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XKCD

edited 2012-05-07 13:20:29 in General
They're somethin' else.

This is half an IJBM, and half an IJAM.

I like XKCD because of strips like these. You know, the ones that aren't all just "lol liberal arts ruined my life" fodder.

I don't like XkCD because while the jokes are okay on average, they aren't great, and the stick figure artstyle is just dragging it down further than it needs to be.

Course, that's just my opinion. Though when you see the comic's first 50 or so strips, it makes you wonder, what if Randall Monroe actually put in some effort into the art?

and also, regarding the XKCD sucks blog: That thing is so whiny and nitpicky its stupid.

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Comments

  • Likes cheesecake unironically.

    It sure can be hit-or-miss. I'm not sure whether it has more hits or more misses. Kind of like Cracked, but at least XKCD doesn't intentionally obfuscate facts just for a cheap joke. I think. If it does, then it went over my head.


    The stick figure art never bothered me at all, though.

  • They're somethin' else.

    Its ok, but it's not iconic, memorable or "oh hey, its XKCD" like so many other comics.

  • MORONS! I'VE GOT MORONS ON MY PAYROLL!

    Munroe's attitude toward humanities (and occasionally women) bugs me to high hell, I'm telling you.

  • You can change. You can.

    I always thought he was facetious about his humanities jokes, much the same way I am facetious about my mathematical major jokes. 

  • edited 2012-05-07 15:16:27
    I just think he has contempt for human life in general, and his fanbase in particular.
  • Given how fanbases tend to run, I have to seriously wonder if having one of them would drive me to contempt for human life in general too.

  • ^ The contempt was already there, I think; his fans are just another thing to add to the pile.
  • His strip on Idiocracy still bugs me to hell. Just...so bad in so many ways.

  • They're somethin' else.

    Just looked it up.

    Ew.

  • ...that's actually one of my favorite strips. ಠ_ಠ

  • a little muffled

    I don't see what's so bad about it? I mean it's not one of the better ones and it's kind of shooting fish in a barrel, but.

  • Yeah it's a little facepalmingly smug, but it's still mostly right.

  • Well, to start with I'm not sure I agree with the point being made (partly because I've never seen Idiocracy so I'm only getting the idea here from context, but mostly because the idea as phrased in the alt text is such an insanely over-broad statement you'd probably have to write a book or do a dissertation on it to really get anywhere). But more than that, it's the presentation. 


    Imagine you're a guy looking at movies with your friend, you make a casual remark on one of them, your friend backs you up, you agree...then your friend tells you he was lying (the famous "lol i trol u" rhetorical technique) and goes on a multi-paragraph-spiel accusing you of being a zealot just based on that one remark.  Is this a setup that makes the reader think the other guy's supposed to be in the right? I don't think I realized that was the assumed viewpoint until that last panel, when suddenly it went over to eugenics and the guy who said about two and three-fourths sentences was supposed to be the strawman here.

  • edited 2012-05-07 17:26:23
    OOOooooOoOoOOoo, I'm a ghoOooOooOOOost!

    xkcd is occasionally fairly funny, but then sometimes it has stuff like this and this (both of which are basically "hey guys, look at how clever I am!), this and this (which fall into the classic webcomic pitfall of thinking humor is derived from the absence of causality), this and this (blatant attempts to force memes) this (...wut?) or comic 631, which I can't link to because this is a SFW thread.

  • I clench my fists and yell "anime" towards an uncaring, absent God, and swear solemnly to press my thumbs into Chocolate America's eyeballs until he is blinded, to directly emasculate sporting figures, to beat the shit out of tumblr users with baseball bats, and to quietly appreciate what Waylon Smithers being gay means to me.

    Actually one of the few XKCDs I like is the Idiocracy one, if only because I hate Idiocracy with a fiery, unhealthy passion. Generally, though, XKCD is mediocre at best. And yeah, Munroe kinda does have problems with women.

  • a little muffled

    I hate the "lol Idiocracy is so true" people more than anything else because of all the backlash they've caused toward what is actually a quite funny but completely ridiculous movie.

  • OOOooooOoOoOOoo, I'm a ghoOooOooOOOost!

    xkcdsucks is around as hit-or-miss as xkcd itself, especially lately. At its best, though, it's a pretty interesting read.

  • I clench my fists and yell "anime" towards an uncaring, absent God, and swear solemnly to press my thumbs into Chocolate America's eyeballs until he is blinded, to directly emasculate sporting figures, to beat the shit out of tumblr users with baseball bats, and to quietly appreciate what Waylon Smithers being gay means to me.

    Well I hate Idiocracy because of how racist, classist, and sexist it is under the guise of being progressive but whatevs.


    I don't care much for XKCDsucks.

  • If you must eat a phoenix, boil it, do not roast it. This only encourages their mischievous habits.

    xkcd is occasionally fairly funny, but then sometimes it has stuff like this and this (both of which are basically "hey guys, look at how clever I am!)



    I don't see what's so hard about getting the joke there?

  • a little muffled

    What about it was sexist? Legitimate question; it's been ages since I've seen it. The other two I can see where you're coming from.

  • You can change. You can.

    I don't think INUH's point is that the jokes are complicated so much as they are Munroe showing his math major off. 


    The fucker.

  • edited 2012-05-07 19:20:56
    OOOooooOoOoOOoo, I'm a ghoOooOooOOOost!

    ^More his general overinflated ego, as the math major only applies to the first one.

  • If you must eat a phoenix, boil it, do not roast it. This only encourages their mischievous habits.

    but it's not even a math joke! Or even a joke that requires you to have a degree or anything!


    It's just not a particularly hard-to-get joke that requires any specialized knowledge. The girl in the second panel is just talking in reverse alphabetical order while talking about reverse alphabetical order, which seems just a bit meta and blew the guy's brain.

  • edited 2012-05-07 19:22:31
    OOOooooOoOoOOoo, I'm a ghoOooOooOOOost!

    Yes. That is exactly my point. Randall thought of a self-demonstrating sentence, and as the guy's reaction shows, he seems to think he is a genius for doing that.


    There's nothing particularly interesting about it; it's just kinda masturbatory.

  • edited 2012-05-07 19:22:50
    You can change. You can.

    the first one has enough numbers to dizzy me. :<


    ETA: Oh wait, you just meant the other one. Right. carry on.

  • If you must eat a phoenix, boil it, do not roast it. This only encourages their mischievous habits.

    Yes. That is exactly my point. Randall thought of a self-demonstrating sentence, and as the guy's reaction shows, he seems to think he is a genius for doing that.



    It really doesn't read that way to me. It just reads like he's snickering a bit at his own joke, then moving on.

  • edited 2012-05-07 19:28:36
    OOOooooOoOoOOoo, I'm a ghoOooOooOOOost!

    Yeah, but it's self-congratulatory, unnecessary, and excessive (especially given that the thing he's high-fiving himself for is a fairly common joke and it wasn't even the first or even second or third time he'd made it in one form or another).

  • You can change. You can.

    I think the chuckle there is more for people who don't get the joke so that they go and inspect the last line. Not perfect, but I don't see it as a self congratulatory. With that said, he does present the joke as cleverer than it is.

  • If you must eat a phoenix, boil it, do not roast it. This only encourages their mischievous habits.

    Yeah, but it's self-congratulatory, unnecessary, and excessive



    It really, really does not read that way to me. I think you may be interpreting the strip differently to how I am interpreting it.



    With that said, he does present the joke as cleverer than it is.



    Isn't the little dude there the one who's kind of slow and seems to have a permanent :o on his face if they had facial expressions?

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