tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6714810984552499396.post7254015546585531277..comments2024-03-17T05:03:46.056-07:00Comments on xkcd sucks: Comic 767: Getting AngryCarlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01074589998141327538noreply@blogger.comBlogger104125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6714810984552499396.post-90777547854491529532010-07-24T09:31:11.436-07:002010-07-24T09:31:11.436-07:00Plus Carl already did mention those urban legends:...Plus Carl already did mention those urban legends: <br /><br />"The amusing contrast would be to compare one of these men's public persona to a fictional, contrasting one. So you'd have either Mel Gibson secretly being really friendly (unlikely, because we all know it's not true) or the secret dark side to Mr. Rogers. That last one is a funny idea, all the more so because it violently clashes with the image we all want to have of him. Of course, it's also the subject of several well known urban legends, so it wouldn't be very original."Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6714810984552499396.post-85086249372155636932010-07-24T09:17:32.315-07:002010-07-24T09:17:32.315-07:00Rob, you ignorant cow, Mr. Rogers only exists in t...Rob, you ignorant cow, Mr. Rogers only exists in the minds of those who truly believe.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6714810984552499396.post-84947821160081838372010-07-23T21:28:03.236-07:002010-07-23T21:28:03.236-07:00except, there are no alligators in the NYC sewers-...except, there are no alligators in the NYC sewers--the alligators' exclusive origin story is being flushed down the toilet to get there.<br /><br />Mr. Rogers, on the other hand, exists independent of his myth. it is, indeed, entirely possible to know Mr. Rogers without having heart the myth. he in no way relies on the myth to exist, nor does his friendly persona rely on that myth.rshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15828938843801425383noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6714810984552499396.post-13265116870196722672010-07-23T21:25:58.860-07:002010-07-23T21:25:58.860-07:00I'm surprised you didn't mention the urban...I'm surprised you didn't mention the urban legends about how Mr. Rogers always wears sweaters because his arms are covered in prison tattoos or about how he was a Navy SEAL and killed hundreds of people in Vietnam. Or that he was a child molester. Or that he was secretly a Nazi sympathizer. The idea that Mr. Rogers is actually some kind of secret bad-ass or horrible criminal is a prevalent and well-documented myth, though utterly false. I don't think this comic can be fairly examined without at least some consideration of these myths; it would be like discussing a comic about alligators in NYC sewers without any knowledge of the "flushing baby alligators down the toilet" myth.Chrisnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6714810984552499396.post-79133651952732021692010-07-23T14:40:57.758-07:002010-07-23T14:40:57.758-07:00I'm annoyed when people are so insecure that t...I'm annoyed when people are so insecure that they think people like Randal are "so much smarter than they are".Hynonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6714810984552499396.post-38103830359940585962010-07-20T19:18:07.234-07:002010-07-20T19:18:07.234-07:00Not relevant to the current comic, but I just foun...Not relevant to the current comic, but I just found this: http://www.overcompensating.com/posts/20080215.html<br /><br />Does anybody else find it absolutely foul that the man was asked to do a guest comic, and decided that the comic should be all about how amazing, clever and wanted he is?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6714810984552499396.post-74962316483500577852010-07-20T04:04:09.154-07:002010-07-20T04:04:09.154-07:00Looks like some commenters are created more equal ...Looks like some commenters are created more equal than others. How...Orwellian!Gryffilionhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14326158632676811873noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6714810984552499396.post-33726491024721485382010-07-19T21:25:21.203-07:002010-07-19T21:25:21.203-07:00@R: This is the internet-- irrelevance has never s...@R: This is the internet-- irrelevance has never stood in the way of new posts/comics. Nor has being a dick-move. Hell, that INCREASES likelihood of posting, really, and I felt it quite justified given the situation.<br /><br />@Carl: Some of their conversations that they've willingly censored on the grounds of not being "good enough" for a comic were actually pretty entertaining. E.G., I actually Laughed Out Loud at their discussion over the English Language. Dare I say I had a GOOMHPA moment.<br /><br />That said, I am commencing shutting up.<br /><br />Captcha: colic. Relating to Bile -or- abdominal pain, apparently.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6714810984552499396.post-84047866828956201712010-07-19T21:08:12.050-07:002010-07-19T21:08:12.050-07:00guys, you all have to shut up. the only commenter ...guys, you all have to shut up. the only commenter who is allowed to speak anymore is Simon Roberts.<br />Simon: your comment is excellent. please keep making comments.<br /><br />anon who dislikes PA: try watching some PATV, especially 4th Panel ones. You'll see that they actually have hilarious conversations. I think so, anyway.Carlhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01074589998141327538noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6714810984552499396.post-60229291717912204882010-07-19T21:06:58.283-07:002010-07-19T21:06:58.283-07:00It is interesting to note that recently Buckley ha...It is interesting to note that recently Buckley has tried to vary expressions, this does not help that he has no natural sense of humor or a well made metaplot.Kirkhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16146459274295885156noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6714810984552499396.post-61836714569417470742010-07-19T20:59:29.433-07:002010-07-19T20:59:29.433-07:00"What you're misreading [I don't blam..."What you're misreading [I don't blame you, he didn't make it very clear] is that the school was funded with 100% of the profits of the PUBLISHERS -- not a cent of Randall's profits. Heaven forbid we threaten his livelihood."<br /><br />I know, and I considered mentioning that, but I decided not to for irrelevance and being a dick move on my part.R.noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6714810984552499396.post-60568648779680533422010-07-19T20:19:32.229-07:002010-07-19T20:19:32.229-07:00Looking at the CAD site he seems to have stopped t...Looking at the CAD site he seems to have stopped the copy-paste mentality lately, although I can't say how new this is... and honestly, I am only sporadically enjoying it, and then only when it is topical. His characters are little better than cardboard cut-outs on their own.<br /><br /><a href="http://traffic.alexa.com/graph?&w=800&h=440&o=f&c=1&y=r&b=ffffff&n=666666&r=3y&u=ctrlaltdel-online.com&" rel="nofollow">Fun stastic.</a> The Y-axis is "Reach", measured as a percent of the internet viewing the site on a given day. Note that in late 2008 XKCD had less Reach than CAD. Also note that the particular comic "Loss" was put up on <a href="http://www.cad-comic.com/cad/20080602" rel="nofollow"> June 2nd, 2008.</a> Apparently in late 2009 he switched to another website.<br /><br />And no, I won't stop whoring for <a href="www.Alexa.com" rel="nofollow">Alexa.com</a><br /><br />Captcha: Alsoo. The second Also, sorta like the second post script PPS, right?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6714810984552499396.post-19170913423323552682010-07-19T20:06:56.637-07:002010-07-19T20:06:56.637-07:00The PA Hater anonymous here :O
I didn't compl...The PA Hater anonymous here :O<br /><br />I didn't complain about PA having walls of text. I said Tycho writes wall-of-text newsposts that are often necessary for the comics to make sense. That says nothing about the text in the comics themselves.<br /><br />The point is, I don't think PA has improved. Just as XKCD disappeared up its own asshole, so has Tycho's writing and the content in a lot of the strips. They've become convinced that their random little conversations are worthy to be turned into comics. Well, if so many people love the strip, maybe those conversations really are *that* worthwhile?<br />Then again, XKCD is loved also, and we all know about it...<br /><br />When Penny Aracde does genuine humour, it's not bad. But that happens far less now than in the days when a lot of people got into PA. I think that's basically undeniable.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6714810984552499396.post-46161495389912193792010-07-19T20:06:38.638-07:002010-07-19T20:06:38.638-07:00Rob is lying. It actually causes him intense phys...Rob is lying. It actually causes him intense physical pain every time he does anything that's not for his own self-interest.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6714810984552499396.post-53511667002454853462010-07-19T20:01:03.179-07:002010-07-19T20:01:03.179-07:00always happy to helpalways happy to helprshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15828938843801425383noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6714810984552499396.post-29788081554647492822010-07-19T20:00:08.987-07:002010-07-19T20:00:08.987-07:00Oh, well that was easy. Thanks, Rob.Oh, well that was easy. Thanks, Rob.LostInSpacenoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6714810984552499396.post-17113397547747866712010-07-19T19:59:56.777-07:002010-07-19T19:59:56.777-07:00I like the alt-text in the new one. Dislike on th...I like the alt-text in the new one. Dislike on the comic itself though.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6714810984552499396.post-6231061673787730722010-07-19T19:53:26.188-07:002010-07-19T19:53:26.188-07:00you don't need an account. you can just make u...you don't need an account. you can just make up a name.rshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15828938843801425383noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6714810984552499396.post-84289553325697820312010-07-19T19:52:33.502-07:002010-07-19T19:52:33.502-07:00@Ex-ambivalent- This is the helmet reference:
ht...@Ex-ambivalent- This is the helmet reference: <br /><br />http://www.penny-arcade.com/comic/2004/4/30/<br /><br />Ooh, my first post. Long-time lurker, but first time poster. Perhaps I should create an account at some point.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6714810984552499396.post-50583630411936180232010-07-19T19:27:37.490-07:002010-07-19T19:27:37.490-07:00B^U is the emoticon for Buckley's characters. ...B^U is the emoticon for Buckley's characters. B is a pair of sideways, heavy-lidded, stoner eyes. The carat is the nose. U is the slack-jawed, droning mouth, text-walling us into a state of helpless oblivion.Gryffilionhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14326158632676811873noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6714810984552499396.post-4856320650871529982010-07-19T19:20:27.854-07:002010-07-19T19:20:27.854-07:00I do not know what "B^U" means, but this...I do not know what "B^U" means, but <a href="http://www.fullyramblomatic.com/images/TrilB%5EU.jpg" rel="nofollow">this turned up in the search and I think it's a pretty good assessment of CAD.</a>Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6714810984552499396.post-61104150517145677332010-07-19T18:38:17.212-07:002010-07-19T18:38:17.212-07:00@ Anon 5:35
I thought that "Incredible Savin...@ Anon 5:35<br /><br />I thought that "Incredible Savings" strip was pretty funny, actually. But it's definitely more of a laid back "some conversation we had" kind of strip, which I know can be a matter of taste. I have a personal bias for liking these kind of strips... (which is why I love Achewood too) but they fail utterly in XKCD, as we already went over in the metaphor-sandwich scenario.<br /><br />Simple moments without obvious punchlines can work if you actually care about the characters. XKCD has almost no characters, so it's obvious why it doesn't work there. As for CAD, I just don't get a sense of the characters being realistic or interesting, so maybe that's why I never find it anywhere close to as good as PA. And I don't even read PA very often, so it's not like I go looking for every little nuance of their characters and shit like when I read Achewood. They just feel far more interesting than anything from CAD even at a first glance.<br /><br />Look at how this simple "two guys sitting around talking" strip actually has some interesting details to it. For one, they're at a pool instead of hanging around the apartment playing games on the couch. It's like there's actually an outside world out there! And Gabe's absent flick of his foot through the water shows they can actually move and behave like human beings! And Gabe looks actually ready to swim while Tycho's still fully dressed and wearing a whole helmet for some reason. As I said, I don't read PA often so if this is some kind of running gag I don't get it, but even with no clue about why this is, it gives me another interesting layer for my brain to wonder about.<br /><br />I think the art does make a big difference. An artist's style is a huge part of how you interpret the "feel" of the characters and the whole setting they inhabit. Even in a simple strip like this one, PA has little details that make it a more interesting world. Meanwhile, CAD's B^U characters look perpetually bored and slack-jawed. So even if you put some great dialogue in those mouths, I'd still hear it delivered in a droning voice and it'd probably fall flat.<br /><br />(on that note - while Buckley's copy-and-paste method does bug me because it's just so blatant and obvious, what bugs me even more is that the stuff he pastes isn't even worth copying. If you're going to keep reusing one expression all the time, why make it the B^U face?!)Ex-ambivalentnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6714810984552499396.post-92046489231987123432010-07-19T18:36:51.468-07:002010-07-19T18:36:51.468-07:00But, I don't get how it's one of the most ...<i>But, I don't get how it's one of the most loved webcomics while CAD is one of the most hated...</i><br /><br />If you're going to complain about the occasional wall of text in Penny Arcade, and yet can't see what people hate about CAD (or, at least, one of many things on a very long list), then I'm seriously at a loss for words.Gryffilionhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14326158632676811873noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6714810984552499396.post-68996999411710298422010-07-19T18:33:46.610-07:002010-07-19T18:33:46.610-07:00No one said Penny Arcade was perfect. That's n...No one said Penny Arcade was perfect. That's not the point of saying that Penny Arcade is objectively good. It's objectively good because there has been definite improvement. The art has become polished. The jokes have gotten better, tighter in format and not drawn-out or clumsily executed.<br /><br />The point of the newsposts is often tangential or only vaguely related to the comic. Tycho will often give a nod to the comic, and perhaps say a few words about the context. Occasionally he does more, when the situation warrants it, but often he'll move straight off into other topics. <br /><br />Yes, he does use a lot of big words. Yes, he is a pedantic, mildly snobbish writer. Sometimes that's fun. His sentences are well-crafted enough to indicate that he knows what he is talking about and did not simply do a frantic search for synonyms for "ugly." <br /><br />Again, there is a big difference between a comic (or any work) being objectively bad, and said comic not appealing to a person, or a group of people, or any larger group or meta-group beyond that. XKCD is bad, not because it doesn't happen to appeal to certain people, but because its ideas are badly communicated, the jokes are written poorly, and the art fails to portray things realistically or add to the (lack of) humor. Penny Arcade may not be the paragon of webcomic perfection, but its ideas--both in words and art--are communicated effectively and clearly.Gryffilionhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14326158632676811873noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6714810984552499396.post-40302929825300376932010-07-19T17:35:24.209-07:002010-07-19T17:35:24.209-07:00http://www.penny-arcade.com/comic/2010/7/12/
Soapb...http://www.penny-arcade.com/comic/2010/7/12/<br />Soapbox.<br /><br />http://www.penny-arcade.com/comic/2010/7/2/<br />Hey guys do you like words. This is words and its humorous.<br /><br />http://www.penny-arcade.com/comic/2010/6/30/<br />Here is a hilarious conversation we had guys.<br /><br />http://www.penny-arcade.com/comic/2010/6/28/<br />Here is a hilarious conversation we had about D&D guys.<br /><br />http://www.penny-arcade.com/comic/2010/6/25/<br />Here's a comic about the time I called a store and they ran out of iPhones.<br /><br /><br /><br />But, when Penny Arcade is good, it's pretty damn good. I gotta admit. And like, even when it's not funny, it's telling better stories than XKCD is. But, I don't get how it's one of the most loved webcomics while CAD is one of the most hated, despite the difference between them being shockingly slim (except maybe in art, thanks to Buckley's copypasta)Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com