Monday, June 13, 2011

Comics 910 and 911: More Good News From The Home Front

910. I didn't really have much to say about this one, because it just holds absolutely no interest for me. But looking back, there are three distinct "jokes" here, as is Randy's tradition--throw a bunch out there and see what sticks. Joke the first: "lol I spend a lot of time thinking about server names." GOOMH-bait. Joke the second: "lol I didn't spend much time choosing a name for my hot porn star daughter." This builds on the first, core joke, and you could argue that it's part of the same joke--but this one isn't GOOMH-bait, it just serves to underscore the first one. And finally, joke the third: "lol drugs."

I give Randy credit that these jokes are actually vaguely related, but this just means he doesn't lose quite so many points for not just picking one joke and sticking to it.

911. The Magic School Bus was a show about learning through empirical observation rather than by simply reading and regurgitating information that is the product of other people's observations. Randy's joke is, apparently, "what if instead of going and observing things they just looked things up instead? wouldn't that be boring?" Or perhaps this is an earnest paean to Wikipedia. "Wikipedia is just as exciting as the Magic School Bus. I would rather sit on my ass and type random words into the little search box than go on adventures."

I think that Randy is kidding on the square here: of course it's boring, but at the same time, this is what Randy is reduced to. He sits and idly consumes, because his job is to sit at his computer and read Wikipedia until he comes up with a way to make one of the articles into a comic. It's reached the point now that he no longer even tries to hide it: lately he's done nothing but praise Wikipedia and all of its greatness.

I liked the alt text for this one though. As many people observed, the structure of this one is quite sound--it has a setup, some beats, and a punchline. The problem is there is no humor to be found anywhere. If there were the alt text would be particularly well done--but alas, the joke is about as humorless as it's possible for something to be.

Maybe next time, Randy.

86 comments:

  1. This review is bad and you should feel bad.

    Captcha: spambill. K.

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  2. I really miss Men in Hats right now.

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  3. 3 of the last 9 comics have been about Wikipedia, compared to maybe 5 or 6 out of the previous 900.

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  4. @11:40
    Agreed. MiH was awesome. No other webcomic comes near to the glory that was Men in Hats.

    Plus, MiH's Aram was way cooler/funnier/more poignant than xkcd's black hat guy, who is supposedly based on the former.

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  5. 1 out of the last 6 presidents of the IMF have been Jewish, compared to maybe 5 or 6 of the previous 11.

    (Ignoring current acting president Lipsky. Hm, wonder what he is...)

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  6. @12:41

    Are we talking actual yarmulke-wearing, no-elevators-on-Sunday, praying-three-times-a-day Jews or the Nazi-style 1/4 ancestry Jews?

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  7. Probably it's bad that my main reaction to 911 was basically, "NOOOO, Ms. Frizzle has way more integrity than that! :'((( "

    But seriously, the Friz was awesome. Stop making her not-awesome. Stop stop stop. My pathetic nostalgia demands it.

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  8. That was a fucking awful review, Rob.

    I'd say 'try harder', but despite your efforts to appear aloof, we all know this is all you're capable of.

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  9. You missed the fourth possible joke in 910, Caroline is the name of a character from Portal 2. Randy probably chose that name because it would be recognised by his GOOMHing fans.

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  10. @Ravenzomg: You talkin' ta me?

    But yeah. I'm kinda shocked by the sheer amount of Wikipedia jokes. I know you like it, but really, man? It's been like every other update, now.

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  11. @2:38 I wasn't aware that the Nazis had a 1/4 ancestry classification for Jews. Is that the one you use? Tell me more.

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  12. @2:38 saturday you dumbfuck

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  13. Another good review. Keep it up!

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  14. I have a funny feeling that all the anons that insult Rob and his writing abilities are actually Ravenzomg.

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  15. GEEZ Rob, your review's dont have enought Megan jokes. U suck.

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  16. No, no, I'm pretty sure that was me.

    Captcha: ilybuds. Because you're totally hot, Buds.

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  17. "....He sits and idly consumes,...."

    Are you sure?
    Might be 'active consumption' you know?

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  18. No, everyone knows the anonymouses who insult Rob, and in fact all the anonymouses, are Rob himself. So is everyone with an account. The only real people who are the XKCD fans who come here and tell us we have no lives.

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  19. @ Anonymous 4:40 AM,

    Actually Friday at local sundown until Saturday at local sundown.
    Anonymous 2:38 is still a dumbfuck though.

    @ Anonymous 7:31 AM,
    I am Rob.
    I am also Spartacus.

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  20. These reviews are actually pretty good. Why does everyone complain?

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  21. I am not, however, Amina Arraf.

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  22. 911 is meta-humour... he is subverting our expectations for humour so we laugh at ourselves for being so naive.

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  23. @K.:*:.: I suspect you made your delightful moniker specifically to pick random fights with internet-borne Corvids who type like 12-year old girls! That's racist against tweens and birds, and I demand restitution!

    Re K.'s actual content: Well, this is what happens when an otherwise-unemployed geek makes a living off webcomics. Sure, he could be spending his 23 free hours a day exploring the world as he continuously tries to urge his followers to do, but instead he stays in front of a computer all day, learning about them on Wikipedia.

    If anything, #911 is a cry for help, a nostalgic scream about how he's lost his thrill for the magic of the world, and Wikipedia is the monster to blame. As Wikipedia devours his world day by day, topic by topic, the only constant that remains in this paltry existence is the Destroyer itself, so what else can he do but craft idols in Its name, and worship It as the God of his shrinking world.

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  24. Sinbad: We were expecting humor?

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  25. yeh k stop piking on us u tell em raven!!11!!1!!!1!

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  26. Raven: that explanation of Radall's relationship with Wikipedia was nothing short of poetic beauty. Also I thought that despite the lack of actual humor, the Magic School Bus comic was better than most of his other ones just because of the inclusion of pretty colors.

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  27. Raven: your post was bad and you should feel bad. Also, your sycophants are disgusting.

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  28. I am locating 1.08 and preparing to liquidate them as we speak, oh Raven fairest.

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  29. You are the worst of them all, Ann. You are even worse than that Eff Greg guy.

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  30. Who is using my name? My letter is a reference to Franz Kafka's protagonist in The Trial, it is not some nomer or misnomer to be BANDIED ABOUT.

    Here's an idea, maybe Randy is a really great friend i.e. he's caring, he's very witty and he's always got a kind word and time for anyone. This would explain why the actually good webcomic authors (Read as: people I like) seem to love him. I honestly don't see any other reason for it.

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  31. "I saw the best minds of my generation destroyed by Wikipedia."

    As Allan Ginsburg would probably have said.

    He was one of Raven's toadys too!

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  32. what did this blog do to deserve you horrible people

    there's no justice

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  33. I hated the Magic School Bus, because it outright taught kids things that were wrong, then tried to cover its ass with those lame epilogue "yeah, we know that's not how science actually works, but we had to dumb it down for the anklebiters." Fill their heads with garbage and then insult them. Why was this show popular again?

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  34. nice try 2:19 but i'm not that much of a whiny bitch

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  35. If this blog didn't exist, I would have stopped reading the xkcdgoomhr "web" "comic" long ago, and I'm sure I'm not the only one. Is Rob a Randy enabler? Discuss.

    Might I add, I love this blog ^^

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  36. Yes you are, R. All you do is whine and bitch.

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  37. 2.38: actually dubstep superstar Katy B in disguise? Well, probably not, but this place does badly need the showbiz touch. Someone get Daniel Radcliffe to say he hates xkcd or something.

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  38. Hypothesis: All xkcd readers are actually xkcdsucks fans. Everyone who posts on the xkcd forums are just trolling ol' Randy.

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  39. you are a fucking idiot justscott

    a worthless piece of shit ground into the fabric of this blog by a stampede of idiots running around looking for better things

    fuck off

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  40. Maybe if we all had a little LOVE and UNDERSTANDING this blog come stop being a HAVEN of HATRED and DISGUST. Maybe we wouldn't attract this cavalcade of human scum if we weren't such ARSE ourselves.

    Oh, speak for yourself! I'm perfectly PLEASANT in my own life, I don't need to LIE to myself here.

    Well maybe a little LIE is needed to protect the TRUTH. Maybe the lie that we're nice is enough to let us EXUDE the TRUTH that we're all here to EXUDE.

    Just don't speak for me please. No one likes it when you speak for everyone.

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  41. 3:06 and 3:16

    A special message to you, from my heart: DON'T fuck around with people's emotion. Singular. They never appreciate your handling of the situation. Selfishness as I see it, but nevermind.

    Did anyone see the Terry Pratchet documentary on assisted suicide? I'm in favour of it, finally get a good eugenics program going. The UK never got a a chance while they were popular.

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  42. I'm in favour of a good eugenics programme if it means culling the likes of Terry Pratchett. Unfortunately for him, to die with dignity would have been to commit hara kiri the day after his first Discworld novel was published.

    (same applies to Randall although he has no honour)

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  43. To Anon,

    There I made a blogger account. Are you not entertained?!

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  44. Since when is it okay to make a blogger account without having any qualifications?

    It's not okay by me...

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  45. u r doing it wrong Ed

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  46. Dearest k, lowercase and unpunctuated: You are mistaking "K." [uppercase punctuated] for yourself. To prove yourself the worthier bearer of that letter I'm afraid you'll have to draw something better than K.'s reply on this blog post. If you can only draw something better than the original, you get to be a Ravenzomg for a day or something? Is that how this works?

    Captcha: Therin. Lies the solution, k.

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  47. Don't look at me DON'T YOU LOOK AT ME

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  48. Since when did mangling an unfunny meme become okay?

    I don't think it's okay.

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  49. I don't get the latest comic. Is the idea that some things shouldn't be open source? Because that is pretty obvious.

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  50. Oh wait; i was thinking of "GPU".

    So it's basically like a "man" page?

    Didn't he do this before, but with a toaster?

    Captcha: Ovavdal. Randal with ovaries. A horrifying thought.

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  51. Ravenzomg, I am doing nothing of the sort, I am however fearful that others will make this mistake, similar as it is to my own moniker. I don't need an apologist for SUBNORMALITY weakening my brand amongst the very demographic I am reaching out to.

    Your request seems bizaare, but if it secures my letter...http://28.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_lmtkc8wFJQ1qbo3w2o1_500.png

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  52. There's two 'jokes' here, neither funny:

    1) Technology meets practicality.
    this is the emergency override, you have to go through the info page to use it, hope you're not in a hurry huhuhuhuhuhuhuh

    2) Stupid homonym joke.
    manual, adj. Operated by means of the hands (of a machine, device etc.).
    manual, n. A booklet that instructs on the usage of a particular machine.
    as in LOL it's a gnu info page, not a man page, so it's not MANUAL override it's GNU INFO override. i'll be here all night

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  53. did 2:44 pretend to be me so he could insult himself? wow

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  54. The latest comic is just the OH SHIT WE'RE ALL GOING TO CRASH staple lazy comedy scenario peppered with a disconnected series of increasingly implausible thoughts.

    (1) It's annoying the way some GNU software uses spartan manpages and prefers to put more stuff on an info page;

    (2) Wouldn't it be funny if the same thing applied to aircraft emergency recovery procedure;

    (3) Let's also assume pilots are as clueless as wannabe geeks, not having had thousands of hours of training and flight time drumming the procedures into their heads already.

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  55. ROb ya cunt

    yor a dumshit hahha

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  56. Cuddlefish's in a muddle -
    Someone's popped his nerdy bubble!

    Scratches head for words so cruel
    But hasn't spoken out since school
    Where bullies used to call him cunt
    And he knew it was just a front
    To hide that they were really dumb
    Dumshits, each and everyone.

    So cuddlefish he kept it quiet
    Noted down his pain like Wyatt
    (He had forgotten the design -
    aside from 14 numbered lines)

    Ten years on: xkcd,
    The day was his, 2:53.

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  57. The comic used in 912 was originally going to be used in 911, but Randy's editor informed him that might be insensitive.

    Captcha: ativst. Randy's a wmen's rghts ativst.

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  58. GNU did 911!

    Infopages are an inside job!

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  59. HAHAHAHAHA 9/11 COMIC WAS ONE EDITION LATE RANDALL YOU CARD.

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  60. Also this pretty much exactly the same joke as #293, except for the fact that he decided to use "GNU Info page" instead of "man page" this time, which doesn't seem to add anything to the joke and in fact threw me off because I've never even used GNU.

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  61. JAJAJAJAJAJAJAJAJAJAJAJAJAJAJAJA

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  62. I honestly thought 912 was going to be a Portal 2 reference when I saw the title. How wrong I was.

    Captcha: faudom. Like fandom, but more ironic.

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  63. Actually, because of www.xkcd.com/404 , xkcd 912 is the 911th comic.

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  64. You guys need to get over 911 no one else even remembers what happened.

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  65. k feels left out because he wasn't even alive yet when 9/11 happened.

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  66. And yet he's old enough to have this conversation with you. ZOMG, scary!

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  67. K is a jew, and he's trying to discredit 9/11 so people don't find out he helped orchestrate it. Fact.

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  68. K or k? I wish you people would choose better names. Sheesh.

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  69. People need to learn how to read.

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  70. @k why do you hate America?

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  71. Because secretly I am America.

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  72. Every time you think you breathe the fresh air of freedom, you have a little bit of America inside you. Just a little deeper.

    captcha: spenm. The congressman insists he was in the restroom for "niggard spenm".

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  73. How very niggardly of him.

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  74. Scott xkcdsucks is not your personal army

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  75. for now you see my true identity

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  76. Man this blog sucks. XD

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  77. Just because you dony understand the joke doesnt mean its not funny asshole. And who are you to talk about not having friends? All i see you doing is making this stupid blog.

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