Geek a Week
Encyclopedia
Geek a Week is the name of an art project created by comic artist Len Peralta
. Started in March 2010, Peralta's goal was to create illustrations and text for cards from a hypothetical collectible card game
, creating one card each week. He sought to meet many geek
icons across numerous disciplines, including computing, movies, television, music, and Internet culture, then subsequently creating that person's or group's respective card. Though not his initial goal, Peralta and ThinkGeek
published the set of cards in blocks of eight after Peralta completed the initial 52-card set.
illustrate his book, Silly Rhymes for Belligerent Children. Peralta offered his suggestion of the Geek a Week project to Beaulieu. Beaulieu found the idea exciting, and began to help Peralta set up contacts with the various personalities he sought for the project.
Beaulieu uses his own contacts, including fellow Mystery Science Theater 3000
alumni, Kevin Murphy
, to make further plans for personalities to meet with Peralta, such as for "Weird Al" Yankovic
. Some personalities that Peralta had met before or during the project helped to make further introductions; Paul and Storm
was able to connect Peralta to Adam Savage
. Other featured personalitiescontacted Peralta directly after seeing other nerds highlight their appearance on the cards; for exameple, Felicia Day
became interested after seeing both Wil Wheaton
and Jonathan Coulton
announced their cards on Twitter
. Several of those that participated felt the project was a positive medium for the geek culture; Savage called the project "the kind of innovative ambition that's awesome when you see someone do it", while Yankovic believed that the project would help other people of the geek culture "realize that there are more people like them, and here are these successful ones, and perhaps that will inspire them to greater achievement".
After arranging contact with the personality, Peralta would often interview the person, offering the audio as a podcast. He would then work with the personality for the card's artwork, incorporating elements that the personality was known for, amalgamated with popular culture imagery from film, television, comics, and video games. For example, Yankovic's image is similar to that of Galactus
playing off the phrase "Devourer of Worlds", referencing's Yankovic's food obsession. Wheaton requested to explore duality in his card, and Peralta realized this by given Wheaton's illustration the idea of an evil twin
. Savage, initially unhappy with his initial drawing, felt that Peralta's first iteration was "too harsh", and later poised for Peralta via webcam, holding the Brazil
-inspired mask and pose that Peralta drew. The text of the card was created by Peralta, with editing help from collaborators, including Paul and Storm and Neil Gaiman
. Personalities were often pleased with the pairings that Peralta created when left to decide on his own. Day, appearing as Chell from the video game Portal, praised Peralta's art, in that "he paired me with just the right thing to make me excited to see myself". Aaron Douglas
, drawn as The Comedian from Watchman
, stated that "I love that you can be badass and a geek and I think that Len nailed it". Gaiman, depicted as "The Vault Keeper" akin to Tales from the Crypt, believed his match was very appropriate as "there's probably little that's more iconic than one of the old EC Comics horror hosts".
Early in the project, Peralta has received some requests to actually produce the card set as a physical product, an idea that he kept in mind during the course of the year. In late February 2011, Peralta and ThinkGeek
had arranged to print the full set in blocks of eight; Peralta will create four more cards with "secret geeks" to round out the number to 56, creating seven sets for purchase. Alongside the initial sales of the cards, special auctions on eBay
were created featuring not only cards from the set autographed by the personalities depicted, but other memorabilia from those people, such as road spikes from Savage's Mythbusters
or honey made from Gaiman's private apiary
. Money from the auctions was donated to the charities Child's Play
and Electronic Frontier Foundation
.
Len Peralta
Len Peralta is a Cleveland-area graphic artist, illustrator, cartoonist, and podcaster who is known for zombie-themed caricatures and collaborations with nerd celebrities....
. Started in March 2010, Peralta's goal was to create illustrations and text for cards from a hypothetical collectible card game
Collectible card game
thumb|Players and their decksA collectible card game , also called a trading card game or customizable card game, is a game played using specially designed sets of playing cards...
, creating one card each week. He sought to meet many geek
Geek
The word geek is a slang term, with different meanings ranging from "a computer expert or enthusiast" to "a carnival performer who performs sensationally morbid or disgusting acts", with a general pejorative meaning of "a peculiar or otherwise dislikable person, esp[ecially] one who is perceived to...
icons across numerous disciplines, including computing, movies, television, music, and Internet culture, then subsequently creating that person's or group's respective card. Though not his initial goal, Peralta and ThinkGeek
ThinkGeek
ThinkGeek is an American online retailer that caters to computer enthusiasts and other "geeky" social groups. Their merchandise includes clothing, electronic and scientific gadgets, unusual computer peripherals, office toys, pet toys, child toys, and caffeinated drinks and candy...
published the set of cards in blocks of eight after Peralta completed the initial 52-card set.
History
The idea of Geek a Week arose while Len Peralta assisted in helping Trace BeaulieuTrace Beaulieu
Trace Beaulieu is an American puppeteer, writer, and actor. He is best known for his roles on Mystery Science Theater 3000 .-Mystery Science Theater 3000:...
illustrate his book, Silly Rhymes for Belligerent Children. Peralta offered his suggestion of the Geek a Week project to Beaulieu. Beaulieu found the idea exciting, and began to help Peralta set up contacts with the various personalities he sought for the project.
Beaulieu uses his own contacts, including fellow Mystery Science Theater 3000
Mystery Science Theater 3000
Mystery Science Theater 3000 is an American cult television comedy series created by Joel Hodgson and produced by Best Brains, Inc., that ran from 1988 to 1999....
alumni, Kevin Murphy
Kevin Murphy (actor)
Kevin Wagner Murphy is an American actor and writer best known as the voice and puppeteer of Tom Servo on the Peabody Award-winning comedy series Mystery Science Theater 3000.- Early career :...
, to make further plans for personalities to meet with Peralta, such as for "Weird Al" Yankovic
"Weird Al" Yankovic
Alfred Matthew "Weird Al" Yankovic is an American singer-songwriter, music producer, accordionist, actor, comedian, writer, satirist, and parodist. Yankovic is known for his humorous songs that make light of popular culture and that often parody specific songs by contemporary musical acts...
. Some personalities that Peralta had met before or during the project helped to make further introductions; Paul and Storm
Paul and Storm
Paul and Storm are an Arlington, Virginia-based comedic musical duo consisting of Paul Sabourin and Greg "Storm" DiCostanzo. They had formerly been members of the a cappella group Da Vinci’s Notebook....
was able to connect Peralta to Adam Savage
Adam Savage
Adam Whitney Savage is an American industrial design and special effects designer/fabricator, actor, educator, and co-host of the Discovery Channel television series MythBusters. His model work has appeared in major films, including Star Wars: Episode II - Attack of the Clones and The Matrix...
. Other featured personalitiescontacted Peralta directly after seeing other nerds highlight their appearance on the cards; for exameple, Felicia Day
Felicia Day
Kathryn Felicia Day is an American actress, known for her work as "Vi" on the TV series Buffy the Vampire Slayer and for parts in movies such as Bring It On Again and June, as well as the Internet musical, Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog...
became interested after seeing both Wil Wheaton
Wil Wheaton
Richard William "Wil" Wheaton III is an American actor and writer. As an actor, he is best known for his portrayals of Wesley Crusher on the television series Star Trek: The Next Generation, Gordie Lachance in the film Stand by Me and Joey Trotta in Toy Soldiers...
and Jonathan Coulton
Jonathan Coulton
Jonathan Coulton is an American singer-songwriter, known for his songs about geek culture and his use of the Internet to draw fans...
announced their cards on Twitter
Twitter
Twitter is an online social networking and microblogging service that enables its users to send and read text-based posts of up to 140 characters, informally known as "tweets".Twitter was created in March 2006 by Jack Dorsey and launched that July...
. Several of those that participated felt the project was a positive medium for the geek culture; Savage called the project "the kind of innovative ambition that's awesome when you see someone do it", while Yankovic believed that the project would help other people of the geek culture "realize that there are more people like them, and here are these successful ones, and perhaps that will inspire them to greater achievement".
After arranging contact with the personality, Peralta would often interview the person, offering the audio as a podcast. He would then work with the personality for the card's artwork, incorporating elements that the personality was known for, amalgamated with popular culture imagery from film, television, comics, and video games. For example, Yankovic's image is similar to that of Galactus
Galactus
Galactus is a fictional character appearing in comic books and other publications published by Marvel Comics. Created by writer-editor Stan Lee and artist and co-plotter Jack Kirby, the character debuted in Fantastic Four #48 , the first of a three-issue story later known as "The Galactus...
playing off the phrase "Devourer of Worlds", referencing's Yankovic's food obsession. Wheaton requested to explore duality in his card, and Peralta realized this by given Wheaton's illustration the idea of an evil twin
Evil twin
The evil twin is an antagonist found in many different fictional genres. They are physical copies of protagonists, but with radically inverted moralities. In filmed entertainment, they can have obvious physical differences with the protagonist—such as facial hair, eyepatches, scars or distinctive...
. Savage, initially unhappy with his initial drawing, felt that Peralta's first iteration was "too harsh", and later poised for Peralta via webcam, holding the Brazil
Brazil (film)
Brazil is a 1985 British science fiction fantasy/black comedy film directed by Terry Gilliam. It was written by Gilliam, Charles McKeown, and Tom Stoppard and stars Jonathan Pryce. The film also features Robert De Niro, Kim Greist, Michael Palin, Katherine Helmond, Bob Hoskins, and Ian Holm...
-inspired mask and pose that Peralta drew. The text of the card was created by Peralta, with editing help from collaborators, including Paul and Storm and Neil Gaiman
Neil Gaiman
Neil Richard Gaiman born 10 November 1960)is an English author of short fiction, novels, comic books, graphic novels, audio theatre and films. His notable works include the comic book series The Sandman and novels Stardust, American Gods, Coraline, and The Graveyard Book...
. Personalities were often pleased with the pairings that Peralta created when left to decide on his own. Day, appearing as Chell from the video game Portal, praised Peralta's art, in that "he paired me with just the right thing to make me excited to see myself". Aaron Douglas
Aaron Douglas
Aaron Douglas was an African American painter and a major figure in the Harlem Renaissance.-Early life:...
, drawn as The Comedian from Watchman
Watchman
Watchman or Watchmen may refer to:*Watchman , a member of a group who provided law enforcement**Security guard or watchman, a person who watches over and protects property, assets, or people...
, stated that "I love that you can be badass and a geek and I think that Len nailed it". Gaiman, depicted as "The Vault Keeper" akin to Tales from the Crypt, believed his match was very appropriate as "there's probably little that's more iconic than one of the old EC Comics horror hosts".
Early in the project, Peralta has received some requests to actually produce the card set as a physical product, an idea that he kept in mind during the course of the year. In late February 2011, Peralta and ThinkGeek
ThinkGeek
ThinkGeek is an American online retailer that caters to computer enthusiasts and other "geeky" social groups. Their merchandise includes clothing, electronic and scientific gadgets, unusual computer peripherals, office toys, pet toys, child toys, and caffeinated drinks and candy...
had arranged to print the full set in blocks of eight; Peralta will create four more cards with "secret geeks" to round out the number to 56, creating seven sets for purchase. Alongside the initial sales of the cards, special auctions on eBay
EBay
eBay Inc. is an American internet consumer-to-consumer corporation that manages eBay.com, an online auction and shopping website in which people and businesses buy and sell a broad variety of goods and services worldwide...
were created featuring not only cards from the set autographed by the personalities depicted, but other memorabilia from those people, such as road spikes from Savage's Mythbusters
MythBusters
MythBusters is a science entertainment TV program created and produced by Beyond Television Productions for the Discovery Channel. The series is screened by numerous international broadcasters, including Discovery Channel Australia, Discovery Channel Latin America, Discovery Channel Canada, Quest...
or honey made from Gaiman's private apiary
Apiary
An apiary is a place where beehives of honey bees are kept. Traditionally beekeepers paid land rent in honey for the use of small parcels. Some farmers will provide free apiary sites, because they need pollination, and farmers who need many hives often pay for them to be moved to the crops when...
. Money from the auctions was donated to the charities Child's Play
Child's Play (charity)
Child's Play is a charitable organization founded by the authors of the popular computer and video games-based webcomic Penny Arcade that organizes worldwide toy drives to children's hospitals. Mike Krahulik and Jerry Holkins founded Child's Play in 2003 to improve the lives of sick children by...
and Electronic Frontier Foundation
Electronic Frontier Foundation
The Electronic Frontier Foundation is an international non-profit digital rights advocacy and legal organization based in the United States...
.
List of personalities
The following is a list of personalities or groups that have been featured in the Geek a Week set.Card Number | Personality |
---|---|
1 | Jonathan Coulton Jonathan Coulton Jonathan Coulton is an American singer-songwriter, known for his songs about geek culture and his use of the Internet to draw fans... |
2 | Fred Seibert Fred Seibert Frederick "Fred" Seibert is a television and film producer and entertainment entrepreneur who owns Frederator Studios, and who has held leading positions with MTV Networks, Hanna-Barbera, and Next New Networks; he owns Frederator Studios... |
3 | Veronica Belmont Veronica Belmont Veronica Ann Belmont is the co-host of the Revision3 show Tekzilla alongside Patrick Norton, and the former host of the monthly PlayStation 3-based video on demand program Qore. Formerly she was the host for the Mahalo Daily podcast and a producer and associate editor for CNET Networks, Inc... |
4 | John Scalzi John Scalzi John Michael Scalzi II is an American author and online writer, and president of the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America. He is best known for his Hugo Award-nominated science fiction novel Old Man's War, released by Tor Books in January 2005, and for his blog , at which he has written... |
5 | Rifftrax RiffTrax RiffTrax are downloadable audio commentaries featuring comedians Michael J. Nelson, Kevin Murphy and Bill Corbett heckling films in the style of Mystery Science Theater 3000, a TV show in which Nelson was the head writer, and later the host. The RiffTrax are sold online and delivered by digital... |
6 | Bonnie Burton Bonnie Burton Bonnie Burton is a San Francisco-based author, journalist a Content Developer for Lucas Online, and a staff writer for both Star Wars.com and Star Wars Insider magazine, and maintainer of the Official Star Wars Blog. She goes by the handle "bonniegrrl" at those official sites... |
7 | MC Frontalot MC Frontalot Damian Hess , better known by stage name MC Frontalot, is a Brooklyn-based hip hop musician and self-proclaimed "world's 579th greatest rapper". He is best known in nerdcore hip hop and video game culture, for naming the nerdcore subgenre, and performing at Penny Arcades annual Penny Arcade Expo... |
8 | Ken Plume |
9 | Kevin Smith Kevin Smith Kevin Patrick Smith is an American screenwriter, actor, film producer, and director, as well as a popular comic book writer, author, comedian/raconteur, and internet radio personality best recognized by viewers as Silent Bob... |
10 | Nathan Sawaya Nathan Sawaya Nathan Sawaya , is an artist who builds custom three-dimensional models and large-scale mosaics from popular everyday items and standard Lego toy bricks... |
11 | Morgan Webb Morgan Webb Morgan Ailis Webb is a co-host and senior segment producer of the G4 show X-Play, and host of the show G4 Underground... |
12 | Larry "Major Nelson" Hyrb Larry Hryb Lawrence "Larry" Hryb , also known by his Xbox Live gamertag Major Nelson, is the Director of Programming for the Microsoft gaming network Xbox Live. His blog "Xbox Live's Major Nelson" provides an "inside" look at operations at Microsoft's Xbox division. He picked the gamertag Major Nelson after a... |
13 | Tom Merritt Tom Merritt Thomas Andrew "Tom" Merritt is a technology journalist and broadcaster who hosts a daily show on Leo Laporte's TWiT.tv Netcast Network Tech News Today... |
14 | Wil Wheaton Wil Wheaton Richard William "Wil" Wheaton III is an American actor and writer. As an actor, he is best known for his portrayals of Wesley Crusher on the television series Star Trek: The Next Generation, Gordie Lachance in the film Stand by Me and Joey Trotta in Toy Soldiers... |
15 | John Hodgman John Hodgman John Kellogg Hodgman is an American author, actor, and humorist. In addition to his published written works, such as The Areas of My Expertise, More Information Than You Require, and That Is All, he is known for his personification of a PC in contrast to Justin Long's personification of a Mac in... |
16 | Monte Cook Monte Cook Monte Cook is a professional table-top role-playing game designer and writer. He is married to Sue Weinlein Cook.-Roleplaying:Cook has been a professional game designer since 1988, working primarily on role-playing games. Much of his early work was for Iron Crown Enterprises as an editor and writer... |
17 | Cory Doctorow Cory Doctorow Cory Efram Doctorow is a Canadian-British blogger, journalist, and science fiction author who serves as co-editor of the blog Boing Boing. He is an activist in favour of liberalising copyright laws and a proponent of the Creative Commons organization, using some of their licences for his books... |
18 | Phil Plait |
19 | Brea Grant Brea Grant Brea Colleen Grant is an American actress and writer who is best known for playing Daphne Millbrook in the NBC television series Heroes... |
20 | Adam Savage Adam Savage Adam Whitney Savage is an American industrial design and special effects designer/fabricator, actor, educator, and co-host of the Discovery Channel television series MythBusters. His model work has appeared in major films, including Star Wars: Episode II - Attack of the Clones and The Matrix... |
21 | Grant Imahara Grant Imahara Grant Masaru Imahara is a Japanese American electronics and radio control expert, best known for his work on the American television show MythBusters.-Education and early work:... |
22 | Cinematic Titanic Cinematic Titanic Cinematic Titanic is a project by Mystery Science Theater 3000 creator and original host, Joel Hodgson.The project involves "riffing" B-movies, in a manner similar to that of MST3K.... |
23 | Steve Jackson |
24 | Edgar Wright Edgar Wright Edgar Howard Wright is an English film and television director and writer. He is most famous for his work with Simon Pegg and Nick Frost on the films Shaun of the Dead and Hot Fuzz, the TV series Spaced, and for directing the film Scott Pilgrim vs... |
25 | Molly Lewis Molly Lewis Molly Lewis is an American Internet musician who is known for her ukulele playing. She plays both covers and original songs. Her original music consists of comedic songs about pop culture topics that trend towards the nerdy. She is currently signed with DFTBA Records through which she released her... |
26 | Toby Radloff Toby Radloff Toby Radloff is a former file clerk who became a minor celebrity owing to his appearances in Cleveland writer Harvey Pekar's autobiographical comic book American Splendor. He works at the Veterans Affairs Medical Center in Cleveland. Radloff currently works as a courier.Radloff has a distinctive... |
27 | Steve Wozniak Steve Wozniak Stephen Gary "Woz" Wozniak is an American computer engineer and programmer who founded Apple Computer, Co. with Steve Jobs and Ronald Wayne... |
28 | Chris Hardwick Chris Hardwick Christopher Ryan "Chris" Hardwick is an American stand-up comedian, actor, writer, musician, podcaster, television personality, and voice artist... |
29 | "Weird Al" Yankovic "Weird Al" Yankovic Alfred Matthew "Weird Al" Yankovic is an American singer-songwriter, music producer, accordionist, actor, comedian, writer, satirist, and parodist. Yankovic is known for his humorous songs that make light of popular culture and that often parody specific songs by contemporary musical acts... |
30 | Felicia Day Felicia Day Kathryn Felicia Day is an American actress, known for her work as "Vi" on the TV series Buffy the Vampire Slayer and for parts in movies such as Bring It On Again and June, as well as the Internet musical, Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog... |
31 | Bill Prady Bill Prady Bill Prady is a television writer and producer who has worked on American sitcoms and variety programs, including Married... with Children, Dream On, Star Trek: Voyager, Dharma & Greg, and The Gilmore Girls.-Career:... |
32 | Sharon Stiteler |
33 | Penn & Teller Penn & Teller Penn & Teller are Las Vegas headliners whose act is an amalgam of illusion and comedy. Penn Jillette is a raconteur; Teller generally uses mime while performing, although his voice can occasionally be heard during their performance... |
34 | Jill Thompson Jill Thompson Jill Thompson is an American comic book writer and illustrator. Probably better known for her work on Neil Gaiman's The Sandman characters and her own Scary Godmother series, she has also worked on The Invisibles, Swamp Thing, and Wonder Woman.-Career:Jill Thompson illustrated The Sandman story... |
35 | Neil Gaiman Neil Gaiman Neil Richard Gaiman born 10 November 1960)is an English author of short fiction, novels, comic books, graphic novels, audio theatre and films. His notable works include the comic book series The Sandman and novels Stardust, American Gods, Coraline, and The Graveyard Book... |
36 | Kari Byron Kari Byron Kari Elizabeth Byron is a San Francisco-based television host and artist, best known for her featured role on the Discovery Channel show MythBusters.-MythBusters:... |
37 | Bill Amend Bill Amend William J. C. "Bill" Amend III is an American cartoonist, best known for his comic strip FoxTrot.-Early life:Amend attended high school in Burlingame, California where he was a cartoonist on his school newspaper. Amend is an Eagle Scout in the Boy Scouts of America. He attended Amherst College,... |
38 | Marian Call |
39 | Warren Spector Warren Spector Warren Spector is a role-playing game designer and a video game designer. He is known for having worked to merge elements of role-playing games and first-person shooters. He currently resides in Austin, Texas with his wife, fantasy writer Caroline L. Spector... |
40 | Dana Snyder Dana Snyder Dana Snyder is an American actor, voice artist, and comedian, best known for playing Master Shake on the Aqua Teen Hunger Force show, and the film Aqua Teen Hunger Force Colon Movie Film for Theaters, both part of Cartoon Network's Adult Swim franchise.- Early life :Dana Snyder was born in... |
41 | The Gregory Brothers The Gregory Brothers The Gregory Brothers are an American musical group who characterize their music as "Country & Soul, Folk & Roll". Members include Michael Gregory on drums and vocals, Andrew Rose Gregory on guitar and vocals, Evan Gregory on keys and vocals, and Sarah Fullen Gregory on bass and vocals... |
42 | Thomas Dolby Thomas Dolby Thomas Dolby is an English musician and producer. Best known for his 1982 hit "She Blinded Me with Science", and 1984 single "Hyperactive!", he has also worked extensively in production and as a session musician.-Early life:Dolby was born in London, England, contrary to information in early 1980s... |
43 | Jim Lee Jim Lee Jim Lee is a Korean-American comic book artist, writer, editor and publisher. He first broke into the industry in 1987 as an artist for Marvel Comics, illustrating titles such as Alpha Flight and Punisher War Journal, before gaining a great deal of popularity on The Uncanny X-Men... |
44 | Matt Fraction Matt Fraction Matt Fritchman, better known by the pen name Matt Fraction, is an Eisner Award-winning American comic book writer, known for his work as the writer of The Invincible Iron Man, The Immortal Iron Fist and Uncanny X-Men for Marvel Comics and Casanova for Image Comics.-Career:Fraction wrote two... |
45 | Team Unicorn Team Unicorn Team Unicorn is a multi-media production team formed in Los Angeles, California in 2010. Its members are American actresses and singers Michele Boyd , Clare Grant , Milynn Sarley, and Rileah Vanderbilt . The group released their debut parody song "G33k & G4m3r Girls" a.k.a. the "Geek and Gamer... |
46 | Professor James Kakalios James Kakalios James Kakalios is a physics professor at the University of Minnesota. Known within the scientific community for his work with amorphous semiconductors, granular materials, and 1/f noise, he is known to the general public as the author of the book The Physics of Superheroes, which considers comic... |
47 | Aaron Douglas Aaron Douglas Aaron Douglas was an African American painter and a major figure in the Harlem Renaissance.-Early life:... |
48 | Paul and Storm Paul and Storm Paul and Storm are an Arlington, Virginia-based comedic musical duo consisting of Paul Sabourin and Greg "Storm" DiCostanzo. They had formerly been members of the a cappella group Da Vinci’s Notebook.... |
49 | Mark Mothersbaugh Mark Mothersbaugh Mark Allen Mothersbaugh is an American musician, composer, singer and painter. He is the co-founder of the new wave band Devo and has been its lead singer since 1972. His other musical projects include work for television series, films, and video games.... |
50 | Guillermo Del Toro Guillermo del Toro Guillermo del Toro is a Mexican director, producer, screenwriter, novelist and designer. He is mostly known for his acclaimed films, Blade II, Pan's Labyrinth and the Hellboy film franchise. He is a frequent collaborator with Ron Perlman, Federico Luppi and Doug Jones... |
51 | Nolan Bushnell Nolan Bushnell Nolan K. Bushnell is an American engineer and entrepreneur who founded both Atari, Inc and the Chuck E. Cheese's Pizza-Time Theaters chain... |
52 | Stan Lee Stan Lee Stan Lee is an American comic book writer, editor, actor, producer, publisher, television personality, and the former president and chairman of Marvel Comics.... |