''It's Geek 2 Me'' is a tech

cartoon A cartoon is a type of visual art that is typically drawn, frequently Animation, animated, in an realism (arts), unrealistic or semi-realistic style. The specific meaning has evolved, but the modern usage usually refers to either: an image or s ...

about people and their off-center relationships with technology created by

Pittsburgh Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, United States, and its county seat. It is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania#Municipalities, second-most populous city in Pennsylvania (after Philadelphia) and the List of Un ...

-based

cartoonist A cartoonist is a visual artist who specializes in both drawing and writing cartoons (individual images) or comics (sequential images). Cartoonists differ from comics writers or comics illustrators/artists in that they produce both the litera ...

, Francis Cleetus. He was inspired to draw the very first cartoon by a frantic intern who rushed into his office and asked where the any key was on a computer keyboard. The cartoon evolved into a series when Cleetus worked as a

creative director A creative director is a person who makes high-level creative decisions; oversees the creation of creative assets such as advertisements, products, events, or logos; and directs and translates the creative people who produce the end results. Creat ...

at J. Walter Thompson, Hong Kong on the Hewlett Packard brand. Cleetus chose Pittsburgh as the location for the cartoon's imaginary setting 'Paradox Software Corporation' because it has a large tech community, over 1,600 tech-based companies and the Carnegie Institute of Technology, which is ranked among the top five engineering colleges in the country by the U.S. News & World Report. The first compilation of ''It's Geek 2 Me'' cartoons was self-published by the author in 2012 as a

paperback A paperback (softcover, softback) book is one with a thick paper or paperboard cover, also known as wrappers, and often held together with adhesive, glue rather than stitch (textile arts), stitches or Staple (fastener), staples. In contrast, ...

titled ''Wish Your Mouth Had A Backspace Key'' in the United States via Amazon.com. In 2013, a second compilation titled ''Total Timepass Tech Toons'' was published by Hachette India for the

Indian subcontinent The Indian subcontinent is a physiographic region of Asia below the Himalayas which projects into the Indian Ocean between the Bay of Bengal to the east and the Arabian Sea to the west. It is now divided between Bangladesh, India, and Pakista ...

Characters

The diverse and colorful characters who star in the cartoon were inspired by real people that Cleetus worked with during his professional stints in India, Hong Kong and the US. Loginder Singh: Lanky Sikh from

Vancouver Vancouver is a major city in Western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the List of cities in British Columbia, most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the cit ...

, Canada, currently lives in a badly-lit cubicle at work. Talented

Systems Analyst A systems analyst, also known as business technology analyst, is an information technology (IT) professional who specializes in analyzing, designing and implementing information systems. Systems analysts assess the suitability of information syst ...

who's occasionally fixated with

complexity Complexity characterizes the behavior of a system or model whose components interact in multiple ways and follow local rules, leading to non-linearity, randomness, collective dynamics, hierarchy, and emergence. The term is generally used to c ...

. Enjoys flaunting his collection of designer turbans and matching sweatshirts. Eligible bachelor who’s fond of exotic wines and nightly hacking binges. He’s been in an on-and-off relationship with his coworker Emily for three years. Emily Facebrook: Charming Office Manager who was the captain of the

cheerleading Cheerleading is an activity in which the participants (called cheerleaders) cheer for their team as a form of encouragement. It can range from chanting slogans to intense Physical exercise, physical activity. It can be performed to motivate s ...

team at her high school in

Nashville Nashville, often known as Music City, is the capital and List of municipalities in Tennessee, most populous city in the U.S. state of Tennessee. It is the county seat, seat of Davidson County, Tennessee, Davidson County in Middle Tennessee, locat ...

, TN. She speaks with a soft Southern drawl that is almost as drawn out as her daily to-do list. Never forgets to send herself a stuffed animal on Administrative Professionals' Day. Her love life is a

roller coaster A roller coaster is a type of list of amusement rides, amusement ride employing a form of elevated Railway track, railroad track that carries passengers on a roller coaster train, train through tight turns, steep slopes, and other elements, usua ...

where the brakes wore out years ago. She just loves Loginder’s Indo-Canadian accent. Bill Googli: Flamboyant Marketing Director of Paradox Software, known for his chic business wardrobe. Born and raised in

New Orleans New Orleans (commonly known as NOLA or The Big Easy among other nicknames) is a Consolidated city-county, consolidated city-parish located along the Mississippi River in the U.S. state of Louisiana. With a population of 383,997 at the 2020 ...

, LA, by mixed parents (African-American and French), Bill grew up around a family bar and restaurant. He has been popular with the ladies since he was featured on

Food network Food Network is an American basic cable channel owned by Television Food Network, G.P., a unit of Warner Bros. Discovery, who manages and operates it as a division of the Warner Bros. Discovery U.S. Networks Group. The channel airs both televi ...

for his Creole Margaritas. Designs and builds robotic reptiles to impress coworker Mona. Spam Murphy: Cheap Executive Officer as well as

Chairman The chair, also chairman, chairwoman, or chairperson, is the presiding officer of an organized group such as a board, committee, or deliberative assembly. The person holding the office, who is typically elected or appointed by members of the gro ...

of Paradox Software. He fondly refers to his staff as 'humanware' and treats them like secondhand hardware. He's a seasoned

Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

born

venture capital Venture capital (VC) is a form of private equity financing provided by firms or funds to start-up company, startup, early-stage, and emerging companies, that have been deemed to have high growth potential or that have demonstrated high growth in ...

ist whose capital flow dried up along with his

libido In psychology, libido (; ) is psychic drive or energy, usually conceived of as sexual in nature, but sometimes conceived of as including other forms of desire. The term ''libido'' was originally developed by Sigmund Freud, the pioneering origin ...

. He’s also a founding board member of the dubious

São Paulo São Paulo (; ; Portuguese for 'Paul the Apostle, Saint Paul') is the capital of the São Paulo (state), state of São Paulo, as well as the List of cities in Brazil by population, most populous city in Brazil, the List of largest cities in the ...

based wildlife charity, the James E. Williamson Iguana Fund. Linux Cooper: The company's Top Bean Counter or CFO who's dedicated to reducing payroll while increasing his annual bonus. Joined the company as an independent

financial analyst A financial analyst is a professional undertaking financial analysis for external or internal clients as a core feature of the job. tavern puzzles. The

Securities and Exchange Commission The United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) is an independent agency of the United States federal government, created in the aftermath of the Wall Street crash of 1929. Its primary purpose is to enforce laws against market m ...

has investigated him since he owned a pawnshop as a teen in

Phoenix, Arizona Phoenix ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of cities and towns in Arizona#List of cities and towns, most populous city of the U.S. state of Arizona. With over 1.6 million residents at the 2020 census, it is the ...

. Mona Dos:

Quality Assurance Quality assurance (QA) is the term used in both manufacturing and service industries to describe the systematic efforts taken to assure that the product(s) delivered to customer(s) meet with the contractual and other agreed upon performance, design ...

Director and unofficial water-cooler gossip chief at Paradox Software. She’s a divorced single mother of a 10-year-old named Rio who likes to hang around her office on weekends. Is passionate about her son and the blood-red

tulip Tulips are spring-blooming perennial herbaceous bulbiferous geophytes in the ''Tulipa'' genus. Their flowers are usually large, showy, and brightly coloured, generally red, orange, pink, yellow, or white. They often have a different colour ...

s in her backyard. She moved to

Dallas Dallas () is a city in the U.S. state of Texas and the most populous city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the List of Texas metropolitan areas, most populous metropolitan area in Texas and the Metropolitan statistical area, fourth-most ...

, TX, from

Kolkata Kolkata, also known as Calcutta ( its official name until 2001), is the capital and largest city of the Indian state of West Bengal. It lies on the eastern bank of the Hooghly River, west of the border with Bangladesh. It is the primary ...

, India, after a grand but ill-fated marriage to her school sweetheart, a narcissistic urologist. Icon Murphy: Spam Murphy's son, New Business Director and

heir apparent An heir apparent is a person who is first in the order of succession and cannot be displaced from inheriting by the birth of another person. A person who is first in the current order of succession but could be displaced by the birth of a more e ...

to the throne at Paradox Software. Holds a PhD on the hazards of

texting Text messaging, or texting, is the act of composing and sending electronic messages, typically consisting of alphabetic and numeric characters, between two or more users of mobile phones, tablet computers, smartwatches, desktops/laptops, or ...

with ancient Greek symbols while driving, from the University of Cyprus. He’s fluent in six languages including Mandarin, Tagalog and

Prolog Prolog is a logic programming language that has its origins in artificial intelligence, automated theorem proving, and computational linguistics. Prolog has its roots in first-order logic, a formal logic. Unlike many other programming language ...

. Likes to spend weekends taking his single-engine

Cessna Cessna () is an American brand of general aviation aircraft owned by Textron Aviation since 2014, headquartered in Wichita, Kansas. Originally, it was a brand of the Cessna Aircraft Company, an American general aviation aircraft manufactu ...

for a spin. Hopes to turn Paradox into a Fortune 500 company. Ram Patel: Father figure to all IT professionals of foreign origin at Paradox Software. Sports a bristly white beard to compensate for the lack of hair on top. Mastered technology when a

personal computer A personal computer, commonly referred to as PC or computer, is a computer designed for individual use. It is typically used for tasks such as Word processor, word processing, web browser, internet browsing, email, multimedia playback, and PC ...

filled an entire room. He heads the Maintenance Division at the company and the ‘Courtesy Flush’

poker Poker is a family of Card game#Comparing games, comparing card games in which Card player, players betting (poker), wager over which poker hand, hand is best according to that specific game's rules. It is played worldwide, with varying rules i ...

team in the suburb where he lives with his art museum

curator A curator (from , meaning 'to take care') is a manager or overseer. When working with cultural organizations, a curator is typically a "collections curator" or an "exhibitions curator", and has multifaceted tasks dependent on the particular ins ...

wife and Dalmatian Coco. Irfan Linkudin: Vice President - Tech Support at Paradox Software and technically head of the division. Technically, because nobody reports to him. He grew up in

Istanbul Istanbul is the List of largest cities and towns in Turkey, largest city in Turkey, constituting the country's economic, cultural, and historical heart. With Demographics of Istanbul, a population over , it is home to 18% of the Demographics ...

, Turkey, and moved to

Buffalo, New York Buffalo is a Administrative divisions of New York (state), city in the U.S. state of New York (state), New York and county seat of Erie County, New York, Erie County. It lies in Western New York at the eastern end of Lake Erie, at the head of ...

in the 1960s. His wife of 16 years left him after the dotcom company he founded went bust in 2002. He can single-handedly reassemble the V-turn engine of his

Harley-Davidson Harley-Davidson, Inc. (H-D, or simply Harley) is an American motorcycle manufacturer headquartered in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Founded in 1903, it is one of two major American motorcycle manufacturers to survive the Great Depression along with i ...

bike from scratch in under 30 minutes. Cad Myers: Corporate Security Director in charge of real and virtual security at Paradox Software. A former Major of the

US Army The United States Army (USA) is the primary land service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is designated as the Army of the United States in the United States Constitution.Article II, section 2, clause 1 of the United Stat ...

's Field Intelligence Unit, he’s experienced in Hacker Interception and Electrocution. Lost his left pinky on active duty as an

intelligence officer An intelligence officer is a member of the intelligence field employed by an organization to collect, compile or analyze information (known as intelligence) which is of use to that organization. The word of ''officer'' is a working title, not a r ...

during Operation Desert Com in 2001. He oversaw the implementation and management of all the security at the gold mines on Mindanao Island in the

Philippines The Philippines, officially the Republic of the Philippines, is an Archipelagic state, archipelagic country in Southeast Asia. Located in the western Pacific Ocean, it consists of List of islands of the Philippines, 7,641 islands, with a tot ...

. Benny Lan: Sr.

Programmer A programmer, computer programmer or coder is an author of computer source code someone with skill in computer programming. The professional titles Software development, ''software developer'' and Software engineering, ''software engineer' ...

who picked up his cackle, chopsticks and

COBOL COBOL (; an acronym for "common business-oriented language") is a compiled English-like computer programming language designed for business use. It is an imperative, procedural, and, since 2002, object-oriented language. COBOL is primarily ...

at a tender age in

Wan Chai Wan Chai (Traditional Chinese characters, Chinese: 灣仔) is located in the western part of Wan Chai District on the northern shore of Hong Kong Island, Hong Kong. It is bounded by Canal Road, Hong Kong, Canal Road to the east, Arsenal St ...

, Hong Kong. Has a wry sense of humor that's reflected in the random bug he leaves behind in software. He can survive for months on a staple diet of Chinese takeout, Japanese toys and American music. Received a complimentary life membership from Workaholics Anonymous. Robert Cobolobo:

Human Resources Human resources (HR) is the set of people who make up the workforce of an organization, business sector, industry, or economy. A narrower concept is human capital, the knowledge and skills which the individuals command. Similar terms include ' ...

Director, stationery watchdog, and annual holiday program organizer, all rolled into a small

South American South America is a continent entirely in the Western Hemisphere and mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a considerably smaller portion in the Northern Hemisphere. It can also be described as the southern Subregion#Americas, subregion o ...

frame. Found himself in the US after a nubile Texan student succumbed to his charms in Cancun, Mexico. He worked as a Floor-hand in an oil field until he got his

MBA A Master of Business Administration (MBA) is a professional degree focused on business administration. The core courses in an MBA program cover various areas of business administration; elective courses may allow further study in a particular a ...

in HR Management and worked his way into the lofty corridors of corporate power at Paradox. Tweetsie Williams: Management Trainee who thrives on gadgets and technology. She likes to flaunt her master's degree from Virginia Tech and her tough upbringing in Brooklyn, NY. Is the only daughter of a Vietnam veteran who was awarded a Medal of Honor. Her paycheck’s disproportionate to her experience and is solely based on her future potential. She'd give anything, including her blinged out laptop, for a date with Icon. Rio Dos: Mona’s 10-year-old son and unpaid tech support guy to all new hires at Paradox Software. He currently holds 14 world records for Desert Commander and is two grades ahead of his classmates in every subject except

civics In the field of political science, civics is the study of the civil and political rights and obligations of citizens in a society. The term ''civics'' derives from the Latin word ''civicus'', meaning "relating to a citizen". In U.S. politics ...

. In addition to English, Spanish and Bengali, he’s also fluent in colloquial

Hindi Modern Standard Hindi (, ), commonly referred to as Hindi, is the Standard language, standardised variety of the Hindustani language written in the Devanagari script. It is an official language of India, official language of the Government ...

, thanks to the bi-weekly dose of

Bollywood Hindi cinema, popularly known as Bollywood and formerly as Bombay cinema, is primarily produced in Mumbai. The popular term Bollywood is a portmanteau of "Bombay" (former name of Mumbai) and "Cinema of the United States, Hollywood". The in ...

films his mom rents from the local Indian grocery store.

Compilations

# ''Total Timepass Tech Toons'' (August 2013, Hachette India, ) # ''Wish Your Mouth Had a Backspace Key'' (October 2012, Amazon.com, )

References

External links

It’s Geek 2 Me homepageIt’s Geek 2 Me on Facebook
''facebook.com''
It’s Geek 2 Me on Twitter
''twitter.com''
It’s Geek 2 Me on Pinterest
''pinterest.com''
It's Geek 2 Me video channel
''youtube.com'' {{DEFAULTSORT:Its Geek 2 Me 2013 in comics Comics anthologies Computer humour Indian diaspora in the United States Comic strips set in the United States American comics