Today's comic

[Tom the Fanboy]

June 11 second panel is it me or does he look a bit like Mark?

I was totally thinking the same thing but I was just chalking it up to his more distinctive features being covered by the uniform.

[SoItBegins]

June 11 second panel is it me or does he look a bit like Mark?

You thought that too?

[Dinky]

EVIL TWIN, EVIL TWIN, EVIL TWIN.

On an unrelated topic whats up with Abbie, Dustin and all that bickering? *rummages around for his 'shiping shoes*.

[RHJunior]

Okay, noobie here, with my speculation on the hunters:

1)They're a group that actively hates and fears geeks and their lifestyle. That suggests to me they're a group that feels threatened and disenfranchised by geeks.... Stereotypically, this would be A)former Jocks B)Former Preps C)"Holy Rollers" D)"Kyle's Mom"Concerned Parents E)a mix of the above, people just pathologically afraid of the different or strange.

(Frankly, I really hope that the story isn't going with C. I'm a geek myself, and also a Christian--- and so are a great number of my friends. We get a little tired of it....Not every christian is knee-jerk counterreactive. The stereotype of "the evil, fun-hating Christians" is so old it farts mummy dust. Yes, there are some Christians out there who go round the twist over geek-related stuff. But there are a considerable number of people in ANY given group who need to chomp a Valium and get over it.)

Anyway, back to wild mass guessing.

My best guess is that the hunters are a mix of "has beens." Former jocks and preps who got out of high school and realized to their dismay that noone CARED anymore that they'd been the prom queen or the quarterback. Worse, the creepy little nobodies they used to step on in the hallway were now running things.... computer techs, engineers, accountants, web designers, and more. Not just economically but culturally--- Movies, TV shows, pop culture--- slowly dominating the mainstream the Has-Beens thought THEY ruled.

Meanwhile, they're getting old and balding and getting a pot belly and slogging along in middle management, becoming the nobodies they always thought the nerds were. And, like any other self-justifying group of jerks, instead of reconsidering their worldview they decided to credit their downfall to a terrible Geek Conspiracy, and are organizing to "put the nerds back in their place."

Now the question is: are the Geeks REALLY transforming into strange nocturnal monsters? Or is this some sort of mass, self-validating fantasy/hallucination shared by the "Hunters"---- on parallel with the group fantasy shared when the geeks are RPing or LARPing?

If it's a shared delusion, it becomes a whole new order of creepy.... delusional maniacs running around and "whacking" helpless people they hallucinate as being monsters. "But he had fangs and claws, officer! I don't care what the psychiatrist says!"

On the flipside, if the geeks really ARE turning into monsters at night, that brings up the distressing possibility that the Hunters may actually have a legitimate point--- how well would YOU take the news that the comic book store was frequented by people who turned into eight-foot-tall hairy things with fangs?

In this comic 'verse, if all geeks are actually "Creatures of the night--" what do they feed on? Vampires, ghouls and the like ARE a threat, after all, because of their particular gruesome diet.... again, I would not be so sanguine about D+D groups or LARP parties if I suspected the participants were EATING people. Context thus far, though, suggests that they gain sustenance from geek-related merchandise (per our hero's reaction when he got to the comic book store comes to mind) and participation in geek activities.
Context also suggests that they are "contagious," converting other people into Geeks (by participation? Proximity?) Perhaps that's what the Hunters are so freaked about-- the classic age-old fear of contamination.

I guess the question boils down to "What they are capable of..."

[Martenzo]

Yes...."What are they capable of" is the big question. If we assume each geek morphs into the stereotype they play the most, then what about wizards and psions? Those were forms of geeks are actually capable of large-scale destruction. I'm starting to suspect the Hunters really do have a reasonable basis for their fears. Also, I'm willing to disregard the mass-psychosis theory. The trigger-happy hunter flew far. Farther than would be possible if the were form was just an illusion.

Another point is, that Mark was given some stone by that LARP guy (forgot the name). Later on, it actually glowed, threw sparks and had an eye in it. This suggests that there are other mysterious mystical powers besides the geeks and the Hunters. In fact, I suspect the Hunters may too, be a larger organization. And the zombies. I suspect the initial zombies were real, but later on, Mark ran into another group of them, who were the fake ones and the real ones fell behind in the chase. All this leads to this conclusion: Magic actually exists in the Weregeek universe, but the fact is kept/remains largely hidden.

[Narf the Mouse]

The comic is also, I think, a subtle jab/sabotage of people who actually believe stuff like RPGs teaching Real Magic!

It's kinda like how there seems to be far fewer 'alien saucer' pictures now that cameras are self-focusing.

Or, as a sciziophrenic - Once you look at a delusion straight on, it crumbles.

[Arklite]

BEHOLD! the cavalry arrives and it be ninja.

*tips his marvelous hat*

[Tom the Fanboy]

It's a comic book geek!
How else would he have the awesome Venom pose?

[Alondro]

Kewl! Another battle already!

But I wonder... how many of the geeks know about their transformations? Can they control their powers? Or are they slaves to them? It'd be a big difference, analogous to Spider Man vs The Hulk.

The magic thing is another big issue... let's hope it doesn't apply to anime geeks! Do we really want to know what would happen if one of those went Super Sayjin?

[Lunaroki]

Weregeeks morph into what they play most often? Too bad I'm not a weregeek then. If I were I'd morph into ... a woman!

[Narf the Mouse]

Oh, don't worry...By the time they finished powering up and speechifying, the comic would be over.

[Arklite]

well if there is anything we can learn from this situation... i believe this sums it up



and now that i've shamed my self making this... i'm going to go hide in a corner.

*tips his marvelous hat*

[Tom the Fanboy]

No shame in the posters!



Not that I've made this one, but I have made my share.
I need to go through the archives and see if there's some good ones waiting to be created.

[Kurrel]

I could certainly see Mark being one of the "rehabilitation" attempts mentioned in the discussion between Hunter Prime and the Mark-lookalike.

Kurrel,
-All Smiles.

[Bonames]

Well well well...

Since when has Abbie grown such girlish long fingernails?
For it must be Abbie, judging her grin and her movement...

Looks like she eventually develops her girlish side within. At least in geek-crinus-form.

[Sir Ritalin]

Bonames, in spite of the ninja leap, I don't think it's Abbie, I think it's Mark. The hair matches the way his shadow form is drawn.

Like that explains anything. I thought I didn't know what was going on before, but my bewilderment then was the merest foretaste of what it has grown into now.

[Thunderhowl]

Oh those wacky Weregeeks and their freaking of the mundanes...

[Tom the Fanboy]

Now you see, this is what gets a group like the Hunters more recruits, protecting civilians.

[Thunderhowl]

So far in the comic we've had two incidents where freaking the mundanes had a negative result.

1) It led the Hunter to conclude that the Geeks were dangerous during their picnic, a conclusion he reported to his cell, cementing their resolve, and

2) It makes the crazy, murderous, brainwashing Hunters look heroic when they jump in to rescue that lady on the street. All one of them has to do is shout "Run Lady! We'll protect you from the fearsome and dangerous Weregeek!" and Biggity-BAM! She's anti-geek and petitions City Council to shut down the game store.
NOT COOL!
Ok...so I'm jumping the gun a little on that last one. YOU SHUT UP!

[Sir Ritalin]

In other news, a cinder block to the head is kinda painful.