Character introduction

I'm having trouble in a comic I'm working on having two characters meet for the first time. When I write the typical handshake introduction, it seems too corny and chummy for two characters that don't particularly like each other. And I don't want it too gruff, because that's just as cheesy (and they're not mortal enemies, character B just isn't very friendly to anybody really).

I'm stuck with hving the characters acknowledge each other, and I need one character to say his name, so his name is known by the audience. Any suggestions?

Couldn't you just have the nod-to-each-other saying their names ("Bob." "Joe.") thing?

A bit more context would help: social context has a massive effect on how greetings go.

Depending on context, you can get away with "telling" their introductions:

Or:

A bit rough, but you probably get my point.

edited 7th Jan '12 5:09:11 PM by chihuahua0

The OP said "comic", though. You could still have a narrator do it, but that would be really heavy-handed.

For context: Characters A and B are meeting for the first time. Character A is Character C's new roommate, and Character B is Chracter C's friend. Character A is a friendly and outgoing guy, and Character B is a Jerkass.

I thought of the scene. I think I'll just have Character B peg Character in the face with a beer bottle, and then dropping his name in a "by the way" fashion. Character A has a healing factor, and Character B is enough of a dick to invoke Good Thing You Can Heal for the purpose of his own amusement.