Difference between revisions of "842: Mark"

Explain xkcd: It's 'cause you're dumb.
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(Explanation)
(Explanation)
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==Explanation==
 
==Explanation==
According to Urban Dictionary [http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=pen15+club] [http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=pen15], this is an old grade school/middle school prank. You'd walk up to an unsuspecting schoolmate and ask him if he wants to join the Pen Fifteen Club. You'd tell him that to join, you merely have to write the club name on him. You'd then write "PEN15" on his hand or arm, and everyone would laugh at him (because it looks like "Penis"). In this case, [[Cueball]] fell victim to this prank as a child without ever figuring it out. Later on, he created meaning and conspiracy out of two completely unrelated, coincidental events, and resultantly burned someone's house down.
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The punchline refers to an old grade school/middle school prank. (Urban Dictionary: [http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=pen15+club pen 15 club], [http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=pen15 Pen 15]) You'd typically walk up to an unsuspecting schoolmate and ask him if he wants to join the Pen Fifteen club. You'd tell him that to join, you merely have to write the club name on him. You'd then write "PEN15" on his hand or arm, and everyone would laugh at him (because it looks like "Penis"). In this case, [[Cueball]] fell victim to this prank as a child without ever figuring out the joke. Later on, he created meaning and conspiracy out of two completely unrelated, coincidental events, and resultantly burned someone's house down. All because he so badly wants to be part of something bigger.
  
 
As for the title text, {{w|solipsism}} is the philosophical idea that (the) only (thing you know for certain is that) your own mind exists.
 
As for the title text, {{w|solipsism}} is the philosophical idea that (the) only (thing you know for certain is that) your own mind exists.

Revision as of 19:06, 7 May 2014

Mark
I'm a solipsistic conspiracy theorist. I'm sure I must be up to something, and I will not stop until I find out what.
Title text: I'm a solipsistic conspiracy theorist. I'm sure I must be up to something, and I will not stop until I find out what.

Explanation

The punchline refers to an old grade school/middle school prank. (Urban Dictionary: pen 15 club, Pen 15) You'd typically walk up to an unsuspecting schoolmate and ask him if he wants to join the Pen Fifteen club. You'd tell him that to join, you merely have to write the club name on him. You'd then write "PEN15" on his hand or arm, and everyone would laugh at him (because it looks like "Penis"). In this case, Cueball fell victim to this prank as a child without ever figuring out the joke. Later on, he created meaning and conspiracy out of two completely unrelated, coincidental events, and resultantly burned someone's house down. All because he so badly wants to be part of something bigger.

As for the title text, solipsism is the philosophical idea that (the) only (thing you know for certain is that) your own mind exists.

Transcript

[Cueball and a child are talking.]
Child: What's that on your arm?
Cueball: The mark of a secret society.
Child: If it's secret, why tell me-
Cueball: Because I know nothing. I can't betray them because I don't know who they are. I was chosen by an agent 20 years ago. That was my first and last direct contact. It's safer that way.
Six years later I found a piece of paper in the street with an address on it. The next day I found a can of kerosene in my garage that I'm sure I never bought.
[The panel represents these actions by highlighting the mentioned objects in a world of gray.]
I didn't know whose house it was. I just knew that I'd been given my orders. And I carried them out.
[A dark figure is silhouetted against a flame.]
Cueball: I don't know who or what we're fighting.
Cueball: Maybe we're the bad guys.
Cueball: It doesn't matter to me.
Cueball: It's enough to know that there are forces working beneath the chaos of life, and I'm a part of them.
Cueball: That whatever this "pen fifteen" club is,
Cueball: I'm in it.


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Discussion

The title "Mark" referring to both the mark on his arm, and the fact that he is a "mark" -- a victim of a prank or confidence scheme. 75.103.23.206 22:18, 13 December 2012 (UTC)

Hey, I'm part of this club too! Been burning down houses and killing people for years now. ~JFreund

I guess this gives us a pretty good approximation of Cueball's age. He's probably 30-33 years old. Jake (talk) 14:28, 8 August 2014 (UTC)

199.27.128.176 08:26, 6 February 2015 (UTC) In other words, never, ever let Cueball play Hotline Miami.

To the sane person this is absurd.[citation needed]

The explanation doesn't clearly say that the actual mark is simply: "Pen15" (even though it becomes clear after reading the explanation, for the record: this joke is new to me, I've never been invited to that club :-) 162.158.90.194 (talk) (please sign your comments with ~~~~)

This comic reminds me of the novel The Darkroom of Damocles, in which someone during WWII believes he is recruited into the resistance, and performs several missions, but his recruiter disappears after the war, and he is arrested for collaboration. One interpretation of the novel is that the main character has made everything up or is delusional, similar to how Cueball is delusional about having entered some secret organization. - Redmess (talk) 19:30, 7 November 2019 (UTC)

Is it possible that Cueball is pulling Science Girl's leg? This looks like the sort of response Calvin sometimes gets from his dad. Koro Neil (talk) 22:11, 21 June 2021 (UTC)

To me, the bit in the explanation about how the mark would have faded away could be explained by Cueball "renewing" it himself. Seems completely in character for him in this comic, given how badly he wants to believe in this. Or, I'm completely splitting hairs and it didn't matter to Randall when he made it or to the comic's meaning. Sihal3 (talk) 23:39, 30 December 2021 (UTC)