# BC Comic thinks setting dogs on fire is funny **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [July 22, 2009, 3:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bc-comic-thinks-setting-dogs-on-fire-is-funny/503863 "2009-07-22T15:19:21Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![salinqmind](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/3ec8ea/32.png) [@salinqmind](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/salinqmind)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2009, 3:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bc-comic-thinks-setting-dogs-on-fire-is-funny/503863/1 "2009-07-22T15:19:21Z")
I won’t link to it, but I went to [JohnHartStudios.com](http://JohnHartStudios.com) to complain. They offered a lame apology since they were getting letters, saying they were sorry we readers didn’t find it funny. Douchebags. ---
**Author:** ![Troy\_McClure\_SF](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/troy_mcclure_sf/32/4150_2.png) [@Troy\_McClure\_SF](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Troy_McClure_SF)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2009, 3:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bc-comic-thinks-setting-dogs-on-fire-is-funny/503863/2 "2009-07-22T15:34:11Z")
Well, it’s good to see **[Thaidog](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=203185)** getting work. ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2009, 3:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bc-comic-thinks-setting-dogs-on-fire-is-funny/503863/3 "2009-07-22T15:38:53Z")
Q: How do you make a cat sound like a dog? A: Douse it with lighter fluid and toss on a match. (“Wooof!”) Q: How do you make a dog sound like a cat? A: First you douse the dog with water, then stick him in the freezer. After a couple of hours take him out and run him through a bandsaw. (“Reeooww!”) ---
**Author:** ![KneadToKnow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kneadtoknow/32/3999_2.png) [@KneadToKnow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KneadToKnow)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2009, 3:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bc-comic-thinks-setting-dogs-on-fire-is-funny/503863/4 "2009-07-22T15:43:17Z")
For the curious, [here’s the strip and some reader mail](http://www.johnhartstudios.com/reader_feedback/). Very classy move on their part having the first reader feedback item be one saying “people should just get over themselves.” :dubious: ---
**Author:** ![Don\_Draper](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b2d939/32.png) [@Don\_Draper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Don_Draper)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2009, 3:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bc-comic-thinks-setting-dogs-on-fire-is-funny/503863/5 "2009-07-22T15:45:11Z")
Post deleted. Thanks for the link KneadToKnow. ---
**Author:** ![aldiboronti](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9fc348/32.png) [@aldiboronti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aldiboronti)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2009, 3:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bc-comic-thinks-setting-dogs-on-fire-is-funny/503863/6 "2009-07-22T15:46:38Z")
See, this is the whole point. You can still laugh at a joke about setting dogs on fire and find the act itself abhorrent. If the joke is funny, then it’s funny. Comedy should have no constraints. Imagine a world where you can only laugh at those things which are morally irreproachable and of which you heartily approve. You’re imagining a world without comedy. ---
**Author:** ![Beware\_of\_Doug](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/278dde/32.png) [@Beware\_of\_Doug](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beware_of_Doug)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2009, 3:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bc-comic-thinks-setting-dogs-on-fire-is-funny/503863/7 "2009-07-22T15:49:29Z")
I thought from seeing “BC Comic” that it was some stand-up artist from Vancouver. Then I realized that although V-town has many, many things to recommend it, a sense of humor is not one of them. ---
**Author:** ![Zsofia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/7bcc69/32.png) [@Zsofia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zsofia)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2009, 3:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bc-comic-thinks-setting-dogs-on-fire-is-funny/503863/8 "2009-07-22T15:50:10Z")
You’re imagining a world where B.C. is funny. ---
**Author:** ![obfusciatrist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/4af34b/32.png) [@obfusciatrist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/obfusciatrist)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2009, 3:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bc-comic-thinks-setting-dogs-on-fire-is-funny/503863/9 "2009-07-22T15:50:51Z")
It’s not funny, but I don’t find it offensive or remotely bothersome either. ---
**Author:** ![Freudian\_Slit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/5daacb/32.png) [@Freudian\_Slit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Freudian_Slit)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2009, 3:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bc-comic-thinks-setting-dogs-on-fire-is-funny/503863/10 "2009-07-22T15:52:50Z")
> [@obfusciatrist](#): > > It’s not funny, but I don’t find it offensive or remotely bothersome either. Agreed. It was just so…blah. I think I’m more offended by the fact that I was hoping for something risque and out there. Perhaps even graphic. I’ve seen more offensive stuff on Family Circus. ---
**Author:** ![Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/left_hand_of_dorkness/32/7156_2.png) [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Left_Hand_of_Dorkness)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2009, 3:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bc-comic-thinks-setting-dogs-on-fire-is-funny/503863/11 "2009-07-22T15:59:11Z")
> [@Freudian\_Slit](#): > > Agreed. It was just so…blah. I think I’m more offended by the fact that I was hoping for something risque and out there. Perhaps even graphic. I’ve seen more offensive stuff on Family Circus. Yeah, that’s kind of my feeling. Having something weird and nonsensical is fine for some comics–Get Fuzzy makes hay out of this all the time–but you have to set it up right. Why on earth would Spot hide all the kindling? If Spot had “fetched” all the kindling, it would at least make some sort of sense. But as it is, the story is one of a strangely saboteur dog and his sociopathic owner. Whatever humor is inherent in that concept isn’t really explored in these panels. ---
**Author:** ![Bosstone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/22d042/32.png) [@Bosstone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosstone)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2009, 4:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bc-comic-thinks-setting-dogs-on-fire-is-funny/503863/12 "2009-07-22T16:01:17Z")
I find the fact that the Daily Show theme song is titled “Dog On Fire” much funnier than the BC strip. ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2009, 4:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bc-comic-thinks-setting-dogs-on-fire-is-funny/503863/13 "2009-07-22T16:01:42Z")
Dog On Fire! Dog On Fire! [/Homer Simpson] I followed the link and read the strip. I tend to agree with **aldiboronti** ’s general point of view, but in this case, I think it was a bad strip. It wasn’t unfunny because it was about burning a dog, it was unfunny because it just wasn’t funny—and then, since the dog-burning didn’t make it funny, it was unnecessarily unpleasant and horrifying. ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2009, 4:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bc-comic-thinks-setting-dogs-on-fire-is-funny/503863/14 "2009-07-22T16:02:20Z")
> [@Zsofia](#): > > You’re imagining a world where B.C. is funny. Hart’s grandson Mason Mastroianni took over the strip and largely took it back to the “clams got legs” era. ---
**Author:** ![kaylasdad99](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kaylasdad99/32/3398_2.png) [@kaylasdad99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kaylasdad99)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2009, 4:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bc-comic-thinks-setting-dogs-on-fire-is-funny/503863/15 "2009-07-22T16:02:51Z")
Anyway, that should be: BC comic _used to think_ setting dogs on fire is funny." You know, because Johnny Hart has been dead for two years… ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2009, 4:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bc-comic-thinks-setting-dogs-on-fire-is-funny/503863/16 "2009-07-22T16:03:19Z")
> [@Zsofia](#): > > You’re imagining a world where B.C. is funny. B.C. is _when_ it was funny. ---
**Author:** ![Freudian\_Slit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/5daacb/32.png) [@Freudian\_Slit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Freudian_Slit)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2009, 4:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bc-comic-thinks-setting-dogs-on-fire-is-funny/503863/17 "2009-07-22T16:06:12Z")
> [@Thudlow\_Boink](#): > > I followed the link and read the strip. I tend to agree with **aldiboronti** ’s general point of view, but in this case, I think it was a bad strip. It wasn’t unfunny because it was about burning a dog, it was unfunny because it just wasn’t funny—and then, since the dog-burning didn’t make it funny, it was unnecessarily unpleasant and horrifying. Well, I don’t know that I’d call it horrifying just because the whole tone was so bland. Now I keep trying to mentally rewrite it so it’s funny. Also. Anybody order a HOT dog?! ---
**Author:** ![Gary\_T](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/3ec8ea/32.png) [@Gary\_T](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gary_T)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2009, 4:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bc-comic-thinks-setting-dogs-on-fire-is-funny/503863/18 "2009-07-22T16:10:39Z")
> [@salinqmind](#): > > \*\*BC Comic thinks setting dogs on fire is funny \*\* No, they think using the one who hid the kindling as replacement fire-starter, in an obviously over-the-top manner, is funny. That it was a dog is relevant only in that hiding the kindling, _a la_ burying a bone, is something that one might conceive of a dog doing. People who tell “dead baby” jokes don’t think it’s funny to actually kill babies. If you don’t like humor that refers to cruelty to animals, fine, but please don’t be so disingenuous as to think that those who do find the cruelty funny. The humor is in irony, absurdity (such as burning a pet – something no one\* would do), or some other factor. * * * \*Yes, there are some sickos who would do it, but the point is no normal psychologically healthy person would even consider it, which makes it absurd. The humor is geared to normal folks, not aberrant ones. ---
**Author:** ![KneadToKnow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kneadtoknow/32/3999_2.png) [@KneadToKnow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KneadToKnow)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2009, 4:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bc-comic-thinks-setting-dogs-on-fire-is-funny/503863/19 "2009-07-22T16:14:09Z")
> [@Gary\_T](#): > > \*Yes, there are some sickos who would do it, but the point is no normal psychologically healthy person would even consider it, which makes it absurd. The humor is geared to normal folks, not aberrant ones. But … but … (to paraphrase the second reader response at the above link) … _what about the children?_ [weep, choke, sob] ---
**Author:** ![kaylasdad99](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kaylasdad99/32/3398_2.png) [@kaylasdad99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kaylasdad99)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2009, 4:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bc-comic-thinks-setting-dogs-on-fire-is-funny/503863/20 "2009-07-22T16:15:13Z")
> [@Lute Skywatcher](#): > > Hart’s grandson Mason Mastroianni took over the strip and largely took it back to the “clams got legs” era. _Really?_ I honestly had no idea. I thought _BC_ was still in the papers in the sense that _Peanuts_ is still in the papers. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bc-comic-thinks-setting-dogs-on-fire-is-funny/503863.md?page=2)