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."
— Edmund, here.
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. The comic stopped updating in June 2014.
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.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- Halloween Episode: One every year! There have been four so far.
- 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.
- Unfazed Everyman: Edmund is always polite and calm, whether he's dealing with pirates, aliens, or lunatics.
