nerd fight!

I have so many stories from Comic Con still to be written, but I'll start with a nerd fight because... well, really, what is better than a nerd fight? Out of personal integrity, I won't link to the parties involved, but it concerns 2 very prominent artists. So, if you're into that sort of thing, you might already know the story. It's also very public (on their websites and comic review sites), but I'll call them Ned and Fred.

Long story short: Ned and Fred worked together on a big project for a major publisher and during this time Ned's girlfriend left him for Fred. So Fred got kind of a big head about it and decided eff Ned. I ain't gonna pay him. And he didn't. So Fred owes Ned thousands and thousands of dollars for work. And Ned goes home alone. Sad, right? Sorta.

Well, so Ned is bummed but decides the girfriend thing is just one of those things... you can't choose who you love and all that, but he does want to get paid for his work. So he still has to pester Fred for payment. Which makes Fred extra... um, creepy? and he decides that taunting Ned is way more fun than paying him. So he leaves these insulting (and childish) voicemail messages over and over and over on Ned's cell phone that basically say "ha ha, I took your girlfriend and your money and if I ever see you I am going to beat you up." So Ned takes a 21st Century approach and posts the messages on his website, which has been called "the Ferrari of nerd smack downs."

I believe there have been scuffles at other comic conventions and such where the 2 artists are forced to breathe the same air and Fred is always the instigator and Ned tries to take the high road, but it's not easy.

SO. Yesterday at Comic Con, one of Ned's friends (Ted) passed by Fred on the convention floor and Fred sucker punched him in the face. Just out of the blue, here comes a fist upside your head. Ted was just walking, spotted Fred out of the corner of his eye and then the fist landed. Ted is also one of Ryan's friends and was actually on his way to find Ryan so he comes to the booth and says "whoa. I just got sucker punched by Fred on my way over here!" Everyone roundly laughed about it - both that Fred is such a lame-o and also that Ted is standing there with this bewildered look.

Then this morning, we get an email from Ted that says that apparently hundreds of people saw this exchange (and someone got video!) and filed complaints with security and now the police are involved and it's this whole giant mess and man, doesn't he wish he would have been walking down the other aisle. HA HA HA