If you look up the definition of Bohemian you'd find Claire's picture. She is everything you'd expect from an artist, creative, eccentric and more than a bit inspired. I met her at Comics and Cards, a local comic book and gaming shop I frequented. She was an Australian, though she'd didn't have their accent. The first thing you'd notice was her tattoos, she had what appeared to be kanji script on her forearm and symbols across the top of her forehead. People would always ask her what they meant, she rarely gave the same explanation twice. She seemed to like to mess with people's heads. She had her greatest chance when Superman died.

   Superman 75 was the biggest comic book event of its time. They were killing off the Big Blue Boy Scout and it was supposed to be forever. We all know that was a lie, but it made for some great marketing hype. The comic book came in a big black bag with a memorial armband. The news media covered it nonstop, and it was a good time for people who sold comic books. The speculators market went nuts, just weeks after it hit the price spiked to $75. Not a comic book reader, I was just an observer to the craze. Claire was stuck smack in the middle unfortunately.

   Claire was always creating. She was modeling or sketching when not helping customers. She wasn't as open as some of the other people working at Comics and Cards, and to be honest she did intimidate a lot of the geeks there. She was strong willed and a self made person. That combined with the social awkwardness a lot of geeks have towards the fairer sex led to guys sort of dancing around her in public.

   When it comes to geeks you get snobs. There are some geeks who think their obsessions are better than your obsessions. They get upset when you read valuable comics, open up actions figures that were mint in box, or actually with collectible cards that are worth money. They can get annoying, and they were one the type of person Claire was born to fluster.

   I went into the shop one day to buy my girlfriend's comics. There on the floor was Claire. She had a pair of scissors and a copy of Superman 75. As an art project she was cutting it up and putting the pieces back together. One of the art snobs came in and saw what she was doing. He nearly had a heart attack.

   "What are you doing?" He almost sobbed.

   "Making a collage."

   "You know that is a limited edition comic that's worth almost $100?"

   "What are you worried about? Now yours is worth more!"

    Superman is still alive. Claire is still rocking the boat.