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Fanboy is a term used to describe any man who is devoted to a single subject in an emotional or fanatical manner, or to a single point of view within that subject, often to the point where it is considered an obsession. History According to the Merriam-Webster Collegiate Dictionary, the earliest known use of the term "fanboy" in an English-language publication dates to 1919. In the late 70's (according to the Jay Kennedy Underground guide, but Jay Lynch states 1972/73 but this could be due to the '72 cover date, the Jay Kennedy guide states the names and dates are fictitious), Bill Beasley and Al Judson (actually Glenn Bray and Jay Lynch) produced a very small (11 copies for the 1st print) fanzine titled Fanboy #5 "Special Chicago Comicon Issue"(removed for the 2nd printing of approx. 20 issues). The 3rd print of approx. 20 issues stated "The Underground Heads Ish". In 2009, Jay Lynch produced a limited to 160 cards of the cover of Fanboy. In comic book culture, a 1982 reference is to the cover of the "Official Underground and Newave Comix Price Guide". On this cover page are sketched overweight, overzealous comic book collectors wearing T-shirts that state "Fanboys of America," who are describing the extreme measures they would go to, including moving to San Francisco, to preserve their comics. Also published in 1982, a comic strip appeared in Jim Engel and Chuck Fiala's "Fandom Confidential" comic. In the strip, Jim and Chuck met comic artist/writer John Byrne and collapsed into "mindless paroxysms of adoration." The John Byrne character responded that they were "a couple of fanboys in bondage" (a play on words referring to a in which an Elizabethan era character reads what she claims to be a new Shakespeare work called "Gay Boys in Bondage"). Another early use is in a smart-alec editorial reply by "Ambush Bug" to a letter in his comic in 1985. In 1988, Doug Holverson came out with Fanboy! comic book that reprints strips from 1983-1988. The cover states "The Comic That Comes Double Bagged", an obvious reference to the 1982 Jay Kennedy guide cover. By 1990 the term was being used in popular music and science fiction circles, and as electronic entertainment gained popularity, the term became increasingly applied to computers and video game consoles - with people often developing an obsessive loyalty towards one platform or brand. Current subjects of such obsessive loyalty include areas of: TV shows; movies; music; anime; comic books; cars; furries; video game consoles, video games and MMORPGs; and computer operating systems, hardware and software. "Fanboy" was added to the Merriam-Webster Collegiate Dictionary in 2008. One of the original and most famous fanboy websites is Ain't It Cool News. Media Popular depictions of Fanboy stereotypes include the Comic Book Guy on The Simpsons and columnist Larry Groznic from the satirical newspaper The Onion. In the songs of the fannish parody musician Luke Ski, many characters proudly consider themselves fanboys. Comic books *Sergio Aragonés' Fanboy *Galactic Storm's Fanboy Television *The Simpsons Comic Book Guy refers to himself as a fanboy. *s Radio/podcasts *Fanboy Radio Movies * , a 2003 New Zealand short film * , a 2009 American comedy film
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