How to destroy the world using the dreams of children.

(Source: rockpapercynic.com)

Alright guys, tweet your best geeky pick-up lines to @rockpapercynic under the hashtag #geekypickuplines.

The winner will get a high-five over the internet. SERIOUSLY.

(Source: rockpapercynic.com)

How to Kill a Scientist: a response to the Florida science felony

I’m not saying to hand out medals to every mad scientist on the event of their first contained explosion (although I could get behind that), but there are better ways of handling this than with felony charges and expulsion.

I totally messed up an order from the online comic store and am now sending it over a month late.

But it’s okay, because I sketched a mail turtle getting lost in the mountains when he tries to deliver the package. That makes things okay, right?

Nomnomnom.

One of last week’s comics I forgot to post.

(Source: rockpapercynic.com)

They bit his neighbours, his friends, his family. Now, HE’S BITING BACK.

(Source: rockpapercynic.com)

How fast would a zombie plague spread at a convention?

As fast as you let it.

When we orchestrated a zombie outbreak experiment at Fan Expo Vancouver, the virus spread so fast that new zombies were regularly bottle-necked at the table as they joined the game.

Con visitors infected other other by handing out “bite cards” and sending new zombies to the table to join the mayhem. Every time a player joined the experiment with a bite card, we tracked their kills. 

This was the aftermath after 14 hours of play:

• 1250+ casualties
• 341 turned
• 123 zombies with at least 1 kill
• 522 free prints earned as player rewards*
• 20 free buttons earned
• Top-killing zombies: Jen O’Donnell (13 kills), Sarah Bromley (12), Clayton Bromley (12)
• Patient Zero: Andrea Magee (8 kills)
• Most kills in one day: Clayton Bromley (12 kills on Day 2)
• Most prolific biters: Kohana (25+ bites delivered) and Evan (25+); honorable mention to Liam M.C.

The three top-killing zombies—Jen, Sarah, and Clayton—were actually in a three-way tie for first place when they left the convention late on Sunday, but one of Jen’s victims turned up in the closing hour and bumped her kill count to 13 for an eleventh-hour victory.

I asked a few of the high-scoring zombies how they made sure their bites were successful. Here are a few strategies that got people to bring their bite cards to the table and join the game.

• Telling people they get free stuff just for showing up.
• Physically gesturing in the direction of the table.
• Saying “Rock, Paper, Cynic” so people recognize the banner.
• Describing the banner: (“It has a giant stack of turtles in outer space.”)
• Telling them that the table’s stand is made out of K’nex.

Thanks to all the amazing participants, and to Patient Zero for being a shining example of what can be achieved through through courage, determination, and saliva-borne pathogens! 

To all the new zombies out there—thank you, and welcome to the horde!

Thanks to Jasmine Minoza for her advice and infinite patience while I turned our apartment into a mad science laboratory and printshop! Thanks to Lauren Groves, Aaron Lenk, Paul Muzzin, Jay Paulin, Suze Shore and Greg Wong for their help planning. Thanks to Matt Cimone for being an amazing table partner, and to Paul Muzzin (again) for running my Twitter feed during the outbreak and keeping up with the chaos. Paul and Matt are making a phenomenal documentary called Chasing Atlantis.

I also owe a great debt of thanks to co-MAD SCIENTIST and BOSOM FRIEND James, who was an organizational genius and helped me handle the ever-growing zombie horde. He went without food, water, or bathroom breaks for hours so we could keep the game running at the speed people wanted to play it.

UPDATE: Day 1 of zombie outbreak Fan Expo Vancouver 

• 140 zombies infected
• 48 zombies with 1 or more confirmed kills
• 500 bites delivered
• 221 free pieces of art and 10 buttons given out
• Leading zombies: Jen O’Donnell (10 kills), Sarah Bromley (9), Cheryl (6)

*Don’t forget to come to the Rock, Paper, Cynic table to get more bite cards when you run out!

Okay, so I’m trying a weird zombie outbreak social experiment at Vancouver Fan Expo this weekend, and it would be awesome if you could help out!

Basically, I want to see how fast a zombie infection could spread at a convention, and because everything is more fun when there’s a score attached, I’m turning the experiment into a bit of a minigame and giving away free stuff.

I’ll choose a Patient Zero and give them some cards they can write their name on and give to people to “bite” them.  The cards explain that if the “bite victim” wants to join the experiment, they can come get their own cards (plus free stuff) from the Rock, Paper, Cynic table.

Anyway, as people bring in bite cards and spread the virus, I’ll collect the bite cards and keep them in a binder so I can track the number of infected. I can also follow each player’s kill count as they spread the mayhem.

And because I hate the thought that this sounds suspiciously like a marketing technique, I’m insisting that the game is totally free, no one is under any obligation to buy stuff from the table, and everyone who plays gets free stuff.

I know that a lot of people wander the Artist Alley without much money to spend, so I wanted to come up with some free entertainment for them and also give them fun stuff to take home.

Here’s the l00t to be had:

• Level 1 Zombie (starting): Free exclusive zombie print and printed experiment/game rules
• Level 2 Zombie (first kill): Exclusive game print
• Level 3 Zombie (3 kills): Signed game print
• Level 4 Zombie (5 kills): Free button
• Level 5 Zombie (25 kills): Full-page print
• Level 6 Zombie (50 kills): Signed poster
• Level 7 Zombie (100 kills): Placement in Zombie Hall of Fame

Oh, and since this could potentially generate a fair bit of waste, all the free prints are on recycled paper. That way, my imaginary survival horror experiment won’t massacre real trees.

I’ll also write and a draw a picture for a 250-word short story about the zombie with the highest kill count, as well as Patient Zero.

By the way, you can participate even if you don’t live in Vancouver. The zombie’s victim in the short story will be randomly selected from everyone who tweets #zombie at @rockpapercynic over the weekend.

Now, does anyone want to volunteer to be Patient Zero? If you’re planning on coming to the con early on the first day and staying for the whole weekend, tweet @rockpapercynic to explain why you should be #PatientZero.

Facebook Happened Because the Internet Was Out of Opium

(Source: rockpapercynic.com)