Call us geeks, but this weekend my boyfriend and I will be at the Comic Book Convention in San Diego. Maybe I’ll get to hang out with Kevin Smith or something. My boyfriend has been an avid comic book reader for many years so he’s pretty excited that we were able to get tickets. I’ve never been to one of these before and I’m not quite sure what to expect. Lots of nerds dressed as superheroes, perhaps? Nerds dressed as superheroes and getting married? I’ll bring my camera.

One thing I do hope I get a chance to see is a Comic-Con 2008 exclusive limited edition: white Tofu The Vegan Zombie vinyl toy action figure. That’s right! Only 200 of these unique toys will be sold. There’s actually a (slightly disfunctional) website dedicated to Tofu the Vegan Zombie: http://tofutheveganzombie.com/ . Pretty cute. And you should check out the animated short “Zombie Dearest.” Impressive animation. Here’s the story of Tofu the Vegan Zombie:

“Tofu” is a friendly zombie, created from a botched experiment in Professor Vost’s laboratory. Monkey # 5, one of Vost’s lab animals, stuffed a block of tofu into the zombie boy’s open skull after accidentally losing the brain. As a result, “Tofu” eats only vegetables and grains and has no taste for human meat. However, if “Tofu” ever loses his “tofu-brain”, he turns into a dangerous zombie creature, craving human flesh.

Professor Vost’s sole mission in life is to find a cure for the menacing zombie epidemic plaguing mankind. Vost believes the zombie pathogen to be viral, caused by the genetic manipulation of meat products. The Evil Mallesteros, owner of the world’s largest meat packing company, wants to shut down Professor Vost’s research because sales from meat are beginning to suffer due to Vost’s conclusive findings.

“Tofu” is able to walk among both the human and zombie world with safety and ease, however, he is never fully trusted or accepted by either group. The professor’s daughter Addie helps “Tofu” blend into the human world by bringing him along with Lab Monkey #5 for fun and adventures. However, Lab Monkey #5’s mischievous, playful nature always gets “Tofu” and Addie into trouble.

Because of his unique ability to intermingle in both worlds, and his harmless vegetarian nature, the professor believes “Tofu” to be the key in solving the Zombie epidemic. The question is; will he have enough time to find a cure….

So there you have it. Tofu solves the flesh-eating epidemic of the undead. The jiggly white substance has taken on a whole new role in society. Now featured in vynil toy form, comic books, and animation? Its official: veganism has carved its niche in youth culture.