Geektastiq

Origins

So as you can see, I'm really slow at this column thing, but when you plan on doing something geeky, sometimes waiting a few weeks is worth it. This edition of Geektastiq is meant to provide some sort of origin story for Doc Holidae, but let's be honest with ourselves: we don't really want to hear about my overly-geektastiq life... that I collected comics as a kid, and again from 2005 to 2012 (the issue that brought me back in '05 JLA #107), that I collect Transformers action figures (my collection contains approximately 150 pieces), or that I have attended over 12 comic-cons. No, we won't discuss that. Instead let's just ask, why?

Comics are easy. As a kid I loved Ancient Greek, Roman, Celtic, Norse, and Egyptian mythology, and these days I'm trying to learn a bit about Native American mythology. When I read my first superhero comic, all I could think about was that the stories sounded familiar. It all came together when I read The Power of Myth by Joseph Campbell in my early teens. Nowadays they don't even try to separate the heroes from the myths. Thor, Wonder Woman, Hercules, and Shazam (Captain Marvel) are all characters based on mythological storylines, and two of them are based on mythological gods. Why is that important? It isn't! That's just a fun fact. Read the stories of Gilgamesh, Jason and the Argonauts, Hercules and the tales of Thor, then read almost any comic book and you'll start to see where the idea of the hero was born.

My love for sci0fi and fantasy stems from just generally finding science interesting, and when you incorporate science with fantasy and fiction, it can be pretty amazing. As I grew up watching reruns of the original Star Trek episodes, The Odyssey, Doctor Who, and then re-watching Firefly, I noticed the legendary hero remained, only this time aliens, zombies, and ghosts were mixed in with myths... I mean, why would you not be into that?! No really, I ask because I don't understand people who aren't. Please let me know via Twitter @PhantastiqCypha!

Lastly, gaming. I'll be honest with you, I'm not one for gaming. The only time I will play a game the whole way through is just so I can unlock as much of the map as possible, start some sort of riot, and run around with a rocket launcher taking down helicopters. Don't try and analyze why, I do it 'cause it's fun as hell. The only games I have ever completed in my life were Star Fox (nod to  Thunderbirds, for those who didn't know), God of War: Chains of Olympus, GTA IV: TBoGT, and yeah, that's it. Give me an open map, weapons, and fast cars and I'll be good for hours. Ask me to actually save the damsel in distress, and I'll get bored. Besides it's 2015; the damsel can save herself.

So, for those who took the time to read this smorgasbord of a rant about me and my likes, remember that it wasn't the destination but the journey you were meant to learn from. OK, I was trying to sound deep. Instead, here are some geektastiq tracks for your listening pleasure:

"Drawings With Words" by Wordburglar
"Bigger On The Inside" by More Or Les

P.S. I also have a severe television addiction, but I didn't talk about it 'cause that would have taken up most of the post. #LLAP

--Brian 'Döc' Holidæ hosts Phantastiq Cypha every Thursday from 10 PM to midnight, only on CJLO!