Akron Comic Con

One this Saturday, Nov. 10th, The University of Akron will host the Akron Comic Con in the Student Union on the 3rd floor. Doors will open at 10 am and the Con goes until 6 pm. Tickets are $8 presale and $10 at the door or $5 for UA students with their ID.

If you remember how much fun I had at the Columbus, then check out this one a little closer to home. They are hosting a Comic Cover Contest and doing a Charity event for people who come in costume. You can check out the full event list and panels being offered HERE.

So go on and check it out. What else are you doing with your Saturday. I'll be there (possibly rocking a Superman outfit) so you should dress up as your favorite comic character and come on by.

Dungeons and Dragons

Over the weekend my friends and I began a geek journey together. It one of the most quintessentially geeky activities that has ever existed: Dungeons and Dragons.

Cover of the original Dungeons and Dragons Rule Book

Dungeons and Dragons was created by Gary Gygax and Dave Arneson in 1974. Since that time Dungeons and Dragons has brought nerd friends together, gave them an outlet for their imaginations and protected their virginities better than any chastity belt ever created.

Dungeons and Dragons is a fantasy role-playing game. To play, one player will act as the Dungeon Master. This player will create a storyline, develop quests, and create dungeons filled with enough monsters and traps to make the other players curse them incessantly, while still having fun. The way in which this is done varies between game to game. Some games and decked out with full scale board to cover the dungeons with players using miniature figurines to move their characters around like a board game. When I played with my brother when I was 10, it was all just a lot of him talking with lots of graph paper as references.

Yeah, you try remembering where in this maze you killed the Goblin that probably had the key.

The non-Dungeon Master players create characters to live in the fantasy world your egomaniacal friend in charge has created. These characters derive heavily from the Tolkien mythology. You can play as a dexterous elf thief, or a brave human ranger, or even an eccentric gnome illusionist. You can choice race, battle-class, looks, gender, equipment, etc. Once you have done that you are ready to take on your dungeon. The best Dungeon Masters create quests that are challenging but not impossible. The game isn't fun if you're always going to die. Although, I believe that all Dungeon Masters secretly hope to annihilate all of their friends to get their jollies.

While you may think that is your friend behind the screen, it is actually the face of pure evil.

In the end, whether the players win or lose will come down to their preparation with the right equipment and spells and a significant amount of luck. Nearly every decision in Dungeons and Dragons is decided through dice rolls. You roll to see how strong you character is. The Dunegon Master rolls to see how bad-ass his monsters are. Need to swing you sword at that giant spider? Roll the dice. Need to search a room for traps? Roll the dice. Need to see if you have a successful bowel movement? Roll the dice.

Dungeons and Dragons isn't the only role-playing game out there. In addition to countless other fantasy RPGs, there are some for science fiction, vampire slaying, even Dragonball Z has its over version. Get enough nerds interested in anything and they'll make a role-playing game out of it.

Not going to lie, was so tempted to pick this one up in the middle of my addiction.

Dungeons and Dragons does remain the most popular role-playing game, and it is the one most often referenced in pop-culture. The game has inspired a cartoon series, an Online MMORPG video game and even a really terrible series of movies based on the game.

Come on Jeremy Irons, you're better than this.

Anyways, next time I will chronicle my friends' start as we create our characters. It was an interesting afternoon so ya'll should check it out when it goes up.

ZOMBIE-THON

So I've been looking into upcoming nerd events in between episodes of Battlestar and I discovered something potentially amazing.

I was looking at Live Action Role-Playing (LARP) organizations for potential blog content. LARPing is one of the most intense nerd activities, being a cross between Dungeons and Dragons, Renaissance fairs, and plumbing supply fighting.

Isn't it amazing what can be created with some PVC, pipe foam and duct tape?

Traditional LARPing is usually fantasy-based. Classic elves vs. orcs with swords and magic. It plays out normally like this:

Just imagine them shouting numbers at each other as they swing in some system of damage and health.

Now LARPing is an intensely nerdy activity. It is not for the casual geek. People put in hundreds of dollars into these outfits and weapons. Entire campsites will be turned into Middle Earth (or similar mystical elf lands) for a time and epic wars will be fought.

So obviously, not for everyone. And since I know you are wondering, yes I have LARPed. I was in high school, a lot nerdier than I am now even, and there are no pictures.

Anyways, I was thinking about revisiting that sordid past for this blog when I found a LARPing even that might appeal to the non-nerd human.

Northcoast NERO is hosting a zombie apocalypse- based LARP called ZOMBIE-THON '12. Now, while mainstream society may not like the ideal of acting like a hobbit throwing fireballs, who hasn't thought about being a zombie war?

Zombie-thon is fought with NERF pistols, rifles and bows as well as the standard LARP boffer weapons. For one weekend you will fight the Zombies or die and rise as one yourself. Conserve your ammo, hide from the horde of creatures and kick some zombie ass! How amazing does that sound?

ZOMBIE-THON '12 will be November 9-11 in Camp NEOSA, south of Canton. Cost for being a player for the weekend is $55 though full-time zombies can play for free. Full rules and regulations can be found here.

Come on guys. You know you always wanted to find out if you could survive a zombie apocalypse.

Origins of Video Geeks

Today we are going to move on from comics and explore a new geek activity. We are going to explore video games.

Video games have come a long way in a relatively short time. The first video screen game was Tennis for Two developed by William Higinbotham in 1958. This game was played on on oscilloscope and it was vaguely reminiscent of the actual game of tennis.

The graphics are awesome...

From there arcade games developed like Pong and Spacewar. In 1975 Atari released their home version of Pong and video gaming exploded from there. A more in-depth history can be found here if you are interested.

Today, video games are everywhere. With the advent of the smart phone we can have full length games in our pockets at all times.

This beast sucked away my life for several days.

So we're going to explore the realm of gaming for a little while on my geek blog. But its important to remember while your playing something like this:

Screen shot of Guild Wars 2 released last month.

That it all stemmed from something like this:

Video games: Preserving Geek virginity since 1958.

Checking out Kenmore Komics

Hello fellow nerdlings.

Last time, we talked briefly about how to satisfy your comic book itch digitally and through the mail. These are excellent and convenient methods to get your fix, but there is a certain feel you can only get a comic book store.

Browsing the stacks for a hidden gem. Paging through new volumes to explore. Actual social interaction with other humans.

These are things you can’t quite get online. So today I bring you a piece on one of your local comic stores.

Kenmore Komics andGames is located at 1020 Kenmore Blvd. in Akron. Inside you’ll find a great selection of both recent and out-of-print comic books for sale.

In addition, they have wide range of board games, card games, role-playing manuals and gaming miniatures to purchase.

Owner John Buntin Jr. proudly states that he’s been selling and buying comic books for 25 years. While it hasn’t been easy, John has managed to keep his business running.

“There used to be 16 comic book stores in Akron, now there’s just 2 of us,” John says. “Its hardest on the collectors who want to sell. With I’ve been buying collections for so long, I already have most of what people want to sell, especially after all those others ones closed and their stuff cycled around.”

And John certainly has an impressive selection. I spent a half-hour perusing the comics he has stacked for purchase and didn’t even get through a quarter of them. From Avengers to X-men he’s got quite the collection.

There are hundreds of comics available to browse through.

Single comics run about $3-$5 for new series. Older series vary depending on the rarity of the issue you’re looking for. Despite the intention to not spend that much, I bought a hardcover collection of X-Men comics and a card game which ran me about $40. Nerd fun don't come cheap.

Munchkin will most likely be the focus of a later blog posting.

Kenmore Komics and Games is definitely a place worth checking out. John was very pleasant, the store was clean, and there was no creepy guy in the corner giggling as he looked at comics with scantily clad women on the cover. What more can you ask for?

Actual cover of Emma Frost #1. I know what I said about tights, 

but really, does this count as clothing? What is keeping it on?

Kenmore Komics & Games

1020 Kenmore Boulevard

Akron, Ohio  44314

330-745-5530

Hours of Operation

Monday, Thursday  12 pm - 6 pm

Wednesday, Friday 12 pm - 7 pm

Saturday  11 am - 5 pm

Closed Tuesday & Sunday

Check out their website if you’d like to learn a little more or browse their collection of back-order comics.

And that’s all for me today. I’m gonna go spend some quality time with the Children of the Atom. (It’s an X-men reference. You’re on my blog: You aren’t allowed to judge me.)

Geek-ing Out to Comics

So today on NEOHGeek Blog we are discussing one of the oldest nerd hobbies: Comic Books.

The American Comic has a long history, growing from newspaper strips in the late 1890s, to comic books in the 1920s, to the multitude of comic series available today. A pretty thorough history of comics can be found at ComicArt.com, if you’re interested in learning some more of the details.

Now you can find comics for just about all interests from science fiction (Dr. Who), to folklore (FABLES), to everyday, average life (Archie).

Now, it isn’t that I don’t appreciate a good chuckle at poor Archie’s relationship woes, but my true geeky giddiness only really sparks when there are tights involved.

Where's the fun when there's no skin-tight spandex?

The modern Superhero comic got its jumpstart with the launch of Superman in 1938. From there all kinds of hero books got their start, like Batman, who popped up in the murder mystery Detective Comics #27 in 1939 and Captain America who started fighting Nazis in 1941. I could blog for days with even my casual knowledge of the history of these characters so, if you’re interested, I’ll let you click the links and read about them from the experts.

The non-nerd world today most likely recognizes comic book heroes from the string of superhero movies released in recent years (Avengers, Batman Begins, Spiderman 1, 2, 3 and 1-again) and with Avengers breaking box office records and The Dark Knight winning Oscars, even the most un-geeky individual can probably maintain a conversation about them.

At least we've moved passed this atrocity

But where do the comics themselves fit these days?

The traditional comic book store still exists (we’ll explore the local comic store scene later this week), but it has actually become a lot easier to get your hands on comics.

Dozens of websites exist where you can get new and classic comics delivered right to you. My Comic Shop has the newest issues and auctions to obtain those hard-to-find editions and Midtown Comics is a great place for free shipping if you’re buying a lot, just to name a few.

Amazon and eBay have great selections too, for those of you that worry about your popular friends finding geekiness in your web-history.

But, perhaps the best benefit of modern convenience is digital comics. While collectors and traditionalists may turn up their noses at a paper-less comic, going green does have the added benefit on instant downloads and lack of physical evidence.

Most of the big names in comics (Marvel, DC, and Dark Horse) have digital stores to download comics to your computer, phone or tablet. You can even get many on the same day the paper edition comes out in stores.

Well, that’s it for today folks. Check back later this week for more posts on comics.

And remember, there’s no danger of releasing your inner geek. Well… at least after high school… most adults don’t give swirlies.

Welcome Fellow Geeks

Geek /gēk/

Merriam-Webster Dictionary

(noun) an enthusiast or expert especially in a technological field or activity <computer geek>

Dictionary.com

(noun slang) a computer expert or enthusiast (a term of pride as self-reference, but often considered offensive when used by outsiders.)

Urban Dictionary

The people you pick on in high school and wind up working for as an adult.

Welcome all to the Northeast Ohio Geek Blog. My name is George Moura, and I’ll be your host through this little adventure into nerdiness.

Now let me start by acknowledging the fact that the term “geek” has a pretty dark past. Originally used as a term for carnival performers who did morbid acts like biting the heads of chickens (something I did not know and would rather choose to ignore), the word geek has often been used to taunt individuals who are intellectual, people who like computers and games, and…well…people who are “less than cool.”

However, in recent years the geek and nerd community have begun to take these terms back. They no longer have just the negative connotation that they used to.

And why not? Computers an integral part of everyone’s life these days (thank you Best Buy and your Geek Squad for reminding the world that we are the lords of technology). Video games are fun, whether you are a scrawny short guy with glasses, the muscle-bound gym buff, or even a female (Girl Gamers are not a myth).

Most of all, the internet is a wonderful place where geeks have come together and realized they are not alone.

Geek.com

Geek and Sundry 

Now, I’m not saying every football jock in high school is walking around with a deck of Magic cards in their back pocket, but we’re making progress.

I am a true geek/nerd at heart. I enjoy comics, video games, science-fiction and a host of other nerdy activities.

This blog will share my nerd knowledge and chronicle my forays into the Geekdom of Northest Ohio.

So whether you openly love geeky things, or just secretly do and hope nobody finds out, follow along and I’m sure I’ll show you some cool things.

Well… “cool” may be relative…