Attack of the Geek-bros
We’re not sure if those two words should go together. In some ways, they’re exact opposites. We usually associate the word “bro” with someone who can name the entire cast of Entourage in less than 10 seconds. And you can tell that someone is a geek if you’ve seen him at more than one local convention. Now, a geek-bro is something else entirely. In fact, it’s something we came up with just now. First things first: geek-bros aren’t hipsters. A geek-bro, for us, is someone who has transcended both labels. You’re not sure if he’s a cool geek or a geeky dude. They’re the ones who think Joss Whedon is as cool as Jay-Z. These are the people you can see in Republiq one night, and a comic book store the day after. We’re willing to bet you already know them, but just don’t know it yet. So today, we give you three people who we consider “geek-bros.”
Quark Henares is the 21st century geek-bro. Quark Henares
This one is pretty obvious. Quark Henares personifies the qualities of the 21st-century geek: witty, smart, and unapologetic about the things he loves. He is the new King of Geek in the Philippines. A loud and proud fanboy, an accomplished director (have you seen Rakenrol?!), and the front-man of several bands (yes, several), Quark has made being geeky something to be proud of. He doesn’t alienate you with the stuff he knows but invites you into the wonderful world he lives in. He can talk to you about Batman one second and you’ll see him hanging out with Manila’s it girls the next. And what kind of king would Quark be without a kingdom? And what a kingdom he has. We’ve been to Quark’s place once, and he has the best collection of toys, comics, movie posters, and box set DVDs. Ask any mass comm major taking up film in Ateneo whom they want to be like, and they’ll say Quark Henares. No question.
Ramon de Veyra, the tastemaker of pop culture Ramon De Veyra
Only one man has been able to make us understand the mystery of Alan Moore. And that man is Ramon De Veyra. That alone makes him cooler than cool. But what Ramon can do better than anyone else is make the geekiest things in the world seem the coolest. That’s rare no matter where you are. Talk to him about The Avengers, and you will love the movie even more. Talk to him about the current state of comics, and you’ll be rewarded with geek knowledge. He has become the tastemaker of pop culture. People actually ask Ramon for advice on what new shows to watch, what movies to see, and music to listen to. And he even shares them with a joke or two. When the day comes that comics will become a mandatory subject in school, we’d want the teacher to be Ramon. He can sell the sh*t out of anything, and what he sells is the very best of pop culture. Geeks are lucky to have Ramon on their side.
Leinil Yu, frontman of indie band Marty McFly and resident funny guy on Twitter Leinil Yu
The fact that Leinil is one of comic’s biggest artists today should be enough to make him one of the coolest “geek-bro” ever. But as much as we love Leinil’s art (and we really, really do) we love him more for his personality. Leinil’s Twitter account is funnier than 90 percent of the Internet. His jokes about pop culture and even his life are worthy of hundred of retweets. When he’s not drawing the most popular superheroes in the world, he is also the front man of his indie rock band, Marty McFly. If that band name doesn’t show how cool a geek he is, we don’t know what will. And he’s even better in person. He helps his fellow local artists hone their craft and promotes them to international publishers. He also sketches for his fans and donates his work to charity, all for free. Despite being a bona fide comic superstar, he remains humble and doesn’t take himself too seriously. The few times we’ve hung with Leinil, we could tell we were hanging out with a fellow geek. Only, Leinil’s way cooler.
CJ Rivera, the radio playlist guru you ought to know CJ “The DJ” Rivera
Who can make ‘80s music sound cool every Friday and have games on the radio any geek would like to play? CJ Rivera is probably one of them most underrated geeks today. The man who makes some of the best playlists on radio also makes the most fun games for his listeners. In his previous life in “The Big Meal,” he had games like The CJ Game (Transform), Panic You Lose, and the ever-popular Beat Suzy with his then co-host Tin Gamboa. But now he still continues to have games wherein he plays a line from a movie and you guess where it comes from. If you think about it, only solid movie geeks will be able to answer his games and that’s where the inner geek is. A solid hardcore gamer by heart, CJ will always make sure that his geek listeners are happy with the material he comes up with on radio.
We’re sure you know people like the fine gents we mentioned. It’s because of people like Quark, Ramon, Leinil and CJ, who’ve shown that all the things we love, are in fact, worthy of our love. You don’t have to call them geek-bros, but just don’t call them hipsters. Or as Ramon has said, “if you’re gonna make fun of hipsters, better make sure you know what you’re talking about.”
