A Nerd Story: A Daughter, Her Father, and Cartoon Nostalgia

“We’re all stories in the end” — so says the Doctor in what might be my favorite nerd quote of all time. I love stories. What else could be more important to a writer than stories? And what else is more essential, more human than telling and listening to stories? They’re history, mythology, culture, society, art — everything. Here’s a story about my nerd origins: I loved Saturday morning cartoons as a kid. My mom usually worked on Saturdays, so it would be just me and my dad, teaming up to watch the glorious hour-and-a-half block of superhero cartoons that ran in the early ’90s. We watched Batman: The Animated Series, Spider-Man, and X-Men. Occasionally we might watch an episode of Superman: The Animated Series, but we never kid ourselves on our interest level in Clark Kent. My dad would run off facts as we watched, point out characters and tell their backstories. I was supposed to remember, of course. This was my education. He would quiz me on the essentials: Where does Peter Parker live? Queens. Batman is Marvel or DC? DC. Who are the five original X-Men? Angel, Iceman, Jean Grey, Cyclops, and Beast. Angel, Iceman, Jean Grey, Cyclops, and Beast.   That wasn’t all: He showed me his old Thor comics. He was the one who told me to read The Hobbit. We watched Speed Racer and he told me about Akira and Vampire Hunter D. We had a VHS boxed set of the three Star Wars movies, which I remember watching before I even learned my multiplication tables. As the long introductory para…