Gallery: Vote for Your Favorite Sexy Geeks of 2010
01patton-oswalt-660
Who were the sexiest geeks of 2010? Depends on what you mean by the words *sexy* and *geek*. Those terms mean nothing and everything at the same time. They're linguistic signifiers stuffed with commodification and infested by interpretation. They can be used to stereotype and sell whatever to whomever. To get the conversation started in Wired.com's Sexy Geeks 2010 competition, we've spotlighted the geeks that galvanized culture so convincingly this year that they became sex symbols, whether they wanted to or not. We're talking people like Patton Oswalt, who put a bullet through the head of "[geek culture](http://stag-komodo.wired.com/magazine/2010/12/ff_angrynerd_geekculture/all/1)" marketing — for Wired, no less! — which is why he, and his gun, made our list. Eyeball our list of top contenders for the Sexy Geek 2010 title, then nominate your own favorites and vote below. __Above:__ Patton Oswalt ------------- This was a busy year for the always-productive [Patton Oswalt](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Patton_Oswalt), who starred in the deranged toon [Robotomy](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robotomy) and the schizodrama The United States of Tara while writing a [Firefly comic](http://stag-komodo.wired.com/underwire/2010/06/firefly-fandom-stoked-by-patton-oswalt-browncoats-trailer) and his first book, [Zombie Spaceship Wasteland](http://www.amazon.com/Zombie-Spaceship-Wasteland-Patton-Oswalt/dp/1439149089/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1287697200&sr=1-1) (out Jan. 4, 2011). His annihilation of geek culture — in the excellently named *Wired* essay "[Wake Up Geek Culture, Time to Die](http://stag-komodo.wired.com/magazine/2010/12/ff_angrynerd_geekculture/all/1)" — turned this one-time frat boy into a sex symbol for those who are seriously tired of stereotyping tropes and transparent jargon. *—Scott Thill* *Photo: Chris Buck/Wired*
02felicia-day
Felicia Day ----------- Creator of web comedy/soap opera *The Guild*, [Felicia Day](http://feliciaday.com/) serves as unofficial poster girl for DIY self-starters. Before launching her own show, the red-haired actress/writer/impresario appeared in Joss Whedon's *[Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog](http://stag-komodo.wired.com/underwire/2008/07/joss-whedon-tal/)* and popped up on a few episodes of *Dollhouse*. For those who have not become addicted to the machinations of *The Guild*, the Streamy Award-winning Day earns her geek cred the hard way: talent and tenacity. Just as importantly, she's leading the way to a non-Hollywood studio business model by becoming the rare web-based entertainer to earn an actual living. *—Hugh Hart* *Photo: The Bui Brothers*
03grant-morrison
Grant Morrison -------------- A sartorially splendid brainiac who can juggle Batman's dense mythology or brane cosmology better than you, Grant Morrison is the hottest geek in comics. This year, the subversive chaos magician made millions for DC Comics on the back of [The Dark Knight's commercial and critically successful series](http://stag-komodo.wired.com/underwire/2010/11/grant-morrison-batman-inc), landed his own documentary ([Grant Morrison: Talking With Gods](http://stag-komodo.wired.com/underwire/2010/11/grant-morrison-talking-with-gods-review)) and started [breaking down Hollywood](http://stag-komodo.wired.com/underwire/2010/10/grant-morrison-warren-ellis-hollywood)'s conservative doors. The chances that he'll be back on this list again next year? Elementary, dear surrealist. *—Scott Thill* *Image courtesy Patrick Meaney*
04alessandra-torresani
Alessandra Torresani -------------------- "I want to be the [poster girl for engineers and computer nerds](http://stag-komodo.wired.com/underwire/2010/01/alessandra-torresani/)," California actress Alessandra Torresani told Wired.com in an interview around the time of *Caprica*'s debut. The daughter of a Silicon Valley entrepreneur, Torresani started programming computers at the age of 3 before taking on the role of a sexy, surly teen cylon in Syfy's short-lived *Battlestar Galactica* prequel. Torresani maintains a hyperactive Twitter account, which she used to rally viewers behind her first big break. [*Caprica* got cancelled anyway](http://stag-komodo.wired.com/underwire/2010/10/caprica-apples/), but Torresani emerged as the most energetic presence in the fatally flawed series. Next up: Torresani star as a newspaper reporter in ex-Disney boss Michael Eisner’s TV pilot *Circling the Drain* and appears opposite Christian Slater in 2011 thriller *[Playback](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1682940/)*. *—Hugh Hart*
05stephen-colbert
Stephen Colbert --------------- The smartest satirist on television remained its sexiest in 2010, thanks to a productive year in which he testified in a [congressional hearing on immigration reform](http://stag-komodo.wired.com/underwire/2010/09/stephen-colbert-testimony) and, with the more mainstream Jon Stewart, helped rally The Colbert Report and The Daily Show faithful to keep [fear and sanity](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rally_to_Restore_Sanity_and/or_Fear) alive. (What else would you expect from a brilliant [hyper-realist](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stephen_Colbert) whose name boasts two [separate Wikipedia entries](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stephen_Colbert_%28character%29)?) Raised on the nerd love of J.R.R. Tolkien and Dungeons & Dragons and still a religious dork that teaches Sunday school, Colbert is an intellectual and sexual paragon for geeks worldwide. *—Scott Thill* *Image courtesy Comedy Central*
06veronica-belmont-660.jpg
Veronica Belmont ---------------- She likes gadgets, games *and* kittens, so how can you not dig clever San Francisco commentator Veronica Belmont? She helps produce [Qore](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Qore_%28PlayStation_Network%29), an interactive magazine devoted to Sony's PlayStation 3, and also contributes to Revision3's *[Tekzilla](http://revision3.com/tekzilla/)* show. Busy enough? There's more. Belmont also co-hosts science fiction/fantasy podcast *[The Sword and Laser](http://www.swordandlaser.com/)* with Tom Merritt and pens biweekly columns for *Maximum PC*. *—Hugh Hart* *Photo: [Lan Bui](http://thebuibrothers.com/)*
07no-age
No Age ------ __LISTEN: “Fever Dreaming” by No Age__<object data="http://stag-komodo.wired.com/underwire/wp-content/plugins/dewplayer-flash-mp3-player/dewplayer.swf?mp3=http://stag-komodo.wired.com/images_blogs/underwire/2010/09/03-Fever-Dreaming-1.mp3&showtime=1&bgcolor=FFFFFF" height="20" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" width="200"><param name="bgcolor" value="FFFFFF"></param><param name="src" value="http://stag-komodo.wired.com/underwire/wp-content/plugins/dewplayer-flash-mp3-player/dewplayer.swf?mp3=http://stag-komodo.wired.com/images_blogs/underwire/2010/09/03-Fever-Dreaming-1.mp3&showtime=1&bgcolor=FFFFFF"></param></object>Two scrawny skateboarding vegans from Los Angeles made the [greatest rock effort of the year, Everything in Between](http://stag-komodo.wired.com/underwire/2010/09/no-age), using nothing more than themselves, their immeasurable energy and a desire to shred the sonic envelope. Unlike the majority of pop tarts and no-talents packing the best-of lists making the rounds this month, [No Age's Randy Randall and Dean Spunt](http://www.subpop.com/artists/no_age) made spine-shaking stomps and atmospheric explorations that will be remembered beyond this year. And that's hot. *—Scott Thill* *Image courtesy Sub Pop/Todd Cole*
08corrine-yu
Corrinne Yu ----------- Correcting any misperception that videogames are just for guys, Corrinne Yu serves as the principal *Halo* engine programmer at Microsoft Game Studios. How exactly do you rise to the top of the game-programming biz? Before joining Microsoft, Yu worked for the space shuttle program, designed particle-accelerator experiments and won a nuclear physics prize from the U.S. Department of Energy. *—Hugh Hart* *Photo courtesy [Corrinne Yu](http://www.flickr.com/photos/corrinneyu/3945336587/sizes/l/)/Flickr*
09matt-smith-doctor-who
Matt Smith ---------- The youngest [Doctor Who](http://stag-komodo.wired.com/underwire/2010/11/dr-who-fifth-series) ever also became one of the best in his debut season. After coming of age in [Alan Moore](http://stag-komodo.wired.com/underwire/2010/07/alan-moore-watchmen)'s stomping grounds of Northampton, England, the talented [Matt Smith](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Matt_Smith_%28actor%29) turned a truncated pro football future into a brilliant career playing a politics geek in Party Animals before becoming the biggest space geek of all time in the longest-running sci-fi show in the world. He played the Doctor to the hilt, from his bow tie and spastic energy to his bottomless chatter on aliens, science, history and beyond. Well played, [Eleventh Time Lord](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eleventh_Doctor). *—Scott Thill* *Image courtesy BBC*
10marina-orlova
Marina Orlova ------------- [HotforWords](http://www.hotforwords.com/) video hostess Marina Orlova works her sexy philologist gig like a capitalist brainiac of the highest order. A [perennial Sexy Geeks favorite](http://stag-komodo.wired.com/underwire/2009/12/sexy-geeks-2009/), Orlova's "lessons" cover topics like last week's Christmas Eve special devoted to the [origins of the phrase *eye candy*](http://www.hotforwords.com/2010/12/23/eye-candy/). They have generated more than 393 million YouTube views. By catering to nerd fantasies, the 29-year-old Beverly Hills, California, woman has earned more than [$1 million in revenue](http://www.thisismoney.co.uk/work/article.html?in_article_id=519543&in_page_id=53928). *—Hugh Hart* *Photo courtesy Marina Orlova*
11julian-assange-2
Julian Assange -------------- Publishing [truth to power](http://www.boingboing.net/2010/06/13/video-wikileaks-foun.html) and making some journalists and activists look like sellouts, WikiLeaks became the story of the year. The war against its leader, [Julian Assange](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Julian_Assange), remains a close second, especially now that he's been embroiled in sex crimes allegations. Whether that's because he's the "[world's worst screw](http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2010/dec/17/julian-assange-sweden)," a [serial rapist](http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5iJMhH_ugT3eq6KUg1i94WTQBKy0A?docId=aa53c814621d4daba2224f37dda6ba33) or the victim of a [shameless stratagem](http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/assange-is-a-hitech-terrorist-says-biden-2164988.html) of [geopolitical entrapment](http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2010/12/rove-connection-prosecution-julian-assange) is for the oft-compromised courts of public opinion and law to decide. Nearly incontrovertible is the feeling that Assange and WikiLeaks, as The Economist recently wrote, "have [made dull liberal principles seem once again sexily subversive](http://www.economist.com/blogs/democracyinamerica/2010/12/analysing_wikileaks) by exposing power's reactionary panic." And that sexual desire — Assange's or our own — could mean the [end of Assange](http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2010/dec/23/julian-assange-fate-david-cameron) as we know him. That this could be a political aphrodisiac for some and *journalistus interruptus* for others just tells you where our messed-up heads are these days. *—Scott Thill* *Photo: Lily Mihalik/Wired.com*
12shira-lazar
Shira Lazar ----------- Founder of the [Society for Geek Advancement](http://geekadvancement.com/), Shira Lazar has video-blogged about social trends for CBSNews.com and co-hosted *This Week in YouTube*. Did we mention she's funny as hell? Lazar last month rejoined [*The Adam Carolla Show*](http://www.adamcarolla.com/ACPBlog/2010/11/30/shira-lazar-and-calls/) hosted by the hilarious podcast mogul. *—Hugh Hart* *Photo: [Robert Scoble](http://www.flickr.com/photos/scobleizer/4464217812/)/Flickr*
13tyler-durden-zero-hedge
Tyler Durden ------------ An acidic economics and quantitative analysis geek, [Tyler Durden](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zero_Hedge) is the mostly anonymous [Zero Hedge](http://www.zerohedge.com) blogger who both posts as [Fight Club](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fight_Club_%28film%29)'s sexualized anticapitalist — played by equal-opportunity attractor Brad Pitt — and almost single-handedly shames on a daily basis what passes for the mainstream financial press. Whether he's spitting game theory on Goldman Sachs, foreclosure robosigners, high-frequency trading scams or May's tragically hilarious [Flash Crash](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flash_crash), when algorithms gone wild wiped out about $1 trillion from the stock market in three overheated minutes, Durden has clowned analysts and experts worldwide with econopocalyptic abandon. The probability that both male and female stats geeks might visualize making love to Pitt while reading Durden's sourced screeds has got to be a sex coup of some kind. *—Scott Thill* *Image courtesy Fox/SprayPaintStencils.com*
14mila-kunis
Mila Kunis ---------- At age 7, Mila Kunis arrived in America from Russia speaking no English. Within a few years, she proved herself smarter than your average actress by rattling off unaccented punch lines on *[That '70s Show](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/That_%2770s_Show)*. Since then, Kunis just keeps getting better. She prevented the videogame-based movie *Max Payne* from being a complete snorefest, held her own opposite Denzel Washington in last year's post-apocalyptic flick *The Book of Eli* and portrayed Natalie Portman's seductive rival in Black Swan, cited this week on [Wired.com's Best of 2010 list](http://stag-komodo.wired.com/underwire/2010/12/wired-best-of-2010/). But Kunis is no Oscar-bait snob: She also lends her voice to *Robot Chicken*, Seth Green's stop-motion comedy series. *—Hugh Hart* *Photo: Niko Tavernise/Fox Searchlight*
Jon Snyder/Wired.com15mark-zuckerberg
Mark Zuckerberg --------------- Although Julian Assange should have been named Time magazine's Whatever of the Year, that distinction [instead went to Facebook co-founder Mark Zuckerberg](http://stag-komodo.wired.com/epicenter/2010/12/zuck/). David Fincher's biopic The Social Network helped Zuckerberg's cultural profile explode in 2010. If Zuckerberg thought he had groupies before, wait until Hollywood truly starts stroking his ego. All horny hell will break loose. *—Scott Thill* *Photo: Jon Snyder/Wired.com*
16ms-mars
Ms. Mars aka Joanie King ------------------------ Florida musician, college student and cosplay fanatic Ms. Mars, aka Joanie King, makes fabulously elaborate costumes that have made her popular at Comic-Con International and other geekfests. *—Hugh Hart* *Photo: [Anna Fischer](http://www.flickr.com/photos/27594459@N04/3919419970/)/Flickr*
17ms-mars
Ms. Mars aka Joanie King ------------------------ Florida musician, college student and cosplay fanatic Ms. Mars, aka Joanie King, makes fabulously elaborate costumes that have made her popular at Comic-Con International and other geekfests. *—Hugh Hart* *Photo: [Anna Fischer](http://www.flickr.com/photos/27594459@N04/3919419970/)/Flickr*
18chris-hughes
Chris Hughes ------------ This openly gay, baby-faced genius co-founded Facebook with Mark Zuckerberg and spearheaded Barack Obama's online outreach to the tune of election-year millions. In 2010, [Chris Hughes](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chris_Hughes_%28entrepreneur%29) put his money where his conscience is and launched [Jumo.com](http://www.jumo.com), a fledgling social network designed to connect plugged-in social surfers with environmental, civil rights and summary other well-meaning organizations. It's about time: We really should be sharing information about something else besides what we ate for dinner or bought at the mall. *—Scott Thill* *Image courtesy Wikipedia/Islander99*
19chris-hughes
Chris Hughes ------------ This openly gay, baby-faced genius co-founded Facebook with Mark Zuckerberg and spearheaded Barack Obama's online outreach to the tune of election-year millions. In 2010, [Chris Hughes](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chris_Hughes_%28entrepreneur%29) put his money where his conscience is and launched [Jumo.com](http://www.jumo.com), a fledgling social network designed to connect plugged-in social surfers with environmental, civil rights and summary other well-meaning organizations. It's about time: We really should be sharing information about something else besides what we ate for dinner or bought at the mall. *—Scott Thill* *Image courtesy Wikipedia/Islander99*
20jill-pantozzi-aka-nerdy-bird
Jill Pantozzi, aka Nerdy Bird ----------------------------- When Trekkie/sci-fi fanatic Jill Pantozzi dressed as Supergirl for Halloween at age 5, it proved to be a harbinger of things to come: The New Jersey-based actress grew up to write the [Has Boobs, Reads Comics](http://www.thenerdybird.com/) blog. On her site, Pantozzi offers pithy takes on everything from *Doctor Who* and *Batgirl* illustrator Stanley Lau to women who need to start kicking ass again (with shout-outs to Sarah Michelle Gellar and Carrie-Anne Moss). Pantozzi has a *Fifth Element* tattoo so you know she's not just posing. *—Hugh Hart* *Photo: [Cameron Yee](http://www.flickr.com/photos/ygx/4820749940/)/Flickr*
21jill-pantozzi-aka-nerdy-bird
Jill Pantozzi, aka Nerdy Bird ----------------------------- When Trekkie/sci-fi fanatic Jill Pantozzi dressed as Supergirl for Halloween at age 5, it proved to be a harbinger of things to come: The New Jersey-based actress grew up to write the [Has Boobs, Reads Comics](http://www.thenerdybird.com/) blog. On her site, Pantozzi offers pithy takes on everything from *Doctor Who* and *Batgirl* illustrator Stanley Lau to women who need to start kicking ass again (with shout-outs to Sarah Michelle Gellar and Carrie-Anne Moss). Pantozzi has a *Fifth Element* tattoo so you know she's not just posing. *—Hugh Hart* *Photo: [Cameron Yee](http://www.flickr.com/photos/ygx/4820749940/)/Flickr*
