He was 21 when he launched the comic; he's now 32. I'm guessing he's gotten better at slice-of-life jokes as he's grown
Do you mean that he had more general science jokes in the old comic, or that there is more now? Today's comic is definitely a science joke.
The universe is under no obligation to make sense to us.I never thought there were any slice of life jokes, and I think it's an exaggeration to say that this comic has "characters".
Well, Black Hat and Beret have very defined personalities and characteristics in each of their appearances, so they can be considered "characters".
Personally, I've always thought of them as "archetypes". The loony one, the cruel one, etc. There isn't really enough continuity from strip to strip to call them characters, imo.
That could indeed be the case with Beret, but Black Hat was established as a character early on with that whole stealing-his-hat-back arc and the comics where he continued to have a relationship with Megan (who could also be considered a character, but her look isn't distinctive and is used for other characters occasionally).
That's actually Danish. Her hair is longer than Megan's, which is more or less the only physical difference.
It was going so well until it exploded.Danish? Well, Black Hat's Girlfriend is definitely a character, which is different from the more generic Megan. There is also Mrs. Roberts, who not only is a recurring character, but she also has a name. There is also her daughter, Elaine, though she only appeared in the 1337 series IRC.
The universe is under no obligation to make sense to us.I believe she got nicknamed from this comic.
It was going so well until it exploded.explainxkcd notes that the title text is "clearly implausible, as the costs (of lives and money) would be astronomical."
Apparently the sun is a ball of orange juice?
It was going so well until it exploded.And Explainxkcd wins the award for most blatantly obvious "whooshing" of joke over head.
Is this one of the rare times that Randall has had direct continuity between consecutive comics?
"It's Occam's Shuriken! If the answer is elusive, never rule out ninjas!"There's a series of strips with the title "Barrel" very early in the comic's run.
EDIT: Nevermind, somehow I read your post as saying he's never done it, when you clearly said it's only rare.
edited 28th Apr '17 5:49:51 AM by BestOf
Quod gratis asseritur, gratis negatur.Wow, uhh... that took a bit of a dark turn...
Technically not consecutive, since "Geochronology" is in-between.
Moon◊Another one of these, and we have another XKCD arc.
Optimism is a duty.What would the next one be about? Somebody The moon eating the sun in some strange sort of cosmic Pac Man game?
If I turn out to be right on this I'm pulling a "I had this idea before you made it" and suing Randall for like a gajillion dollars or something.
It was going so well until it exploded.i love the implication that they just stood and watched for six months
"There's not a girl alive who wouldn't be happy being called cute." ~Tamamo-no-MaeOh I'm sure that this is just a purely hypothetical scenario that has never, ever played out to the tune of billions of dollars and years wasted. No siree, our academics would never fall into such a foolish trap.
Your funny quote here! (Maybe)Of course not.
This is every Ph D's first postdoc. While he was doing that everybody else was carrying on as normal.
#1832: Photo Library Management
Randall once again reveals the simple truths of our digital lives.
"It's Occam's Shuriken! If the answer is elusive, never rule out ninjas!"i have the same issue but with memes
"There's not a girl alive who wouldn't be happy being called cute." ~Tamamo-no-MaeWith three, it's a tradition, right? Those are some sick burns.
"It's Occam's Shuriken! If the answer is elusive, never rule out ninjas!"
I was looking at some older comics and I suddenly noticed there seem to be far less slice of life comics for the characters in favor of more general science jokes. Any reason why?
Optimism is a duty.