A Penny Arcade strip you like and why

Bahimiron · 2010-12-01T05:13:15.000Z

I like how regretful he looks that so many must sacrifice their lives, and possibly their very souls, so he may play a round of Bejeweled.

Martin_Guerre · 2010-12-01T08:16:08.000Z

What the hell is going on with that guy’s nose?!

Telefrog · 2010-12-01T08:33:51.000Z

Gus_Smedstad:

A bigger issue is if the joke requires explaining even if you do know the news. Obviously isn’t not being told very well in that case.

This. I know a lot of people love to read the PA posts as well as read the comic, so the joke setup is always explained, but I see PA comics posted by themselves all the time on the net and quite a few of them make no damn sense on their own. This one is a great example. Even if you know about OnLive, the comic doesn’t even try to set anything up for you. The art is great, but the joke is completely lost without the text of the post. Political cartoons often assume you know about the issue or person being lampooned, but the jokes are usually so broad and blunt that even if you have no familiarity with the subject you can usually figure out what opinion the cartoonist has about it.

Rimbo · 2010-12-01T09:57:51.000Z

Martin Guerre:

What the hell is going on with that guy’s nose?!

Apparently he drinks a lot.

unbongwah · 2010-12-01T11:43:06.000Z

DanielElliot:

Gabe looks like he’s going Hooooo on reflex or to be polite, which is hilarious for some reason.

I took it as a sign he knew exactly how Tycho’s night was going to pan out and it would not be nearly as sexy as Tycho tried to imply. Like when a buddy brags about sexual exploits you know he’s lying about but you humor him anyway - only this time he isn’t even bragging about an actual woman but a Kinect sex title (Kinesex?).

Which of course is part of what makes it so funny.

Sebmojo · 2010-12-01T16:54:16.000Z

Bahimiron:

I like how regretful he looks that so many must sacrifice their lives, and possibly their very souls, so he may play a round of Bejeweled.

I think it’s completely unclear and that makes it rubbish.

I mean, who’s John Vechey? Why the mansion - is he rich or something? What’s PopCap? What’s Bejeweled? Who are all those men? Why have they got real jewels? What’s a ‘match’? Why the trapdoor? Why the garden? Why? What is the darkness? Who is the dude in the blue? And the other guy? What’s Childs Play? WHAT?

It’s an endless cavalcade of befuddlement!

Rimbo · 2010-12-01T16:56:02.000Z

Sebmojo:

I think it’s completely unclear and that makes it rubbish.

I mean, who’s John Vechey? Why the mansion - is he rich or something? What’s PopCap? What’s Bejeweled? Who are all those men? Why have they got real jewels? What’s a ‘match’? Why the trapdoor? Why the garden? Why? What is the darkness? Who is the dude in the blue? And the other guy? What’s Childs Play? WHAT?

It’s an endless cavalcade of confusion!

and what the heck are those boxes around each of the drawings and why are there three of that guy

Sebmojo · 2010-12-01T17:01:56.000Z

Rimbo:

and what the heck are those boxes around each of the drawings and why are there three of that guy

NONE OF IT MAKES SENSE AND THAT MAKES ME ANGRY

The bloom on the ice cubes in the first panel.

sinnick · 2010-12-02T10:13:39.000Z

One of my favourites. This is a pretty perfect three-panel joke:

215535851_hBPpe-L-2.jpg800×417

The associated newspost is great too.

MattKeil · 2010-12-02T10:16:14.000Z

Sebmojo:

NONE OF IT MAKES SENSE AND THAT MAKES ME ANGRY

I understood it perfectly without reading the newspost, but that may just be because I’m aware of one of the most successful game companies of the last decade.

Bahimiron · 2010-12-02T10:39:11.000Z

MattKeil:

I understood it perfectly without reading the newspost, but that may just be because I’m aware of one of the most successful game companies of the last decade.

My assumption is that Sebmojo may have been making fun of some other people in the thread.

Rimbo · 2010-12-02T10:57:37.000Z

sinnick:

The associated newspost is great too.

Wow. That’s… a really accurate critique.

“What you’ve proposed is a kind of quantum encyclopedia, where genuine data both exists and doesn’t exist depending on the precise moment I rely upon your discordant fucking mob for my information.”

And calling it a “quantum encyclopedia” is a fantastic metaphor.

MattKeil:

I understood it perfectly without reading the newspost, but that may just be because I’m aware of one of the most successful game companies of the last decade.