XKCD: It's more than a comic

How is the joke a ripoff? Two poeple make a similar joke abou the same subject manner at nearly the same time? That not really a ripoff. A ripoff involes a more blatant stealing of material, as well as a larger scale stealing. Plus, in order to prove a ripoff, you'd have to prove that Randall saw the comic, and then stole the joke within three days. At most he got inspired by the other comic to do a joke on the same subject.

Y'know, hatedoms are very ugly things. I say the joke, while similar, is sufficiently different enough to not really matter. One is about people getting used to the old speed of computers to a... strange degree, while the other is about the size of computers (with a similar premise otherwise).

The jokes are definitely related, but also clearly different.

Also, unlike the xkcd one, the SMBC one has a very unremarkable punchline - almost to the point where there's no punchline at all. I'd go so far as to say the joke would've been far better had the panels been switched.

There's another thing. The SMBC one goes from future to past, while the xkcd one goes from past to future.

So yeah. Similar: yes. Same: no. Hatedoms: suck.

Sabbo is wise in all things.

I, for one, do find them really similar, but I doubt it's plagiarism, as much as all those penguin movies weren't plagiarizing from one another.

Whether it's a ripoff or not, it is another sex joke and I'm getting a little tired of those. Alone, it was chuckle-worthy, but I'd like to see more variety in the comic as a whole.

@Alkthash: Cause webcomics are Serious Business?' I looked at your response, thought long and hard about it, and came to the conclusion you had nothing to add to the conversation other than "LOL." Unless you admit it was a ripff and conceded because otherwise I can't see why you'd post.

@Colin: Two poeple make a similar joke abou the same subject manner at nearly the same time? That would be the one the prime criteria for a ripoff! It doesn't have to be at the same time, but because it is it makes it that much easier to call it one. It's not like it's some big current event where everybody makes a (tasteless?) joke, perhaps about swine flu.

http://www.projectwonderful.com/advertisehere.php?id=6260&type=3 Whoops, my mistake. That's much more than 50,000 readers. It's not hard to assume Randall reads it either since he likes to be all trendy and whatnot. Also, from reading through that humongous archive, it's pretty clear they read each other's comics.

Listen, if I make a movie that for all intents and purposes is almost identical to the Matrix, you'd call that a ripoff. It wouldn't matter if I had seen that. Every review would call it a ripoff and I might even get into legal trouble if it's close enough. (I think.) But 3 days is just awfully conventient, don't you think? This is just like the papyrus one, where Randall at least had the dignity to wait just a smidge longer before stealing.

@Sabbo: Shut your mouth or typing equivilant or whatever. There you go, generalizing and grouping people who disagree with you as someone not worth listening to. If it makes you feel better, I thought xkcd was great until 7 months ago, mediocre 4 months ago, and only pure shit maybe 2 or 3 months ago. I still like all the comics from before 7 months ago, and it's possible to get better, although I don't see that happening. But keep the hatedom accusation crap to yourself.

Their punchlines are EXACTLY THE SAME. You can say they're different, but that doesn't make it so. The're both about the guy being accustomed to porn viewed in an inferior manner and then having sex, confused because it's different. Your point is no better than you and me wearing the same shirt, but I turn mine inwards. "Different shirt altogether!" is what you're saying, but that is clearly not true. Accept it, Randall stole a joke. Which isn't the first time either. (Papyrus?)

@Bring the Noise: You are apparently wrong.

@Noimporta: Having not seen any of those penguin movies I don't care and am probably lucky. Your analogy is not applicable when one just outright lifts the punchline (Can I assume you're equating plot to punchline?) to something else.

@Lyanna: Agreed. I wonder if Randall can come up with something w/o relying on sex, memes, popcultural references, and godawful puns.

If I can go off on a tangent, the dialogue in xkcd has become something of a joke. "Do me without a condom." "Ugh, my uterus hurts." "Constant novelty saps my initiative." Really? The fact Randall doesn't understand his material anymore (Voynich Manuscript anybody? The uterus-hertz also fails logically, which being a technical joke is not good.) makes it worse.

edited 18th Jun '09 9:15:03 PM by Mr. Lostman

RAAAAAGE

It's a stick figure comic. You are complaining about a stick figure comic. Relax, go with the flow, see what goes on.

Tzetze has a point you know.

...But since I'm not the type to abandon a discussion or argument without a conclusion, I'll respond.

.

Believe it or not, you show all the signs of being part of the hatedom. Specifically the It's Popular, Now It Sucks! variety.

The jokes really are not the same. To use that shirt analogy, it's more like I'm wearing a very plain red shirt and you're wearing an equally plain orange shirt. If Randall did take the joke to any degree, I argue that it was no more than inspiration.

.

On a slightly more positive note, I don't understand the joke in today's comic at all. Particularly the centre panels.

edited 18th Jun '09 10:17:15 PM by Sabbo

It'd help if I knew who that was.

This should clear things up for the non-math-geeks here.

Not a sex joke. Be happy.

As a math geek:

YES!

Ah.

Not my sort of joke, but I'm sure there are people out there who find it amusing.

Thanks for the link. Now it makes sense.

Took me a few moments. But knowing what the Erdos number is, I like it.

Haha, way to get all your anti-xkcd points straight from this blog while you are accusing Randall of a ripoff. I suppose there is a chance you are the blog's author. A small one.

...but in all seriousness, why don't you visit the MST3KMantra page for a while? I may not be the biggest xkcd fan (just look at my posts on this very thread), but even I can say "It's just a comic."

ETA: As for the new comic, I'll admit I didn't get it off the bat, but after looking up Erdős it seems like a clever, original idea; one of the best xkcds in a while. In fact, being a linguistics mega-nerd, my biggest qualm is that he used an umlaut instead of a double-acute.

edited 19th Jun '09 12:40:56 AM by Lyanna

I liked that one.

This one was pretty funny.

I...don't really have any more input beyond that.

Personally, I don't understand all the anti-XKCD sentiment lately. I genuinely enjoy XKCD, and still find them pretty most of the time...at least as much as any other webcomic.

I've never understood the idea that any work similar to another (and specifically, any comic strip that uses a joke similar to another strip) must be a ripoff. Hey, everyone, have you ever considered that some people could indepently come up with similar ideas once in a while? It's actually something of a pet peeve of mine.

I disliked xkcd before it was cool to dislike xkcd.

I have little tolerance for those who are unable to understand "Don't like, don't read/watch." This is not complicated.

Besides, people steal jokes from each other all the time. Just look at us and our "Screw the rules, I have X" tropes.

One thing that annoys me is that when he does a joke anyone can get (i.e. a sex joke or something similarly low-brow), the haters claim it's too juvenile, but when he does an "educated" joke they say it's too nerdy. I mean, what do they want? What other kinds of humour can you really do in stick figure comic?

Hey, I said I dislike. I don't hate. I read it in the hopes that he'll put up a good strip, because he has before. Is that wrong or juvenile? For those who do hate, I believe there's such a thing as Bile Fascination.

edited 20th Jun '09 4:48:46 PM by Made of Meat

What other kinds of humour can you really do in stick figure comic?

Something relying on clever writing?

Satire?