That's My Secret; I'm Always Geeky

I have a confession to make. I am the girl they warned you about. I am the one that they flocked to their blogs and their Facebooks to decry. I am the one they point to and say "She! She is the one who has ruined our sacred space by infiltrating our society!" Because I, ladies and gentlemen, am she:

I am the Fake Geek Girl

No, no that kind of "fake geek girl." I do not go to conventions solely to show off my impressive boobs in tight fitted costumes (because you have to have boobs to do that sort of thing). But I do think it would be very easy for me to be written off as a fake geek girl, because to be honest, my history with comics, etc. is not that impressive.

A Quick Overview of my History with Comics

Childhood: I did not really read proper comic books as a child. I read the daily strips during the periods of time that we got a newspaper, but that's not quite the same. I do vaguely remember reading all the Tintin comics in the library, mostly because I recall there being one illustration in one of them (they were maybe investigating Mayan ruins or something?) that was pants-wettingly terrifying to my nine-ish-year-old self. I was generally too absorbed at the time in reading massive leatherbound classics to waste my time on inferior comics - little did I know.

Hulk Reading by Alex Fleisig.
(a.k.a. my Tuesdays)

Teenager: I was a gawth-girl, at least as much as I could get away with. Here my taste in reading started to devolve into gothic horror and mysteries, as well as the beginning of my lifelong vampire obsession. I also started to discover the "graphic novel," a much more sophisticated form of illustrated storytelling that in my pretentious teenage way I could accept. I'm pretty sure The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen was the one that paved the way, since it was all my gothic classics rolled together. Also, a quick hint: There is no difference between "graphic novels" and "comic books" as a general rule, other than "graphic novel" theoretically sounding more sophisticated or something.

College: I eased my way from Neil Gaiman's straight prose into his stuff that was illustrated. I went through a massive Alan Moore kick. I discovered Johann Sfar. And, most importantly, a HUGE number of comic book movie franchises kicked-off or rebooted: Nolan's Batman, Iron Man, Spiderman, two disappointing attempts at Hulk, X-Men, Fantastic Four, that Superman movie we don't talk about. (I was in college a long time.) Guess what? I wasn't really a fan of most of those movies. Captain America and Thor were a little better for me, since I'm a huge history/mythology nerd. But you know what did it for me? What actually tipped me over the edge? Y'all are going to hate this:

A hint, by Matthew Ferguson.

It was the damn Avengers movie.

That's right. I didn't even want to see it because I was like "Great, now it's LOTS of superheroes instead of just a couple," but a friend dragged me along with him. And as a sat enraptured by the pretty pretty men the story, this was my dawning realization that comics can be awesome. Comics are theatrical, melodramatic, over-the-top, ridiculous and one semester away from graduating with a double B.A. I realized that I love comics.

So now, over the last several months, I have learned to speak in comics. My dominantly purple wardrobe has suddenly spawned a large about of green as well (because I am The Hulk). I have friends who are Batman, Superman/Iron Man, Loki, Harley Quinn/Rogue, Green Lantern, and probably more. I'm trying to design a Victorian-style She-Hulk outfit and decide what Con I might be able to go to this year. And of course, I'm trying to read all the comics to make up for for all the years I lost thinking they were beneath  me or something.

And that's why I often feel like the moniker of the "Fake Geek Girl" is referring to me. I can talk the talk, but I don't have the history behind it (see also: my ability to use PCs). But here's the thing: if I keep reading comics and seeing movies and collecting my favorite characters in tiny plush form, then I'm pretty sure that makes me just as much a card-carrying member of the mythical "geek" society as anyone else who's been doing it for years. So I'm going to keep reading and find out what I've missed, and get into heated debates over whether Bruce Wayne or Tony Stark has a better business model as a superhero, and try to find a female brunette who doesn't have a keyhole in her costume that I can cosplay as someday. And eventually, I will reach a point where I can proudly accept myself as a "Real Geek Girl" regardless of that that means to anyone else.

In the mean time, I've got research to do.