# XKCD webcomic **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [November 2, 2009, 12:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-webcomic/516039 "2009-11-02T12:04:45Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Omi\_no\_Kami](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/a88e4f/32.png) [@Omi\_no\_Kami](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Omi_no_Kami)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2009, 12:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-webcomic/516039/1 "2009-11-02T12:04:45Z")
Yeesh, has anybody seen the [most recent](http://xkcd.com/657/large/) comic for xkcd? The guy really outdid himself-the attention to detail is simultaneously impressive and kind of scary. 0\_0 ---
**Author:** ![Eternal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ecb155/32.png) [@Eternal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eternal)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2009, 12:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-webcomic/516039/2 "2009-11-02T12:17:51Z")
You get the impression it was just a geek project hobby with a last-second joke tacked on to make it a strip. Still the joke makes it 10 times funnier tham most XKCD comics (and webcomics in general), which are just geekery for the sake of geekery, which apparently is funny. ---
**Author:** ![Fake\_Tales\_of\_San\_Francisco](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/8491ac/32.png) [@Fake\_Tales\_of\_San\_Francisco](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fake_Tales_of_San_Francisco)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2009, 12:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-webcomic/516039/3 "2009-11-02T12:18:24Z")
That’s brilliant! Except Samwise eventually sails to the Undying Lands to be reunited with Frodo (since he was temporarily a ring bearer), but I suppose it isn’t long enough for that. So does Gimli come to think of it. ---
**Author:** ![DrFidelius](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/drfidelius/32/3447_2.png) [@DrFidelius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrFidelius)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2009, 12:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-webcomic/516039/4 "2009-11-02T12:27:36Z")
Well, it is lost on me, as I have never heard of the story referenced in the spaghetti-chart. I must accept that my prime geek years are behind me. ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2009, 12:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-webcomic/516039/5 "2009-11-02T12:33:18Z")
> [@Eternal](#): > > You get the impression it was just a geek project hobby with a last-second joke tacked on to make it a strip. > > Still the joke makes it 10 times funnier tham most XKCD comics (and webcomics in general), which are just geekery for the sake of geekery, which apparently is funny. I have to disagree with your assessment. The geekery you mention is there for its own sake, but that isn’t what makes it funny. It’s the inside jokes–the jokes that are only funny if you have an insane knowledge of the subject. I see this comic as being more geekery for the sake of geekery. It’s cool, but the joke is analogous to a simple pun. “Primer is complicated! Isn’t that hilarious?” No. No it isn’t. ---
**Author:** ![Typo\_Knig](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/cdc98d/32.png) [@Typo\_Knig](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Typo_Knig)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2009, 1:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-webcomic/516039/6 "2009-11-02T13:09:49Z")
The choice of including 12 Angry Men is brilliant! XKCD has been particularly good the last couple of weeks. ---
**Author:** ![Eternal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ecb155/32.png) [@Eternal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eternal)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2009, 1:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-webcomic/516039/7 "2009-11-02T13:19:18Z")
> [@BigT](#): > > I have to disagree with your assessment. The geekery you mention is there for its own sake, but that isn’t what makes it funny. It’s the inside jokes–the jokes that are only funny if you have an insane knowledge of the subject. > > I see this comic as being more geekery for the sake of geekery. It’s cool, but the joke is analogous to a simple pun. “Primer is complicated! Isn’t that hilarious?” > > No. No it isn’t. You’re right about this particular comic. It only occurs to me now it isn’t an exceptional XKCD comic. XKCD is better at it than most webcomics, but a large number of XKCD comics come down to understanding a reference. And to the extent that there is ever any actual joke, it is not artfully executed. Usually I take this to mean he doesn’t really know the subject ( ruining the fun of an inside-joke, if the fun from it comes from a sense of a shared identity). He knows computers and those jokes tend to be well done. But I look at some of these crude puns based on physics terms and I think he just stumbled upon a new term browsing Wikipedia and now he’s trying to to sound smart. I miss the simple depraved elegance of PBF ---
**Author:** ![ftg](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ftg/32/2801_2.png) [@ftg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ftg)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2009, 1:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-webcomic/516039/8 "2009-11-02T13:28:50Z")
There’s a joke is this comic? ---
**Author:** ![yojimbo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yojimbo/32/232_2.png) [@yojimbo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yojimbo)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2009, 1:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-webcomic/516039/9 "2009-11-02T13:32:55Z")
> [@DrFidelius](#): > > Well, it is lost on me, as I have never heard of the story referenced in the spaghetti-chart. I must accept that my prime geek years are behind me. It’s a time travel movie with different “versions” of the characters existing in the same timeline. It’s a headfuck. Here’s an image of the multiple timelines and the characters in them. [![](https://deckardpl.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/05/primer_timeline.jpg) ](https://deckardpl.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/05/primer_timeline.jpg) ---
**Author:** ![mr.jp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/48db29/32.png) [@mr.jp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mr.jp)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2009, 1:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-webcomic/516039/10 "2009-11-02T13:38:34Z")
> [@Eternal](#): > > You get the impression it was just a geek project hobby with a last-second joke tacked on to make it a strip. What is the joke that is tagged on? ---
**Author:** ![Eternal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ecb155/32.png) [@Eternal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eternal)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2009, 2:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-webcomic/516039/11 "2009-11-02T14:12:32Z")
> [@mr.jp](#): > > What is the joke that is tagged on? The Primer and 12 Angry Men graphs. I honestly think the others could have been little projects the author worked on in his free time and it only turned into a comic when the Primer and 12 Angry Men timelines occurred to him. ---
**Author:** ![FriarTed](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/friarted/32/1052_2.png) [@FriarTed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FriarTed)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2009, 2:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-webcomic/516039/12 "2009-11-02T14:16:24Z")
Is there a mouseover joke hidden here too? My mouse isn’t detecting one. ---
**Author:** ![Munch](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/munch/32/5281_2.png) [@Munch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Munch)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2009, 2:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-webcomic/516039/13 "2009-11-02T14:24:55Z")
> [@FriarTed](#): > > Is there a mouseover joke hidden here too? My mouse isn’t detecting one. It says, “In the LOTR map, up and down correspond LOOSELY to northwest and southeast respectively.” ---
**Author:** ![Gorsnak](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gorsnak/32/7587_2.png) [@Gorsnak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gorsnak)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2009, 2:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-webcomic/516039/14 "2009-11-02T14:27:52Z")
> [@FriarTed](#): > > Is there a mouseover joke hidden here too? My mouse isn’t detecting one. You need to go to the actual [www.xkcd.com](http://www.xkcd.com) site to get the mouseover. It’s not there on the fullsize graphic page linked in the OP. It’s also not a joke, so it’s not really worth the effort. ---
**Author:** ![Quercus\_alba](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quercus_alba/32/4061_2.png) [@Quercus\_alba](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quercus_alba)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2009, 2:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-webcomic/516039/15 "2009-11-02T14:35:38Z")
> [@Fake\_Tales\_of\_San\_Francisco](#): > > That’s brilliant! > > Except Samwise eventually sails to the Undying Lands to be reunited with Frodo (since he was temporarily a ring bearer), but I suppose it isn’t long enough for that. So does Gimli come to think of it. AND he accepts Peter Jackson’s endpoints for the Saruman-Grima timeline! ---
**Author:** ![IvoryTowerDenizen](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ivorytowerdenizen/32/17937_2.png) [@IvoryTowerDenizen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/IvoryTowerDenizen)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2009, 3:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-webcomic/516039/16 "2009-11-02T15:14:15Z")
> [@Typo\_Knig](#): > > The choice of including 12 Angry Men is brilliant! XKCD has been particularly good the last couple of weeks. 12 Angry Men was my favorite. I thought the comic was wonderful. I don’t know what “Primer” is, but I can still get the joke. ---
**Author:** ![Malleus\_Incus\_Stapes](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/malleus_incus_stapes/32/3293_2.png) [@Malleus\_Incus\_Stapes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malleus_Incus_Stapes)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2009, 3:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-webcomic/516039/17 "2009-11-02T15:22:23Z")
> [@Quercus\_alba](#): > > AND he accepts Peter Jackson’s endpoints for the Saruman-Grima timeline! Well, it does say “_Movie_ Narration Charts”. ---
**Author:** ![Tanbarkie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/a698b9/32.png) [@Tanbarkie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tanbarkie)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2009, 4:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-webcomic/516039/18 "2009-11-02T16:55:45Z")
> [@BigT](#): > > I have to disagree with your assessment. The geekery you mention is there for its own sake, but that isn’t what makes it funny. It’s the inside jokes–the jokes that are only funny if you have an insane knowledge of the subject. > > I see this comic as being more geekery for the sake of geekery. It’s cool, but the joke is analogous to a simple pun. “Primer is complicated! Isn’t that hilarious?” > > No. No it isn’t. There’s plenty of secondary jokes in there if you look for them. Munroe’s style of humor doesn’t usually follow the simple “setup and punchline” structure - it’s the little side details and sly references that make his comics funny. I haven’t seen either “12 Angry Men” or “Primer” (although I’m familiar with the plot of the former), and I still thought this comic was hilarious - especially the “Jurassic Park” graph (“MUST GO FASTER”! “CLEVER GIRL”!). ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2009, 5:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-webcomic/516039/19 "2009-11-02T17:00:53Z")
> [@Typo\_Knig](#): > > The choice of including 12 Angry Men is brilliant! XKCD has been particularly good the last couple of weeks. It’s got a minor flaw. There should be a line for the baliff character that bounces across the group like a rock skipping on a pond, reflecting intermittent scenes where he comes to the jury room to deliver requested evidence and transcripts. That’s actually one of my favourite trick questions: “How many characters appear in the play _Twelve Angry Men_?” ---
**Author:** ![UncleRojelio](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/unclerojelio/32/3160_2.png) [@UncleRojelio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UncleRojelio)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2009, 5:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-webcomic/516039/20 "2009-11-02T17:13:08Z")
I’m guessing that these are tributes to [Charles Minard](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_Joseph_Minard) and to the ‘[best statistical graphic ever drawn](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Minard.png)’? [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-webcomic/516039.md?page=2)