Twice is nice! Right?
A comic trope in which either the two last panels of a strip each contain a punchline, or the last panel contains double the punchlines for double the fun.
This sometimes takes the form of crossing the line twice. The penultimate panel is often a sight gag or take, and if this is true, then the last panel may add a spoken punchline to this. Conversely, the spoken punchline may be in the penultimate panel with a Wild Take or Gross-Up Close-Up added as the second punchline.
Related to Escalating Punchline. For webcomics, Alt Text is frequently used as a way to convey the second punchline.
Examples:
open/close all folders
Comic Strips
- Often used in Pearls Before Swine, especially in the pun strips, in which the first punchline is a contrived pun after a long setup, with the second being someone, usually Rat, reacting with annoyance.
- Calvin and Hobbes: Bill Watterson was fond of these, with Hobbes adding another punchline on the far right of the last panel, often a mockery or lampshade hanging on what Calvin was saying.
- Doonesbury was the first newspaper comic strip to regularly use this, and was directly or indirectly the inspiration for most modern uses.
- The "two punchlines in last panel" variation is frequently seen in Cul-de-sac.
- In Political Cartoons an additional punchline / comment is sometimes supplied by an Author Avatar drawn in the last panel or in the bottom left. Currently satirized by The Onion's "Kelly"
.
Web Comics
- Sometimes in Questionable Content, as seen here. In one case, a double punchline is given after a pair of Silent Scenery Beat Panels.
- In an example from Bob and George, after Bob revives from unconciousness off panel, when he actually appears in the penultimate panel of the next comic, he is wearing a ridiculous girly costume. The final panel has him making a reference to the prior Halloween comic, which is where the costume originated.
- Cat and Girl uses a fairly standard size format for its comics, but sometimes there will be an extra panel or two drawn in grey that adds a punchline.
- Many Webcomics (including The Adventures of Dr. McNinja, xkcd and Achewood) will include secondary punchlines in hover-over Alt Text. Saturday Morning Breakfast Cereal and Amazing Super Powers go a step further, including an entire bonus second-punchline panel. The former by hovering over a red button at the end of the strip, and the latter by clicking a hidden question mark at the comic's side.
- Achewood often has multiple punchlines strewn throughout the strip.
