Things I like today

[prog]

I have decided that I really like xkcd even though it looks like something I wouldn't like, since I'm on record about my inability to read comics that are just too ugly. Somehow, despite primarily featuring stick figures who speak in complete paragraphs of handwritten uppercase, xkcd is not visually horrible. In fact I'd say it's often rather charming. (The hand-lettering helps, actually. Obviously typed-in lettering always loses points with me. Add in perfectly elliptical word balloons for double-yuck.)

Its sense of humor is invariably dead on target for me. I even like the frequent romantic strips.

And then there's this guy's photographic report of a Ren Faire, which keimel will probably laugh at though maybe he won't I don't know, by way of cthulhia. I like how he manages to make "Ha ha look at the funny people" fresh. It may have something to do with how he continually pokes fun at his girlfriend the whole time too, leading to the implication that he loves the faire he mocks. Or maybe I just need lunch and everything's too funny right now.

Comments

[leahleaf.livejournal.com]

oh bad news hughes is always funny. A+

[dictator555.livejournal.com]

That Ren Faire thing was very funny, especially to someone who was dragged to way too many of those things unwillingly as a youth. But I don't understand how you can like xkcd and not enjoy the beloved Dinosaur Comics. I'm shaking my head in dismay right now. Shake. Shake.

[prog.livejournal.com]

Because it has less visual appeal than Aqua Teen Hunger Force, if Aqua Teen Hunger Force were actually Knights of the Dinner Table.

[dictator555.livejournal.com]

But that's the whole point! (And you can't tell me that some time T-Rex's stubby waving forearms aren't adorable!)

[chocorisu.livejournal.com]

Man, I get so close to liking xkcd every time I look at it, and it's actually made me laugh because it's very clever sometimes... but damn it, then I'll see a strip with the worst drawn hand ever and I can't stand the thing again. I mean for heaven's sake, learning to draw is NOT that hard if you're regularly drawing a popular web comic. Look at early Penny Arcade... aie my eyes!

[prog.livejournal.com]

I winced at that hand too. But it's clear he puts so much heart into the artwork anyway, despite his lack of skill. I'm not saying it makes up for it, but it does put it leagues ahead of many popular webcomics that are not drawn at all.

[chocorisu.livejournal.com]

Yeah, agree with you there.

On the other hand, that's what's great about the web. Anyone CAN make a barely comic-like web comic if they want and, if people like it, it can gain a readership. More often than not the artists get better with time. I'd rather have a ton of shitty webcomics and some gems than the consistently dull strips in newspapers.