The Revelation of Geek Christmas

This past Saturday was what could probably be considered officially Geek Christmas here in Sough Florida as the largest local comic shop, Tate's Comics, had it's annual mega sale. When I got there I expected to see a large crowd but I really didn't expect to see as many people as I did, the tent was completely packed with people looking through boxes and back issues in search of the perfect way to spend money on those uberly geeky things we love from toys to comics to statues.

Most surprisingly though was that when you think of the crowd such a sale attracts your mind automatically goes to this image:

And given the odors emanating from some of the guys there, the above pic really isn't that far from being on the nose. Listen guys, we live in South Florida so while shorts and a cap are more than acceptable for an outdoor sale, can I suggest adding deodorant to that list? At the very lease just hang a pine tree around your neck for the sake of those around you. It's bad enough you're wearing clothes that are ill-fitting as you hunch over due to your overly weighted backpack, must we add foul stench to that list of reasons why you will most likely never date anyone who is sighted?

Surprisingly though, the most interesting part of the sale was just how many girls were in attendance. Now in recent months I've read many a report on several sites talking about how the average person at comic shops is now just as likely to be female as male. It's something I myself experienced at Midtown Comics in NY as I overhead 2 girls talk about how they preferred one artist's style over another when drawing a particular character. Of course these 2 girls proceeded to lose their credibility upon declaring that The Clash's "Friday I'm In Love" was "that song from Rock Band." They're lucky I didn't dangle them from their toes in Times Square, but I digress.

The focus of these fangirls does seem to be the manga stuff, as I heard one girl recommend just about every manga title to her friend as the best thing she's read. Note to girl, they all can't be the best, eventually one of them has to be disappointing by comparison. It's the law of averages, nothing else. Either way, I for one applaud the emergence of girls into the often overwhelming world of the under-sexed pocket protector.

As I mentioned in my previous post on Disney's acquisition of Marvel, the industry is in a state where they need to expand their audience in any way possible. And with more and more female-centric titles popping up at the big 2 publishers, they're obviously taking notice.

Now if only more of the fanboys would take notice. After all with more girls heading into comic shops your chances of a date increase exponentially guys. Just, not if you continue to ignore the lure of the deodorant siren.