I'm not sure why so many people seem to like this particular comic - but then again, I don't know why anyone likes xkcd, ever. Nonetheless, some people who usually have better taste than that like this comic, and I guess my cynical jaded hateful nature is obscuring the joke. I see a man making a simple situation complicated for the sheer joy of finding something useful for his math degree, and then it's like "ha ha, you made it like an old puzzle! so we will make it more like an old puzzle, by adding animals." I am not going to get crazy mad though, because maybe this is just one of those situations where I am biased. And maybe I'm a little biased....
I do really believe though, that this comic is really similar to 173 - even with the graph of the common social situation laid out there in true nerdy form. It also seems a little similar - to me at least - to 287, in the common-situation-turned-into-obnoxious-puzzle way.
The line "The logistics of who can get drunk are nontrivial" confuses me - not on its own, but because I can't really place it into the rest of the comic - I assume it's being said by the main character, in that it appears underneath what it clearly his text ("someone has to get...") but it doesn't feel right for him to be saying it then. It feels more like the kind of phrase Randy would place as a caption, centered, under the whole comic, as a sort of explanation for the whole series of events. A guy saying that phrase sounds a bit like a dick, and it doesn't even really make sense at that point in the conversation.
Also, from a graph point of view, Panel 3 is just kind of dumb. They don't mention dinner anywhere in the comic, so I feel like Randy just looked at a simpler, bar+party version of the graph and said "hmm that is not NERDY or FANCY enough for me" and added another node to the graph. It's especially odd, given that it doesn't seem to even describe the situation he his in. Not that I'm saying it has to, but a real nerd would have worked to include those little details.
Details of course, on why Randall is not allowed to be left with the goat, will be spared for the sake of good taste.
You know...It could just be but did anyone else have an issue with the wording/grammar in panel 3?
ReplyDelete"Someone has to get Paul, and Julia and Emily have to leave by 10:00"
Maybe it's just me but it seems like a poorly constructed and worded sentence. I didn't find the comic overly funny for the reasons you stated too.
Looks to me like an ordinary compound sentence, separated by a comma. It's grammatically fine, but greater symmetry might help the flow.
ReplyDelete"Paul has to be picked up, and Julia and Emily have to leave by 10:00."
It seems to me that instead of taking a strip for what it is, you start out with the notion that it sucks and look for reasons to hate it.
ReplyDeleteOh god todays is another stupid "My Hobby" comic, wonderful.
ReplyDeleteOk, this is my first comment here but I really think there's something to be said for this one. The last panel is a good punchline without being all in your face super-nerd. The 3rd panel is a decent set up for the kicker. I'm with you in the xkcd hate, but this one is redeemable.
ReplyDeleteI also like how the goat looks a little like a cat.
I like this one because superficially, in the first three panels, it leads you to believe this comic is like the other ones you mentioned, all overthought math or graph theory.
ReplyDeleteAnd then in the last panel it's turned on its head somewhat by interjecting an element from a famous riddle that's just barely similar.
It's different from 287 because in that case the entire comic is always about that concept (which, also, are not riddles but important math/computer science problems). It's not a twist in that comic, nor a change in context, but rather a further elaboration on the same theme.
I know the "maybe you just aren't the target audience" explanation doesn't go over well on this blog, and that's fair enough, but if you're looking for why people like this one more I think it applies in this case.
I also think the complaint about the dinner portion of the graph is kind of absurd -- like you're looking for something to piss you off.
In other news, today's comic is pretty shitty. It's "I know famous fonts!". The comic has been done a million times before, and the only difference here is that usually it's about Comic Sans.
@First Anon:
ReplyDeleteYou're at a site called XKCD sucks... are you suprised by that? That's the kind of dumb ass shit -I- would say.
I didn't mind this comic so much, Fridays makes me blind with rage though. How many typography nerds are there exactly? And if it's more than one I'm probably going to kill someone.
@K:
ReplyDeleteShit, man. Who do you think makes fonts? It ain't just been one guy kerning furiously since the invention of the Gutenberg printing press.
When I first saw this, I thought, "that doesn't seem as bad as usual." Then after a few seconds I realized it was, indeed, very bad and not very original since The Simpson's used essentially that exact punchline/reference a few weeks ago (and it wasn't funny then).
ReplyDeleteIt's just another, "something something NERD THING IN REAL LIFE," comic that is completely lacking in any jokes.
My favorite typography joke is in the last four panels of this Unwinder's Tall Comics.By the way, I heartily recommend UTC as a good comic.
ReplyDeleteNothing about the alt-text? To me, that was by far the worst part.
ReplyDeleteHAY GUISE, WE HAVE A FINITE AMOUNT OF MONEY, SO MORE CAB RIDES = LESS BEER
No shit? So where's the joke?
I didn't get it, at all, not gonna lie. But I liked it because it reminded me of old XKCD.
ReplyDelete"The comic has been done a million times before, and the only difference here is that usually it's about Comic Sans."
ReplyDeleteWorse than that - PvP did one just two weeks ago, with the same font (Papyrus) as the punchline.
Already added to the "In Popular Culture" part of the wikipedia page.
ReplyDeletehttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Papyrus_(typeface)&diff=prev&oldid=293030903
I didn't like the comic itself but I liked the reference to the famous puzzle at the end, I thought that was quite clever. Still, when a 17 year old can instantly see how to improve your comic, you know you aren't doing a very good job. Was that 'Damnit guys' really necessary? All it does is distract from the punchline at the end.
ReplyDeleteYet another comic I feel totally bland about. I think there could have been something to it, but really, the set-up doesn't work at all. I think this might actually have worked as a longer comic, with him putting some actual effort in to figuring out who needs to go where, when, and with whom. Maybe have the guy whip out an easel from nowhere, and start working it out. And THEN, after he's got it worked out, have the guy go "I can't travel with the wolf, since I have my goat here." And then the "dammit guys" works well, too.
ReplyDeleteRegarding the newest comic, it's the exact joke in this PVP comic: http://www.pvponline.com/2009/05/11/the-font-snob/
ReplyDelete(CAPTCHA: trial)
Oh, bravo, today he went with the font equivalent of slipping on a banana peel. I've already heard Comic Sans and Papyrus jokes way too many times. Usually words around a character performing an action indicate a sound effect, but here they indicate action the artist lacks the ability to draw.
ReplyDeleteHere we also have an example of the comedy of getting professionals in their field upset by doing things to provoke them. Meeting an astronaut back from the Hubble and asking them how their astrology project went? Hilarious!
In #xkcd Randall just said he just sketches whatever he feels like, then after a while picks something and touches it up before posting. I take this as personal verification of your "blog entry comic" idea.
Best reason to invoke a Comic Book Guy reference. Ever.
The "Dammit guys" is my major concern here. There shouldn't be anything after the punchline. The rest of the comic I didn't mind that much, it's just that the setup could have been handled better. The joke itself is pretty decent, in my opinion. I don't know, I kinda like the absurdity of the goat/wolf thing being interjected. A better comedian could've run with this and made it hilarious.
ReplyDelete@Lewis
ReplyDeleteLook like the forumites got Wikipwned. Check the link again:
http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Papyrus_(typeface)&diff=prev&oldid=293030903
Guys, there is a big discussion on the Wikipedia page re: XKCD's vandalism, please show your lack of support and hopefully Wikipedia will take the same stance on XKCD fanboys as they have on scientology:
ReplyDeletehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Talk:Papyrus_(typeface)
@Malethoth K.
ReplyDelete"My favorite typography joke is in the last four panels of this Unwinder's Tall Comics.By the way, I heartily recommend UTC as a good comic."
All I see in this is a fuckton-a words. You maintain a blog about supposedly terrible webcomics and yet you link to the same shit that did this? I thought it wasn't possible but it managed to make all three comics it ripped on better in comparison. Jiff Janks of QC fame suddenly seemed a ten-fold better artist, the xkcd parody (apart from making xkcd look witty) has been done many times before and more humorously, and the Powerup Comics? Wow, he managed to mock a comic that's only known amongst the inbred pigfuckers that frequent Drunk Duck, and by copying it exactly? That's ironically being unfunny? No, sorry, it is the worst attempt at parody ever. And yet you try and follow in the footsteps of John Solomon? Christ, why not just stalk him down and rape his family to death in front of him? Your webcomic taste is bad and you should feel bad. In your link's defence the joke wasn't particularly awful but the rest of the comic before it was just offputting (mostly with it being boring, pointless, terrible and clearly the author's public masturbation) - I only flicked down to see what your four "best joke" panels could contain, and saw a non-sequitur. Great.
In fact, fuck this, let me run quickly break this down, this douche uses more words than that fuckstain Tim Buckley, he uses photographs of girls of questionable ages (ephebophilia is a crime too, ladies and gentlemen), he makes a shameful attempt at copying Perry Bible Fellowship in this bottom row, he cannot draw facial expressions to save his life, he whines about anime not being exactly as he wants it when he gets it for free and so that's why he'll get the official releases (probably via pirating) and then there's this. So many things are wrong with that strip, so many that I will just say "look at each row [if not panel] and you'll see something." I can't believe that anyone would read that, let alone recommend it. Heck, his guest week had more artistic talent than he did, and his 'writing' just consists of throwing words at it until sentences just about form. Not that it matters because anyone braindead enough to read that many words at once in a webCOMIC aren't of any mental faculty to understand what they're reading nor notice how fucking awful it is.
No thanks, I think I'd rather stick with xkcd: even though it is fucking terrible, its author has some form of intelligence, and at least the art is meant to suck.
Also this Wikipedia business is fucking retarded; the xkcd Sycophant Squad are in full force, and like hell they're going to let logic step in their way, no doubt this behaviour by the Wikipedia admins is "Orwellian" and "some bizare form of [that oh so violent] nationalism" and maybe even "creepy."
ReplyDeleteBut don't forget, my friends - if they get it added to the article, then maybe Randall will become their friend! Will their pathetic attitudes ever come to an end?
590 it seems is just another "My Hobby: Being an Asshole" comic. Yay!
ReplyDeleteThe only humour i can really see in 589 is the sudden twist to the bizarre by the addition of the goat. Other than that its just "look at the problems of having a social life! With added graphs!"
Rehoboam:
ReplyDeleteThose pictures are not sexual in any way, and thus not illegal in any way. Also, those girls are his girlfriend and sister. Learn to read, genius.
It should be a very minor quibble, but the fact that the 2nd guy in the first panel asks "why?" before answering the question makes me hate this one. It is just intolerably bad dialogue.
ReplyDeleteDid I say they were sexual? And if that's the only part of what I said that you can dismiss then boo fuckity hoo, the comic is still terrible even if those images weren't there.
ReplyDeleteAlso, "girlfriend" and "sister" aren't 'ages,' just to let you know. But I'm willing to agree that the girlfriend is 25 or something; no clue about the sister, but I don't shack up with young kids so I wouldn't really know my way around anything <20. Maybe you can enlighten me, O white knight of UTC.
;)
ReplyDeleteRehoboam, it's not exactly child porn, is it?
ReplyDeleteboo-fucking-hoo it's a photo story that might or might not include an underaged girl.
SO FUCKING WHAT, shut the fuck up already, IDIOT.
kthxbye.
(also, ephebophilia is not a crime, L2English, thankyouverymuch)
For that matter, neither is pedophilia. It's child molestation that's a crime. Or child pornography.
ReplyDeleteproduction, possession, and distribution of child porn is a crime in most countries, yes.
ReplyDeleteRandall certainly can't be left alone with the goat if it's a kid! (OH NO I DIDN'T!)
ReplyDelete...Oh. That was a really bad time.
...
Hmm.
But, erm, Rehoboam, don't let anyone tell you this, but... erm... you're allowed to take pictures of young people, as long as they're not sexual. I mean, holy screw, school photos. They pretty much by definition have young people in them, but, as far as I am aware, there are schools within the United States of America.
Rehoboam: I have never read that comic until I saw your comment. I saw the word "ephebophile, and my interest was piqued, so I clicked on it and was disappointed at the lack of teens in bikinis. Being a teen myself, I don't really feel much guilt about this.
ReplyDeleteYou said that he uses photographs of young girls, and go on to say that ephebophilia is a crime. First of all, ephebophilia is /not/ a crime. What is a crime is having sex with underaged kids, or possessing sexualized photos of them. We can agree that these photos are not sexual, and do not imply underaged sex or anything of that sort. All we have here are photos of two girls, one of them probably underage. Are you suggesting that simply having a photo of a girl under 18 is breaking some moral code?
Think about it? All this is is a photo of a fully dressed girl, doing nothing sexual at all. Sure, some ephebophile may say "she's pretty" and start wanking, but is that the author's fault? Are you saying that we shouldn't share any pictures of children anymore--even completely innocent ones like these--?
If I didn't know better, I would think that you are looking for anything to hate about something without actually putting thought or research into it, making you as bad as a person who would mindlessly protect a comic with no value at all.
Plus, wasn't Unwinder one of the people who created Powerup Comics, anyway? He was involved in it in some way.
ReplyDeleteRESEARCH!
Also, I love how you complain about how much text there is when he's deliberately switching to a text-based medium for the purposes of telling a joke. It's like going to, you know, a news website and complaining that there's too many words.
ReplyDeleteI'm surprised Carl didn't mention the alt-txt in this entry, as I felt it was the worst part of 589.
ReplyDeleteAll the Wikipedia vandalizing of xkcd makes my blood boil. xkcd is NOT NOTABLE. You'd think these presumably Wikipedia loving xkcd fanboys would understand the notability guidelines.
590 is terrible. It's such a tired joke. In fact, I was reading a Digg thread just yesterday about fonts (http://digg.com/design/I_Shot_The_Serif_PIC) and people reference Papyrus and Comic Sans throughout it. The same story was on reddit, which Randall seems to love, and then Randall makes a lame font joke. This was quite possibly Randall's laziest comic yet (not counting the absolute worst, like that stupid two hats comic).
I hope you mean "xkcd mentioning papyrus is not notable", cos if you mean "xkcd as an entity is not notable" I'd have to be mean at you for a bit.
ReplyDeleteI once went into a cafe because it had a sign written in Gill Sans. I keep going back 'cos you can get a 6 by 4 by 4 box full of jacket potato, cheese and beans for only £2.50. Class.
I meant xkcd is not notable (as a reference in a wiki). Obviously it's notable enough to have its own entry.
ReplyDeleteI mean, why not link to every reference made by PA or even say CAD (or Garfield or Foxtrot for that matter)?
I can't really comprehend how empy one's life must be to feel the need to start lebgthy blog about how they feel a webcomic is starting to go downhill. I'd say "get a girlfiend", but I feel the situation is more dire. You must have masturbated so much that your penis is scabbed and ulcerous, and you can't manage to masturbate one more time. Only this could explain why you would have so little to do that you spend hours of your life commenting on a stick figure comic.
ReplyDelete"Also, I love how you complain about how much text there is when he's deliberately switching to a text-based medium for the purposes of telling a joke. It's like going to, you know, a news website and complaining that there's too many words."
ReplyDeleteI already drew attention to the concept that this is supposed to be a web[b]comic[/b]. If you cannot do a comic page without going, "Hmmm, shit, I don't know how to make this funny FUCK IT I'll just throw words out until someone laughs" then you might have to question whether you're any good at writing. At all. For anything.
Don't get me wrong, here, I know that we must have too much time on our hands to read webcomics (and complain about them), but if you have enough to time read through those poorly-written dictionary-dumps then you really need to question if your life has any direction, worth or meaning to it.
Also watch me crying because I used BBCode due to how often I've had to repeat these arguments on more suitable areas: boo. Bloody. Hoo.
ReplyDeleteRehoboam, you are my new favorite troll.
ReplyDelete"If I didn't know better, I would think that you are looking for anything to hate about something without actually putting thought or research into it, making you as bad as a person who would mindlessly protect a comic with no value at all."
ReplyDeleteYes, very good, this was a properly structured argument that I could concede to. You're right, there's nothing explicitly wrong with including them, but it's still a cheap way of getting people to read the crap. Maybe it was this quote from the 'news' that worried me:
"She is not available for dating unless you are that vampire heartthrob from the Twilight books."
Maybe I just worry to much about these things because creepy people and the internet go hand in hand, and because Twilight readers are generally in the "not of age" range (although I know adults read the fucking books, no-one need point that out). But yes, my 'research' wasn't well thought out; I had just gotten up. I literally spent 5 minutes just hitting random numbers and describing what was wrong with whatever came up. In this case it was more he was using photographic images to make people read the comic, because face it, that 'story' wasn't interesting enough to warrant reading WITH them in it, and would be less so with his normal artwork. Gaining readership using women as a hook, that was more what I was getting at.
No, no, if you want a well thought-out one I could produce it, but this was a speed criticism, although the fact that the comic is terrible is clear from the outset, so I hoped the comics would speak for themselves. I noticed that of the two retorts that Mr Solomon-wannabe came out with only one refuted me and that was actually refuted by you, Mr Anonymous. Congratulations. Next he'll assume because one of my points was shaken that he then try and worm out a second (technically third) feeble attempt to try and make me concede that that travesty is good, after all.
"Rehoboam, you are my new favorite troll."
ReplyDeleteI do what I can.
"I can't really comprehend how empy one's life must be to feel the need to start lebgthy blog about how they feel a webcomic is starting to go downhill. I'd say "get a girlfiend", but I feel the situation is more dire. You must have masturbated so much that your penis is scabbed and ulcerous, and you can't manage to masturbate one more time. Only this could explain why you would have so little to do that you spend hours of your life commenting on a stick figure comic."
ReplyDeleteWhy would you even read this blog? Is your penis scabbed and ulcerous or something? It's a two-edged sword, my dudette.
Wait for it, wait for someone to say, "Well where's your comic Mr Smart Guy?"
ReplyDeleteWell where's your movie, Mr. Ebert?
ReplyDeleteI really enjoy it when people imply that it takes an incredible time commitment to post a few paragraphs on a blog three times a week. Unless you are an illiterate howler monkey with no hands and a severe concussion, bitching about a webcomic in text form is not a strenuous or time-consuming activity.
ReplyDeleteOn a related note, commenting on this blog takes even less time, as can be evidenced by the fact that I usually type comments while I'm waiting for an application to build.
Rehoboam do you want to get gay married
ReplyDeleteSure do!
ReplyDeleteBut not to you, Rob!
ReplyDelete(Captcha: baconsu; what Japanese people say when they want some bacons)
Which is never, 'cos all Japanese people are actually allergic to pork. FACT.
ReplyDeleteI don't really know what the word 'actually' signifies in that sentence. What, was I making sure you didn't think they were just pretending to be allergic to pork?
ReplyDeleteThe Japanese have long used the guise of not being allergic to pork to blend in with other Asians whilst conducting espionage operations.
ReplyDeleteThe fact that it takes surprisingly small amount of effort and time to keep this blog doesn't mean people don't have the right to find it pathetic. It also takes very little effort and time for a guy to yell "KILL ALL BLACK PEOPLE", yet it's perfectly alright to chop off the bastard's head beacuse of that.
ReplyDeleteWednesday's comic: blah blah blah nerds overcomplicating things
ReplyDeleteToday's comic: Well, at least Randall didn't use Comic Sans as the awful font to ridicule. I'll give him that.
I apologize for writing this blog post instead of knitting socks for homeless Ukrainians or whatever would have been a better use of my spare 5 minutes waiting for my printouts.
Pvp already did the papyrus joke like last week. I didn't want to admit it at first, but you guys are right. XKCD is truly f*cking terrible now.
ReplyDeleteIs Rehoboam a troll or a dumbass?
ReplyDeleteRehoboam I admire your spirit of telling people what is wrong with what is in my objective opinion one of the worst web comics of all time, I would direct you toward a slightly different method of destructive criticism which I will outline for you in this next paragraph that is coming up next.
ReplyDeleteYou need to get down on your hands and knees (I know it's not easy) and evaluate these comics on THEIR OWN TERMS. If you ever think that you are going to be good at those things that you do you are going to have to realize this, and I am humble and understand your predicament.
For instance, you might read a comic and say "there are pictures of young girls in this comic." I would read the same comic and say "This comic is an underarm, and those photographs are either armpit hairs or little beads of sweat." See what I'm doing? I'm approaching that comic from its own perspective and finding it mercilessly worthless, which is exactly the way a man does things.
I apologize if you are not a man, but even women sometimes want to do things like a man, even if it's just for the sake of giving it a shot.
Another thing by the way that I find useless and unfair about these tall comics is that they have never once defended the mentally ill.
You know, my Solomon ripoff only lasted, like, five updates, and I stopped doing it thirteen months ago. FYI.
ReplyDeleteAnd if you guys REALLY wanna see how shitty I am re: webcomics, have fun and try reading through my own. It may actually be the worst webcomic I've ever read, in the sense that it makes me angriest when I actually contemplate it.
Rehoboam I don't think Unwinder is really trying to do a traditional webcomic. You don't have to like the fake news websites and scripts, but some people do. Maybe for the same reason one would read The Onion. Anyway, have fun being a moron with zero valid points.
ReplyDeletei always thought it was bullshit how watchmen had all those goddamn text excerpts at the end of every chapter
ReplyDeletewhat the fuck alan moore this is serial imagery i want pictures
It's okay to not like things, but at least just admit you plain don't care for it. Going on a tirade against some comic because there is a blog about how XKCD is bad doesn't do anything for anyone, except make you look stupid.
ReplyDelete@MallyK: haha!
ReplyDelete(what, is this twitter or something?)
I like how people are blatantly admitting that they used to hate Papyrus too, until they learned that it's used in Serenity.
ReplyDeleteIf you don't get the joke,
ReplyDeletehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/River_crossing_puzzle
Wolves eat goats.
It's not a matter of getting it, it's that it's just not funny. Referencing (this case a riddle) =/= joke.
ReplyDelete"Rehoboam I don't think Unwinder is really trying to do a traditional webcomic. You don't have to like the fake news websites and scripts, but some people do. Maybe for the same reason one would read The Onion. Anyway, have fun being a moron with zero valid points."
ReplyDeleteI love fake news and I love scripts. I like things that are done well. I don't particularly care if you like a crappy comic but if you suggest it to people, you're going to have to deal with people who won't like it. That's how it goes. I'm not going to launch a vendetta against the author, but I'm not the one thrusting myself into defending it by calling someone a "moron with zero valid points" without actually backing up my claim. In fact I genuinely did back-up my points, give-or-take an issue with photography.
And Malethoth: "And if you guys REALLY wanna see how shitty I am re: webcomics, have fun and try reading through my own. It may actually be the worst webcomic I've ever read, in the sense that it makes me angriest when I actually contemplate it."
I did read it, actually. I wasn't going to say anything about it because I thought you were being ironic. To your credit your updates were okay, they just lacked the genuine levels of vitriol that made Solomon's reviews unrelentless (thus entertaining).
Finally Anonymous: "It's okay to not like things, but at least just admit you plain don't care for it. Going on a tirade against some comic because there is a blog about how XKCD is bad doesn't do anything for anyone, except make you look stupid."
How does it make me look stupid? That on a blog where someone with a belief in standards posts about a comic that has slipped from them, someone who applies standards to other webcomics is some kind of strange, unwarranted occurance? Sorry to refute your totally valid point.
I know it's really not on topic, but he's been mentioned in this comment thread and is possibly the owner of the largest single webcomic hatedom, so...
ReplyDeleteWhy does everyone hate Tim Buckley (and Ctrl Alt Del by relation) so much?
Look him up on Encyclopedia Dramatica.
ReplyDeleteCAD is awful, with no redeeming value. I don't know why you feel the need to ask that question.
ReplyDeleteTim Buckley is possibly a paedophile.
ReplyDeleteTim Buckley has the biggest ego in webcomics
Tim Buckley is a jerk to his fanbase.
Tim Buckley is a sell out
Tim Buckley has no originality, his whole shtick and even some of his jokes are stolen from Penny Arcade
Tim Buckley can't write realistic characters or non-forced dialogue
CAD isn't funny, at all.
CAD has a giant obsessed fanbase
CAD is more popular than a lot ofgenuinely good comics
CAD is written like a bad sitcom
1. Romicide- A rumour on one of his forums (Rantings of Madmen I think) that Tim Buckley sent a picture of his wang to a 17 year old girl on the forum. He deleted the subforum and banned everyone who had even LOOKED at the thread. I think.
2. B^Uckley asked for donations from his fanbase to make a CAD server on a game. He got bored of the game and cancelled the server, WITHOUT GIVING THE MONEY BACK.
3. The Miscariage Arc
Can't be bothered finding more, but there is. Google it.
I did read it, actually. I wasn't going to say anything about it because I thought you were being ironic. To your credit your updates were okay, they just lacked the genuine levels of vitriol that made Solomon's reviews unrelentless (thus entertaining).I was being ironic, and the comic is STILL painfully bad, because it's really shitty irony.
ReplyDeleteThe uninspired copypasta, lack of DRAWN backgrounds, etc. Don't forget that.
ReplyDeleteThis comic is funny because it was surprising. The punchline was unexpected yet fit right in.
ReplyDeleteThat said, Friday's SUUUUUCKS. All the My Hobby ones suck as far as comic-y-ness. They only serve to add to the foundations of the community, and are actually pretty good as minimemes.
The Wikipedia edit war over the Papyrus reference is hilarious. Much moreso than any xkcd itself has ever been.
ReplyDelete@Anti-Tim Anonymous
ReplyDeleteAs for the "Wang to a 17 year-old girl" thing, I've actually heard that before, but the explanation sounds like one of those crappy conspiracy theory Youtube videos. "He did something evil and then destroyed any sort of evidence, destroyed it because he's SO FUCKING EVIL". The age of consent is actually below 18 in a lot of areas of the US and other counters (I have no idea where Tim and supposed girl were located)... but it's still creepy as shit either way.
Webcomics (and art in general) has a lot of people who think really highly of themselves.
I'm assuming the "jerk to his fanbase" is in reference to the donations for a server thing. Once again I don't know the whole story on this, but isn't it entirely possible that the donation money (gasp) was already spent during the server's run?
All the rest of him having no originaliy and comic critique can all easily lump together. I'm hardly an avid reader of Ctrl Alt Del, though I do Stumble it now and then and it doesn't really seem any different than Penny Arcade or any other Sarcasm + Games webcomic. It doesn't seem like it's worth much attention, let alone a hatedom that manifests itself every chance it gets.
I'm not really defending him or his comic (well, other than for the sake of conversation), but it doesn't seem that he's done anything radically different than a whole ton of other webcomics out there... like, he's probably an asshole, but it doesn't seem any more so than plenty of other assholes with smaller hatedoms.
He's significantly worse. Hell, even other webcomics people hate him. They are usually a pretty friendly group.
ReplyDelete" but it doesn't seem any more so than plenty of other assholes with smaller hatedoms."
ReplyDelete"Miscarriage. Plot line."
With no warning, and no prior pretensions to seriousness, Buckley made his self-insertion's fiancee miscarry. Just to fuck with the fan base. Not for any lasting pay off, since the characters still ended up getting married, and seem unchanged by the experience. And THAT is why people hate him. A flippant treatment of a fairly horrifying event.
Thanks Mike. I'm the Anon from before.
ReplyDeleteHe made a blog post to go with the comic.
http://www.ctrlaltdel-online.com/news.php?i=1636#1636
Wow, check out that wall of text.
Here's a little highlight:
"Again, I disagree. A miscarriage is definitely not a joke, and I have no intention of making light of it. And it can be a tough and emotional thing for couples to go through, speaking from personal experience. And I know that it's often much harder on the woman than on the man. However, I also know that it doesn't necessarily turn you into a sad, depressed sack of tears for the rest of your life. People can move past it, and heal."
Buckley had a girlfriend and she had a miscarriage. Hmm...
Anon: Yeah, it might have been based on events, but he planned the arc for something in the neighbourhood of two years, and didn't lay a shit's worth of groundwork for it. I think you'd be hard pressed to find a serious moment in the comic that didn't involve the death of his robot buddy. You'd think he could have prepared the readers for that a bit, eh? Instead of just having his character act like a fucktard the entire time, and then manage to have all the characters over the event in something like 2 months? It's a self-insertion blip on the radar that proves Buckley doesn't actually give a fuck about the integrity of the comic. He makes a feign to continuity, but consistently does shit all with it. Not to mention the characters are pretty damned poorly written. Does anyone honestly believe that Ethan, the complete and utter tool he's previously been, could run an entire store with no management training? And Lilah has no characterization. Literally. Name a defining characteristic that goes beyond "female" and "likes video games." Considering how long the comic's been going, and how much "story" there's been, you'd think you'd know a little about what kind of food she likes, or anything.
ReplyDeleteYeah the characters are pretty much all about as one-dimensional as you can ever be. There's no psychology to them at all.
ReplyDeleteThe worst part, though, is that Buckley isn't just self-important. I think most people in webcomics are to some degree or another, with a few exceptions. It's that he is pompous, deranged, and narcissistic. It adds up.
First, there is the format of his news posts. They are still the front page of his website--because he assumes that his readers care what he has to say. This is also true of a few other comics--Penny Arcade being an example--but in the case of Penny Arcade, the news post always contains relevant text to the comic, and Tycho is also actually a good writer.
Tim Buckley, in contrast, is a pompous narcissistic blowhard who thinks that his opinion is important to his legion fans. It's all in the tone. He can write a review of a game and sound loathsome while he's doing it. He is utterly self-absorbed, and simultaneously incredibly insecure. He maintains a sock puppet account on Wikipedia to monitor the CAD article and root out any criticism or negative press about the comic. He lashes out with vitriol at even very thoughtful and kind criticism, with a harsh and dismissive "well then don't read it, dumbass." Even the ones fully intended to be constructive, that would actually benefit him greatly to pay attention to, that come from people who are legitimately fans--"don't read it, no one is holding a gun to your head."
I don't understand how he makes money. I mean, xkcd, for all its faults, is still compelling enough to read. I tried to read CAD once and just got bored.
ReplyDelete"I was being ironic, and the comic is STILL painfully bad, because it's really shitty irony."
ReplyDeleteWell, yes, but I was giving you a get-out-of-judgement free card.
And now while I panned UTC, it is a relatively harmless comic that lays low. Timothy "Look at me guys I'm Irish" Buckley's miscarriage is the opposite kind of comic: harmful and well-known. I can provide commentary to this end, but I'd rather let the King spread the good word.
Rehoboam: I could go on for hours about how batshit insane and egotistical Buckley is. To Randall's credit, he is a million times better than Buckley.
ReplyDeleteCAD is a piece of shit
ReplyDeletexkcd is still decent every once and a while.
I wish TSGA would stop fucking around so much and make more good comics. Or any comics for that matter.
This one I found pretty good. It would have been better if he hadn't skimped on the dinner/bar/driver logistics.
I guess I don't read CAD nearly as much as the people who actually get no enjoyment out of reading it.
ReplyDeleteThough once again, to be fair, I can't think of a single video game comic that doesn't have the author's blog as teh front page going in. It's pretty much the only way to get your fanbase to read it... assuming everyone on the internet has teh exact same browsing habits that I do. Which is completely reasonable to make.
Hey, who likes Awkward Zombie?
ReplyDeleteI have awkward zombie on my list of webcomics that I read, but the appeal has really faded. I might end up removing it if the next update sucks.
ReplyDeleteI am ASTOUNDED at how she can look like she does in her comic. I am just aghast.
I didn't know what papyrus was, I had to look it up. I think more people would have gotten it had he used Comic Sans. The comic itself still didn't amuse me much
ReplyDeleteAm I the only one that hates the site color scheme for akward zombie?
ReplyDeleteThat's why I never check her comic, because the huge bright red makes my eyes bleed.
I actually do enjoy reading CAD. But only because it's so terrible and unoriginal.
ReplyDeleteCarl you are taking forever to talk about Papyrus, has something come up? Would you like a guest speaker?
ReplyDeleteRehoboam:
ReplyDeleteCarl has taken 2 days, so far.
Forever is far more than 2 days. Forever is more than 10 days. Forever is more than 10*10 days.
In fact, forever is more than 10^10^10^10^10^10^10^10 days.
Furthermore (and this is REALLY going to blow your mind away):
Forever is more than 10^10^...^10 days, where the number of tens is 10^10^...^10 days, where the number of tens is 10^10^...^10 days, where the number of tens is 10^10^10^10^10^10.
WOW! Forever is a LONG time!
(warning: this post has no content. You have been warned.)
nitpicking: okay so as someone who has studied that damn lettuce-goat-wolf thing, actually if the guy were traveling with the goat he would be able to travel with the wolf. The whole premise is that the farmer needs to stay with the pairs wherein one will eat the other. So maybe have him say "Yeah and I have to stick with the goat and the wolf to make sure the goat doesn't get eaten."
ReplyDelete8:52 AM Cuddlefish: .... how does one's penis get ulcerous from masturbation?? That is a terrifying thought.
And then 10:04 Cuddlefish and on, you have made my next hour. Then I will forget this amusing interlude and go back to being bored.
BACONSU PLZ! Actually my captcha is "tater"! YUM.
Fernie, the fact that it takes surprisingly small amount of effort and time to keep this blog doesn't mean people don't have the right to find it pathetic, but it does mean that people cannot use the argument that anyone who frequents this blog has no life.
Lastly, on the subject of hated webcomics that should not be as popular as they are... is LICD on that list for most of you? I have noticed it being mentioned in disdain, and am wondering now if the reasons behind hating CAD are similar for hating LICD.
This is actually a really good comic, IMO. I literally laughed out loud.
ReplyDeleteWhy does your opinion matter?
ReplyDeleteFirst things first, 7:03.
ReplyDelete4:05 never said his/her opinion mattered. So the question is:
Does your opinion matter?
With your question, you're clearly and undeniably guilty of a strawman.
(warning: this post is sarcastic. If you were too stupid to realize that before you read this warning, then you need to dowse yourself in gasoline and light a match to your clothes. I am NOT kidding.
You have been warned.)
Regarding the graph, you'll also note that a party isn't mentioned anywhere else in the comic.
ReplyDelete