13: Canyon
Canyon |
Title text: They're standing at the lip of the canyon, which isn't clear at all. |
Explanation
This is one of the early comics which explores a theme xkcd returns to often: the wonder around us, if we would just look. "Now" is the least boring time it could be, as they stand on an alien world over an amazing landscape. How could you want it to be any time but now?
Transcript
- [Two men are standing at some kind of cliff edge.]
- Man 1: What time is it?
- [Man 2 looks at watch in silence.]
- Man 2: Now.
- [Full scene is revealed: the men are standing at the edge of a huge canyon in a rocky, barren landscape. A pock-marked moon and a ringed planet are visible in the burgundy-coloured sky.]
- Man 1: That's a pretty boring answer.
- Man 2: Is not.
- Man 2: It's the least boring answer imaginable.
Trivia
- Original Randall quote: "I'm not sure where they are, but they should be more excited! I would be."
- This is the seventh comic posted to livejournal. The previous one was 24: Godel, Escher, Kurt Halsey, the next is 8: Red Spiders.
Discussion
Lined paper, why was this comic drawn on lined paper? Blegh. Davidy22[talk] 14:09, 8 January 2013 (UTC)
- Most early xkcd comics were literally scans of doodles that Randall drew in his (presumably) graph paper notebook while bored in class(?). Zowayix (talk) 21:25, 18 January 2014 (UTC)
An often used phrase is "The future is now", in reference to futuristic gadgets etc that one can see in todays world... what more furistic is an alien-planet vista with two humans in it?Squirreltape (talk) 23:32, 3 March 2014 (UTC)
This may also refer to the problem of timekeeping on another planets. STEN (talk) 22:59, 11 August 2014 (UTC)
- . . . Tidally locked planet, no spin, no appearence of the planet's star moving across the sky. Thus, the time, as judged by the placement of the sun in th sky, is always "Now." 13:11, 28 August 2014 (UTC)~
- Why does this sentence evoke melancholy? Psychoticpotato (talk) 02:38, 18 May 2024 (UTC)
There is a community portal discussion of what to call Cueball and what to do in case with more than one Cueball. I have added this comic to the new Category:Multiple Cueballs. In this case there is no reason to call one Cueball and the other friend. It could easily be the other way. So I have changed to remove Cueball.--Kynde (talk) 17:23, 15 March 2015 (UTC)
- After having looked at several other Multiple Cueballs comics I have regretted this change as it is clear (to me now) that the one I have now, again, named Cueball is the protagonist of the story - i.e. the one with the interesting remarks. But still I make it clear that they both looks like Cueball. --Kynde (talk) 13:34, 24 March 2015 (UTC)
Anyone else think this looks like the alien landscape from Calvin and Hobbes? Danish (talk) 16:58, 30 December 2020 (UTC)
I love those! --Char Latte49 (talk) 19:00, 11 March 2021 (UTC)