30 Update: Alas, it appears this joke is very very close to a joke made in Patch Adams. Apparently Dr. Adams is playing with a skeleton and has it say "Donner, Party of Five?" or some such number. This is a bit better, because there is clearly a person missing and they say they are full, but still. Grr.
42
55
59
77
140
155 (this is my favorite of all time)
161 - Update: A commenter points out that basically this comic is the same as the story at the beginning of this 2005 Wired story.
169
200
And an honorable mention to Panel 6 of 68, which is here:
And yes, I will do a 10 worst comics post. I will do this in...the future!
161 is just a teensy bit derivative:
ReplyDeletehttp://www.wired.com/gaming/gamingreviews/news/2005/01/66225
(Right down to the mailbox!)
Damn, so it is. The comic came out September 22nd, 2006, more than a year and a half after the Wired story.
ReplyDeleteOn a related note: He needs to make it easier to find the dates his comics came out.
In the archives, you can roll over the comic and it'll show you the date it came out.
ReplyDeletetrue. But it needs to be easier. No? Maybe I am being too demanding.
ReplyDeleteI read through these and am saddened by the pathetic... thing... that is xkcd now.
ReplyDeletei'm suprised you like 55
ReplyDeleteIt's hard to imagine a time when xkcd wasn't all shitty love stories, and something like this was actually different. In fact, it's so hard to imagine that I can't do it; all I know is that a while ago, back when I was impartial, I liked this comic and even considered getting the shirt of it. But yes, I understand your surprise. Maybe I like the way he represents love visually and has his symbol interact with other mathematical symbols. Maybe.
ReplyDeleteI'm surprised there's only one raptor comic in that list. Back when I started reading xkcd, those were the ones I found most hilarious. Plus, the drawings were quite good for xkcd standards.
ReplyDelete169 is really annoying when you consider that he thinks making really obscure references and getting smug about the fact that not many people would understand them IS clever.
ReplyDeletewhoa, wait, Carl, you liked 169? 169 was a festering shitpile even when XKCD was good
ReplyDeletewhat! But i felt exactly that way about the puzzle, too. Some people are annoying like that, and I like the message that comic has for them. DEAL WITH IT OR START YOUR OWN BLOG.
ReplyDeleteexcept the comic doesn't faithfully reproduce the puzzle. he intentionally rewords it so it doesn't make any sense so he can feel smug when he has Mary Sue cut off the guy's hand for reproducing the puzzle. since the puzzle is about precise wording and everyone who is reproducing it faithfully reproduces the wording so that it actually makes sense, Randy is doing nothing but complaining about an error that he has induced.
ReplyDeleteok, wtf? Normally I can't be bothered posting on these posts (presuming you have better things to do with your time than reply to angry rants), but I mean, c'mon, seriously? Most of these comics could be criticised pretty easily:
ReplyDelete30: This is just another of "Randy's obscure jokes" - but because you like it, it's ok.
42: Yeah, ok, this one is an amusing takeoff of every single tv ad ever.
55: OMFG LOOK GUYS, ANOTHER COMIC WHERE RANDY HASN'T FIGURED OUT LOVE! Or should I say 'the first comic', given that it's one of the early ones. Admittedly, I can't totally bag this one, since I only actually understand the first 4 equations. So apologies if I've missed the punchline because of that. :/
59: I'm sorry, wait, how is this funny?
77: Ok, yeah, good irony.
140: Seriously? I mean, c'mon. You generally decry comics like this. It's basically saying "HEY LOOK, IF I COMBINE A AND B TO MAKE SOMETHING, THE ODDS ARE ONE OF THEM WILL HAVE SOME LEFT OVER!". No, not funny. Not amusing.
155: How the hell is this your favourite? It's just another comic where Randy says "HEY LOOK EVERYONE, I KNOW OF SOME COMMON NERD JOKES! AND IT'S MY LIFE, SO IT'S GOT TO BE FUNNY!" If this was about a quirky relationship, then you'd have an aneurysm. But it being about Jurassic Park makes it all ok, right?
161: Again, what?
169: Ok, fine, I have to agree, because I love this comic :P
200: Yeah, true, this isn't bad either.
Yeah, my point being that about half of these should be disliked for the same reason you dislike other comics :P