Editing 367: Fandom

{{comic
| number    = 367
| date      = January 7, 2008
| title     = Fandom
| image     = fandom.png
| titletext = Ron Paul wants to put the New Republic back on the Corusca gem standard.
}}

==Explanation==
This comic refers to the concept of {{w|fandom}}, which is basically the collective noun for fans of a given thing. Usually, this is used in the context of people who like a certain work of fiction, like ''Star Trek'' or ''Buffy the Vampire Slayer''. Here, [[Cueball]] digs through a box and discovers his old collection of ''{{w|Star Wars}}'' books, referring to authors {{w|Timothy Zahn}} and {{w|Michael A. Stackpole}} (who wrote several ''Star Wars'' novels), and ''{{w|The Corellian Trilogy}}''. These books are part of the {{w|Star Wars Expanded Universe}}, which is used to refer to media that is ''Star Wars'' canon, but not the films. Almost all of the Expanded Universe content created prior to 2015 is now considered by Disney (who are the owners of Lucasfilm and Star Wars since 2012) to be part of a separate canon called "Legends," a decision presumably made to allow a clean[er] slate for the upcoming sequel trilogy and spin-off movies to start from.

Cueball apparently loved these books as a kid, which prompts Megan to remark if he started becoming a fan of other science fiction series like ''{{w|Firefly (TV series)|Firefly}}'' or ''{{w|Battlestar Galactica}}'', to which he clarifies that he simply grew out of the fandom mindset. Megan, perhaps sarcastically, asks him about how politician [[Ron Paul]] (who has appeared in the comic [[:Category:Comics featuring Ron Paul|several times]]) is doing, and Cueball excitedly runs off to check, ironically disproving his earlier remark - people don't outgrow a fandom state of mind, but rather shift their point of interest.

The title refers to the {{w|New Republic (Star Wars)|New Republic}}, the main government in ''Star Wars'' after the final film, and [http://starwars.wikia.com/wiki/Corusca_gem Corusca gems], which are extremely rare and valuable gems from the aforementioned expanded universe. The text says that Ron Paul wants the New Republic to adopt the Corusca gem as the basis for their currency. This entire joke is an allegory for the {{w|Gold Standard}}, which Ron Paul is a personal advocate of even though it is no longer in use by the United States.

==Transcript==
:[Cueball is looking through a box.]
:Cueball: Hey, my old Star Wars books!

:[Cueball is holding a pair of books and showing them to Megan.]
:Cueball: Man. Timothy Zahn, Michael A. Stackpole, The Corellian Trilogy...
:Cueball: This was my <u>world</u>.

:Megan: What'd you leave it for? Firefly? BSG?
:Cueball: Nah.
:Cueball: I guess I've just grown out of the whole obsessive fan mindset.

:Megan: Really.
:Megan: So how's Ron Paul doing?
:Cueball: Ooh! Lemme recheck today's blogs.
:[Cueball drops the books and heads off to recheck the blogs.]

==Trivia==
This is the first xkcd comic featuring [[Ron Paul]].

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Megan]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Ron Paul]]
[[Category:Comics featuring politicians]]
[[Category:Firefly]]