July geek fuel magazine web

SMALL IN STATURE, BIG ON FUN.

There are times you want just a little something to whet your whistle, and it’s perfect for that. Other times you’ve succumbed to the powers of science and are extremely small, but have a larger-than life thirst.

Whatever the case, this mini-pint has you covered.

FEATURED ARTIST

CONTENTS FEATURED ARTIST Take a tour of Todd Nauck’s series of Post-It Note drawings.

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GEEKS GONE FAST

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Notoriously geeky, incredibly fast.

CIVIL WAR Marvel’s newest release pits Blue against Iron.

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San Diego Comic Con A look at what made it the greatest con in the world.

ALIENS/VAMPIRELLA Crossover into an epic battle for Martian ground.

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UNBOXING VIDEOS Our favorites show us how to do it right.

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ULTIMATE GEEK GIFT GUIDE

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ULTIMATE GAMER CORNER Blast your way through worlds of fun.

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HEEL VS BABYFACE Speaking out about becoming Geek.

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GEEK GIFT GUIDE

GEEK GIFT GUIDE Another installment of all the best in geeky gifts.

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What started in 1970 in the basement of the U.S. Grant Hotel with just 100 attendees was the basis for what has become the gold standard for comic book conventions, the San Diego Comic Con. The founders of the event, Shel Dorf, Ken Krueger, and Richard Alf, wanted a place to bring like-minded people together to discuss comic, games, films, and all things comic-related. The success of that first event, suffice to say, was enough to turn the event into a living, breathing being with similar events popping up across the country and around the world.

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The annual attendance of SDCC has approached 130,000 people in recent years and, as it can no longer be contained to just one building, has spawned offshoots that are growing names unto themselves, like Wondercon Anaheim and the Alternative Press Expo. SDCC also plays host to the annual award show for the comic industry, the Will Eisner Comic Industry Awards, as well as fan favorite awards for the premier retailers across the country, the Will Eisner Spirit of Comics Retailer Award.

The proliferation of the event, as well as the participants who are lucky enough to showcase their artistry, sell their wares, and spread the word about impending movies, books, and all things geeky, speaks volumes to the growth of the industry as a whole. If you’re lucky enough to get a ticket to this incredible three-day event, don’t forget to take lots of pictures to incite jealousy in every person who sees them.

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FEATURED ARTIST

What started as a childhood doodle with a few stick figures and a green marker turned into a lifetime of passion and success for one of the most well renown graphic novel artists in the world. Inspired to start drawing after purchasing his first Secret Wars book, Todd Nauck drew his first comic in 8th grade on printer paper pilfered from the family computer and he never looked back.

From these humble beginnings, he has risen to great fame in the comic community. Over the years, he has worked regularly for both Marvel and DC Comics, lending his artistic skills to books like Amazing Spider-Man, Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man, Teen Titans Go, and Young Justice. He also claims the distinction of penning one of the best selling comic of the last decade, the Amazing Spider-Man #583, which featured Spider-Man teaming up with Barack Obama.

Post-it Heros

Aside from his prolific comic artist career, he has recently begun a series of Post-It Note drawings. Many of these feature the same characters he draws in day-to-day life, but in accessible bites of pop culture goodness.

Those wanting to have their own piece of exclusive artistry are able to purchase these miniature wonders through his Facebook page and on his website.

For our part here at Geek Fuel, we are thrilled to feature a variant edition of the newest release of Marvel’s Civil Wars, with a cover drawn by none other than the man himself. We admire his passion, his constant curiosity, and, of course, his incredible talent.

Exclusive Cover By: Todd Nauck

WELCOME TO THE WARZONE

With this newest installment of Marvel’s Civil Wars book, we revisit the battle between the factions on either side of the government’s Super Human Registration Act, which requires all humans possessing super powers to register themselves. Iron Man heads up the pro-registration forces, aka the Iron, in favor of complying with the law, while Captain America and his Blue squad prefer the pursuit of freedom.

With this simple declaration, the government has pitted former brothers-in-arms against one another in the ultimate civil war.

While the series took a break from finding out whose side you are on, the fighting in the Battleworld domain has continued to rage through six years. The evolution of these battles has brought about both fresh alliances and unlikely enemies.

In an attempt to end the warring, President Tony Stark and General Steve Rogers get together to make an earnest bid at peace, hoping to end the warring once and for all.

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It’s no secret that competition is what has driven people throughout history to create bigger and better ideas, and there are few things more indicative of how much we want to win than a good ol’ fashioned race. From the first time the Romans set foot in a chariot to the next battle for the yellow jersey at the Tour de France, there is always someone with their eye on the prize. Here, we chronicle some of the geekiest things in the race world we could find. Let it be the inspiration

Star Wars Podracing While the sport was mostly reserved for the lesser-known planets, Anakin proved that podracing was not only awesome, but produced some life-changing results.

Now if only we could find something to cruise around in at speeds in excess of 500 miles per hour…

Nerd Herd Running This geeky group of Disney-based runners began putting on “virtual” races three years ago, with the aim to get geeks moving all across the country. Sign up for things like “The Nerd Awakens 5K” or the “Run, You Clever Nerd 5K or 10K” and exercise on your own terms!

Dogecoin NASCAR Team What started as an earnest attempt to get a an underfunded racer some sponsorship from the r/Dogecoin reddit thread turned into one of the geekiest triumphs of all time. Having just made his 2nd year’s Dogecar debut, Josh Wise is much awesome, very draft, so doge.

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The Space Race Is it a little cliché? Probably, but we don’t care. The race between the United States and the USSR to get a man on the moon was the pilot for innovations that we still see in use every day. While they may have thought they were wining with the launch of Sputnik, we beat them to the landing with Buzz.

Wacky Races Competing for the title of “World’s Wackiest Racer,” each character on this Hanna Barbera original animated series did their best to cross the finish line first, and with flair to boot. Though the original run was short, it provided numerous contributions to classics in the years that followed.

World Solar Challenge Harnessing the power of not just the sun, but the brightest minds in solar automobile applications as well, the World Solar Challenge pits the world’s most innovative vehicles against each other in a race across Australia. The crossroads of brain power and fast cars is almost too geeky to handle.

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Set to release in the fall of this year, the latest version of the Dark Horse crossover series features none other than the almighty Aliens taking on the fierce and formidable Vampirella. The six issue series, written by Corinna Bechko and illustrated by Javier Garcia-Miranda, pits the Xenomorphs against the strong woman with an attitude as humans battle the evil forces that began colonizing Mars well before they arrived to do the same.

While the human race initially seems concerned with a vampire living in their midst, it quickly becomes evident that she is the one who harnesses the cunning, wit, and tenacity to to counter the much larger threat the Xenomorphs possess. Finding themselves able to gather under the banner of “Earthlings� rather than divide over their relative differences, the humanoids take on monsters who are only concerned with destruction and reproduction.

With Bechko at the helm, and featuring two franchises that have always promoted strong female leads, the Aliens/Vampirella crossover series has all the ingredients for an epic battle of both brains and beauty taking on the braun of the otherwordly creatures.

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BEST JULY UNBOXING VIDEOS

Youtube Name: ActOutGames Channel Focus: Presley, a multi-talented vlogger has everything in her videos. From museum visits, cosplay, and travel, Presley always has something going on in her life.

Youtube Name: TedWatson Channel Focus: A tough customer who covers a variety of products that focus on reviews and unboxings.

Youtube Name: NerdDrop Channel Focus: A channel that’s dedicated to everything nerdy. Covering reviews and discussions about boxes, toys, games, comics, and technology.

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Youtube Name: TexasNewmans Channel Focus: From GabbingGeek.com, Jenny has articles on all things geeky and nerdy.

Youtube Name: HeisenNerd Channel Focus: Showing everyone the awesomeness of monthly subscription boxes and everything else that is geeky and nerdy.

Youtube Name: BasementNation Channel Focus: Two regular guys running a fun podcast and who always looks forward to movies and all things apocalyptic survival.

Youtube Name: TheGeekyPotato Channel Focus: Having fun unboxing with her kids, with lots of toys along the way.

Burnstar is a challenging, fast paced action-puzzle game that puts both your brains and your finger-brains to the test! Use explosives to incinerate the worksites and installations of Evil Inc., an appropriately named corporation intent on ruining the homeland of Burnstar and his friends! Blaze your own trail, or play Co-op for some friendly fire!

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COLLECT STARS In each level of Burnstar, you must figure out how to use your limited number of explosives (bombs and rockets) to cause maximum property damage to Evil Inc. and collect enough precious stars to unlock the Big Star that completes the level.

Sound simple? Just wait until you’re surrounded by fire, spinning saw-blades, crushing spikes, incinerators, lasers, and more!

Seriously, why does Evil Inc. even have things that exist solely to crush whatever’s in front of them? That’s evil.

Crates explode to set their neighbors on fire, While flammable goo helps keep the destruction going. Only the best armchair arsonists will have what it takes to burn everything, collect all the stars, and do it quickly enough to earn a Gold Flag. Gold Flags are the only way to unlock Secret Stages, so get burning!

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“Hi everybody it’s Az here from Heel vs Babyface” is the war cry that begins each and every one of my YouTube videos. Most important for me, however, Heel vs Babyface is a lesson in embracing my geek nature and turning a dream into a reality.

For much of my life I have felt like the outsider: different, detached a lot of the time from my peers. While guys my own age started to read FHM and GQ in an effort to gain a level of sophistication, I was very happy to read a Batman or Green Arrow comics and dream of soaring over the rooftops of Gotham with the rain crashing against my face. Instead of tucking myself in at night with the latest novel from the “fad” author of the time, I was more at home curled up with an Ian Livingstone/Steve Jackson Fighting-fantasy book.

In fact, I felt so different I pretended to play the regular guy and kept all of my geek side hidden away from others, fearful of ridicule and rejection. Standard words that I think haunt a lot of people who deem themselves different from the norm.

I played out this role in public for a number of years, getting a 9 to 5, doing the standard acceptable norms, only to return home and indulge myself in my TRUE passions: Gaming, Fantasy, comics, and conversing online with people with similar interests. I truly felt like I was living a double life, one in the public eye and one in private. To me, my orientation was Geek, but I was firmly embedded in the closet. Then one day I started a new job in a new town, having moved into my amazing brother’s house. This was, for all intents and purposes, a fresh start.

At work i met someone who was to become my bestfriend (still to this very day), and when I visited their home for the very first time I was in for a huge shock. Littered around for all to see were DVDs, games, models, and trinkets of multiple geek genres. All there, displayed unapologetically. It was here I realized this wasn’t something to be suppressed and kept down, this was something that you could embrace openly.

So I did embrace it, and made it a huge part of my life, and haven’t looked back since. In fact, so much so that I decided to take the biggest risk of my life. Just over three years ago I said goodbye to the 9 to 5 and set up my YouTube channel “Heel vs Babyface”. I wanted to share with the world my love and passion for Gaming and revel in the best community I could ever wish to be part of, the Geek community. Here I am three years later, with a channel that keeps growing day by day, and I couldn’t want for anything else or be in a happier place. Embrace your inner Geek, because it ROCKS!! -AZ

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ULTIMATE JULY 2015

GEEK GIFT 01 GUIDE

ULTIMATE Shifty Samurai By: Shift Knobs Custom

Why not make the inside of your car as stealth and deadly as the outside? When you turn your shifter knob into a samurai sword, nobody will see it coming.

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ULTIMATE 02 GEEK GIFT GUIDE Sphero By: Sphero

ULTIMATE Sure, it looks like an ordinary ball, but Sphero can do things you’ve never even dreamed of! Play games, set up obstacle courses, and set the mood, all from your phone!

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GEEK GIFT GUIDE Pac Man USB Light By: Think Geek

ULTIMATE This bad boy not only features 16 different colors, but plugs right into the computer AND comes with a “Party” mode. What else could you possibly need from one lamp?!

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Eagle Mask & Talons By: Accoutrements

GEEK GIFT GUIDE What is more American than a man-sized eagle setting out to join forces with the freedom loving people of their nation? NOTHING. If you’re American, why don’t you own this already?

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05GUIDE GEEK GIFT Storm Trooper Adirondack Chair By: M and W’s

ULTIMATE Fighting intergalactic forces can get really tiring. When you’re ready to kick back and have a cold one, but can’t get all the way to the Mos Eisley Cantina, this is the chair for you.

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