Costumed or not, we're coming for you

Awkwardness Three-Way!

The Reverse Hoverhand is not just for costumed folks at conventions. The Reverse Hoverhand is a wholesome, all-American way to add a strong accent of discomfort and social weirdness to any situation. It's as awkward and all-American as crying in baseball, or apple pie, if said pie was served to you by a furry covered in mayonnaise.

So go out there, find someone attractive of whatever gender you prefer, and introduce them to the vague sense of unease that comes with a good, long Reverse Hoverhand!

Doctor "Who's Touching Me"

I think the Doctor may be regenerating soon...

This submission comes from Ed, who attended Norwescon in Seattle, Washington. He sent us the photo from his phone with the following text message:

"I want to thank you for this great way to meet the ladies--I think we really hit it off! And I just asked the bounty hunter what she was wearing under the armor--i have a real good feeling about how things are going to go tonight!"

We tried to contact Ed the next day to see how things went, but he's been strangely incommunicado...

We're Back!

X-23 & Professor X-tremely Lame

We're back! There are rumors that some folks are out there getting submissions ready for the blog. In the meantime, enjoy this picture of a very hot, very fit X-23.

We Will Return

Don't worry, we'll be back next week with more Reverse Hoverhand pictures!

Short Girls & Tall Guys

Wonder Woman & Shy Bladder Man

When I reviewed my photos from ECCC, I realized that in most of them I look like I very urgently had to go to the bathroom. Seriously, look at the photo above, or the one from yesterday with Black Widow. The problem seems to be that the type of girl who dresses in a cool outfit and goes to conventions is also the type of girl that is very short. Combine this with the need to show that hand hovering near (but not on) me, and you're gonna see a lot of photos of me half-crouched in order to get the right angle. This does nothing to disguise the fact that I do not have washboard abs.

I think for PAX I'm just gonna bring a milk crate and force people to stand on it.

I see what you're doing there

Hi there lady! Welcome to hell.

As mentioned yesterday, there were only two reactions from those I asked to pose:

• confusion at the concept, but a willingness to go along with it
• a quick and amused realization of what exactly I was attempting

As you can see from the photo, Black Widow realized exactly what was going on, and gave me what I'm crowning "The Best Reverse Hoverhand Expression of ECCC".

Tomorrow I'll be addressing what I see as the biggest technical hurdle in the way of the Reverse Hoverhand, and no, it's not "talking to girls."

The Journey Continues...

Multi-pass... to awkwardness!

As I journeyed farther into the Emerald City Comic Con, and I asked more and more girls to pose for the Reverse Hoverhand, I noticed that there were only two reactions to the request:

• confusion at the concept, but a willingness to go along with it
• a quick and amused realization of what exactly I was attempting

This is from the first group, and you can tell that this girl has no idea why I'm making such a stupid request. It's "meta", damn it!

We're taking it back!

Captin America, the first reverse hoverhand of the day

On March 31, 2012 I visited the Emerald City Comic Con in Seattle, Washington. With no agenda or goals for the day, I convinced my friend Chris to help me with an idea so pointless and stupid, it had to be fun:

The Reverse Hoverhand

For those who don't know, The Hoverhand is the phenomenon when a male geek asks to pose with a cute girl at a convention or trade show, but is too afraid to actually touch the girl in question. Instead he hovers his hand mere inches from her waist or shoulder, and the resulting picture looks insanely awkward for everyone involved.

Well to quote Randall in Clerks 2, we're taking it back.

Over the course of the day the idea became a cause, and this morning I realized that the cause needs a home. Hence, http://reversehoverhand.blogspot.com/. I have around a dozen photos from ECCC, with more to come when I hit PAX this year. But I can't do it alone! Send in your submissions to reversehoverhand@gmail.com, and join the movement!

More pictures to come tomorrow!