Cypherpunk

Two issues of comic about group of Science Fiction/Fantasy/Comic Book Fans. These concern a conspiracy and murder plot at a Convention where one guest is Arlen Staranka, an acknowledge homage to Harlan Ellison.

FAANS is a comic book featuring the comic adventures of a club of five comic book and science fiction fans. FAANS #3-4 feature two parts of a story concerning the club’s attempts to stop a plot by an internet genius to destroy fandom through mind control and several well placed assassinations at a Sci-Fi convention.

Among the guests at this convention is author Arlen Staranka (seen on the cover holding a copy of his book The Suburb on the Edge of Eternity). His appearances feature him appearing on a panel with a Jeri Ryan/Seven of Nine parody and what I believe is a character based, at least in name, on Majel Barrett Rodenberry (Clara Strudenberry).

We get Arlen blowing up at fans, telling off Ryan (“Just what western culture needs: a bimbo with silicone and silicon. That gurgling sound is fanboy brain tissue.”), and getting into a martial arts battle with a fan dressed as a klingon. Ellison himself is supposedly a fan of the appearance, plugging it at a convention appearance and in the Harlan Ellison Record Collection newsletter. The main appearances are in issue 3, although Arlen does appear in a few panels in issue 4.