There are three jokes in the fourth panel. What is the third one? Or am I the third one?
- Marten noticing the poetic meter == you’re hired.
- The pun on Dewey == “do we”.
- Tai’s “oh joyous day” is a Caroll reference (“calhoo! callay!”)
Well, I see two, but am, like you, missing out on teh third.
Curiously, this weekend, I reread the entire strip, so I knew exactly which one it was before I clicked the link. My daughter thinks its a bit creepy that I read and get this comic. She claims to know all of these people personally - although she doesn’t live in the same state, much less city.
Isn’t that “Oh, frabjous day?”
Yes, you’re right. I think Jeph meant it to be Jabberwocky reference, but misquoted. If that’s not the third joke, I don’t know what would be.
I agree with those two.
There is also a sign that says, “shut up.” which could be the third or possibly a fourth joke.
But I’ve read from 0 - 700 pages since Sunday 
Part of me thinks it sucks, and the rest of me can’t stop reading the damn thing!
One might count the “shut up” sign, or the misspelling of the school’s name on the librarian’s shirt. But I don’t think ANY of the examples mentioned so far rise to the level of “joke.”
Apparently, we aren’t nerdy enough – which is saying something!
Perhaps my next post should be, “where can I find a board nerdier than SDMB?”
The artwork steadily improves, and the characters are great! The storylines range from pretty good to a decent excuse to hang the jokes on.
More to the point, isn’t that whole bit in iambic pentameter?
The font is a little annoying though. I don’t think there has been a single instance of the word “if” that I haven’t read as “IP.”
If it were Winston Library at Smith College, there would be an obvious 1984 reference there (you’d be really stretching it to call it a joke though)…I admit I’m clutching at straws here.
I’m going with the “Shut up” sign unless we see better - it’s only revealed in the 4th panel, while the shirt is seen clearly before that.
One might count the “shut up” sign, or the misspelling of the school’s name on the librarian’s shirt. But I don’t think ANY of the examples mentioned so far rise to the level of “joke.”
I thought her words were in the first joke’s realm. But if you see her words apart from his, then certainly it’s just another joke, and his, plus hers, plus “dewey” equals three.
That may be the actual joke. I’ll go with that or the misquoted Jabberwocky reference. Note what Jeph wrote in the notes:
So based on that, its definitely something literary; both the meter of Tai’s response, per Waldo above, or a Caroll reference (or both) seem to fit that bill. In re Tai’s response referring to Caroll, note that Jeph thought that the Magna Carter was signed in 1066, so misquoting Jabberwocky isn’t out of character.
Another vote for the three jokes being:
- Marten seeing the job application is in iambic pentameter
- Tai talking in iambic pentameter
- The Dewey/do we pun
Play the Questionable Content game. Hit the random strip button and marvel at the changing appearances of the characters.
Oh, yeah!
I’ve never seen the strip before, so I just hit Random to see if there’s any female character I wouldn’t want to bang. No luck yet…