DORK! # 6
“The Eltingville Comic Book, Science-Fiction, Fantasy, Horror & Role-Playing Club”
“Bring Me The Head of Boba Fett”
“Captain’s Log: Stardate 5598.7”
“The Northwest Comix Collective”
Writer/Artist/Letterer: Evan Dorkin
Colorist: Sarah Dyer
Cover Date: May 1998
Rating: 
Last week I did a review introducing everyone to the Eltingville Comic Book, Science-Fiction, Fantasy, Horror, and Role-Playing Club and its four members- Bill Dickey, Jerry Strokes, Pete DeNunzio, and Josh Levy who embody the toxic elements of fandom when it comes to Geek Culture and the story featured in this issue of “DORK!” This is another perfect example of how unlikeable these four geeks are.
In the story, the club hangs out at their LCS, Joe’s Comics where they drool over, criticize, and argue about the selection. While the others bicker, Josh and Bill simultaneously notice a twelve-inch Boba Fett action figure behind the counter. Josh is frantic to possess the figure and challenges Bill to a trivia off — winner gets Fett. For the next hour (two pages!), Josh and Bill hurl obscure science fiction trivia questions and verbal abuse at each other until Josh’s answer to “American release title of ‘Gojiro, Ebirah, Mosura-Nankaino dai Ketto'” is (incorrectly) ruled to be wrong. The pair struggle over the figure and Bill accidentally breaks off its head — which he spitefully keeps, leaving Josh with a headless Boba Fett.
This story was adapted for the 2002 “Welcome to Eltingville” pilot for the Cartoon Network. While I had a blast watching it many times throughout the years and reading this story for the first time a few years back, this version is more brutal and unapologetic than the pilot due to Dorkin taking a small concept such as a trivia off and letting it spiral out of control so anyone who loves comic books and pop culture as a whole will be blown away by the extensive knowledge that both Bill and Josh display but while the club’s toxicity is always on full display, the love of being a huge nerd never gets old but celebrated in its hostile way that I feel makes this story more accessible; All you have to do is find this issue with the story in it while watching the pilot and get ready to find the hilarity with a story such as this one. The other stories such as “The Eltingville Comic Book, Science-Fiction, Fantasy, Horror & Role-Playing Club” show the guys in their prime during a club meeting (They had it during the night of their prom- OUCH!!) and “Captain’s Log: Stardate 5598.7” that shows Josh Levy heading out to buy comics, action figures and apply for numerous jobs due to him ripping open various bags of bread to collect some “Batman Forever” trading cards and being involved in destroying his living room (The club got together for a “Twilight Zone” marathon party that resulted in chaos); These were great stories but they cannot compare to “Bring Me The Head of Boba Fett” that introduced me to these damaged fanboys but they serve a purpose in peeling back the layers with characters such as these weirdos. Speaking of which, Dorkin also introduces us to “The Northwest Comix Collective”, a more Bizarro version of the Eltingville Club who are more obnoxious but are pretentious snobs who mock the alternative-comics scene and hate superhero comics with a passion. While they’re also unlikeable, it’s nice to see that almost every aspect of comic books gets skewered for satire and self-parody that makes us feel better about the type of comics we enjoy.
The fact that Evan Dorkin uses his real-life experiences working at a comic book shop as inspiration for these stories is a true testament to the craziness one had to deal with in Geek Culture but looking back at the stories, it’s always great to take a step back and realize that this is something to have fun with but you can also express your feelings about how bad a comic book movie was or figuring out who would win in a fight between Superman and The Hulk, today is the perfect time to embrace your inner geek … remember these characters and what NOT to do when expressing your love for comics, gaming, and role-playing. You’ll thank yourself later.
Well, that’s it for me this week. Thanks for sticking around and I will see you all next time.
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