
Left: Edmund. Right: One of the sanest people he's met.
"I've met many people in my travels, many hospitable, others not as much. It's times like these that reassure me you can still count on the kindness... and strangeness... of strangers."
Meet Edmund Finney, a man traveling the world, searching for... well, for the meaning of life. The Only Sane Man in a mad, mad, world, Edmund has to deal with Ax-Crazy lunatics, monsters, cannibals, aliens, advertising companies, corporate CEO's, insanely high gas prices, musical pirates, the odd Monster Clown, and far, far more. He reacts to it all with a calm rationality... well, when he's not running away screaming.Keep in mind that a lot of the humour comes from subverting, double subverting and zig zagging various tropes and expected punchlines.You can read it here.— Edmund, here.


Tropes that apply to this webcomic are:
- Alt Text: That little paintbrush icon on the left? Hover your mouse over that and you'll see some things Edmund wrote in his notebook. (Although, not for every comic.)
- Arson, Murder, and Jaywalking: When Edmund has to choose a game
at the monster party, his choices include Be the Piñata, Pin the Tail on the Sleeping Bear, Bobbing for Mousetraps, and Karaoke (Grease soundtrack only). He chooses the mousetraps.
- "Bang!" Flag Gun: Used here
and here
.
- Beat Panel: When Edmund pays a street performer to grow a moustache right in front of his eyes, there's a long pause
, because the performer's just waiting for it to grow as normal.
- Bigfoot, Sasquatch and Yeti: Both have appeared.
- Captain Colorbeard: Captain Twobeard
.
- Cassandra Truth: Edmund gets taken to an insane asylum after he tells the police that he saw a "rhyming gentleman bouncing around, harvesting hands he grew from finger bones, intent on canning and selling them in town." Even though he's telling the truth
.
- Chainsaw Good: Chainsaw Chaz
believes chainsaws solve all problems, and carries one around all the time as a result.
- Chew Bubblegum: Parodied
. A monster says they're here to kick ass and chew bubblegum, and they're all out of bubblegum. A truck full of bubblegum then falls through the roof.
- Christmas Episode: One or two.
- Cloud Cuckoo Lander: Everyone. Including the author, who is terrified that someday a squirrel will fall on his head, and is worried that miniature people will shoot him while he's making popcorn.
- Crazy-Prepared: Edmund himself, according to Word of God.
- Felony Misdemeanor: Exaggerated with the sheriff
at the tough guy saloon. The sheriff tries to hang a man for making a fake bomb threat, then tries to have Edmund hanged for asking if that's warranted. Then when Edmund keeps protesting, the sheriff keeps upping the number of hangings, to the point where he's threatening to hang Edmund three times over.
- Fiction500: Two CEOs stranded on a desert island discuss their situation. One says that he feels like a million bucks
as a complaint.
- Fridge Logic: While the crazy people in the asylum may seem simplistically, offensively crazy, a moment's thought reveals that anyone crazy enough to be committed in
this
world
has to be nuts.
- Halloween Episode: One every year! There have been four so far.
- Glass-Shattering Sound: According to the Alt Text, this.
- Global Warming: This strip
, as well as being invoked and parodied here.
- I Don't Like the Sound of That Place: http://eqcomics.com/2010/10/12/an-ominous-island/
- I'm a Humanitarian: this guy.
And this one.
Subverted with the Cannibal Tribe.
- Lampshade Hanging: ...
- Literal-Minded: Literal Lord Werriam.
- Mathematician's Answer: "Is this guy the sheriff or the town drunk?" "Yes."
- Magic Feather: Parodied here.
- Monster Clown: This.
And this.
As well as this
for good measure.
- Morton's Fork: here.
Edmund tries to Take a Third Option. It doesn't work.
- Not the Fall That Kills You: It's the snakes.
- Only Sane Man: Edmund.
- Pants-Free: The man at the information desk.
- Shout-Out:
- Two in this strip
, one to Jurassic Park and one to Romeo and Juliet.
- This
(and the following arc) to The Twilight Zone.
- This
to Moby-Dick.
- This is one
to Dragon's Den.
- This one
to Indiana Jones.
- Two in this strip
- Squee!: Played with here.
And again, with this.
- Title Drop: Not the title of the comic itself, but for each of the two book collections:Edmund: It's times like these that reassure me you can still count on the kindness... and strangeness... of strangers.Edmund: Well, that was among the stranger things I've seen.
- Totem Pole Trench: Horribly subverted.
- Unfazed Everyman: Edmund is always polite and calm, whether he's dealing with pirates, aliens, or lunatics.
- Writing by the Seat of Your Pants: Dan has stated that he doesn't plan ahead, just sits down with a blank piece of paper and draws whatever comes into his head.
- Wrong Turn at Albuquerque: Referenced in the Alt Text for this strip.