Who are the DCU's greatest nerds?

[Jackalope89]

Jon kent likes anime and manga. Does that make him a nerd?

He was a nerd, now he's as wooden as a board.

[Bored at 3:00AM]

I think that comes down to the distinction between nerd and geek to me. Also, I looked it up - first dictionary definition on google had lack of social skills referenced and so did second source I saw. To me, geeks are smart and interested in geeky things, but don't have the social connotation that nerds do. But like I said, different people use the words different ways.

Edited a bunch of times because I made too many typos and accepted spelling corrections without double-checking them.

Nerds are like pornography. They're difficult to define exactly, but I know one when I see one

[Buried Alien]

Nerds are like pornography. They're difficult to define exactly, but I know one when I see one

It doesn't quite carry the stigma that it did years ago. It's not completely gone, but it's much more forgiving than it was during my childhood.

Buried Alien (The Fastest Post Alive!)

[SixSpeedSamurai]

Barry
Ted Kord
Tim Drake
Bab's

[j9ac9k]

Both Atoms, Ray Palmer and Ryan Choi. Maybe less so with Ray.

[Bored at 3:00AM]

It doesn't quite carry the stigma that it did years ago. It's not completely gone, but it's much more forgiving than it was during my childhood.

Buried Alien (The Fastest Post Alive!)

Holy Hell, yeah. Being a nerd now and being a nerd during prior to Rami's Spider-Man kicking off the Nerd Renaissance are very, very different worlds.

[Bored at 3:00AM]

Both Atoms, Ray Palmer and Ryan Choi. Maybe less so with Ray.

Oh, I think Ray is 100% a nerd. Even during his sword n' sorcery Sword of the Atom days, he still came off as guy enjoying the D&D of it all

Plus, Brandon Routh's portrayal has cemented Ray's status as one of the most delightful nerds in the DCU.

[Bored at 3:00AM]

What about John Stewart? The animated version and the John that Dwayne McDuffie wrote briefly in the comics was most definitely a nerd, but I'm not sure if his depictions in the comics would really qualify, mostly because so few writers have understood the character well enough to depict him as anything other than "the black one"

Denny ONeil, Steve Englehart, & James Owlsey (aka Christopher Priest) didn't write John as a nerd. Gerard Jones wrote him as a quiet, thoughtful, and introspective weirdo, but not necessarily as a nerd. However, since McDuffie was probably the most influential creator when it comes to John, and he was unequivocal about the idea that John was a nerd, shouldn't that supersede all the other less inspired writing of John?

[Frontier]

What about John Stewart? The animated version and the John that Dwayne McDuffie wrote briefly in the comics was most definitely a nerd, but I'm not sure if his depictions in the comics would really qualify, mostly because so few writers have understood the character well enough to depict him as anything other than "the black one"

Denny ONeil, Steve Englehart, & James Owlsey (aka Christopher Priest) didn't write John as a nerd. Gerard Jones wrote him as a quiet, thoughtful, and introspective weirdo, but not necessarily as a nerd. However, since McDuffie was probably the most influential creator when it comes to John, and he was unequivocal about the idea that John was a nerd, shouldn't that supersede all the other less inspired writing of John?

He's an architectural nerd .

[Jackalope89]

Jason Todd, despite appearances, is a book nerd.

Taken to the Nth degree in fanfics though.

[Ascended]

Duke Thomas is a big movie nerd and was an avid tabletop RPG player when he was first introduced; he's also a secret poet which is pretty nerdy.

I must've forgot about the D&D stuff from Zero Year. Did not know the other things. That's pretty cool.

Holy Hell, yeah. Being a nerd now and being a nerd during prior to Rami's Spider-Man kicking off the Nerd Renaissance are very, very different worlds.

Dude, it's night and day isn't it? As a kid, everyone gave me sh*t for reading comics (as an artist I got a partial pass for it socially, but still) while today, I got co-workers coming up to me asking for comic book recommendations.

[Bored at 3:00AM]

I must've forgot about the D&D stuff from Zero Year. Did not know the other things. That's pretty cool.



Dude, it's night and day isn't it? As a kid, everyone gave me sh*t for reading comics (as an artist I got a partial pass for it socially, but still) while today, I got co-workers coming up to me asking for comic book recommendations.

Yeah, I still can't quite wrap my brain around DudeBros asking me about obscure Marvel minutae wthout a hint of sarcasm. Part of me keeps waiting for the rug to be pulled out from under me and for the last twenty years to have been an elaborate prank.

[KurtW95]

Nerd ceased to have a meaning when people started using it to gain credibility in the mainstream.

[Buried Alien]

Nerd ceased to have a meaning when people started using it to gain credibility in the mainstream.

Therein lies the difference: decades ago, "nerd" was a mark of shame. Who would claim it as an aspiration back then?

Buried Alien (The Fastest Post Alive!)

[Güicho]

I guess for me, it comes down to the in what the words mean - since it's one of those that means different things to different people. For me, a nerd lacks social skills or people don't want to hang out with them and they are either studious or interested in a topic one would associate with geeks or at least consider fairly niche (scifi, comic books, etc. instead of obsessively talking about football or popular bands). Double points for the very-out-of-fashion-clothing that shows up on tv or in movies. A nerd does not actually need to be intelligent, even. Just a particular flavor of company people don't want to hang out with.

Seems this was once the template for pre-bitten Peter Parker (don't know if there was a DC equivalent. .
Although that's completely been reexamined and reinvented, (well because of characters like Peter Parker and those who made and embraced the character type as the protagonist hero )

Therein lies the difference: decades ago, "nerd" was a mark of shame. Who would claim it as an aspiration back then?

Yes people have just changed the meaning of the word if they are now using it to describe Batman, as well as this guy...

Batman.