Geek-Cred and how to get it

For some reason this question comes up quite a bit. I think it has to do with my age and that I still like reading comic books (total geek-cred). Well the main reason is the stories comics have a more layered story than alot of the other forms of storytelling, especially movies and TV. Another reason is the characters. One of my favorites is a girl named Rahne (pronouced Rain) Sinclair, who grow up in a strict presbyterien household. Then when she was 14 she discovered she had a mutant power which in abled her to change into a wolf. For years she struggled with her animal and human sides along with her strict christian upbringing which for along made her feel like she was evil because of her powers.In the comics she's gone from someone who was shy and full of self loathing into a women whom is confident and outspoken,while still remaining true to her faith. Another fav of mine is the Maxx,a construction worker who suffers a psychotic break with reality and comes to beleive he must portect a women named Julie from threats that are mostly in his imagination.More than that Julie bonds with him and helps him to see were reality really lies and occassionally he does save her from real danger.Of course his brain does turn would be muggers into super villians,but that's the fun of it all.It's also more than that (but you'll have to read it to find out how much more,or rent the video). I think there is something really cool about using pictures to tell a story,maybe even something primal wrapped around the strands of our DNA. After all cave drawings were basicly one or two frame comics telling the story of great feats. Still there's more something about reading such an amped up version of the human condition. Which is what makes Spider-Man such a great character,sure he has amazing superpowers.But, he still has to worry about paying the rent, will his checks bounce,is he going to be fired all question we all ask ourselves and on top of that he has to stop complete psychopaths from trying to destory his city or kill his loved ones. Some of his best stories are the ones inwhich he must choose between helping someone he loves or saving the city from some napherious plot. Comics also seem better at mixing in humor with meledrama than movies or television.Books are somewhat better at this. There also seems to be something in human nature,where we feel our heroes and villians should have some type of supernatural or superhuman power. From Hercules fighting the giant Cyclopses to King Aurthur and Merlin.I use these examples because besides just stories I think of comic books as a sort of modern day mythology. Who knows maybe in a couple hundred years the people of that time will think of comics in the same quaint way we think of greek or roman mythology or maybe they'll just think of them as crude drawings the way we look at cave drawings or not.Yes, some comics are just plain dumb but what medium doesn't have that problem. Another cool things about comics is it's one of the few American art forms along with jazz,the mystery story and the banjo. I could go on and on but since nobody will probably read this I think here is a good stopping point.