tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6714810984552499396.post1844025663676787974..comments2024-03-17T05:03:46.056-07:00Comments on xkcd sucks: Comic 656: TreateryCarlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01074589998141327538noreply@blogger.comBlogger65125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6714810984552499396.post-25184005747614582242009-12-23T20:49:12.188-08:002009-12-23T20:49:12.188-08:00they are safety goggles, can't you tell from t...they are safety goggles, can't you tell from the photorealistic art??Carlhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01074589998141327538noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6714810984552499396.post-72321592292941383222009-12-21T17:09:48.106-08:002009-12-21T17:09:48.106-08:00Wait...since when did Doc Brown wear sunglasses?!!...Wait...since when did Doc Brown wear sunglasses?!!Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6714810984552499396.post-47985311537957206202009-11-07T09:14:38.081-08:002009-11-07T09:14:38.081-08:00Okay, never mind, actually it didn't.Okay, never mind, actually it didn't.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6714810984552499396.post-84680626180566665392009-11-07T09:10:09.566-08:002009-11-07T09:10:09.566-08:00Don't know if anyone noticed, but bizarro did ...Don't know if anyone noticed, but bizarro did pretty much the same joke one day later.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6714810984552499396.post-41464663732205955202009-11-06T02:04:32.975-08:002009-11-06T02:04:32.975-08:00I think http://www.halolz.com/wp-content/uploads/2...I think http://www.halolz.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/09/tardy-slowpoke.gif is a much better delivery of pretty much the same joke.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6714810984552499396.post-70216771775354735102009-11-03T11:12:26.997-08:002009-11-03T11:12:26.997-08:00I still think that particular PBF is trying to evo...I still think that particular PBF is trying to evoke a sort of childhood innocence and joy. And keep in mind that he isn't talking <i>to</i> anyone - he might as well be <i>thinking</i> "today's my birthday," which I am sure we can agree most wide eyed happy children do sometimes think on their birthdays.<br /><br />Ok, "blue hat" was a bad example. But maybe Randall could still have used visuals to show that this was Doc Brown - perhaps a DeLorean in the background? That's pretty closely associated with Back to the Future. That plus at least a <i>better</i> drawing of Doc would have been nice.Carlhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01074589998141327538noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6714810984552499396.post-57367607313589391342009-11-03T10:59:03.899-08:002009-11-03T10:59:03.899-08:00Most PBFs are fantasy world. I don't think the...Most PBFs are fantasy world. I don't think the one I was referring to was one. http://www.pbfcomics.com/?cid=PBF032-Todays_My_Birthday.gif is the comic I was talking about.<br />But here's the problem in what you said.<br />Randall also wouldn't use "That's a nice blue hat you are wearing". A nice blue hat is easy to draw. But even if he drew like Gurevitch, I still wouldn't be able to tell the difference between Doc Brown and Albert Einstein. Sometimes it's necessary to have bad dialogue to explain the joke, and I didn't think the dialogue was that bad. When I was a little kid dressed up as a turtle for Halloween (I was a very boring little kid) people told me "What a lovely turtle costume!" People state the obvious many times. G'night now. I can't believe it's 11 AM somewhere, it's so dark out now...Pitahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00658721841247581954noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6714810984552499396.post-12560403692153985012009-11-03T10:46:27.718-08:002009-11-03T10:46:27.718-08:00I like Penny Arcade but I was not mentioning it as...I like Penny Arcade but I was not mentioning it as an example of good humor, only an example of people who sleep on mountains of money.<br /><br />I am not seeing the same stilted "no human would ever say that" dialogue you see from time to time in XKCD, however. These are not the days of Elayne.rshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15828938843801425383noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6714810984552499396.post-76305876817710469102009-11-03T10:43:27.774-08:002009-11-03T10:43:27.774-08:00i feel like most PBFs are supposed to be this sort...i feel like most PBFs are supposed to be this sort of childlike fantasy type world, usually with some type of evil twist to it. The characters there are more parodies of people in fairy tales, in some ways. Does that make sense?<br /><br />From another point of view, the characters would never say "That's a nice blue hat you are wearing" because Nick G. would just draw the damn hat, you know? And then you would see it. The problem is not so much randall telling you things he should be showing you, the way I phrased it above (though that is a problem), in this case it's even worse: He's telling you things that he <i>is</i> showing you, because his showing is crappy.Carlhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01074589998141327538noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6714810984552499396.post-79588437026911699472009-11-03T10:30:05.532-08:002009-11-03T10:30:05.532-08:00Retroactively editing now that I re-read: Nobody w...Retroactively editing now that I re-read: Nobody wakes up and says "It's my birthday today!" unless they're next to someone who doesn't KNOW they have a birthday.Pitahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00658721841247581954noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6714810984552499396.post-37725630262839498462009-11-03T10:27:51.298-08:002009-11-03T10:27:51.298-08:00"Dinosaur comics uses art to represent simply..."Dinosaur comics uses art to represent simply exactly what ryan North wants to represent, which happens to be the same thing every time. In this case, Randall was not able to use art to represent what he wanted, because he lacks the skill. So he had to do his best and then just tell you. That is the difference.<br /><br />I'm not faulting him for failing to use the visual medium (some of his comics, after all, are pure text), I'm berating him for trying to use it and failing. If the whole comic had just been text ("My Hobby: Dressing up as Doc Brown and going trick or treating on October 30th") I would probably still have problems with it, but not of an artistic nature."<br />I always thought he could actually do art, but chose stick figures because it's a certain style.I dunno. Not that I liked this comic. I got the joke, and I have no real complaints other than "Meh not funny"<br />Regarding this latest post by Carl:<br />Perry Bible fellowship is considered good comedy. I know I love it enough to spend good money on a book that's 95% stuff I could get for free online, and 3% of the new stuff was bad, and admitted to be bad by the author. But he uses stilted speech in his comics to elaborate as well. "It's my birthday today!" opens one I can remember pretty well. Nobody wakes up and says "It's my birthday today!" unless they're next to someone having a birthday.<br />On the other hand, there's Order of the Stick, which is in my opinion great comedy, which has fairly realistic dialogue even though it uses stick figures. Although its stick figures are more advanced than Randall's. Not much else to say other than WOO I'M BACK BABY.Pitahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00658721841247581954noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6714810984552499396.post-72045218133627806182009-11-02T22:58:49.223-08:002009-11-02T22:58:49.223-08:00Elayne - your point seems good, but I don't th...Elayne - your point seems good, but I don't think it stands up. Bad sitcoms do that a lot, but not good comedies. In fact, that's one of the hallmarks of good comedy, I think, the fact that it shows you something without also telling it to you (like your english teachers used to say, perhaps). Which comics (besides penny arcade, which I disagree on) do you think do this? I'm sure there are many, but I suspect that I think they generally suck.<br /><br />me: Note the comics you linked to - the highest number was 133, several years old. There are a tiny number of newer examples, but not many. I think this only serves to show how sad xkcd is now.<br /><br />also: "others have bad drawing, no care take." No take care, no take care indeed.Carlhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01074589998141327538noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6714810984552499396.post-28986565449305601802009-11-02T22:45:38.520-08:002009-11-02T22:45:38.520-08:00A small thought... a repeated complaint is that he...A small thought... a repeated complaint is that he spells things out too much in the dialog and/or titles and/or alt-texts. But I think if you're absolutely fair, you have to admit that nearly every person telling a story (whether it be a comic strip, a TV show, a book, a joke, whatever) has to do this - in comic strips, to a greater degree because there is such a limited amount of space to work with. Virtually every comic will have an example of - whatever - "Why are you wearing a toilet seat, lampshade, tablecloth, half of the pinata from Cinco de Mayo, and all of last year's Mardi Gras beads?" instead of what any normal human would say, which is, "*squint* What the HELL?"<br /><br />There has to be some degree of exposition. Rob above mentioned Penny Arcade, and I think I've seen people compliment it in the comments here - out of the ten comics with dialog I just looked at, at least 9 of them had some sort of "stilted dialog" to set the stage. It's part of comic-making. The only comics I can think of that *don't* routinely use at least a little bit of stilted, "unnecessary" dialog to establish the strip are along the lines of Marmaduke and Family Circus.Elaynehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04843051484974917287noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6714810984552499396.post-77953023760863725342009-11-02T16:44:22.319-08:002009-11-02T16:44:22.319-08:00I wouldn't say we're /busy/ complaining ab...I wouldn't say we're /busy/ complaining about him. It just provides me amusement for a few minutes every day.<br /><br />Successful webcomics people are definitely an interesting economic phenomenon. Some of them have reached a point where they are no longer even shackled to their webcomics: Penny Arcade could probably get by comfortably at this point, closing the comic down and moving on to their own thing. They have vaulted their way into celebrity.<br /><br />Others are still just living day to day. I haven't heard of a webcomics person giving up and starting a day job up again, but it feels like it has to happen eventually. How long can you make money on internet fame? Is it sustainable? Does it translate to anything beyond that?<br /><br />Perhaps more to the point, is it relevant? Certainly it indicates that a merchandise-supported free content model is viable. I don't think there's really anything else to be said for it, though. Some webcomics have produced or introduced me to some really excellent writing. Others are tired and hackneyed, and anyone who is decent with writing and humor could do better, except that the niche is already filled.rshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15828938843801425383noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6714810984552499396.post-66341038133095462482009-11-02T16:09:17.350-08:002009-11-02T16:09:17.350-08:00lol I didn't mean it like that. I was emphasiz...lol I didn't mean it like that. I was emphasizing that most people get trapped in jobs that they don't want to be in. He has a degree of freedom and I assume is enjoying himself. <br /><br />Social work, education, politics, non profit, teaching and academia can all still have long hours for not massive amounts of pay which is fine if you are happy there.<br /><br />I'm just saying that while you are all busy complaining about him, he has managed to break free from work to an extent. There are several ways that you can do this but most people just don't, they accept things the way they are instead and just carry on. In the meantime he has time available which work takes from you.menoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6714810984552499396.post-27456469118262003432009-11-02T15:59:20.444-08:002009-11-02T15:59:20.444-08:00Dood! Does a webcomic have to have 'realistic ...Dood! Does a webcomic have to have 'realistic dialogue?' And people really do say "nice ___ costume" in real life. Srsly.<br /><br />Also the XKCD for today is out. I really don't know how you're gonna criticize that, because that's just being a bitch because it prolly spent like a week to do that. Maybe that's why all the XKCDs are sucking recently!Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6714810984552499396.post-7609369799869354892009-11-02T15:47:13.566-08:002009-11-02T15:47:13.566-08:00hahaha. Yeah, there are only two types of jobs out...hahaha. Yeah, there are only two types of jobs out there: (1) making webcomics (2) corporate slave.<br /><br />They are literally the only ones available! You just literally can't work in social work or education or politics or academia, nor can you work at a nonprofit organization, start your own business, work for the government in a non-political capacity...<br /><br />Nope! You can literally just only make webcomics or work 9-5 at a corporate cubicle farm.rshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15828938843801425383noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6714810984552499396.post-39498802065415124912009-11-02T15:07:43.220-08:002009-11-02T15:07:43.220-08:00I don't go to work to make other people rich. ...I don't go to work to make other people rich. I WORK FOR A NON PROFIT AWW YEAHaloriahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01318832080088871491noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6714810984552499396.post-73716662956994658612009-11-02T15:06:36.777-08:002009-11-02T15:06:36.777-08:00Well it would make a good poster. People on the xk...Well it would make a good poster. People on the xkcd forum already have asked for one. I liked that particular comic so I saved it but wouldnt buy it. <br /><br />I say good job to him. Unlike the majority of people in the world he has found a fairly relaxed, easy way to make money doing something he likes and is self employed. You all complain about him then go to work for 40 hours a week to make someone else rich whilst getting paid a balanced amount which will keep you happy but isn't enough that you are able to leave. Or you will do later if your still currently in education. Who is the winner here.<br /><br />Completely free to look at his stuff. No force to buy from his store, its up to you, do or don't.menoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6714810984552499396.post-36627626478651083652009-11-02T14:50:53.302-08:002009-11-02T14:50:53.302-08:00The fact that Randall can draw just makes his opti...The fact that Randall can draw just makes his opting not to do so in instances like these (drawing a costume that is visibly identifiable as Doc Brown) where it would enhance the comic even worse. It's like "yeah, I could take an extra 30 minutes to take this comic from average to pretty good, but my fans will just lap this shit up anyway. I'll just spend that extra drawing time on "Movie Narrative Charts" so I have a new poster ready for the Xmas season."<br /><br />Because you KNOW it will become a poster. I'm willing to bet on it.aloriahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01318832080088871491noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6714810984552499396.post-8421762401720422222009-11-02T14:45:09.248-08:002009-11-02T14:45:09.248-08:00no, the comic is his full time job. it is quite li...no, the comic is his full time job. it is quite literally the only thing he has to dorshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15828938843801425383noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6714810984552499396.post-34450557658503767912009-11-02T14:39:18.043-08:002009-11-02T14:39:18.043-08:00I don't understand why you go on about his dra...I don't understand why you go on about his drawing skills. He can draw pretty well. Examples:<br />http://www.xkcd.com/59<br />http://www.xkcd.com/77<br />http://www.xkcd.com/133<br />http://www.xkcd.com/87<br />http://www.xkcd.com/127<br />http://www.xkcd.com/56<br /><br />He is capable of drawingm he chooses purposefully to draw linear. It is the style of the comic. Besides do you realise how long it would take for every comic to be drawn as a work of art. This comic is not the only thing he does.<br /><br />Notice he does take a lot care with his linear drawings, everything is neat an tidy, much effort is clearly put into this. Comics 'cynide and happyness' and 'another random day' and others have bad drawing, no care take. That is their style though (they are still good).<br /><br />His comic is not always meant to be lol funny. It is meant to be light satire, plays on words, maths, events etcmenoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6714810984552499396.post-83688677721407496122009-11-02T14:37:11.955-08:002009-11-02T14:37:11.955-08:00no it proves u r dumbno it proves u r dumbAmandahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11192581573588205095noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6714810984552499396.post-80221983134448564422009-11-02T14:36:02.851-08:002009-11-02T14:36:02.851-08:00"oh ps dinosaur comics is 6 panels, u r dumb...."oh ps dinosaur comics is 6 panels, u r dumb."<br /><br />I figured I would get that wrong. Just proves I don't read it often.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6714810984552499396.post-68938264937808875342009-11-02T14:18:48.932-08:002009-11-02T14:18:48.932-08:00MY HOBBY: GOING ON FIRST DATES AND PRETENDING I LO...MY HOBBY: GOING ON FIRST DATES AND PRETENDING I LOVE MAROON 5<br /><br />guys I thought of that at lunch today I'm a geniusaloriahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01318832080088871491noreply@blogger.com