How to boost your nerd cred at C2E2
You're either for vampire Abraham Lincoln, or you're against him.
When something like the Chicago Comic and Entertainment Expo rolls around, different kinds of people get excited: The ones who thrill at the prospect of being able to fill some holes in their collections and shake hands with Neil Gaiman, Carrie Fisher, and Chicago Bear/comics enthusiast Lance Briggs; the ones who want to gawk at the weirdos in Wolverine-as-stormtrooper costumes; and the hardcore über-goobers whose preparation for the convention includes boning up on back issues of Marvel Two-In-One in the hopes of besting Mark Waid in a trivia contest, and who are going to leave us angry comments for using the word "nerd" in the headline. We empathize with those people, though, because we are those people. Therefore, The A.V. Club found a few opportunities to boost your nerd-cred score to the stratosphere at McCormick Place on Friday through Sunday.
300 Nerd Points
Learning the words to The Wednesday Heroes songs in advance
Songs about superheroes can be either mega-nerdy (think "In The Garage" by Weezer) or painfully hip (referencing Suicide's "Ghost Rider" in front of pretty much any aging punk-rock dude can earn you a free beer), but The Wednesday Heroes aren't just dabblers in the genre: Their entire catalog, from "Invisible Girl" to "The Mask I Left Behind," is superhero-inspired. Purchase a copy of their debut EP, Slight Advantage, from iTunes and memorize the lyrics to "Going Rogue," "Captain, My Captain," and "Something Kinda Vertigo," and you can impress both your fellow nerds and any stray indie-rockers by proving that you got there before they did.
500 Nerd Points
Knowing whether The Transient is a more authoritative Abraham Lincoln/vampire piece than Seth Grahame-Smith’s Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter
Just like in 1999 when there were two "will giant asteroids destroy the earth?" movies released at the same time, C2E2 features not one but two tales of Honest Abe in a vampire-laden world. While Seth Grahame-Smith—the Pride And Prejudice And Zombies guy—focuses on Illinois' favorite son's battles with the undead during the Civil War in his novel, the The Transient filmmakers posit that perhaps the Great Emancipator was himself a foul creature of the night. Show up to either the Friday screening of the film or the Saturday Grahame-Smith spotlight and be prepared to explain why the featured tale of Lincoln and vampires pales in comparison to the other.
700 Nerd Points
Being able to weigh in on the stage-combat techniques utilized in the Windy City Jedi lightsaber demonstrations
Star Wars fandom and theater geekiness don't always necessarily intersect—one is typically found at events like C2E2, while the other is hustling for free tickets at Steppenwolf by serving as a volunteer usher. Since it's unlikely you'll find a whole lot of theater nerds crowding the Variant Stage for the assorted lightsaber demonstrations put on by Windy City Jedi on Friday afternoon, you can sidetrack the endless debate over whether the Clone Wars cartoon should be considered canon by talking about the fight captain’s effectiveness and commenting on how everyone moving at three-quarters speed isn’t lame.
2,000 Nerd Points
Besting Mark Waid at comic-book trivia
Mark Waid is nearly as well-known for his encyclopedic knowledge of comic-book trivia as he is as author of Kingdom Come and his prominent runs on both Fantastic Four and Amazing Spider-Man. He's also happy to take on all comers in the convention setting, as he's doing at the Mark Waid Takes On The Trivia Fans event on Friday, and legend has it he doesn't lose. He's the LaFours of useless knowledge. Stun attendees into silence by waltzing into the room without breaking a sweat and clobbering Waid with your staggering scholarship of Silver Age stories.
