Gusto's Achewood vs. xkcd September CHALLENGE

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My question is, how can you find Achewood funny at all?
I've been referred to Achewood several times over the years, and I never, ever, found it even remotely funny.

XKDC on the other hand, is absolutely hilarious.
I must say that XKDC does suffer from the hit or miss feel at times. But the hits are very frequent and brilliant.

..and yes, do read the alt text, and the 9/1 comic wasn't a very good example of what is great about XKDC. Hopefully you'll come around.[/QUOTE]

This.
 
Man I have no idea what today's xkcd is about. Politics, philosophers and internets? Right?

Maybe I don't know enough about philosophy OR politics to get today's joke, but I'm not sure if this joke is very accessible to anyone.

I might add to or edit this post as the day progresses.
 
it is an ender's game joke

I think it is making fun of how Peter Wiggin came to power if you consider the way the internet and political bloggers actually function
 
That's actually my only real issue with XKCD. I read it every time it updates, but I go into it knowing there's a good chance I'm just not going to get it. I used to try to figure the jokes out, and occasionally learned something interesting, but lately I just go read CAD or whatever instead.
 
S

Singularity.EXE

Holy shit today's was funny. You have to know Ender's Game to really get it though, and it makes you realize that how they came to power is rather ridiculous.
 
If you haven't read Ender's Game you're not just not gonna get today's xkcd, but countless references all over the damned place as well. It's like general culture, people!
 
It's like general culture, people!
I disagree. Although I have heard good things about the book and feel I should give it a shot...

But I think that a comic that relies heavily on niche knowledge (ie. anatomy text images on Wikipedia) is doing itself a disservice.

I'm not saying that xkcd is bad, necessarily. I'm saying that I'm sick of hardcore fans telling me that I need to know more about popular science fiction/string theory/computer science/engineering/philosophy, and/or read the entire archive to get it.

That's way too much work to put into a comic that EVEN FOR THE STRIPS THAT I GET, doesn't seem to be worth the payoff.

TL;DR

It really seems to me that xkcd is the kind of strip where hardcore fans can nudge other hardcore fans in the ribs with the elbow, and laugh derisively at the common simpleton who deigns to try to read it without first having educated themselves.
 
Forget about xkcd.. the SIMPSONS, Futurama, Family Guy... these shows are not niche, correct?

All three have had Ender's Game references.
 
Forget about xkcd.. the SIMPSONS, Futurama, Family Guy... these shows are not niche, correct?

All three have had Ender's Game references.
Yeah but they don't rely on niche jokes every episode.

Besides, 1.5 of the three listed shows suck. :uhhuh:
 

ElJuski

Staff member
I have not read Ender's Game, although I've heard it's something I should do. General Culture? To geeks, maybe ;)
 
I've read Ender's Game two or three times. The only reason I had ANY idea what the comic was about was that they used his name...and the joke still didn't click. More than people who have read the book, it's aimed at the people who have either read it recently enough or often enough to remember some of the details that are not in any way central to the plot.

'Jokes' like that always strike me as an opportunity for people to say HA I RECOGNIZE THAT rather than actually drawing a laugh. Which I guess is what Gusto already said.
 
K

Kitty Sinatra

I'm sick of hardcore fans telling me that I need to know more about popular science fiction/string theory/computer science/engineering/philosophy, and/or read the entire archive to get it.
I'm sick of it, too. And I like xkcd.

I discovered in this thread that I'm also sick of people who call the comics they like "masterpieces" or however El Juski described achewood. Just because you enjoy something doesn't make it the greatest thing ever. This goes for movies and books, too. And music too, Calleja.
 
I'm not about to say Achewood doesn't have flaws, which brings me to my next point: TODAY'S UPDATE.

Today's Achewood is most likely the end of the latest Cartilage Head arc, and man I am happy to see it go. Especially satisfying to see Beef just shrug it off and go into one of his usual morning depressions.

It was a weird, confusing arc, that probably could have probably been composed a little more clearly, and I'm glad we can get back to knucklehead times soon.
 

ElJuski

Staff member
Roast Beef's reaction was brilliant--and another awesome example of great characterizations. Agreed though...as a whole the arc wasn't really all that great. I miss the lesbian erotica :( I also miss Lyle.
 


Oh, yeah. That was an xkcd strip.

Alt text: I always wanted to impress them with how well I could hear, didn't you? Also, this sets the record for number of awkward-pause panels in one strip (previously held by Achewood)
 
C

Chronos[Ha-G]

Some of Achewood's stuff makes me laugh. Some of xkcd's stuff makes me laugh. However, of the two, xkcd makes me laugh more consistently - and therefore I prefer it over Achewood.

So, in short: Blah blah achewood blah blah xkcd blah blah flamewar. Blah. Trying to save some time here.
 
Hey, today's xkcd is pretty good! Clear and pretty concise, and it made me smile. Alt-text is good too. :)

ALSO, dinosaurs were fuzzy with down.
 
I thought todays xkcd really mad the strip for me. the Comic itself was funny, but the alt text made me lol.
 

ElJuski

Staff member
oh shiiiiiiiit XKCD with the Achewood burn...that's not bad, either! The sign pointing to the junk...mmmhm.
 
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