Just to get it out of my head

[prog]

One of many reasons that xkcd is a far worthier holder of the go-to geek-comic-strip title than User Friendly ever was is its approach to sex.

The characters in User Friendly are all terrified of women, except for the one or two characters who are women, and therefore whose job it is to go around being all up ins with the boobies and scaring everyone.

The characters of xkcd (and there are characters, I'm convinced, nameless though they may be) were having stick-figure carnal relations from the get go, more or less. And it turns out that geek-tweaked sex-and-romance humor can be much richer and subtler than nerd-stereotype frustrated-virgin humor. That is all.

You know, I don't think I've been linked to any User Friendly comics in the last 10 years.

Comments

[mmcirvin.livejournal.com]

He gets a little of the frustrated-male-virgin moping in too, though, especially in the earlier strips when xkcd was more like an incoherent collection of doodles. The treatment of women isn't perfect, there's some excess sentimentality there, but I think he's gradually matured.

[prog.livejournal.com]

Hmm, I think by "from the get go" I meant "from at least the sudo make me a sandwich strip".

[rikchik.livejournal.com]

Is User Friendly still being published? I'd go look myself, but that might mean seeing some User Friendly comics.

[prog.livejournal.com]

According to Wikipedia it's still officially active, but has been in reruns since the end of last year. (Yesterday displayed a bland Gary Gygax memorial from 2008.)

I'll pass on both

[taskboy3000.livejournal.com]

I don't like either comic particularly, although I am more likely to find humor in xkcd than UF. I do not like the celebration of introverted nerddom very much.

Both comics help to ghettoize nerds in an unproductive way. That is, both celebrate the dysfunctional coping mechanisms many nerd engage in. I can't get behind that.

What I do like are comics that appeal to a rich intellectual life, which is what both Bloom County, The Far Side (and even Zippy) did.

Re: I'll pass on both

[prog.livejournal.com]

The best xkcds are less about "I'm different coz I'm a nerd" and more "life is beautiful, and here is a geek-empowered appreciation of it". UF never really got past "Quake is fun! LEENOOX"

Re: I'll pass on both

[mmcirvin.livejournal.com]

Yeah, the whole "I am special because of my knowledge of official nerd culture" thing makes me uncomfortable.

Zippy was hilarious back in the 1980s. Griffith sort of got stuck in a loop after that.

[radtea.livejournal.com]

The best XKCD are like haiku: minimalistic, highly stylize, and yet evocative and insightful.

The worst are navel-gazing wankery, or childish (not in a good way) incitements to vandalize Wikipedia.

[jtroutman.livejournal.com]

I always saw UF more like a ISP industry comic, then an actual geek comic. And I stopped reading it at least 5 years ago.

When XKCD is good, it is very very good. But he misses the mark at least 25% of the time with me.

[mr-choronzon.livejournal.com]

I definitely agree that XKCD has a mature approach to sex.