tons of old stuff makes the barriers less fuzzy. Case in point: I recently taught a girl who was a big Gilligan’s Island fan.
To mess with people’s heads, point out to them something that musician Jeff Bohnhoff pointed out to many at a BayCon filk room. The words to the theme from Gilligan’s Island scan to the tune ‘Stairway to Heaven’.
According to Al, the ‘Gilligan’s Island/Stairway’ thing was the direct inspiration for the ‘Beverly Hillbillies/Money for Nothing’ song. Though thankfully for Al, Mark Knopfler was easygoing compared to Robert Plant, who took a dim view of the Gilligan’s Island thing and (if I remember right) threatened legal action.
I don’t have a beard. I have not the Y chromosome. nor would want one. My bf has not the beard, though I have seen old pics where he did, and it didn’t do a thing for him. I wouldn’t wear a shirt like Daffy’s (nor ever would, yuck!) but I would buy one that said, “If you think I am your waifu, you are wrong, buster! (or, b***h)” See the benighted webcomic “Sammy.” 😛
Your boyfriend doesn’t have a beard? What’s wrong with him! It’s 2018 and EVERY guy has a beard, for … some reason. It’s really irritating for guys like me who had beards BEFORE the hipster beard explosion.
I used to be the nerd with the hair on top and van dyke beard after getting out of the Military. But then, about five years ago, I saw from my driver’s license photo how badly my hairline had receded. And with the crow’s nest that was already forming, I said “screw it, I’d rather be bald than deal with this!” and I shaved it all off. Unfortunately for my beard, I refused to be the bald guy with the van dyke, so I had to start shaving that again too.
Bald guys with beards are cool. In fact, the ‘bald with beard’ look might be the very reason why baldness evolved as a thing for men. From studies, anthropologists have found that people invariably identify bald men with beards as looking more intimidating than smooth-chinned dudes with full heads of hair. Couple that with the fact that men who can grow full beards seem genetically more predisposed to baldness than men who struggle to grow full beards, and anthropologists theorize that the look evolved as an intimidation factor: it emphasizes the jaw line and just looks aggressive.
If I lose my hair, I’m keeping the beard. Heck, I might need to enhance the beard by getting a Lemmy or something like that.
There’s the other problem; I can’t grow a full beard. Got a patch on both sides, right on the cheeks in fact, that just do not grow like the rest. All I can do is the van dyke and the neck, and NOBODY looks good with a neck beard. :/
I love how her shirt reads “I shot your waifu.” I instantly thought “She probably wants to be the only waifu that Tyler has. Maybe.”
As for the lack of people, that’s 50/50 around here – it’s either crowded to the point you can barely get through or there’s no one present. There’s really no inbetween.
You being too lazy is also an acceptable reason for the lack of people. Maybe.
Yeah, in my defense, this background was assembled from a reference pic of Concession Street in my city, and in the reference pic, the street was totally empty of people. (There WERE more cars in the picture, but I hate drawing cars, so we’re back to the laziness idea.)
If you define ‘waifu’, that’s the whole thing. It’s not really a direct reference to anything. Maybe a mild play on Homer Simpson’s ‘I shot J.R.’ shirt, which in turn was a Dallas reference.
There are a class of overly obsessed anime fans called Otaku, who may obsess about a given female character in their favourite show, and spend excessive amounts of time fantasizing about living together with her, both in bed and day-to-day stuff. They call their favourite fantasy character their “Anime Waifu” (Japanese pronunciation of “wife”).
Daphne has decided that if she’s going to the nerd story, she’s going to wind up an anime otaku and see if she can make them cry!
Well, thank you. The backgrounds in all four comics are pulled from one long streetscape that I drew, based on some reference pics of Concession Street in my town. I hate drawing backgrounds, but when they need to be drawn, I try to make them not be total garbage.
@Salem: I’m a lab tech/phlebotomist (*Hmm, what needle to use?)*and surgical assistant who changes on my boss’ surgical patients (“If I pull this tape off quick, it will hurt less, not to speak of getting me to lunch early”).. Of course I do, silly.
Confucius also said, “Choose a job that doesn’t really suit you, and you will be forced to look for a sense of purpose by creating a stupid webcomic.” I followed that one.
Your lack of people and traffic in this comic’s background could be due to it could be a typical late spring / summer 9 am morning on a Sunday…
Say nice Hockey arena in the background. Can almost guess the gangs location to a few square feet from it. Do some version of the Senators play there or the Lapdogs?
It’s actually not the hockey arena; it’s the cancer centre. See, I’d mentioned in an earlier comic that Puck got Colin a Mr. T Lego minifig from the nerd store across the street. So I felt I needed to keep continuity going and locate the nerd store there. As for what hockey team plays in Hamilton, we have the Bulldogs. They’re now an OHL team, affiliated with no NHL team, to my knowledge. No one cares about them. I only go to the stadium for Monster Jam and Disney on Ice.
This might not be a big deal with many but I cant help admiring how detailed and particular your backdrop is here. Is this like an actual area near you?
I cant stop looking at your backgrounds, Geck. Really nice.
Yeah, I decided to actually draw a real street in my town rather than just randomly generating a place. I think it’s actually easier to go from a ref pic. I’m bad at coming up with details for such things.
NEW VALENTINE'S DAY VOTING INCENTIVE!!!
The February voting incentive is here, and it's ... a voting incentive! (Now with EXTRA INCENTIVE!) (And remember: fans who donate $5 or more a month get a say in what voting incentives run! If you want to join their controlling ranks, HEAD ON OVER TO PATREON and join the select club!)
VOTE FOR PUCK AND WARM MY ICY HEART!!!
ALSO...
I recently put a bunch of work into updating the PDF collection of voting incentive images, and the results are finally assembled! This new PDF volume contains all the voting incentives from 2011 all the way to 2017 (including some that never even ran) in a print-ready high resolution! That's almost 200 pages of stuff! So if you'd like to buy a copy, please do!
As for this comic…
This is not the beginning of an actual story arc, but it's the start of a little mini-episode concerning the nerd store that was briefly mentioned in previous comics. It'll maybe last eight comics or so, but nothing too crazy. (I know I've said that before, but I mean it this time. Besides, we've got another REALLY long and fun story arc coming up, so I'll be back to my old ways soon enough.)
just say its taco tuesday and its happy hour so everyones at the local mexican restraunt
Well, that’s thinking optimistically. I think it’s more likely that this taco place has made everyone sick and they’re all at home recovering.
Chipolte ?
Such snark in these youths, brah.
Isn’t the life of the nerd a generational thing? Colin won’t be interested in what Tyler and Daphne and Taylor are interested in, and vice versa.
Unless there’s actual vice involved, though…
@RN
I don’t agree.
A TRUE NERD spans time and history.
For instance:
They never dress stylishly.
They are always awkward with the opposite sex.
And ROBOTS ? All nerds love Robots.
I guess that I am not a nerd. Robots don’t do a thing for me. Star Wars action figures, on the other hand…
Well, nerds come in many different flavors. We accept yours wholeheartedly. (And to be honest, you follow a webcomic, which immediately qualifies you as a card-carrying member of the nerd club.)
Gecko my card came in way before your comic (gundum models to train finger dexterity).
Well, I’m not saying that following my comic is the magic thing that grants you nerd status. I assume that most readers come as card-carrying nerds already.
@Susan
One Word: IG-88
IG-88 isn’t a wart on R2D2’s…carapace?
You don’t have to like everything nerdy to be a nerd Susan. Plus, you get bonus points for being a woman. We’re too awkward a people to turn away women that share our interests.
Phooey. Just because I got hooked on Puck doesn’t mean I will not dress up Friday night in a micromini and a low-cut white satin ruffled blouse and blow their eyeballs out at “The Blue Fox.” 😛 My bf hates it when I do that.
There are hot nerds. They exist. Any visitor to a comic con or a cosplay event can tell you that.
That sounded really hot until I got to “ruffled blouse”, and now all I can think of is the pirate shirt from Seinfeld. I’m sure yours looks better than that but that’s the connection my brain makes.
Ruffled blouses with puffed sleeves emphasize the smoothness of the micromini and makes it looks even shorter, or so my saleslady at Neiman’s tells me
– Oh, oh, I hate you I hate you I hate you leave me alone! – yet, I find you strangely attractive.
-Of course you do. Druish princesses are often attracted to money, and power, and I have BOTH, and YOU KNOW IT!
– Oh, oh, leave me alone!
-No, kiss me!
– – – Oh, oh, no, yes, no, NO, yes, ah, ah, ah ahhhhh… oh, your helmet is so big…
Spaceballs action figures don’t count.
The hell they don’t. Those should be the holy grail just because of their limited edition status.
Or non-existent status, you mean. Part of the deal with Lucas was that Spaceballs could produce no merchandise so as to not ‘sully the brand’. Everything in the movie was a custom mockup. Somewhat famously, the ‘Spaceballs the colouring book’ that Yogurt holds up is very obviously a Transformers colouring book with the word ‘Spaceballs’ slapped onto it. You can CLEARLY see Optimus Prime in shot.
The ‘stylish’ observation is an interesting one because it’s going to come into question soon in the comic. Awkwardness with the opposite sex may or may not be a factor. Honestly, a lot of female nerds I’ve met have an easier time talking to boys than they do talking to girls. But robots are pretty consistent.
There’s something for everyone at the nerd store. Though true, nerds tend to have very different interests depending on age. Though the internet and the instant availability of tons of old stuff makes the barriers less fuzzy. Case in point: I recently taught a girl who was a big Gilligan’s Island fan.
Wait, what? Gilligan’s Island fans are capable of learning? 🙂
**Yeah, yeah. I saw every episode, too. :)**
Yeah, yeah, but have *they*?
To mess with people’s heads, point out to them something that musician Jeff Bohnhoff pointed out to many at a BayCon filk room. The words to the theme from Gilligan’s Island scan to the tune ‘Stairway to Heaven’.
A classic gag indeed.
Also the “Beverly Hillbillies” theme to “Money for Nothing” per “Weird Al” Yankovic.
According to Al, the ‘Gilligan’s Island/Stairway’ thing was the direct inspiration for the ‘Beverly Hillbillies/Money for Nothing’ song. Though thankfully for Al, Mark Knopfler was easygoing compared to Robert Plant, who took a dim view of the Gilligan’s Island thing and (if I remember right) threatened legal action.
I, too, have a beard. What else is needed?
It’s the only identity any of us ever need.
This message is sponsored by Action Hank.
Whoops, put the wrong code on the link.
Nerds with beards. Ah, what brave new world, it has such putzes in it.
I don’t have a beard. I have not the Y chromosome. nor would want one. My bf has not the beard, though I have seen old pics where he did, and it didn’t do a thing for him. I wouldn’t wear a shirt like Daffy’s (nor ever would, yuck!) but I would buy one that said, “If you think I am your waifu, you are wrong, buster! (or, b***h)” See the benighted webcomic “Sammy.” 😛
Your boyfriend doesn’t have a beard? What’s wrong with him! It’s 2018 and EVERY guy has a beard, for … some reason. It’s really irritating for guys like me who had beards BEFORE the hipster beard explosion.
My bf a hipster? Hahahahahaha! 😛
I used to be the nerd with the hair on top and van dyke beard after getting out of the Military. But then, about five years ago, I saw from my driver’s license photo how badly my hairline had receded. And with the crow’s nest that was already forming, I said “screw it, I’d rather be bald than deal with this!” and I shaved it all off. Unfortunately for my beard, I refused to be the bald guy with the van dyke, so I had to start shaving that again too.
I miss my beard. 🙁
Bald guys with beards are cool. In fact, the ‘bald with beard’ look might be the very reason why baldness evolved as a thing for men. From studies, anthropologists have found that people invariably identify bald men with beards as looking more intimidating than smooth-chinned dudes with full heads of hair. Couple that with the fact that men who can grow full beards seem genetically more predisposed to baldness than men who struggle to grow full beards, and anthropologists theorize that the look evolved as an intimidation factor: it emphasizes the jaw line and just looks aggressive.
If I lose my hair, I’m keeping the beard. Heck, I might need to enhance the beard by getting a Lemmy or something like that.
There’s the other problem; I can’t grow a full beard. Got a patch on both sides, right on the cheeks in fact, that just do not grow like the rest. All I can do is the van dyke and the neck, and NOBODY looks good with a neck beard. :/
Yeah, I must agree on the neck beard. Those have never looked good.
I love how her shirt reads “I shot your waifu.” I instantly thought “She probably wants to be the only waifu that Tyler has. Maybe.”
As for the lack of people, that’s 50/50 around here – it’s either crowded to the point you can barely get through or there’s no one present. There’s really no inbetween.
You being too lazy is also an acceptable reason for the lack of people. Maybe.
Yeah, in my defense, this background was assembled from a reference pic of Concession Street in my city, and in the reference pic, the street was totally empty of people. (There WERE more cars in the picture, but I hate drawing cars, so we’re back to the laziness idea.)
Um, can someone explain Daphne’s t-shirt? My Google Fu is lacking today …. Thanks!
If you define ‘waifu’, that’s the whole thing. It’s not really a direct reference to anything. Maybe a mild play on Homer Simpson’s ‘I shot J.R.’ shirt, which in turn was a Dallas reference.
I have changed my mind. I want a tee shirt that says, “If I hear the term ‘waifu’ one more time, I am going to hurl.”
There are a class of overly obsessed anime fans called Otaku, who may obsess about a given female character in their favourite show, and spend excessive amounts of time fantasizing about living together with her, both in bed and day-to-day stuff. They call their favourite fantasy character their “Anime Waifu” (Japanese pronunciation of “wife”).
Daphne has decided that if she’s going to the nerd story, she’s going to wind up an anime otaku and see if she can make them cry!
She is a cruel girl.
People or no people, that is an outstanding background in the first panel.
Well, thank you. The backgrounds in all four comics are pulled from one long streetscape that I drew, based on some reference pics of Concession Street in my town. I hate drawing backgrounds, but when they need to be drawn, I try to make them not be total garbage.
Just saw your Valentine voting incentive…. your evil. You know I have a life long crush on phoebe. Bad man.
And you’re angry why?
Because Phloebles hasn’t got a crush on him? *innocent look*
Point it out why don’t ya.
Cuz it was very well done and I printed it to be my Valentine. (Maybe maybe not ;p)
As a vote comic I would really like to see Sun Tzu teaching the palace women how to fight.
“Palace women?”
DON’T.
ASK.
Made me think of this odious picture: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Emile_Friant_-_Les_Odalisques_au_Sultan.jpg
@Susan
You like to inflict pain, don’t you ?
@Salem: I’m a lab tech/phlebotomist (*Hmm, what needle to use?)*and surgical assistant who changes on my boss’ surgical patients (“If I pull this tape off quick, it will hurt less, not to speak of getting me to lunch early”).. Of course I do, silly.
@Susan
In another life, you would have been….
WAIT
I think you have achieved near-Nirvana right now.
You get to inflict pain, yet are admired and paid well (hopefully) for doing something you just might do for free !
And as a bonus, a standard hankie covers your butt.
Nope – it does not get any better than that !
@Salem: “”Choose a job you love, and you will never have to work a day in your life.” – Confucius That is what I did 🙂
Confucius also said, “Choose a job that doesn’t really suit you, and you will be forced to look for a sense of purpose by creating a stupid webcomic.” I followed that one.
Still love the voting incentive.
I hope it’s the incentiviest incentive ever!!!
Well, when I can only manage one incentive for a month, I like to make it a doozy.
Your lack of people and traffic in this comic’s background could be due to it could be a typical late spring / summer 9 am morning on a Sunday…
Say nice Hockey arena in the background. Can almost guess the gangs location to a few square feet from it. Do some version of the Senators play there or the Lapdogs?
It’s actually not the hockey arena; it’s the cancer centre. See, I’d mentioned in an earlier comic that Puck got Colin a Mr. T Lego minifig from the nerd store across the street. So I felt I needed to keep continuity going and locate the nerd store there. As for what hockey team plays in Hamilton, we have the Bulldogs. They’re now an OHL team, affiliated with no NHL team, to my knowledge. No one cares about them. I only go to the stadium for Monster Jam and Disney on Ice.
This might not be a big deal with many but I cant help admiring how detailed and particular your backdrop is here. Is this like an actual area near you?
I cant stop looking at your backgrounds, Geck. Really nice.
Yeah, I decided to actually draw a real street in my town rather than just randomly generating a place. I think it’s actually easier to go from a ref pic. I’m bad at coming up with details for such things.