Top 10 Geek Heroes of 2012

Liz Ohanesian

In 2012, Stan Lee got his own comic book convention, Akira creator Katsuhiro Otomo came to town, web sensations like the comic Homestuck and series Dick Figures had wild success on Kickstarter and Lloyd Kaufman put a whole ton of Troma films on YouTube.

Sure, there's plenty more that happened in 2012. This is just the stuff covered in this little ol' weekly column, Cult Stars. Keep reading to find out who made the Top 10 Cult Stars of 2012.

10. The team behind Frankenweenie

This year, Tim Burton brought his cult hit Frankenweenie, originally a live action short, back to live as a beautiful, stop motion animated feature. The film delved into uncharted territory, a stop motion flick that was also done in black-and-white and in 3D. Nobody had made something quite like that before Frankenweenie. In order to get this done, they would need top-notch talent completely dedicated to making the movie happen.

Undoubtedly, everyone from producers Allison Abbate and Don Hahn to screenwriter John August to the animation department and the puppet shop, were committed to Frankenweenie. It's a beautiful movie -- quite frankly, my favorite Burton film in years -- and it shows how creative teams can push the conventions of stop motion, black-and-white and 3D.

See also: *Frankenweenie: The Ultimate Tim Burton Passion Project?

9. Key & Peele

Keegan-Michael Key and Jordan Peele have a long history together. They actually met back in 2002, before they both landed gigs with MADtv. These days, though, the duo are Comedy Central stars with their sketch show Key & Peele.

Key & Peele made waves before it landed on cable TV, thanks to the viral hit "Obama Loses His SH*T." But, they've only gotten better since the series debuted late last January. Don't believe me? Just google "Key & Peele dubstep." You will not be disappointed.

See also: *Key & Peele on Comedy Central: Keegan-Michael Key and Jordan Peele's New Sketch Series

Liz Ohanesian

Pretty much the coolest Stan Lee costume you'll ever see.

8. Stan Lee

Few people in any industry are as accomplished as Stan Lee, but the comic book legend's resume is still growing. This year, he added his name to Comikaze Expo, the L.A.-based pop culture convention that made a stellar debut back in 2011.

With Lee adding a marquee name to the convention, Comikaze grew with more exhibitors and more people. Lines were long at first, but once those subsided, the excitement inside the Los Angeles Convention Center was intense. Fans of the Generalissimo were the most obvious ones in the bunch. Someone even showed up wearing a wonderfully detailed Stan Lee mask, but it wasn't all about the superhero mastermind. Lee was the catalyst for making things happen on a grand scale, and that creates boundless opportunities for the fans, artists and writers who head out to these events regularly.

See also:
*Stan Lee Has His Own Convention Now: Stan Lee's Comikaze
*Stan Lee's Comikaze Expo 2012: Is It L.A.'s Comic-Con? Not Yet, But...

7. Homestuck fans

They've been gathering in greater numbers with every convention over the past couple of years. They come dressed as trolls and quirky kids. They are the fans of Homestuck, Andrew Hussie's incredibly popular webcomic, an adventure tale steeped in Internet and video game culture. Their costumes have baffled many a convention-goer -- I'm sure I'm not the only one who has asked, "What's the deal with the trolls?" -- but their presence has done more to raise awareness for this webcomic than any big publishing house marketing team could do. Certainly, Homestuck fans were the reason I was sucked into the webcomic.

In 2012, though, Homestuck fans did more than just lure in new readers. They're making an actual Homestuck game possible. Hussie announced his intentions to start development of a Homestuck game after the comic ends sometime next year and took the ambitious project to Kickstarter with a lofty goal of $700,00. By the end of the fundraising period, fans had pledged $2,485,506. With over 24,000 backers contributing the campaign, there's no doubt that Homestuck has a lot of incredibly dedicated fans willing to financially support a project they first found online for free.

See also: *Homestuck Has Me Hooked