A Penny Arcade strip you like and why

sinnick · 2010-11-13T18:39:57.000Z

Sebmojo:

It’s like where you have a strip where a guy is saying something reasonable then FLIPPING out, and the final picture has the guy saying the two things but the picture is only of him flipping out.

Let’s see… ah.

Agreed, that first line of dialog in the third panel should have been at the bottom of the second panel, as an off-screen bubble.

Tim_N · 2010-11-15T12:53:28.000Z

I like the latest one for just how horribly wrong it goes. Such a simple joke, but Mike’s implementation pulls it off I think:

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BobJustBob · 2010-11-15T13:05:48.000Z

They should have used the watch.

sinnick · 2010-11-15T13:59:47.000Z

I actually found this one kind of hard to understand until I read the post and realized what was happening.

I wish the chandelier was visible in the first panel, and that Tycho’s body language better indicated that he was swinging his hand back.

Rimbo · 2010-11-15T14:05:39.000Z

this one reminds me of Watterson’s comments about when he will have a weak joke, so he’ll go for broke on the illustration… and is a great example of doing just that :)

Dejin · 2010-11-15T18:11:40.000Z

sinnick:

I actually found this one kind of hard to understand until I read the post and realized what was happening.

Me too. I couldn’t figure out what that thing in the second post was. I thought maybe it was supposed to be Tycho was casting some Harry Potterish spell but then I couldn’t make any sense of the third panel. I suppose the “Crash” in the second panel should have provided me with at least some guidance.

Dufresne · 2010-11-15T20:12:33.000Z

I find it kind of weird that the chandelier doesn’t have any sort of outline. Not sure if that could explain why the comic is confusing for some people.

dermot · 2010-11-16T01:24:53.000Z

I spotted the chandelier alright and I got the joke more or less straightaway but the execution is still flawed. It’s one of those jokes that actually doesn’t suit the three-panel format and would have worked better with maybe one or two extra panels that just show them swinging their arms.

zengonzo · 2010-11-16T02:31:12.000Z

Or maybe just one panel of complete catastrophe after a series of benign flailings.

Sebmojo · 2010-11-16T04:19:52.000Z

sinnick:

I actually found this one kind of hard to understand until I read the post and realized what was happening.

I wish the chandelier was visible in the first panel, and that Tycho’s body language better indicated that he was swinging his hand back.

The first panel: We are playing Kinect

The second panel: I will kill you with my chandelier

The third panel: OH GOD BLOOD

It’s not that complicated.

Dave_Perkins · 2010-11-16T05:26:07.000Z

I wish you guys would each quote the original comic every time you post a comment on it.

dermot · 2010-11-16T05:32:53.000Z

Dave Perkins:

I wish you guys would each quote the original comic every time you post a comment on it.

Bad idea.

Dave_Perkins · 2010-11-16T05:34:49.000Z

I should have been more sarcastic.

Arbit · 2010-11-16T17:40:25.000Z

They’re playing volleyball with a chandelier?

Mike_O_Malley · 2010-11-16T18:57:04.000Z

Dave Perkins:

I should have been more sarcastic.

Good idea.

Balasarius · 2010-11-17T06:26:01.000Z

Arbit:

They’re playing volleyball with a chandelier?

Not very current with the gaming industry, are ya?

CLWheeljack · 2010-11-17T06:36:28.000Z

No, without the news post or some other explanation, that comic really didn’t make much sense.

The room is featureless, so you dont really have context to interpret it as a chandelier. The perspectives are off so that it doesn’t look like the camera panned up to see something hidden, it looks like the chandelier suddenly materialized, and Tycho’s face in #2 doesn’t really read “just put my hand through shard of broken glass”. I don’t really know what it reads.

I thought he had summoned a magic Grappling hook thing (that’s why it was white and glowy, it’s magic) and stabbed Gabe in the head with it.

sinnick · 2010-11-17T06:50:16.000Z

CLWheeljack:

No, without the news post or some other explanation, that comic really didn’t make much sense.

The room is featureless, so you dont really have context to interpret it as a chandelier. The perspectives are off so that it doesn’t look like the camera panned up to see something hidden, it looks like the chandelier suddenly materialized, and Tycho’s face in #2 doesn’t really read “just put my hand through shard of broken glass”. I don’t really know what it reads.

I thought he had summoned a magic Grappling hook thing (that’s why it was white and glowy, it’s magic) and stabbed Gabe in the head with it.

I had the exact same experience.

BobJustBob · 2010-11-17T07:00:50.000Z

It was immediately obvious to me that the first panel was them playing Kinect and that the second panel was them hitting an overhead chandelier a la this guy. Not that I’m calling you guys stupid or anything.

TurinTur · 2010-11-17T07:33:35.000Z

Well, i read the comic without reading first the related text and i guessed correctly the theme (Kinect) and interpreted easily the draw of the chandelier.