Hey baby, I’ve got your “love” right here.
I can see Randall Munroe being clueless enough to do this in real life, yes.
The whole “oh, its just a joke, I was making fun of Nice Guys” is BS. He is pandering to a very specific, autistic audience by reinforcing Nice Guys Finish Last. Every joke has a kernel of truth to it.
I feel bad for his wife. It must make her feel like a million bucks when he’s writing strips about being obsessed over some past love.
“How do you know that?” he asked, still not expecting an answer.
He kick your dog or something?
Or is this performance art? Mundane Pointless Things that Elude Dopers - Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share - Straight Dope Message Board
Incubus, you have issues.
:dubious: The alt-text on that is “Friends with detriments.” I’m pretty damned sure that’s an actual slam on the Nice Guy persona and not an actual “oh woe, for them chicks sure do put out for the jerks” sob story.
And me, I feel bad for his wife because she’s dealing with cancer, and he’s written occasional, deeply poignant and sad strips about it.
My first thought was ‘fuck me, I hope she’s still alive,’ then I realized that given the progression of comics over the years we might not learn of it right away but we would eventually be told.
And given how impactful past comics on the subject have been, I expect to break down in a miserable heap.
+1. He didn’t get the joke and nobody agreed with him so now he’s doubling down with righteous indignation.
Agreed. There have been a few times where I thought he was letting readers know something bad had happened. On the other hand a number of strips have been very positive indicating that she was doing pretty well. I hope that continues.
I agree.
I haven’t been a regular reader of xkcd, but of the dozens of the strips I have seen, not one has been anything other than smart and insightful (and funny). “Creepy” is right out.
I’m not a fan of XKCD and find it overrated, but I wouldn’t say that he’s creepy.
Now, the people who post on the strip’s forums? Those guys are creepy.
Seriously?
Did you read that wikipedia article on “jokes”? It might help you to understand the content on xkcd. If you haven’t read it I seriously recommend it, it might help you understand the hu-mons you walk among.
I feel like we’d all be happier if you stopped reading xkcd.
You can see Randall Munroe doing this? Have you ever met Randall Munroe in real life?
Fuck cancer typifies why some of his more poignant strips make it past my generally high glurge filters, why it’s not so much a concern for his girlfriend/wife per se as much as the human condition and why even if the prognosis is good, he’s unlikely to come out with any definitive statements.
There’s strips like this one xkcd: Two Years that remind you how fragile life is and how important our relationships are. True you can’t take anything for granted.
I have. Didn’t know it was him at the time. Seemed like a decent guy, kinda quiet (but given life circumstances, that’s understandable).
I think we’re just looking at different parts of the elephant. I mean that the behavior he’s capturing is (successfully) portrayed in a really creepy way. And I think he does that often.