Talk Nerdy to Me

Recently I discovered a super power of my own, one shared by every one of my fellow nerdy ladies: the abiliy to turn any male geek in the vicinity into jelly.

I was at a party a couple of weeks ago where I got chatting to a guy. I mentioned comics in passing and his face lit up. We tiptoed around the area, sticking to the cool and acceptible bits. Are you DC or Marvel? What about Vertigo? Isn't Alan Moore great? Then he got a little nervous, clearly gearing up to a question that would either charm me or send me running for the hills in fear of his uber-geekiness. Finally he plucked up the courage to ask if I was aware of The Doom Patrol. Bless him. "Of course," I replied, "but I was always more of a Titans fan." At that his knees literally gave up on supporting his weight.

It's not the first time it's happened and I doubt it will be the last. One guy declared me to be his future wife when he learnt of my love of the Justice League cartoon. Another dated me purely because I watched Smallville. Most recently a man became a wee bit enamoured when he learnt I knew Blade Runner and Alien.

Now, I'm not saying my gift will ever allow me to pull a footballer, but that suits me fine. So long as I can go cruising for some hot geeks at Kapow in April. Because, in my humble straight-girl opinion, there is nothing sexier than a woman who knows what she likes and isn't ashamed of it, even if one or two people would snigger at it. And a woman in a home made costume having fun with a character she loves is so much hotter than any number of models who are paid to dress as Princess Leia and pose for photos while trying not to look bored.

So, as convention season looms and sales of brightly-coloured spandex sky rockets, I say to my fellow lady-nerds: Go get 'em, tiger. Just remember that with great power over awestruck male minds comes great responsibility.