Are you a fanboy?

If you are, you'll know just what to do with this article about a small cadre of comic-book, fantasy-novel and genre-movie obsessives who have transformed Hollywood: among them Kevin Smith, Peter Jackson, Quentin Tarantino, Robert Rodriguez, the Wachowski brothers and Sam Raimi.

Save it. It could be worth money.

In mint condition, of course.

"I grew up reading comic books," says Smith, who famously subsidized his breakthrough movie, "Clerks," 12 years ago by selling off his comic-book collection. "My characters, like me and my friends, like to sit around and talk about pop culture."

"Clerks" (1994), whose characters are back for an encore in "Clerks II," which opened Friday, is not only a movie made by a fanboy, it's one of the first movies about fanboys.

When Dante (Brian O'Halloran) and Randal (Jeff Anderson), two slacker store clerks, aren't discussing sex in the most graphic possible terms, they're discussing pop culture. For instance, whether the contractors hired to build the Death Star in "The Empire Strikes Back" were killed when the space fortress exploded.

And "Clerks II," which has the now thirtysomething duo working at a fast-food restaurant, takes up precisely where "Clerks" left off. This time, Randal is arguing with a new, even nerdier clerk (Trevor Fehrman) about whether "The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King" is fit to be spoken of in the same breath as the "Star Wars" movies.

"There's only one return — and that's 'Return of the Jedi,' " Randal pronounces.

Fanboys — also known in less-friendly circles as geeks and dweebs — care about this stuff.

"They're people who can passionately discuss the things they're passionate about," says Harry Knowles, whose Web site Ain't It Cool News, celebrating its 10th anniversary this year, is fanboy central.

Fanboys are nothing new, of course. Trekkies, sci-fi and fantasy lovers, superhero cultists, rabid collectors of all kinds, have been part of the landscape for decades.

What's new is that the oddball kids who go to conventions, collect plastic figurines and put comic books in plastic sleeves are now making $270 million movies like the "Lord of the Rings" trilogy for other fanboys.

"I guess every generation has its entertainments, or things that fuel its engine and inspire it," Smith says. "Now you have people who grew up reading comic books making movies, people who grew up watching TV making movies, people who grew up watching movies making movies."

It's a brave new world for fanboys.

With fanboy-friendly movies like "Spider-Man" (which grossed $403.7 million) and the "Lord of the Rings" series ($1 billion-plus, collectively) connecting with audiences in a big way, Hollywood is developing a new respect for the guys with tape on their glasses. Word on the Sunset Strip is that these supposed "losers" with their "Star Wars" collectibles have their fingers on the pulse of the public, far more than the suits in their front offices.

Knowles — a 34-year-old son of a comic-book store owner who launched Ain't It Cool News from his father's basement in Austin, Texas — is an oracle to many in the 90210 ZIP code. In an upcoming movie called "Fanboys," Knowles is actually a character.

Fanboy directors are not only fans themselves, but also — unusual for Hollywood players — they tend to stay close to their fanboy audience. They aim their movies at the fans first — counting on them to spread the buzz to the wider audience.

"I like hearing from the people who support us," Smith says. "I want to find out what's on that person's mind."