explain xkcd - User contributions [en]

1510: Napoleon

2015-04-10T05:47:34Z

199.27.133.39: /* Explanation */

{{comic
| number = 1510
| date = April 10, 2015
| title = Napoleon
| image = napoleon.png
| titletext = "Mr. President, what if the unthinkable happens? What if the launch goes wrong, and Napoleon is not stranded on the moon?" "Have Safire write up a speech."
}}

==Explanation==
{{Incomplete|First draft. Title text explanation to come.}}

{{w|Napoleon Bonaparte}} was one of the greatest military leaders in history, conquering most of Europe in the space of a decade. In 1814, after being forced to abdicate as Emperor of the French, he was exiled to the island of {{w|Elba}}. However, in February of 1815 Napoleon escaped back to France, quickly raised an army, and overthrew the {{w|Bourbon Restoration}} monarchy for a period known as {{w|Hundred Days|The Hundred Days}}. At the end of this period (actually lasting 111 days), Napoleon was defeated by British and Prussian forces at the {{w|Battle of Waterloo}}, and surrendered a month later. This time he was exiled to {{w|Saint Helena}}, an island much more remote than Elba—in fact, one of the most remote places on Earth.

In reality, Napoleon made no serious attempts to escape Saint Helena, and died there six years after his surrender. However, this comic imagines a world in which Napoleon escaped once again, swimming back to Europe. Saint Helena is 1,200 miles (2,000 km) from the Afro-Eurasian landmass, making such a swim rather implausible, especially considering the ball and chain around his ankle. And Napoleon is depicted fresh out of the water, suggesting that he did not simply swim to Africa and make his way back to Europe, but rather swam straight to Europe, a journey of roughly 3,800 miles (6,100 km).

The comic implies that Napoleon proves impossible to confine. In addition to being able to swim impossible distances, he seems to also somehow escape imprisonment in the ice of Antarctica. He also seems to be immortal, remaining alive and apparently in great physical condition while nearly 200 years old. The final panel shows U.S. President {{w|John F. Kennedy}}'s {{w|"We choose to go to the Moon"}} speech, but implies an alternate ending to the line "not because it is easy, but because it is hard." Rather, it appears that we choose to go to the Moon not because it is easy, but because there's no other way to get rid of Napoleon.

==Transcript==
{{incomplete transcript}}
:Soldiers: "This is Napoleon. He tried to take over the world."
:Officer: "Exile him to Elba!"

:Soldiers: "It's us again. Napoleon escaped from Elba and tried to conquer the world. Again."
:Officer: "Send him someplace truly remote, like Saint Helena."
:Officer: "Yes, sir."

:Several Years Later...
:Soldiers: "Well, he swam back."
:Officer: "We must mount an expedition to the south pole, where we will encase Napoleon in the Antarctic ice!"

:A century later...
:President: "{{w|We choose to go to the Moon}}, not because it is easy..."

{{comic discussion}}

1507: Metaball

2015-04-03T07:32:45Z

199.27.133.39: /* Transcript */

{{comic
| number = 1507
| date = April 3, 2015
| title = Metaball
| image = metaball.png
| titletext = Shoot, it landed in the golf course. Gonna be hard to get it down the--oh, never mind, it rolled onto the ice hazard. Face-off!
}}

==Explanation==
The gang is playing a game of ball that incorporates the rules of all games that use a ball. Similar to Calvinball from ''Calvin and Hobbes'', the rules seem to be somewhat arbitrary and are based on the location of the players and the ball. Cueball is out (baseball) because the soccer ball, en route to the basketball hoop, clipped the corner of the baseball zone.
:'''The infield fly rule''':
:'''Title text:'''

==Transcript==
:[Meagan kicks a soccer ball. Cueball goes in to dunk the ball in the basketball goal.]
:[Offscreen:] Out!
:[Cueball:] What do you ''mean'', out?!
:[Ponytail, consulting the rules/map:] The ball clipped the corner of the baseball zone. Infield fly rule.
:[Cueball:] Aw, ''maaan''...
{{comic discussion}}

1507: Metaball

2015-04-03T07:32:13Z

199.27.133.39: /* Explanation */

{{comic
| number = 1507
| date = April 3, 2015
| title = Metaball
| image = metaball.png
| titletext = Shoot, it landed in the golf course. Gonna be hard to get it down the--oh, never mind, it rolled onto the ice hazard. Face-off!
}}

==Explanation==
The gang is playing a game of ball that incorporates the rules of all games that use a ball. Similar to Calvinball from ''Calvin and Hobbes'', the rules seem to be somewhat arbitrary and are based on the location of the players and the ball. Cueball is out (baseball) because the soccer ball, en route to the basketball hoop, clipped the corner of the baseball zone.
:'''The infield fly rule''':
:'''Title text:'''

==Transcript==
:[Meagan kicks a soccer ball. Cueball goes in to dunk the ball in the basketball goal.]
:[Offscreen:] Out!
:[Cueball:] What do you ''mean'', out?!
:[Ponytail, consulting the rules:] The ball clipped the corner of the baseball zone. Infield fly rule.
:[Cueball:] Aw, ''maaan''...
{{comic discussion}}

1507: Metaball

2015-04-03T07:27:04Z

199.27.133.39: /* Transcript */

{{comic
| number = 1507
| date = April 3, 2015
| title = Metaball
| image = metaball.png
| titletext = Shoot, it landed in the golf course. Gonna be hard to get it down the--oh, never mind, it rolled onto the ice hazard. Face-off!
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete}}

==Transcript==
:[Meagan kicks a soccer ball. Cueball goes in to dunk the ball in the basketball goal.]
:[Offscreen:] Out!
:[Cueball:] What do you ''mean'', out?!
:[Ponytail, consulting the rules:] The ball clipped the corner of the baseball zone. Infield fly rule.
:[Cueball:] Aw, ''maaan''...
{{comic discussion}}

1507: Metaball

2015-04-03T07:25:30Z

199.27.133.39: /* Transcript */

{{comic
| number = 1507
| date = April 3, 2015
| title = Metaball
| image = metaball.png
| titletext = Shoot, it landed in the golf course. Gonna be hard to get it down the--oh, never mind, it rolled onto the ice hazard. Face-off!
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete}}

==Transcript==
Out!
[Cueball:] What do you ''mean'', out?!
[Ponytail, consulting the rules:] The ball clipped the corner of the baseball zone. Infield fly rule.
[Cueball:] Aw, ''maaan''...
{{comic discussion}}

1434: Where Do Birds Go

2014-10-15T12:58:20Z

199.27.133.39:

{{comic
| number = 1434
| date = October 15, 2014
| title = Where Do Birds Go
| image = where_do_birds_go.png
| titletext = Water/ice has a lot of weird phases. Maybe asking 'where do birds go when it rains' is like asking 'where does Clark Kent go whenever Superman shows up?'
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|List websites shown in image. Decide on title text explanation. More detail on the actual joke.}}
Cueball searches [http://lmgtfy.com/?q=where+do+birds+go+when+it+rains%3F Google] to find out where birds go when it rains. He finds that the question is asked worldwide, across different languages and websites, and that everyone wants to know the answer. A variety of screenshots are shown of different websites and forums with users asking where birds go when it rains, with at least seven languages shown. The bottom of this panel fades to white, suggesting that the occurrence of these questions stretches on and on.

{| class="wikitable"
!Websites shown in image (English)
|-
|http://www.enature.com/expert/expert_show_question.asp?questionID=23847
|-
|-
|http://activerain.trulia.com/blogsview/1452078/where-do-birds-go-when-it-rains-
|-
|-
|http://www.godlikeproductions.com/forum1/message979308/pg1
|-
|-
|http://randomthoughtsfrommidlife.wordpress.com/2011/11/22/where-do-the-birds-go-when-it-rains/
|-
|}

{| class="wikitable"
! Language
! Question
! Translation
|-
|French
|[https://fr.answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20110327100813AAMj2hy Où se cachent les oiseaux quand il pleut?]
|Where do the birds hide themselves when it rains?
|-
|rowspan="3"|German
|[http://www.gutefrage.net/frage/was-passiert-jetzt-eigentlich-mit-den-voegeln-die-bei-dem-wetter-in-den-baeumen-sitzen Was passiert jetzt eigentlich mit den vögeln, die bei dem wetter in den bäumen sitzen?]
|What really happens with the birds that are sitting in the trees in this weather?
|-
|[http://www.vogel.info/schlechtes_wetter.htm Was machen Vögel bei schlechtem Wetter?]
|What do birds do in bad weather?
|-
|[http://www.gutefrage.net/frage/wohin-gehen-voegel Wohin gehen Vögel?]
|Where do birds go?
|-
|rowspan="2"|Spanish
|[http://noticias.lainformacion.com/ciencia-y-tecnologia/ciencias-meteorologicas/que-pasa-con-las-aves-durante-un-huracan_g1DV8AL9LSG6Bzy7q5G8s7/ Qué pasa con las aves durante un huracán?]
|What happens to the birds during a hurricane?
|-
|[https://espanol.answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20120525145152AABvmOq ¿A donde se van los pajaritos cuando llueve?]
|Where do the little birds go when it rains?
|-
|Dutch
|[http://www.willemwever.nl/vraag_antwoord/dieren-en-planten/waar-blijven-de-vogels-als-het-heel-hard-stormt Waar blijven de vogels als het heel hard stormt?]
|Where do birds stay when it is storming very hard?
|-
|Finnish
|[http://ihmepuu.vuodatus.net/lue/2014/05/minne-linnut-menevat-sateella Minne linnut menevät sateella?]
|Where do the birds go when it rains?
|-
|rowspan="3"|Chinese (simplified)
|[http://wenwen.sogou.com/z/q55741469.htm 下雨时鸟儿往哪躲]
|Where do birds hide when it rains?
|-
|[http://zhidao.baidu.com/question/270774126.html 下雨的时候小鸟住在哪里？]
|Where do birds live while it rains?
|-
|[http://wenwen.sogou.com/z/q145038794.htm 为什么鸟儿下雨的时候在天上飞不会因为淋湿掉下来?]
|Why isn't birds falling to the ground for getting wet while it rains?
|}

As it starts to rain around the bird in the lower panels, he flies down to a smartphone on the ground, and begins searching the same thing. This seems to imply that even birds don't know where to go when it rains, or that it was birds looking for shelter asking this question on the World Wide Web.

In reality birds, just like humans, seek shelter when it rains. Getting wet is not a problem for birds, but it does complicate flying. On a rainy day you can usually find birds in leafy trees, caves or other kinds of cover.

In the title text, the question itself is considered - In the {{w|Superman}} comics Clark Kent ''*is*'' Superman so you couldn't observe Clark Kent and Superman at the same time. Although the {{w|State_of_matter|common states}} of solid, liquid and gas are widely known, water is observed at multiple phases ({{w|Ice#Phases|low and high pressure ices}}, {{w|Supercritical_fluid|supercritical gases}} etc.) and Randall is theorizing that one of the hitherto undiscovered states of water is "bird" which would explain why birds and rains are apparently never seen together.

==Transcript==
{{incomplete transcript}}
[The comic is separated into three sections, with Cueball and Megan having a discussion in the first section, websites found through Google search results depicted in the second, and a bird depicted in the third]

[First Section - Cueball is sitting at his computer]
Cueball: "Where do birds go when it rains?" is my new favorite Google search.
Megan [off screen]: Why?
Cueball: It gives the answer, but also shows you an endless torrent of other people asking the same question. Pages and pages of them across regions and cultures.
[Megan enters the frame and shows interest in the computer]
Cueball: I love the idea that somehow this is the universal question, the thing that unites us. When it rains, we wonder where the birds go, and hope they're staying dry.

[Second Section - A collage of screen snippets]

Where do the birds go when it rains?

Where do the birds go when it rains?

Where do the birds go when it rains really hard?

Where do birds go when it rains?

A donde se van los pajaritos cuando llueve?

[..several similar questions...]

[Third section - A bird on a wire fence as it begins to rain]
[The bird looks at a rain drop splashing on the wire fence]
[Zoomed out on the bird looking at the rain as it increases in intensity]
[The bird flies down to an small smart-phone-shaped object lying on the ground]
[The bird lands on the object, as the rain increases in intensity even more]
[The bird pecks at the object] W... H... E... R... E... D... O... B... I... R... D... S...

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Comics with color]]
[[Category:Internet]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Animals]]

1398: Snake Facts

2014-07-23T17:36:50Z

199.27.133.39: /* Explanation */ removed irrelevant link

{{comic
| number = 1398
| date = July 23, 2014
| title = Snake Facts
| image = snake_facts_new.png
| titletext = Biologically speaking, what we call a 'snake' is actually a human digestive tract which has escaped from its host.
}}

==Explanation==
The comic lists a few '{{w|factoid}}s' about snakes, ranging from the mildly informative to the strictly tongue-in-cheek. The first factoid references the hypothesis that {{w|snake venom}} was an evolutionary development of {{w|saliva}} that, over time, gradually became more toxic as snakes with saliva that was able to assist in subduing their prey possessed an evolutionary advantage. It then posits that the evolutionary branch that developed into venomous snakes began with a snake whose mutation gave him a mouth that was 'slightly more gross than usual'.

The second factoid references the 'longest snake in the world', citing a South American habitat. Given the habitat listed, it is possible the comic is referring to the Green Anaconda ''({{w|Eunectes murinus}})'', but the Green Anaconda, while an impressive creature and one of the longest snakes in the world, is generally not as long as the Reticulated Python ''({{w|Python reticulatus}})'' of Southeast Asia, which is generally recognized as the world's longest snake, though not its largest by mass. The factoid then states that the world's longest snake is 'believed to be over 60 years old'. As Anacondas generally do not live beyond 20 years in captivity, and likely less in the wild, the factoid appears to be in error on this count also. Its wording seems intended to imply that the snake in question is not a ''species'', but rather a ''single specimen''. Also, this information can be disappointing, as one could expect to learn about the length of the snake, not his age.

Additionally, the comic illustration accompanying the second factoid colors in a '{{w|habitat}} range' on a map of South America that is snake-shaped, possibly implying that when it states 'The longest snake is found in {{w|Brazil}} into {{w|Chile}} and {{w|Peru}}' that this snake is so long that it literally stretches from Brazil, Chile, and Peru, and that the 'habitat' shaded on the map is, in fact, this mammoth snake's {{w|silhouette}}.

The final factoid is entirely tongue-in-cheek, beginning with a typical factoid trope in which a collection of related items are laid end-to-end, then the length is compared to something else in a way intended to surprise the reader that the collection of items is indeed, so extensive (literally and figuratively). For example, "If you laid all the veins and arteries in the human body end-to-end, they would stretch 60,000 miles". The third factoid takes the form of that trope and turns it into a joke, "If you laid all the bones in a snake end to end, you would have a snake." The resulting length would not be a surprise to anyone. Obviously, you would not have an entire snake, literally, but you would have a skeleton that was recognizably that of a snake and could reasonably be referred to as 'a snake', albeit a skeletal one.

The title text presents the amusing idea that 'snakes' as we know them are not, in fact, a suborder of reptiles but are instead human {{w|digestive tract}}s that, rather than being a system of organs, are creatures capable of escaping from their 'host' human and living independently. The idea seems to follow from the superficial resemblance between snakes and the human digestive tract as long, roughly tubular collections of animal matter, which can process the food entering the top end, and getting rid of the waste in the other end. Actually the human digestive tract is essentially a hole that runs through the body, closed off most of the time only by {{w|sphincter}}s, and digestion thus can be said to take place outside the body. Nutrients are absorbed across membranes via osmosis, active transport, and diffusion.

==Correction==
*Randall had previously posted an incorrect map, that included the snake's habitat in {{w|Bolivia}} instead of Peru. [http://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/images/0/0e/snake_facts.png]

==Transcript==
:'''Snake Facts:'''
:Snake venom evolved from saliva, which means it all started with a snake whose mouth was slightly more gross than usual.
:[Picture of a snake below the text above]
:Snake: Hi guys!
:Off-panel voice: Eww, it's Frank.
:[Map of South America with gray shade in the form of a snake. Text to the left of it]
:The world's longest snake is found in Brazil, Peru and Chile. It is believed to be over 60 years old.
:[Picture of a snake skeleton between the first and the second of the lines below]
:If you laid all the bones in a snake end-to-end,
:you would have a snake

{{comic discussion}}
[[Category:Animals]]

Talk:1397: Luke

2014-07-21T18:31:35Z

199.27.133.39: /* Vibrate? */

Vader: *turns fleshlight on* An invisible blade? That is quite interesting. I should build one of these myself. (Alternately, ''I find your lack of blade disturbing'')[[Special:Contributions/103.22.201.239|103.22.201.239]] 05:55, 21 July 2014 (UTC)

What are these "connection to previous comic" things? They seem random and arbitrary. [[Special:Contributions/199.27.133.205|199.27.133.205]] 06:15, 21 July 2014 (UTC)
:There usually seems to be a point of contact with the previous comic. That a connection is usually there means it probably isn't coincidental but is part of the ingredients for making each new comic. So yes they do seem random and arbitrary because the content of the connection doesn't mean anything. The point is just that every comic is connected to the previous comic. The explanations of the connections may be incorrect. I thought I'd put these connection sections in to see how people feel about having a regular connection section. [[User:Rfvtg|Rfvtg]] ([[User talk:Rfvtg|talk]]) 06:33, 21 July 2014 (UTC)
::It may be a good idea, but I see no connection, just a lame pun. There usually dorsn't seem to be much of a connection anyways.[[Special:Contributions/173.245.48.130|173.245.48.130]] 07:14, 21 July 2014 (UTC)
::I don't think there's a real connection. I think that you're finding arbitrary segues, because you can segue between just about any two topics if you try. Try this - pick two random xkcd, and see if you can't find a "connection". [[Special:Contributions/108.162.249.209|108.162.249.209]] 11:57, 21 July 2014 (UTC)
:::I agree. This is the most stupid idea I have seen here on explain. Please remove them again. Thay make no sence and spoils the nice look of this great page. [[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 13:37, 21 July 2014 (UTC)

Anyone want to mention that this is probably referencing is a weird quirk of the films? We never see Luke construct a lightsaber (unless I missed something), and it's easy to assume that it's actually... I think Ben Kenobi's or Yoda's, maybe (for prequel enthusiasts) even Qui Gon's... After all, if Obi kept Anakin's, maybe he'd also keep Qui-Gon's, and any others, and end up leaving at least one green sabre on the Falcoln. Anyway, my point is, Randall noticed that this line of dialogue isn't really explained, and Luke is probably going along with Darth's assumption to save face... And then took the awkward situation to new heights. I can't tell if I'm being a total idiot here or if I'm on to something. Or option three, it's something glaringly obvious but needs a mention to explain the comic in context [[Special:Contributions/141.101.99.234|141.101.99.234]] 10:29, 21 July 2014 (UTC)
:Vader would probably recognize his mentors' lightsabers at first glance. Yes, it could be another unknown dead Jedi's saber, but it just as likely that Luke constructed one of his own, given he does not react in an obvious way to the suggestion. (Ignoring the Star Wars EU, which probably details exactly how Luke constructed the device.) Besides, we are shown Kenobi's, Yoda's and QG's lightsabers in the movies.[[Special:Contributions/103.22.201.239|103.22.201.239]] 11:39, 21 July 2014 (UTC)
:There exists a deleted scene from Star Wars VI that shows Luke building his new lightsaber: [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_ayT0EZwbks] [[Special:Contributions/108.162.254.53|108.162.254.53]] 13:45, 21 July 2014 (UTC)

This comic reminds of Vader's Little Princess and Darth Vader and Son by Jeffrey Brown.[[Special:Contributions/141.101.104.183|141.101.104.183]] 13:48, 21 July 2014 (UTC)

== Vibrate? ==

Fleshlights don't vibrate do they? [[Special:Contributions/108.162.246.202|108.162.246.202]] 18:14, 21 July 2014‎ (UTC)
:It's an available option. [[Special:Contributions/199.27.133.39|199.27.133.39]] 18:29, 21 July 2014 (UTC)

Talk:1397: Luke

2014-07-21T18:31:18Z

199.27.133.39: /* Vibrate? */

Vader: *turns fleshlight on* An invisible blade? That is quite interesting. I should build one of these myself. (Alternately, ''I find your lack of blade disturbing'')[[Special:Contributions/103.22.201.239|103.22.201.239]] 05:55, 21 July 2014 (UTC)

What are these "connection to previous comic" things? They seem random and arbitrary. [[Special:Contributions/199.27.133.205|199.27.133.205]] 06:15, 21 July 2014 (UTC)
:There usually seems to be a point of contact with the previous comic. That a connection is usually there means it probably isn't coincidental but is part of the ingredients for making each new comic. So yes they do seem random and arbitrary because the content of the connection doesn't mean anything. The point is just that every comic is connected to the previous comic. The explanations of the connections may be incorrect. I thought I'd put these connection sections in to see how people feel about having a regular connection section. [[User:Rfvtg|Rfvtg]] ([[User talk:Rfvtg|talk]]) 06:33, 21 July 2014 (UTC)
::It may be a good idea, but I see no connection, just a lame pun. There usually dorsn't seem to be much of a connection anyways.[[Special:Contributions/173.245.48.130|173.245.48.130]] 07:14, 21 July 2014 (UTC)
::I don't think there's a real connection. I think that you're finding arbitrary segues, because you can segue between just about any two topics if you try. Try this - pick two random xkcd, and see if you can't find a "connection". [[Special:Contributions/108.162.249.209|108.162.249.209]] 11:57, 21 July 2014 (UTC)
:::I agree. This is the most stupid idea I have seen here on explain. Please remove them again. Thay make no sence and spoils the nice look of this great page. [[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 13:37, 21 July 2014 (UTC)

Anyone want to mention that this is probably referencing is a weird quirk of the films? We never see Luke construct a lightsaber (unless I missed something), and it's easy to assume that it's actually... I think Ben Kenobi's or Yoda's, maybe (for prequel enthusiasts) even Qui Gon's... After all, if Obi kept Anakin's, maybe he'd also keep Qui-Gon's, and any others, and end up leaving at least one green sabre on the Falcoln. Anyway, my point is, Randall noticed that this line of dialogue isn't really explained, and Luke is probably going along with Darth's assumption to save face... And then took the awkward situation to new heights. I can't tell if I'm being a total idiot here or if I'm on to something. Or option three, it's something glaringly obvious but needs a mention to explain the comic in context [[Special:Contributions/141.101.99.234|141.101.99.234]] 10:29, 21 July 2014 (UTC)
:Vader would probably recognize his mentors' lightsabers at first glance. Yes, it could be another unknown dead Jedi's saber, but it just as likely that Luke constructed one of his own, given he does not react in an obvious way to the suggestion. (Ignoring the Star Wars EU, which probably details exactly how Luke constructed the device.) Besides, we are shown Kenobi's, Yoda's and QG's lightsabers in the movies.[[Special:Contributions/103.22.201.239|103.22.201.239]] 11:39, 21 July 2014 (UTC)
:There exists a deleted scene from Star Wars VI that shows Luke building his new lightsaber: [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_ayT0EZwbks] [[Special:Contributions/108.162.254.53|108.162.254.53]] 13:45, 21 July 2014 (UTC)

This comic reminds of Vader's Little Princess and Darth Vader and Son by Jeffrey Brown.[[Special:Contributions/141.101.104.183|141.101.104.183]] 13:48, 21 July 2014 (UTC)

== Vibrate? ==

Fleshlights don't vibrate do they? [[Special:Contributions/108.162.246.202|108.162.246.202 18:14, 21 July 2014‎ (UTC)
:It's an available option. [[Special:Contributions/199.27.133.39|199.27.133.39]] 18:29, 21 July 2014 (UTC)

Talk:1397: Luke

2014-07-21T18:29:52Z

199.27.133.39: /* Vibrate? */

Vader: *turns fleshlight on* An invisible blade? That is quite interesting. I should build one of these myself. (Alternately, ''I find your lack of blade disturbing'')[[Special:Contributions/103.22.201.239|103.22.201.239]] 05:55, 21 July 2014 (UTC)

What are these "connection to previous comic" things? They seem random and arbitrary. [[Special:Contributions/199.27.133.205|199.27.133.205]] 06:15, 21 July 2014 (UTC)
:There usually seems to be a point of contact with the previous comic. That a connection is usually there means it probably isn't coincidental but is part of the ingredients for making each new comic. So yes they do seem random and arbitrary because the content of the connection doesn't mean anything. The point is just that every comic is connected to the previous comic. The explanations of the connections may be incorrect. I thought I'd put these connection sections in to see how people feel about having a regular connection section. [[User:Rfvtg|Rfvtg]] ([[User talk:Rfvtg|talk]]) 06:33, 21 July 2014 (UTC)
::It may be a good idea, but I see no connection, just a lame pun. There usually dorsn't seem to be much of a connection anyways.[[Special:Contributions/173.245.48.130|173.245.48.130]] 07:14, 21 July 2014 (UTC)
::I don't think there's a real connection. I think that you're finding arbitrary segues, because you can segue between just about any two topics if you try. Try this - pick two random xkcd, and see if you can't find a "connection". [[Special:Contributions/108.162.249.209|108.162.249.209]] 11:57, 21 July 2014 (UTC)
:::I agree. This is the most stupid idea I have seen here on explain. Please remove them again. Thay make no sence and spoils the nice look of this great page. [[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 13:37, 21 July 2014 (UTC)

Anyone want to mention that this is probably referencing is a weird quirk of the films? We never see Luke construct a lightsaber (unless I missed something), and it's easy to assume that it's actually... I think Ben Kenobi's or Yoda's, maybe (for prequel enthusiasts) even Qui Gon's... After all, if Obi kept Anakin's, maybe he'd also keep Qui-Gon's, and any others, and end up leaving at least one green sabre on the Falcoln. Anyway, my point is, Randall noticed that this line of dialogue isn't really explained, and Luke is probably going along with Darth's assumption to save face... And then took the awkward situation to new heights. I can't tell if I'm being a total idiot here or if I'm on to something. Or option three, it's something glaringly obvious but needs a mention to explain the comic in context [[Special:Contributions/141.101.99.234|141.101.99.234]] 10:29, 21 July 2014 (UTC)
:Vader would probably recognize his mentors' lightsabers at first glance. Yes, it could be another unknown dead Jedi's saber, but it just as likely that Luke constructed one of his own, given he does not react in an obvious way to the suggestion. (Ignoring the Star Wars EU, which probably details exactly how Luke constructed the device.) Besides, we are shown Kenobi's, Yoda's and QG's lightsabers in the movies.[[Special:Contributions/103.22.201.239|103.22.201.239]] 11:39, 21 July 2014 (UTC)
:There exists a deleted scene from Star Wars VI that shows Luke building his new lightsaber: [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_ayT0EZwbks] [[Special:Contributions/108.162.254.53|108.162.254.53]] 13:45, 21 July 2014 (UTC)

This comic reminds of Vader's Little Princess and Darth Vader and Son by Jeffrey Brown.[[Special:Contributions/141.101.104.183|141.101.104.183]] 13:48, 21 July 2014 (UTC)

== Vibrate? ==

Fleshlights don't vibrate do they?
:It's an available option. [[Special:Contributions/199.27.133.39|199.27.133.39]] 18:29, 21 July 2014 (UTC)

Talk:1397: Luke

2014-07-21T18:29:33Z

199.27.133.39: /* Vibrate? */

1394: Superm*n

2014-07-16T17:59:54Z

199.27.133.39: /* Explanation */ And fully agree that Randall was not making any reference to Spider-Man as masturbating adolescent. Thanks for fixing that.

{{comic
| number = 1394
| date = July 14, 2014
| title = Superm*n
| image = superm_n.png
| titletext = See also: Spider-Man reboot in which he can produce several inches of web, doesn't need as much chalk powder on his hands when he goes rock climbing, and occasionally feels vaguely uneasy about situations.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|General expansion/cleanup needed.}}

This comic was posted one day after a {{w|supermoon}}, an informal astronomical event where a full moon occurs close to the Moon's perigee (i.e. the point where it's closest to Earth), causing the moon to appear larger and brighter. This is due to the {{w|apsidal precession}} of moon's {{w|elliptic orbit}} which has an {{w|orbital eccentricity}} of about 0.0549.The conditions for a supermoon happen once every 411 days, and the loose definition of the term means that there are usually two or three "supermoons" per perigee (the next full moon on August 10 will also qualify as a supermoon).

While this event is often considered beautiful to behold, it is hardly remarkable. The event is frequent, as it occurs approximately every 13.5 months. Furthermore, the moon's apparent increase in size is only marginal -- the June 2013 supermoon, for example, was only about 7% larger than the average full moon.<ref>http://www.skyandtelescope.com/astronomy-news/observing-news/the-myth-of-the-supermoon/</ref>

Randall points out in this comic, by depicting how unimpressive the superhero {{w|Superman}} would be if he had similarly proportional increases in physical capacity relative to normal humans, that the use of the prefix "Super-" in Supermoon is hyperbolic.

The comic's title makes use of a wildcard, which indicates any possible text string, making it useful for searching for all text containing certain letters or words. Such usage is common in {{w|Unix shell}} and Microsoft {{w|MS-DOS}}/{{w|Command Prompt}} and could capture "Supermoon" and/or "Superman" in a text sample or among a collection of files.

The title text refers to {{w|Spider-Man}}, another comic book hero who, having been bitten by a radioactive spider, has spider-like abilities. He is capable of firing synthetic webbing from devices he wears on his wrists, enabling him to swing from buildings by long strands of "web" or to cover large areas with webbing. He also can cling to surfaces with superhuman gripping abilities, and has a "spider sense," a so-called sixth sense that warns him about impending danger. The title text describes trivially minimal versions of these powers, analogous to the trivial size and brightness difference between a "supermoon" and a normal full moon.

Supermoon has been mentioned previously in [[1080: Visual Field]] and [[1052: Every Major's Terrible]].

==Transcript==
[Cueball is reaching for an item on a high shelf. Superman is rushing towards him]

Superman: I'll get it! I'm 5 inches taller and 7% stronger than the average man!

Caption: The new supermoon-inspired Superman reboot

==References==
<references />

{{comic discussion}}
[[Category:Comics with color]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]

1395: Power Cord

2014-07-16T17:52:39Z

199.27.133.39: /* Explanation */

{{comic
| number = 1395
| date = July 16, 2014
| title = Power Cord
| image = power_cord.png
| titletext = In this situation, gzip /dev/inside to deflate, then pipe the compressed air to /dev/input to clean your keyboard. Avert your eyes when you do.
}}

==Explanation==
'''Always remember: DO NOT put any electrical cords in your mouth. You can be severely shocked''' (or blown up if Beret Guy blows into the other end).

In this comic, we see [[Beret Guy]] walking in from the left, as [[Cueball]] is sitting on a couch, typing on a laptop on his lap, with its power cord unplugged. Instead of connecting it to the wall socket, Beret Guy picks it up and blows air into the loose end of the cord, as if inflating a balloon--and the laptop inflates. It then floats away, making Cueball grab for it as Beret Guy casually walks away. Maybe the weird Beret Guy behaves like this because it is equally weird to leave the cord unplugged right next to an unused power socket? Why even keep the cord in the laptop if you do not intend to plug it in?

While it is not possible to inflate a laptop like this, nor to inflate ''anything'' by blowing down a power cord, Beret Guy has previously demonstrated supernatural abilities with power cords, such as in [[1293: Job Interview]]. Although the laptop should not actually float given that Beret Guy's breath should be ordinary air, not a lighter-than-air gas such as helium, it is a standard [http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/AllBalloonsHaveHelium cartoon convention] that inflating something with breath nonetheless makes it lighter than air.

The title text involves two puns on {{w|Unix shell}} commands. The first pun is on “deflation”; {{w|DEFLATE}} is a basic data compression algorithm used by the gzip utility. Using gzip to deflate (compress) the fictitious device /dev/inside is implied to deflate (remove air from) the inside of the computer. The second pun is on “{{w|Pipeline (Unix)|piping}}”, the act of using the output of one operation as the input to another. As the output of deflating (removing air from) the computer would be compressed air, a ''physical'' pipe could be used to direct the air somewhere useful. The suggestion is to direct the air to /dev/input (the input device, i.e. the keyboard) to clean it, similar to "compressed air" dusting cans. As this might cause a spray of unpleasant detritus (compare [[237: Keyboards are Disgusting]]), the reader is advised to avert their eyes.

==Transcript==
:[Beret Guy enters to find Cueball typing on a laptop. Cueball's power cord is unplugged from the wall.]
:Cueball typing: Type type

:[Beret Guy picks up the power cord]
:Cueball typing: Type type

:[Beret Guy blows into the plug end of the cord blowing up the laptop]
:Beret Guy: '''PBBBBT'''
:Laptop: '''FOOMP'''

:[Beret Guy walks away, leaving Cueball to retrieve his laptop, which is floating away.]

{{comic discussion}}
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Beret Guy]]

Talk:1394: Superm*n

2014-07-14T18:16:45Z

199.27.133.39: It's hyphenated.

;Wildcard
Excellent description, but minor niggle: In "Superm*n' , the '*' is a wildcard. This isn't a regular expression that would match 'Superman' and Supermoon'. A regexp could be "Superm.*n" - the '.' means 'any character' and the '*' means 'as many times as you like'. (More selective regexps exist) If you were to interpret 'Superm*n' as a regular expression, it would match 'Supern' , 'Supermn', "Supermmn', Supermmmn' etc. So you could describe 'Superm*n' as a 'wildcard search that would match superman and supermoon'. [[Special:Contributions/141.101.99.184|141.101.99.184]] 05:11, 14 July 2014 (UTC)
:You're approaching this from a very specific context. You may be correct in that context, but there are plenty of different programs, protocols, languages, etc which use wildcards in various ways. I once worked as a 411 operator, and in the search software we used at the time, a search on "SUPERM*N" would have found both "Superman" and "Supermoon" if both of those were names in listings (although our supervisors would consider that too many keystrokes and would suggest "SUP*N" instead). - [[Special:Contributions/108.162.242.10|108.162.242.10]] 05:58, 14 July 2014 (UTC)
::Oops, looks like I read the initial comment too quickly, didn't realize you were kind of making the same point I wanted to, you were just being more technical about it. Either way, I think the explanation of the wildcard in the article itself should be made vague enough to avoid further threads like this. - [[Special:Contributions/108.162.242.10|108.162.242.10]] 06:03, 14 July 2014 (UTC)
:It's clearly a Unix shell file glob. [[User:Jeremyp|Jeremyp]] ([[User talk:Jeremyp|talk]]) 09:54, 14 July 2014 (UTC)

;Colour
If a Trivia section is warranted for this comic, I think it should definitely be pointed out this is one of the rare strips that uses a colour other than black or white. Is there an available statistic on use of colour in xkcd? - [[Special:Contributions/108.162.242.10|108.162.242.10]] 05:58, 14 July 2014 (UTC)
:Ya, I'd bite on this one. [[User:Jarod997|Jarod997]] ([[User talk:Jarod997|talk]]) 12:20, 14 July 2014 (UTC)
::There's a category, [[:Category:Comics with color]]. --[[Special:Contributions/173.245.55.74|173.245.55.74]] 13:24, 14 July 2014 (UTC)

In a similar tune to the supermoon, could the sun at perihelion be called a "superstar"? [[Special:Contributions/103.22.201.239|103.22.201.239]] 08:36, 14 July 2014 (UTC)
:Wouldn't that be the ''Earth'' at perihelion? --[[Special:Contributions/173.245.52.82|173.245.52.82]] 12:33, 14 July 2014 (UTC)
::The sun at Earth's perihelion. {{unsigned ip|108.162.216.9}}

;Web-slingers
The comment on the title text makes it sound as though Spiderman canonically shoots webs from his body and only in "some adaptations" has a mechanical device that does so. That's backwards. The machine is the original, the biological version is what happens in "some adaptations" (ie, films).
:Exactly right. I've edited the description. Also corrected the spelling of Spider-Man. [[Special:Contributions/199.27.133.39|199.27.133.39]] 18:16, 14 July 2014 (UTC)

1394: Superm*n

2014-07-14T18:15:22Z

199.27.133.39: /* Explanation */ fixed as per comments

{{comic
| number = 1394
| date = July 14, 2014
| title = Superm*n
| image = superm_n.png
| titletext = See also: Spider-Man reboot in which he can produce several inches of web, doesn't need as much chalk powder on his hands when he goes rock climbing, and occasionally feels vaguely uneasy about situations.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|General expansion/cleanup needed.}}

This comic was posted one day after a {{w|supermoon}}, an informal astronomical event where a full moon occurs close to the Moon's perigee (i.e. the point where it's closest to Earth), causing the moon to appear larger and brighter. The conditions for a supermoon happen once every 411 days, and the loose definition of the term means that there are usually two or three "supermoons" per perigee (the next full moon on August 10 will also qualify as a supermoon).

While this event is often considered beautiful to behold, it is hardly remarkable. The event is not rare, as it occurs approximately every 13.5 months. Furthermore, the moon's apparent increase in size is only marginal -- the June 2013 supermoon, for example, was only 14% bigger and 30% brighter than other full moons of the same year.

The comic points out that the use of the prefix "Super-" in Supermoon is hyperbolic, by depicting how unimpressive the superhero {{w|Superman}} would be if he had similarly proportional increases in physical capacity relative to normal humans.

The title makes use of a filesystem-style wildcard, which could be used to capture either "Supermoon" or "Superman".

The title text refers to {{w|Spider-Man}}, another comicbook hero who, having been bitten by a radioactive spider, has spider-like abilities. He is capable of firing webs from "web shooters" worn on his wrists (in some versions the webs are biological generated rather than mechanically) that enable him to swing from buildings (among other things), can cling to surfaces with superhuman gripping abilities, and has a "spider sense," a so-called sixth sense that warns him about impending danger. The title text describes trivially minimal versions of these powers, analogous to the trivial size and brightness difference between a "supermoon" and a normal full moon.

==Transcript==
[Cueball is reaching for an item on a high shelf. Superman is rushing towards him]

Superman: I'll get it! I'm 5 inches taller and 7% stronger than the average man!

Caption: The new supermoon-inspired Superman reboot

{{comic discussion}}
[[Category:Comics with color]]

1394: Superm*n

2014-07-14T18:12:11Z

199.27.133.39: /* Explanation */ .

{{comic
| number = 1394
| date = July 14, 2014
| title = Superm*n
| image = superm_n.png
| titletext = See also: Spider-Man reboot in which he can produce several inches of web, doesn't need as much chalk powder on his hands when he goes rock climbing, and occasionally feels vaguely uneasy about situations.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|General expansion/cleanup needed.}}

This comic was posted one day after a {{w|supermoon}}, an informal astronomical event where a full moon occurs close to the Moon's perigee (i.e. the point where it's closest to Earth), causing the moon to appear larger and brighter. The conditions for a supermoon happen once every 411 days, and the loose definition of the term means that there are usually two or three "supermoons" per perigee (the next full moon on August 10 will also qualify as a supermoon).

While this event is often considered beautiful to behold, it is hardly remarkable. The event is not rare, as it occurs approximately every 13.5 months. Furthermore, the moon's apparent increase in size is only marginal -- the June 2013 supermoon, for example, was only 14% bigger and 30% brighter than other full moons of the same year.

The comic points out that the use of the prefix "Super-" in Supermoon is hyperbolic, by depicting how unimpressive the superhero {{w|Superman}} would be if he had similarly proportional increases in physical capacity relative to normal humans.

The title makes use of a filesystem-style wildcard, which could be used to capture either "Supermoon" or "Superman".

The title text refers to {{w|Spider-Man}}, another comicbook hero who, having been bitten by a radioactive spider, has spider-like abilities. He is capable of firing webs from his wrists (in some adaptations, he uses a machine to do it) that allows him to swing from buildings (among other things), can cling to surfaces with superhuman gripping abilities, and has "spider sense," a so-called sixth sense that warns him about impending danger. The title text describes trivially minimal versions of these powers, analogous to the trivial size and brightness difference between a "supermoon" and a normal full moon.

==Transcript==
[Cueball is reaching for an item on a high shelf. Superman is rushing towards him]

Superman: I'll get it! I'm 5 inches taller and 7% stronger than the average man!

Caption: The new supermoon-inspired Superman reboot

{{comic discussion}}
[[Category:Comics with color]]

1392: Dominant Players

2014-07-09T18:35:19Z

199.27.133.39: /* Explanation */ e

{{comic
| number = 1392
| date = July 9, 2014
| title = Dominant Players
| image = dominant_players.png
| titletext = When Vera Menchik entered a 1929 tournament, a male competitor mocked her by suggesting that a special 'Vera Menchik Club' would be created for any player who lost to her. When the tournament began, he promptly became the first member of said club, and over the years it accumulated a large and illustrious roster.
}}

A large version of this comic is available [http://xkcd.com/1392/large here].

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Probably needs more detail.}}
The comic shows the rise and fall of players' strengths in two games, {{w|basketball}} and {{w|chess}}. For chess, there is an overall chart, and a women's chart.

For basketball, it uses a player efficiency rating.

For chess, it uses the {{w|Elo rating}}. It explains that since Elo is relatively new (it was adopted by the World Chess Federation, FIDE, in 1970), the rating is extrapolated backwards in time.

There are several references. Some are intended to provide context (such as "Loses to Deep Blue"), while others are tangents or jokes, including:

* Jerry West - The Guy in The NBA logo
* Kareem Abdul Jabbar - {{w|Airplane (film)|Airplane}} (a comedy film he had a role in)
* Michael Jordan - {{w|Space Jam}} (a comedy starring Jordan)
* Lebron James - The Decision (a reference to a heavily hyped decision as to which team he would play for)
* Kira Zvorykina - It originally said "Continued playing in tournaments into the 20th century". The 20th century is the 1900's in which Zvorkina was born (on September 29, 1919 according to Wikipedia). However, Zvorykina continued playing into the 21st century; [http://ratings.fide.com/individual_calculations.phtml?idnumber=13500392&rating_period=2008-01-01&t=0 her last games rated by the World Chess Federation] date from October 2007. Randall has corrected the notation to say "into the 21st century."

The starbursts are references to a player appearing or disappearing in unusual circumstances:

* Alexander Alekhine- Died under disputed circumstances in Portugal
* Bobby Fischer - Text says "Vanished...". He did not actually vanish, but he did stop playing competitively for about 20 years starting in 1972. This is also probably a reference to the film {{w|Searching for Bobby Fischer}}, which is not actually about Fischer, but about a player who partly models his career on Fischer's. The name "Searching for Bobby Fischer" may lead people to believe Fischer literally vanished, but that is not the case.
* Bobby Fischer "Reappeared then vanished again" is another reference to Fischer, who resumed playing competitively in 1992 for a brief time. "He had problems" is a simplistic description of issues and controversies in Fischer's later life, including an arrest warrant (because he violated a U.S. embargo against Yugoslavia), unpaid taxes, controversy about his statements (including anti-semitism). The U.S. eventually revoked his passport, and he was jailed for eight months in Japan. He then received Icelandic citizenship, and lived out the rest of his life there.
* Vera Menchik - She died in an attack by an early guided missile (a {{w|V-1 flying bomb}}) launched by the Germans in World War II.

Judit Polgar, the strongest woman chess player ever, is shown rising from the gender-defined ranks of women's chess and breaking into the top 10 in the world FIDA ratings. She ranked eighth in the world in 2005.

Chess players Vladimir Kramnik and Levon Aronian, who have faced each other on multiple occasions in the 2010s, are shown as having their career paths entwined.

It is unknown why some NBA players were excluded from the NBA chart in favor of players with lower career and yearly efficiency ratings. Example: Tim Duncan, Charles Barkley, Oscar Robinson, Kobe Bryant, and Chris Paul should all arguably be included.

It is also unknown why former Chess Grandmaster [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Viswanathan_Anand Viswanathan Anand] has not been included in the Chess Chart. Anand is one of six players in history to break the 2800 mark on the FIDE rating list. He occupied the number one position in several rating lists between 2007 and 2011. It is possible that Randall is a huge fan of Carlsen and biased against Anand as evinced by the comic [[1287:_Puzzle]] (Chess in a 'Go' board - there are no alternate coloured squares as required by chess), though the interpretation of the comic and its comment appear to be a double-edged matter of debate.

==Transcript==
{{incomplete transcript}}
[[Category:Large drawings]]

{{comic discussion}}

1392: Dominant Players

2014-07-09T18:34:46Z

199.27.133.39: /* Explanation */ error corrected

{{comic
| number = 1392
| date = July 9, 2014
| title = Dominant Players
| image = dominant_players.png
| titletext = When Vera Menchik entered a 1929 tournament, a male competitor mocked her by suggesting that a special 'Vera Menchik Club' would be created for any player who lost to her. When the tournament began, he promptly became the first member of said club, and over the years it accumulated a large and illustrious roster.
}}

A large version of this comic is available [http://xkcd.com/1392/large here].

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Probably needs more detail.}}
The comic shows the rise and fall of players' strengths in two games, {{w|basketball}} and {{w|chess}}. For chess, there is an overall chart, and a women's chart.

For basketball, it uses a player efficiency rating.

For chess, it uses the {{w|Elo rating}}. It explains that since Elo is relatively new (it was adopted by the World Chess Federation, FIDE, in 1970), the rating is extrapolated backwards in time.

There are several references. Some are intended to provide context (such as "Loses to Deep Blue"), while others are tangents or jokes, including:

* Jerry West - The Guy in The NBA logo
* Kareem Abdul Jabbar - {{w|Airplane (film)|Airplane}} (a comedy film he had a role in)
* Michael Jordan - {{w|Space Jam}} (a comedy starring Jordan)
* Lebron James - The Decision (a reference to a heavily hyped decision as to which team he would play for)
* Kira Zvorykina - It originally said "Continued playing in tournaments into the 20th century". The 20th century is the 1900's in which Zvorkina was born (on September 29, 1919 according to Wikipedia). However, Zvorykina continued playing into the 21st century; [http://ratings.fide.com/individual_calculations.phtml?idnumber=13500392&rating_period=2008-01-01&t=0 her last games rated by the World Chess Federation] date from October 2007. Randall has corrected th notation to say "into the 21st century."

The starbursts are references to a player appearing or disappearing in unusual circumstances:

* Alexander Alekhine- Died under disputed circumstances in Portugal
* Bobby Fischer - Text says "Vanished...". He did not actually vanish, but he did stop playing competitively for about 20 years starting in 1972. This is also probably a reference to the film {{w|Searching for Bobby Fischer}}, which is not actually about Fischer, but about a player who partly models his career on Fischer's. The name "Searching for Bobby Fischer" may lead people to believe Fischer literally vanished, but that is not the case.
* Bobby Fischer "Reappeared then vanished again" is another reference to Fischer, who resumed playing competitively in 1992 for a brief time. "He had problems" is a simplistic description of issues and controversies in Fischer's later life, including an arrest warrant (because he violated a U.S. embargo against Yugoslavia), unpaid taxes, controversy about his statements (including anti-semitism). The U.S. eventually revoked his passport, and he was jailed for eight months in Japan. He then received Icelandic citizenship, and lived out the rest of his life there.
* Vera Menchik - She died in an attack by an early guided missile (a {{w|V-1 flying bomb}}) launched by the Germans in World War II.

Judit Polgar, the strongest woman chess player ever, is shown rising from the gender-defined ranks of women's chess and breaking into the top 10 in the world FIDA ratings. She ranked eighth in the world in 2005.

Chess players Vladimir Kramnik and Levon Aronian, who have faced each other on multiple occasions in the 2010s, are shown as having their career paths entwined.

It is unknown why some NBA players were excluded from the NBA chart in favor of players with lower career and yearly efficiency ratings. Example: Tim Duncan, Charles Barkley, Oscar Robinson, Kobe Bryant, and Chris Paul should all arguably be included.

It is also unknown why former Chess Grandmaster [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Viswanathan_Anand Viswanathan Anand] has not been included in the Chess Chart. Anand is one of six players in history to break the 2800 mark on the FIDE rating list. He occupied the number one position in several rating lists between 2007 and 2011. It is possible that Randall is a huge fan of Carlsen and biased against Anand as evinced by the comic [[1287:_Puzzle]] (Chess in a 'Go' board - there are no alternate coloured squares as required by chess), though the interpretation of the comic and its comment appear to be a double-edged matter of debate.

==Transcript==
{{incomplete transcript}}
[[Category:Large drawings]]

{{comic discussion}}

1391: Darkness

2014-07-07T18:14:43Z

199.27.133.39: /* Explanation */ Is is, whether we regard it as one or not.

{{comic
| number = 1391
| date = July 7, 2014
| title = Darkness
| image = darkness.png
| titletext = This was actually wish #406. Wish #2 was for him to lose the ability to remember that each new wish wasn't my first.
}}

==Explanation==
In the comic the news anchor [[Ponytail]] describes the {{w|sunset}} as though it were an unprecedented, newsworthy event, rather than [http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/MundaneMadeAwesome something mundane] that happens every day. They even have a reporter ([[Cueball]]) on the spot reporting from where the ''darkness'' has spread so far.

The sunset is a common event. {{w|Isaac Asimov}} based his short story {{w|Nightfall_(Asimov_short_story_and_novel)|Nightfall}} on a fictional civilization that doesn't know darkness because the planet is always illuminated by the six stars surrounding it. The story describes how people would react (panic, fall of civilization) when the orbital motion of the planet eventually leads to all of the suns setting.

Describing mundane occurrences in unusual detail, to show off how odd they really are, is something [[Randall]] has done before (for instance about dreaming in [[203: Hallucinations]]). But the caption below the main panel adds another twist to the joke by showing that the news report wasn't a mere imagine spot, but something actually happening due to the interference of Randall's final wish to his {{w|genie}}, which caused all news reporters to forget the day-night cycle.

The caption references the fact that there is a limit to the number of wishes. It is a common rule, often used in fiction, that you get [http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/ThreeWishes three wishes] from a genie in a bottle. There usually is an added stipulation that no wish may be used to acquire more wishes. In the title text, however, it is stated that Randall has managed to bypass the three wish limit rule. This was accomplished by using his second (#2) wish to simply make the genie unable to remember granting the speaker any wishes. He have thus used the same trick on the genie as he used here on the media. The media wish turns out '''not''' to have been his last (i.e. #3), but rather #406. This shows just how far, "make someone forget something", can go by applying it to the genie.

It is interesting that it was his second wish that gave him unlimited wishes. What did he wish for on wish #1? Maybe he wasted the first wish, because he did not believe the genie was able to grant wishes - a common error. Perhaps this is the same genie from comic 152, and his very first out of 300+ wishes was for a human-sized hamster ball. On the other hand, he may have used the first wish to learn a way where his second wish could circumvent the three rule limit. He did not wish for more wishes (a clear rule), but since the genie now always think the next wish is his first, it is not Randall who asks for more wishes, but the genie that forgets to stop at the limit...

The concept of having unlimited wishes has previously been explored in [[1086: Eyelash Wish Log]] - one of the wishes is also related to news anchors.

==Transcript==
:[Ponytail is a news anchor at a media desk and she reports:]
:Ponytail: ...getting reports that the darkness has spread as far west as Texas. Let's go live to our reporter in Houston.
:[From a breaking news window in the bottom right corner of the panel, a Cueball as a newscaster stands in darkness with two people walking behind him:]
:Cueball: It's been thirty minutes since the sun vanished...
:[There is a caption below the panel]:
:Caption: ”Genie, for my last wish, make everyone in the media forget about the day-night cycle.“

{{comic discussion}}
[[Category:Comics featuring Ponytail]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]

1391: Darkness

2014-07-07T18:10:40Z

199.27.133.39: /* Explanation */

{{comic
| number = 1391
| date = July 7, 2014
| title = Darkness
| image = darkness.png
| titletext = This was actually wish #406. Wish #2 was for him to lose the ability to remember that each new wish wasn't my first.
}}

==Explanation==
In the comic the news anchor [[Ponytail]] describes the {{w|sunset}} as though it were an unprecedented, newsworthy event, rather than [http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/MundaneMadeAwesome something mundane] that happens every day. They even have a reporter ([[Cueball]]) on the spot reporting from where the ''darkness'' has spread so far.

We regard the sunset as a common event. {{w|Isaac Asimov}} based his short story {{w|Nightfall_(Asimov_short_story_and_novel)|Nightfall}} on a fictional civilization that doesn't know darkness because the planet is always illuminated by the six stars surrounding it. The story describes how people would react (panic, fall of civilization) when the orbital motion of the planet eventually leads to all of the suns setting.

Describing mundane occurrences in unusual detail, to show off how odd they really are, is something [[Randall]] has done before (for instance about dreaming in [[203: Hallucinations]]). But the caption below the main panel adds another twist to the joke by showing that the news report wasn't a mere imagine spot, but something actually happening due to the interference of Randall's final wish to his {{w|genie}}, which caused all news reporters to forget the day-night cycle.

The caption references the fact that there is a limit to the number of wishes. It is a common rule, often used in fiction, that you get [http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/ThreeWishes three wishes] from a genie in a bottle. There usually is an added stipulation that no wish may be used to acquire more wishes. In the title text, however, it is stated that Randall has managed to bypass the three wish limit rule. This was accomplished by using his second (#2) wish to simply make the genie unable to remember granting the speaker any wishes. He have thus used the same trick on the genie as he used here on the media. The media wish turns out '''not''' to have been his last (i.e. #3), but rather #406. This shows just how far, "make someone forget something", can go by applying it to the genie.

It is interesting that it was his second wish that gave him unlimited wishes. What did he wish for on wish #1? Maybe he wasted the first wish, because he did not believe the genie was able to grant wishes - a common error. Perhaps this is the same genie from comic 152, and his very first out of 300+ wishes was for a human-sized hamster ball. On the other hand, he may have used the first wish to learn a way where his second wish could circumvent the three rule limit. He did not wish for more wishes (a clear rule), but since the genie now always think the next wish is his first, it is not Randall who asks for more wishes, but the genie that forgets to stop at the limit...

The concept of having unlimited wishes has previously been explored in [[1086: Eyelash Wish Log]] - one of the wishes is also related to news anchors.

==Transcript==
:[Ponytail is a news anchor at a media desk and she reports:]
:Ponytail: ...getting reports that the darkness has spread as far west as Texas. Let's go live to our reporter in Houston.
:[From a breaking news window in the bottom right corner of the panel, a Cueball as a newscaster stands in darkness with two people walking behind him:]
:Cueball: It's been thirty minutes since the sun vanished...
:[There is a caption below the panel]:
:Caption: ”Genie, for my last wish, make everyone in the media forget about the day-night cycle.“

{{comic discussion}}
[[Category:Comics featuring Ponytail]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]

1391: Darkness

2014-07-07T18:10:00Z

199.27.133.39: /* Explanation */

{{comic
| number = 1391
| date = July 7, 2014
| title = Darkness
| image = darkness.png
| titletext = This was actually wish #406. Wish #2 was for him to lose the ability to remember that each new wish wasn't my first.
}}

==Explanation==
In the comic the news anchor [[Ponytail]] describes the {{w|sunset}} as though it were an unprecedented, newsworthy event, rather than [http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/MundaneMadeAwesome something mundane] that happens every day. They even have a reporter ([[Cueball]]) on the spot reporting from where the ''darkness'' has spread so far.

We regard the sunset as a common event. {{w|Isaac Asimov}} based his short story {{w|Nightfall_(Asimov_short_story_and_novel)|Nightfall}} on a fictional civilization that doesn't know darkness because the planet is always illuminated by the six stars surrounding it. The story describes how people would react (panic, fall of civilization) when the orbital motion of the planet does eventually leads to all of the suns setting.

Describing mundane occurrences in unusual detail, to show off how odd they really are, is something [[Randall]] has done before (for instance about dreaming in [[203: Hallucinations]]). But the caption below the main panel adds another twist to the joke by showing that the news report wasn't a mere imagine spot, but something actually happening due to the interference of Randall's final wish to his {{w|genie}}, which caused all news reporters to forget the day-night cycle.

The caption references the fact that there is a limit to the number of wishes. It is a common rule, often used in fiction, that you get [http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/ThreeWishes three wishes] from a genie in a bottle. There usually is an added stipulation that no wish may be used to acquire more wishes. In the title text, however, it is stated that Randall has managed to bypass the three wish limit rule. This was accomplished by using his second (#2) wish to simply make the genie unable to remember granting the speaker any wishes. He have thus used the same trick on the genie as he used here on the media. The media wish turns out '''not''' to have been his last (i.e. #3), but rather #406. This shows just how far, "make someone forget something", can go by applying it to the genie.

It is interesting that it was his second wish that gave him unlimited wishes. What did he wish for on wish #1? Maybe he wasted the first wish, because he did not believe the genie was able to grant wishes - a common error. Perhaps this is the same genie from comic 152, and his very first out of 300+ wishes was for a human-sized hamster ball. On the other hand, he may have used the first wish to learn a way where his second wish could circumvent the three rule limit. He did not wish for more wishes (a clear rule), but since the genie now always think the next wish is his first, it is not Randall who asks for more wishes, but the genie that forgets to stop at the limit...

The concept of having unlimited wishes has previously been explored in [[1086: Eyelash Wish Log]] - one of the wishes is also related to news anchors.

==Transcript==
:[Ponytail is a news anchor at a media desk and she reports:]
:Ponytail: ...getting reports that the darkness has spread as far west as Texas. Let's go live to our reporter in Houston.
:[From a breaking news window in the bottom right corner of the panel, a Cueball as a newscaster stands in darkness with two people walking behind him:]
:Cueball: It's been thirty minutes since the sun vanished...
:[There is a caption below the panel]:
:Caption: ”Genie, for my last wish, make everyone in the media forget about the day-night cycle.“

{{comic discussion}}
[[Category:Comics featuring Ponytail]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]

1389: Surface Area

2014-07-02T17:28:01Z

199.27.133.39: /* Explanation */ The Empire State Building has an observation deck, too. Is it just an observation tower?

{{comic
| number = 1389
| date = July 2, 2014
| title = Surface Area
| image = surface_area.png
| titletext = This isn't an informational illustration; this is a thing I think we should do. First, we'll need a gigantic spool of thread. Next, we'll need some kind of ... hmm, time to head to Seattle.
}}

A [http://xkcd.com/1389/large/ larger version] of this image can be found by clicking the image at xkcd - which can be reached easily from here as always, by clicking on the comic number above.

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Very early draft.}}
This image shows the total surface areas of all {{w|Terrestrial_planet|terrestrial planets}}, {{w|natural satellite}}s, {{w|asteroid}}s, {{w|minor planet|etc.}} in the {{w|Solar System}}, represented as regions of a single massive landmass (in a similar style to the various [[256: Online Communities|maps]] of the [[802: Online Communities 2|Internet]] Randall has created in the past), with a [[977|Waterman Butterfly]] based map of Earth in the center for scale. Relatively small objects like asteroids, comets, and so on are grouped into two regions at the northeast and southwest corners, while tiny objects like space dust are excluded altogether (probably because their total surface area is impossible to estimate accurately, and also because any estimate would likely be too large to fit easily into the map). He has likely used this Wikipedia list: {{w|List of Solar System objects by size}}.

The earth's undersea surface is included, but the {{w|gas giant}}s Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune are not included, presumably because they do not have any "solid surfaces"; even if they had a solid core (which is itself not clear), that would not comprise any "surface". The gas giants are believed to lack any well-defined surface at all, with the gases that make them up simply becoming thinner and thinner with increasing distance from the planets' centers, eventually becoming indistinguishable from the interplanetary medium. If they were included via some sort of surface definition, this part of the map would be a tiny speck among the gas giants. Similarly the {{w|Sun}} also is not considered a solid but hot {{w|Plasma_(physics)|plasma}}; if it was included it would reduce both the original map and the gas giants to a tiny speck.

Between Earth and Titan is a tiny speck noted "''all human skin''", which is an interesting sort of solid surface and could conceivably be a reference to the novel ''{{w|The_Silence_of_the_Lambs_(novel)|The Silence of the Lambs}}''.

The title text explains that this comic is not actually for information, it is something he thinks we should really do - that is, to stitch all the solar system's land areas together, as the comic title says. To do this, we would obviously need a giant spool of thread and a {{w|Space Needle|Space Needle}} like the tower in Seattle. Of course, since the land areas are on the surfaces of spheres, this would involve lots of deformation and be particularly challenging ... not to mention gruesome when collecting the human skin together.

{| class="wikitable sortable"
|+Surface area of mentioned objects
!Object
!Type
!Surface area
|-
|{{w|Io (moon)|Io}}||Moon of Jupiter||4.191×107 km2 (0.082 Earths)
|-
|{{w|Callisto (moon)|Callisto}}||Moon of Jupiter||7.30×107 km2 (0.143 Earths)
|-
|{{w|Europa (moon)|Europa}}||Moon of Jupiter||3.09×107 km2 (0.061 Earths)
|-
|{{w|Ganymede (moon)|Ganymede}}||Moon of Jupiter||8.70×107 km2 (0.171 Earths)
|-
|{{w|Ceres (dwarf planet)|Ceres}}||Dwarf planet||2.85×106 km2
|-
|{{w|4 Vesta|Vesta}}||Asteroid||8×105 km2
|-
|Asteroids 1km+||Asteroid||???
|-
|Asteroids 100m+||Asteroid||???
|-
|{{w|Triton (moon)|Triton}}||Moon of Neptune||2.3018×107 km2
|-
|{{w|Ariel (moon)|Ariel}}||Moon of Uranus||4.2113×106 km2
|-
|{{w|Miranda (moon)|Miranda}}||Moon of Uranus||7×105 km2
|-
|{{w|Umbriel (moon)|Umbriel}}||Moon of Uranus||4.296×106 km2 (0.008 Earths)
|-
|{{w|Oberon (moon)|Oberon}}||Moon of Uranus||7.285×106 km2
|-
|{{w|Titania (moon)|Titania}}||Moon of Uranus||7.82×106 km2
|-
|{{w|Tethys (moon)|Tethys}}||Moon of Saturn||3.61×106 km2
|-
|{{w|Dione (moon)|Dione}}||Moon of Saturn||3.96×106 km2
|-
|{{w|Enceladus|Enceladus}}||Moon of Saturn||8×105 km2
|-
|{{w|Iapetus (moon)|Iapetus}}||Moon of Saturn||6.7×106 km2
|-
|{{w|Titan (moon)|Titan}}||Moon of Saturn||8.3×107 km2
|-
|{{w|Rhea (moon)|Rhea}}||Moon of Saturn||7.337×106 km2
|-
|{{w|Earth|Earth}}||Planet||5.10072×108 km2
|-
|{{w|Moon|The Moon}}||Moon of Earth||3.793×107 km2
|-
|All human skin||||7.2 billion × 1m2 ≈ 7000 km2
|-
|{{w|Mercury (planet)|Mercury}}||Planet||7.48×107 km2 (0.147 Earths)
|-
|{{w|Mars|Mars}}||Planet||1.448×108 km2 (0.284 Earths)
|-
|Various small moons, comets, etc.||||???
|-
|{{w|Haumea (dwarf planet)|Haumea}}||Dwarf planet||6.8×106 km2
|-
|{{w|Makemake (dwarf planet)|Makemake}}||Dwarf planet||6.9×106 km2
|-
|{{w|Eris (dwarf planet)|Eris}}||Dwarf planet||1.7×107 km2
|-
|{{w|Pluto|Pluto}}||Dwarf planet||1.665×107 km2 (0.033 Earths)
|-
|{{w|Charon (moon)|Charon}}||Moon of Pluto||4.58×106 km2
|-
|{{w|Venus|Venus}}||Planet||4.60×108 km2 (0.902 Earths)
|}

Larger than Ceres but not included: Quaoar, Sedna, ??.

==Transcript==
{{incomplete transcript}}

{{comic discussion}}

Talk:1387: Clumsy Foreshadowing

2014-06-27T16:15:44Z

199.27.133.39: Imagine the lives saved.

There is a [http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/MeaningfulBackgroundEvent trope] for this kind of thing. --[[User:Koveras|Koveras]] ([[User talk:Koveras|talk]]) 08:11, 27 June 2014 (UTC)
:I think the news tropes [http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/ChekhovsNews] and [http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/CoincidentalBroadcast] are more specific to this scenario. {{unsigned ip|108.162.223.29}}

I almost made the following edit: "that foreshadows the onset of some kind of danger, such as shark attacks, tornadoes, shark-tornadoes" with the last part linking to the Sharknado article on Wikipedia. Is explainxkcd allowed to be this silly? I think we should be this silly. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.237.161|108.162.237.161]] 09:21, 27 June 2014 (UTC)
:Why not? It is a legitimate movie. Also, that towel might be a "Hitchhiker's Guide..." reference, if it is indeed a towel and Cueball is the main character. But it might be a cape or something else. [[Special:Contributions/103.22.201.225|103.22.201.225]] 11:51, 27 June 2014 (UTC)

No, the towel signals that he is going swimming, as the background TV predicts shark attacks. [[User:Rtanenbaum|Rtanenbaum]] ([[User talk:Rtanenbaum|talk]]) 12:53, 27 June 2014 (UTC)

What does the stuff with The View have to do with foreshadowing? Unless it's implying that Ms. McCarthy is going to try to drown herself in shark infested waters while our protagonist tries to save her... --[[User:Andyd273|Andyd273]] ([[User talk:Andyd273|talk]]) 13:48, 27 June 2014 (UTC)

:It doesn't. The explanation needs to be changed to read 'the title text' instead of 'the title' in the paragraph talking about The View. I'll fix it. --[[User:Dangerkeith3000|Dangerkeith3000]] ([[User talk:Dangerkeith3000|talk]]) 15:04, 27 June 2014 (UTC)

: "''Unless ... Ms. McCarthy is going to try to drown herself in shark infested waters''" We should be so lucky. [[Special:Contributions/199.27.133.39|199.27.133.39]] 16:15, 27 June 2014 (UTC)

Talk:1385: Throwing Rocks

2014-06-23T16:52:47Z

199.27.133.39: meta

Current explanation says the rock in the second panel is seen "possibly sinking the boat." Whoever typed this apparently didn't notice the undisturbed leaf boat, floating approximately 2 feet away from the splash. - [[Special:Contributions/108.162.240.36|108.162.240.36]] 04:38, 23 June 2014 (UTC)

My boat sunk! THANKS, OBAMA! - [[Special:Contributions/173.245.56.153|173.245.56.153]] 05:32, 23 June 2014 (UTC)
:SURE... BLAME OBAMA WHEN IT WAS BUSH WHO STARTED IT. ''(Sorry! Couldn't resist.)'' [[Special:Contributions/103.22.201.239|103.22.201.239]] 11:15, 23 June 2014 (UTC)
:: Heh. Thanks. That started the day with a laugh. [[Special:Contributions/199.27.133.39|199.27.133.39]] 16:48, 23 June 2014 (UTC)

Did we already know both Beret Guy and Megan are left handed? [[User:Wrybred|Wrybred]] ([[User talk:Wrybred|talk]]) 12:20, 23 June 2014 (UTC)wrybred

Vinland != America
: "Vinland was the name given to an area of North America by Norse Vikings..." per Wikipedia. (Providing actual info rather than just yelling "NO!" is always more helpful. But I'll take your comment (and you posting it anonymously) was intended as being in the spirit of the comments Randall's poking fun at.) [[Special:Contributions/199.27.133.39|199.27.133.39]] 16:52, 23 June 2014 (UTC)

Since "Leaf" Ericson is a pun on Leif, I think Vinland is a pun for Finland, but with the prefix "Vin" from "Vine". All of these puns make sense since the boat is made from a leaf.
:Try reading the wikipedia entry for Vinland. That makes a lot more sense. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.240.30|108.162.240.30]] 15:18, 23 June 2014 (UTC)

Is it just me or does this sound a lot like the game discordian game "Sink"? [[Special:Contributions/108.162.240.30|108.162.240.30]] 15:15, 23 June 2014 (UTC)

The explanation says Megan's comment is in contrast, I felt it was more of a comparison or a parallel. News articles go away once they're a week old in some places, various comments could be seen as thrown rocks or stones. Am I the only one who read it this way? [[Special:Contributions/173.245.55.63|173.245.55.63]] 15:27, 23 June 2014 (UTC)

Talk:1385: Throwing Rocks

2014-06-23T16:48:44Z

199.27.133.39: he he

Current explanation says the rock in the second panel is seen "possibly sinking the boat." Whoever typed this apparently didn't notice the undisturbed leaf boat, floating approximately 2 feet away from the splash. - [[Special:Contributions/108.162.240.36|108.162.240.36]] 04:38, 23 June 2014 (UTC)

My boat sunk! THANKS, OBAMA! - [[Special:Contributions/173.245.56.153|173.245.56.153]] 05:32, 23 June 2014 (UTC)
:SURE... BLAME OBAMA WHEN IT WAS BUSH WHO STARTED IT. ''(Sorry! Couldn't resist.)'' [[Special:Contributions/103.22.201.239|103.22.201.239]] 11:15, 23 June 2014 (UTC)
:: Heh. Thanks. That started the day with a laugh. [[Special:Contributions/199.27.133.39|199.27.133.39]] 16:48, 23 June 2014 (UTC)

Did we already know both Beret Guy and Megan are left handed? [[User:Wrybred|Wrybred]] ([[User talk:Wrybred|talk]]) 12:20, 23 June 2014 (UTC)wrybred

Vinland != America

Since "Leaf" Ericson is a pun on Leif, I think Vinland is a pun for Finland, but with the prefix "Vin" from "Vine". All of these puns make sense since the boat is made from a leaf.
:Try reading the wikipedia entry for Vinland. That makes a lot more sense. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.240.30|108.162.240.30]] 15:18, 23 June 2014 (UTC)

Is it just me or does this sound a lot like the game discordian game "Sink"? [[Special:Contributions/108.162.240.30|108.162.240.30]] 15:15, 23 June 2014 (UTC)

The explanation says Megan's comment is in contrast, I felt it was more of a comparison or a parallel. News articles go away once they're a week old in some places, various comments could be seen as thrown rocks or stones. Am I the only one who read it this way? [[Special:Contributions/173.245.55.63|173.245.55.63]] 15:27, 23 June 2014 (UTC)

Talk:1384: Krypton

2014-06-20T16:14:07Z

199.27.133.39:

Is the Earth baby the real reason Krypton was destroyed? [[Special:Contributions/103.22.201.239|103.22.201.239]] 08:58, 20 June 2014 (UTC)

Is now a good time to mark the shark jump? --[[Special:Contributions/108.162.210.135|108.162.210.135]] 12:52, 20 June 2014 (UTC)
:Only if this keeps up. Yeah, it's a crappy comic, but I don't think the quality overall has been dropping that much. Everyone has off days. [[Special:Contributions/173.245.55.83|173.245.55.83]] 13:58, 20 June 2014 (UTC)

Not so bad if you can relate to the anguish of parenting a colicky kid. Sending him to Krypton is an improvement on some of the things I was tempted to do. [[Special:Contributions/173.245.55.71|173.245.55.71]] 15:08, 20 June 2014 (UTC)
:Sending a baby off to die is better than things you were tempted to do? You really want to make that claim? [[Special:Contributions/199.27.133.39|199.27.133.39]] 16:14, 20 June 2014 (UTC)

It may be a cultural-linguistic thing, but I felt compelled to change "cries" to "crying", in the explanation. Hearing "his cries" is redolent of "Ahoy there!" coming from a person attracting attention in a nautical context, the various distinctive calls of a person selling produce in a street-market or "I'm up here! Get me down!" from a person stuck on the ledge of a burning building. When a baby cries (as opposed to when someone "cries out") you hear him (or her... it's not actually specified) 'crying', not his(/her) 'calling-cries', even though both are indeed similar forms of attracting attention. I've overthought this, of course. [[Special:Contributions/141.101.99.57|141.101.99.57]] 15:19, 20 June 2014 (UTC)

(Also, should the baby survive... somehow... would Earth Rock, howsoever sent there, be naturally ''strenghthening'' to the child? Assuming similarly transmuted as per the mundane (for native Kryptonians) planetary material beneath their feet was, during the cataclysm... It'd probably depend on which subsection of Superman canon you observed, as they tend to reinvent the 'physics' behind standard green kryptonite, even before adding in the other colours of it...) [[Special:Contributions/141.101.99.57|141.101.99.57]] 15:19, 20 June 2014 (UTC)

Can someone '''explain''' how this is funny?
:Seriously. ''Infanticide as entertainment?!!'' Parents deciding to kill a baby because it's noisy is neither amusing nor an interesting observation. Shame on Randall. [[Special:Contributions/199.27.133.39|199.27.133.39]] 16:11, 20 June 2014 (UTC)

Talk:1384: Krypton

2014-06-20T16:12:26Z

199.27.133.39:

Is the Earth baby the real reason Krypton was destroyed? [[Special:Contributions/103.22.201.239|103.22.201.239]] 08:58, 20 June 2014 (UTC)

Is now a good time to mark the shark jump? --[[Special:Contributions/108.162.210.135|108.162.210.135]] 12:52, 20 June 2014 (UTC)
:Only if this keeps up. Yeah, it's a crappy comic, but I don't think the quality overall has been dropping that much. Everyone has off days. [[Special:Contributions/173.245.55.83|173.245.55.83]] 13:58, 20 June 2014 (UTC)

Not so bad if you can relate to the anguish of parenting a colicky kid. Sending him to Krypton is an improvement on some of the things I was tempted to do. [[Special:Contributions/173.245.55.71|173.245.55.71]] 15:08, 20 June 2014 (UTC)

It may be a cultural-linguistic thing, but I felt compelled to change "cries" to "crying", in the explanation. Hearing "his cries" is redolent of "Ahoy there!" coming from a person attracting attention in a nautical context, the various distinctive calls of a person selling produce in a street-market or "I'm up here! Get me down!" from a person stuck on the ledge of a burning building. When a baby cries (as opposed to when someone "cries out") you hear him (or her... it's not actually specificed) 'crying', not his(/her) 'calling-cries', even though both are indeed similar forms of attracting attention. I've overthought this, of course. [[Special:Contributions/141.101.99.57|141.101.99.57]] 15:19, 20 June 2014 (UTC)

(Also, should the baby survive... somehow... would Earth Rock, howsoever sent there, be naturally ''strenghthening'' to the child? Assuming similarly transmuted as per the mundane (for native Kryptonians) planetary material beneath their feet was, during the cataclysm... It'd probably depend on which subsection of Superman canon you observed, as they tend to reinvent the 'physics' behind standard green kryptonite, even before adding in the other colours of it...) [[Special:Contributions/141.101.99.57|141.101.99.57]] 15:19, 20 June 2014 (UTC)

Can someone '''explain''' how this is funny?
:Seriously. ''Infanticide as entertainment?!!'' Parents deciding to kill a baby because it's noisy is neither amusing nor an interesting observation. Shame on Randall. [[Special:Contributions/199.27.133.39|199.27.133.39]] 16:11, 20 June 2014 (UTC)

Talk:1384: Krypton

2014-06-20T16:11:49Z

199.27.133.39: Sick, Randall. Shame on you.

Is the Earth baby the real reason Krypton was destroyed? [[Special:Contributions/103.22.201.239|103.22.201.239]] 08:58, 20 June 2014 (UTC)

Is now a good time to mark the shark jump? --[[Special:Contributions/108.162.210.135|108.162.210.135]] 12:52, 20 June 2014 (UTC)
:Only if this keeps up. Yeah, it's a crappy comic, but I don't think the quality overall has been dropping that much. Everyone has off days. [[Special:Contributions/173.245.55.83|173.245.55.83]] 13:58, 20 June 2014 (UTC)

Not so bad if you can relate to the anguish of parenting a colicky kid. Sending him to Krypton is an improvement on some of the things I was tempted to do. [[Special:Contributions/173.245.55.71|173.245.55.71]] 15:08, 20 June 2014 (UTC)

It may be a cultural-linguistic thing, but I felt compelled to change "cries" to "crying", in the explanation. Hearing "his cries" is redolent of "Ahoy there!" coming from a person attracting attention in a nautical context, the various distinctive calls of a person selling produce in a street-market or "I'm up here! Get me down!" from a person stuck on the ledge of a burning building. When a baby cries (as opposed to when someone "cries out") you hear him (or her... it's not actually specificed) 'crying', not his(/her) 'calling-cries', even though both are indeed similar forms of attracting attention. I've overthought this, of course. [[Special:Contributions/141.101.99.57|141.101.99.57]] 15:19, 20 June 2014 (UTC)

(Also, should the baby survive... somehow... would Earth Rock, howsoever sent there, be naturally ''strenghthening'' to the child? Assuming similarly transmuted as per the mundane (for native Kryptonians) planetary material beneath their feet was, during the cataclysm... It'd probably depend on which subsection of Superman canon you observed, as they tend to reinvent the 'physics' behind standard green kryptonite, even before adding in the other colours of it...) [[Special:Contributions/141.101.99.57|141.101.99.57]] 15:19, 20 June 2014 (UTC)

Can someone '''explain''' how this is funny?
:Seriously. ''Infanticide as entertainment?!!'' Parents deciding to kill a baby because it's noisy is neither amusing not an interesting observation. Shame on Randall. [[Special:Contributions/199.27.133.39|199.27.133.39]] 16:11, 20 June 2014 (UTC)