We all know the old stereotypes of jocks and nerds. Anyone fortunate enough to have seen the 80’s classic movie ‘Revenge of the Nerds’ gets it for sure. However things have changed a lot since then, culturally and politically, and the old power balance has shifted somewhat.
Nowadays it’s the nerds who rule.
With the notable exception of Donald Trump and his buddies, the old jock stereotype of low in IQ but high in confidence and testosterone has slowly begun to disappear from celebrated positions of power and influence (in the West at least), replaced by the more intelligent and considered ‘hipster’ type who is in touch with his emotions, knows how to treat women well and gains respect from achievements and wit, rather than bullying and bluster.Comic book artist Marko Raassina prefers to imagine a world where these kind of tired stereotypes exist no longer, we can put aside antagonisms over our differences and embrace them for the greater good. “I started doing wholesome comics at the beginning of this year,” he told Bored Panda. “I actually have another series called Grumpy, which is kinda similar to Nerd and Jock.”
With Nerd and Jock he has put together comics that play on the nerd vs. jock storyline but have a positive, heartwarming twist that show just how easy it is to brush aside the lazy categorisation of people. In his own country, Finland, he is better known as the artist behind comics based on the Finnish national epic, Kalevala. “Finnish people’s taste in comics tend to be a little darker or more twisted humour,” he told us.
So the move towards wholesome, positive comics such as Nerd and Jock is a different direction for him. Are there any plans for a series or even a book based on Nerd and Jock? “Absolutely!” He told us here at Bored Panda. “Nerd and Jock will became a series when I get more comics done, and a Book isn’t out of question either. Also I have been planning on launching my own website, where I will post my comics. Right now I’m posting them on Tumblr and Twitter.”
So there’s plenty more Nerd and Jock to come in the future, bringing nerds and jocks together into one happy family. Scroll down below to check out a few samples, and let us know what you think in the comments!
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
