The adventures of Fanboy, the ultimate comic book enthusiast.

Fanboy has never had it good, but lately his sophomore year is turning out to be its own special hell. The bullies have made him their favorite target, his best (and only) friend seems headed for the dark side (sports and popularity), and his pregnant mother and the step-fascist are eagerly awaiting the birth of the alien life form known as Fanboy's new little brother or sister. Fanboy, though, has a secret: a graphic novel he's been working on without telling anyone, a graphic novel that he is convinced will lead to publication, fame, and--most important of all--a way out of the crappy little town he lives in and all the people that make it hell for him. When Fanboy meets Kyra, a.k.a. Goth Girl, he finds an outrageous, cynical girl who shares his love of comics as well as his hatred for jocks and bullies. Fanboy can't resist someone who actually seems to understand him, and soon he finds himself willing to heed her advice--to ignore or crush anyone who stands in his way.

Increasingly over the past decade, fan credentials on the part of writers, directors, and producers have come to be seen as a guarantee of quality media making—the “fanboy auteur.” Figures like Joss Whedon are both one of “us” and one of “them.” This is a strategy of marketing and branding—it is a claim from the auteur himself or industry PR machines that the presence of an auteur who is also a fan means the product is worth consuming. Such claims that fan credentials guarantee quality are often contested, with fans and critics alike rejecting various auteur figures as the true leader of their respective franchises. That split, between assertions of fan and auteur status and acceptance (or not) of that status, is key to unravelling the fan auteur. In A Portrait of the Auteur as Fanboy: The Construction of Authorship in Transmedia Franchises, authors Anastasia Salter and Mel Stanfill examine this phenomenon through a series of case studies featuring fanboys. The volume discusses both popular fanboys, such as J. J. Abrams, Kevin Smith, and Joss Whedon, as well as fangirls like J. K. Rowling, E L James, and Patty Jenkins, and dissects how the fanboy-fangirl auteur dichotomy is constructed and defended by popular media and fans in online spaces, and how this discourse has played in maintaining the exclusionary status quo of geek culture. This book is particularly timely given current discourse, including such incidents as the controversy surrounding Joss Whedon’s so-called feminism, the publication of Harry Potter and the Cursed Child, and contestation over authorial voices in the DC cinematic universe, as well as broader conversations about toxic masculinity and sexual harassment in Hollywood.

Nickelodeon’s Fanboy and Chum Chum star in a brand-new chapter book! In this chapter book with black-and-white illustrations throughout, Fanboy and Chum Chum star in two hilarious adventures based on popular episodes of the hit Nickelodeon TV show! In “Fanboy Stinks,” Fanboy refuses to bathe in order to set a not-bathing record, but his stinky right hand comes to life and threatens to rob the school’s charity bake sale! And in “Night Morning,” Chum Chum enjoys the hours between night and day. Fanboy invites their classmates to join in celebrating Night Morning, but is surprised when the class isn’t as excited as they are.

A close inspection of comic book lovers and their ever-expanding culture

Fanboy and Chum Chum, of Nickelodeon fame, star in their first-ever chapter book! In this chapter book with black-and-white illustrations throughout, Fanboy and Chum Chum star in two super-awesome adventures based on popular episodes of the hit Nickelodeon television show! In “Trading Day,” Fanboy trades Chum Chum for a Mecha-Tech robot. But Fanboy soon realizes that Chum Chum is even more amazing than the most amazing toy ever. Can Fanboy get Chum Chum back, or is it too late? And in “The Tell-Tale Toy,” Fanboy breaks Chum Chum’s new toy—an Ultra-Ninja with Hi-Ya action hand. Will Fanboy try to hide the evidence, or will he confess to his crime?

As we all know by now, comments on the Internet are a fascinating thing. My favorite involve the word “fanboy.” Generally speaking, being a fanboy means you write (stories, tweets, whatever) about a certain topic with a positive angle. It’s meant to be a derogatory term, but the truth is that it’s so overused that it’s almost completely meaningless. For the sake of this post, though, I’ll play ball. I have a confession to make: I’m a fanboy. Now, I didn’t say specifically what I’m a fanboy of, because there have been too many titles bestowed upon me over the years. At various points over just the past few months, I’ve been an Apple fanboy, a Google fanboy, a Twitter fanboy, a Facebook fanboy, a Foursquare fanboy, a Gowalla fanboy, and yes, even a Microsoft fanboy. Never mind that most of companies compete with one another, so it would be hard to be a true fanboy of multiple ones without misrepresenting my fanboydom of a few of the others. We’ll just say I’m a fanboy and leave it at that. And that leaves me wondering: why wouldn’t you want to be a fanboy?