The Adventures of Nerd Boy started out as a simple ASCII doodle. I was bored and wanted to draw some people playing badminton.

O  OO
 \-||-
   LL

Above is the first prototype of Nerd Boy, which I later changed because there's no nice way to mirror/flip a capital 'L'. After making a few strips and getting some positive feedback, I quickly became delusional. Thinking that my mind was an endless source of jokes, I decided to make Nerd Boy a daily strip.

Combine that with the fact that I was a beginner ASCII artist and had no comic writing experience at all. I eventually took a few months' break, literally leaving things hanging, and then came back and turned Nerd Boy into a three-a-week strip; it now comes out on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays just like those other good on-line comics you love so much.

Unlike those other on-line comics, you can read this one on Usenet. More precisely, on alt.ascii-art. If you don't have a Usenet account, try Google Groups for web access or get a real Usenet account on news.cis.dfn.de.

I draw the strips in the ASCII editor JavE, which is excellent for when I want to rearrange panels or move the characters. The auto-selection feature is priceless; I just have to double-click Nerd Boy and JavE draws a selection box around him. Not to mention all the other features! Use JavE! Seriously! I can't exclaim this enough!

The Characters

  Hi.
   `
   OO
  .||.
   db

Nerd boy has glasses, boots and an undying love for technological stuff.

 Quit gawking.
   `
  ~..
  ,>>.
   ||

Mandy has a pigtail, womanly curves (curves?) and an inherent cruelty.

 *Konnichi wa!*
   *meep*
     ,
   ==~
  .[[.
   ||

The Robot is like Mandy, only nicer, and has a tendency to speak Japanese.

    W422UP D00D.
      /
   ,,,
    --
   .\\.
   _( \_

W4R3Z D00D is L33T. 'Nuff said.

     *sniff*
    ___
   ()..)
   .||.
    ||

HammerHead has a hammer for a head.

    __
   #..#
   .)(.
    ||

Linda is smart and looks like Chun Li.

   ,,,
   '..
   .||.
    ||

Fan Boy is the biggest fan of everything.