Fuckin’ nerds. How do they work?

August 10, 2010 12:53 PM

Abhay Khosla reviews comics for the Savage Critics. —In April of 2008, he posted “Why Do Nerdy Things Work? Abhay Rereads Blue Beetle, Episode I,” the first post in an “irregular, multipart series” that ended up being about much, much more than the John Rogers era of the most recent retooling of the Blue Beetle.

• Part 1: “Not an auspicious beginning no, but it does get better…”
• Part 2: “This is the DCU and the DCU is built on top of a frothy cake of whimsy and bullshit.”
• Part 3: “Includes (i) the time Blue Beetle meets the New Gods, (ii) the time Blue Beetle hangs out with Green Lantern, (iii) the time Blue Beetle meets the Batman, (iv) the time Blue Beetle meets Superman, (v) the time Blue Beetle meets the Teen Titans, (vi) the time Blue Beetle met the Spectre, and (vii) the time Woody Harrelson taught Blue Beetle to retain his ching.” (—Also: an out-of-nowhere digression about Starman.)
• Part 4: “The Tristan 2 is waterproof and made of a silicone material, which is heat-resistant, nonstick, and easy to clean.”
• Part 5: “Why elves? Why mecha? Why Trekkers? Why Browncoats? —Why mystery men? Why rocket men? Why invisible men? Why pulp? Why vampires, why werewolves, why creatures from the Black Lagoon? Why space opera, why slipstream, why sci-fi? Why splatterpunk, why steampunk, why cyberpunk, why mundane SF? Why Max Headroom? Why Mad Max? Why Sam & Max? Why Samwise Gamgee? Why cons? Why cosplay? Why LARP, why TMBG, why TARDIS? Why Felicia Day? Why Freddie, why Jason, why Eli Roth? Why kaiju, why Aeris, why 42? Why IDW, why BOOM!, why Oni? Why Marvel? Why DC?”

Previously.

posted by kipmanley (15 comments total)

Is this guy related to Harry Knowles?
posted by Artw at 1:18 PM on August 10, 2010

Paging blue_beetle.
posted by joe lisboa at 1:21 PM on August 10, 2010

“Why elves? Why mecha? Why Trekkers? Why Browncoats? —Why mystery men? Why rocket men? Why invisible men? Why pulp? Why vampires, why werewolves, why creatures from the Black Lagoon? Why space opera, why slipstream, why sci-fi? Why splatterpunk, why steampunk, why cyberpunk, why mundane SF? Why Max Headroom? Why Mad Max? Why Sam & Max? Why Samwise Gamgee? Why cons? Why cosplay? Why LARP, why TMBG, why TARDIS? Why Felicia Day? Why Freddie, why Jason, why Eli Roth? Why kaiju, why Aeris, why 42? Why IDW, why BOOM!, why Oni? Why Marvel? Why DC?”

Why does he just keep writing and writing? Why?
posted by doctor_negative at 1:56 PM on August 10, 2010 [1 favorite]

I'm curious to hear from a Khosla fan; I know he's revered in the comics blogoshpere (I remember a big deal being made of it when he joined The Savage Critics), but the guy's style has never, ever worked for me. But people whose tastes I respect always talk about how much they love reading him.
posted by COBRA! at 1:59 PM on August 10, 2010

I know he's revered in the comics blogoshpere

Jesus. Really? God I hate the comics internets.

I have no idea why I read as far as part 5, but that's where it descends into complete frothing gibberish as far as I can tell.
posted by Artw at 2:15 PM on August 10, 2010

Only connect! Which Khosla does with surprising dexterity. --Yes, he is a vulgarian, but he's a funny vulgarian, so no, no relation to Knowles. And I probably should have told the tl;dr crowd whether he ever explains how nerds work:

SPOILER WARNING: He fails.

But then, that isn't really the point, is it?

I can see how Khosla might be frustrating to the goal-oriented, but hey.

And I know doctor_negative I mean Homer should really just have named one or two ships and just got on with it I mean we got the point right?
posted by kipmanley at 2:24 PM on August 10, 2010

Well, I can't stand that Phantom Menace serial guy either, so there's that...
posted by Artw at 2:40 PM on August 10, 2010

I miss Rogers' Blue Beetle.
posted by Zed at 3:03 PM on August 10, 2010 [1 favorite]

You mean Abhay is known for something other than "Refugees of Net.ropolis 1-13"?
posted by charred husk at 3:57 PM on August 10, 2010

"Refugees of Net.ropolis 1-13"

Boy, that takes me back.
posted by aaronetc at 9:16 PM on August 10, 2010

I thought this was going to be about a porno comic featuring Sergeant Snorkel hanging from something inappropriate.
posted by unliteral at 10:30 PM on August 10, 2010

Alright I'm into the second article, and it's going downhill. Does he ever get around to answering Why Nerdy Things Work? Because that's a question I'm fucking obsessed with right now and this just feels like a description of a DC comic is bad.
posted by edbles at 7:56 AM on August 11, 2010

I'm curious to hear from a Khosla fan

I don't know if I'd qualify as a fan, but Khosla is one of the few 'name' comic bloggy people I read - otherwise, it's pretty much just the the CSBG! and ComicsComics people for me. I don't know if I can articulate his appeal any deeper than by saying when his meandering goofiness clicks, it really works for me. At his worst, he's still pretty amusing.
posted by Alvy Ampersand at 9:09 AM on August 11, 2010

Yeah, I figure in the end it comes down to one guy's prose style and whether or not it works for you. Not right or wrong either way.
posted by COBRA! at 1:16 PM on August 11, 2010

On the subject of comics for kids
posted by Artw at 11:28 PM on August 11, 2010