Comics Don't Have To Be Funny!

Oh hello. I was just reading one of the eight trillion comments that say that comics don't have to be funny, so when we complain that XKCD isn't funny we're missing the point. I think this last one might have convinced me!

Except, not.

Let's start by acknowledging a fact: not all comics are trying to be funny. You can list graphic novels as examples if you like, or you could name a number of webcomics that routinely do something other than make jokes or attempt humor. I'm not disputing this! Some of my favorite comics aren't supposed to be funny.

The problem is, XKCD is trying to be funny about 90% of the time. The latest one? Trying to be funny! The elevator one? Trying to be funny! The strip games one? Trying to be funny! "Spirit" was not trying to be funny. And so on down the line. Very rare is the XKCD that is not trying to be funny.

Admittedly, the type of humor, if you can call it that, isn't always the same. Sometimes he's not so much telling a joke as trying to get you to laugh at a situation which is trying to be amusing. Not all comedy requires jokes. We get it.

The thing is, XKCD is trying to be funny and failing. So when we say "where's the humor?" or "where's the joke?" or "where's the punchline?" it is not that we are failing to understand that some comics are meant to be serious. No, there's a lot going on behind the scenes! Let me take you through a typical instance of me reading a comic.

It starts with reading the comic. Contrary to popular belief, I do not generally start with any sort of critical thought engaged. I read it and formulate an initial reaction. Generally that initial reaction goes something like this: "Yes, and?" At this point I go back over it and look more carefully. Did I miss something? Why am I supposed to care about this? Why should I find it funny? On some particularly bad examples, it's difficult to imagine even why Randy thought this was supposed to be humorous. Mostly, though, the joke, such as it is, is pretty easy to spot. It's just not a compelling joke.

I think a good analogy to use here is that of a little kid dressed up in a Halloween costume. You can tell that he is trying to be a fireman or whatever. It's really obvious from the oversized helmet--he has all the trappings of someone trying to dress like a fireman. There is no arguing that he's not trying to look like one. But for all that, you would not, at any point, actually think that he is an actual fireman. If presented with a lineup of actual firemen, you would pick him out as the one who is not a real fireman.

So too it is with Randall's jokes. The problem is not that we don't know what the joke is supposed to be, or that Randall isn't trying to be funny. It's patently obvious that he is trying to be humorous. All the trappings of something which is supposed to be funny here. It's just that, for all his efforts, he does not actually succeed at humor. You can point out all the things he tried to do that failed--but no matter how hard he tries, it doesn't actually pass as funny.

So we say "okay, where's the joke?" in response. What we are saying is, despite the fact that it is patently obvious what Randy is trying to do, it is so unconvincing as a joke that we must be missing something. We never are, of course. Sometimes a cuddlefish comes out and explains that this joke is actually about something which it very clearly isn't, and explains why he thinks that's funny, but this cuddlefish is invariably wrong. The joke is really obvious. It's just not funny.

(Stay tuned next week for Objectivity In Art: Why You Should Be Stabbed In The Face For Suggesting That It's All Subjective So We Have No Grounds Criticizing It (title pending).)