8: Red spiders

2026-01-28T19:24:33Z

2A00:23C8:3309:F01:E6EC:D18F:8603:5BD2: /* Explanation */ Removed unnecessary doubt. It's been about 2,800 comics since the last in the series. I think it's done.

{{comic
| number = 8
| date = September 30, 2005
| title = Red Spiders
| ognumber = 8
| ogtitle = Spiders
| oglink = https://web.archive.org/web/20070927001941/http://xkcd-drawings.livejournal.com/?skip=40#:~:text=8%3A41%20pm-,Spiders,-They%27re%20not%20spiders
| ogprev = 13
| ognext = 6
| image = red_spiders_small.jpg
| titletext = They are six-legged spiders<br><br>''<span class="plainlinks">[https://web.archive.org/web/20070927001941/http://xkcd-drawings.livejournal.com/?skip=40#:~:text=8%3A41%20pm-,Spiders,-They%27re%20not%20spiders Original caption</span>]:'' They're not spiders; they have six legs!
}}

This was the eighth comic [[LiveJournal|originally posted to LiveJournal]]. The previous one was [[13: Canyon]], and the next one was [[6: Irony]]. It was among the [[:Category:First day on LiveJournal|first thirteen comics]] posted to LiveJournal within 12 minutes on September 30, 2005, on the first day of the xkcd LiveJournal account.

==Explanation==
This comic is the first in an arc of comics, spaced out over 3 years, in which Red Spiders are seen attacking humans. Its objective is not to be funny, philosophical, or scientifically interesting; it just tells a story, in a {{w|Questionable Content}}-esque way. Interestingly, the red spiders actually more closely resemble {{w|opiliones}}, the order of {{w|arachnids}} that includes the {{w|Pholcidae|Daddy Longlegs}}, and which are actually more closely related to mites than to spiders.

The title text and the original caption note that the spiders in this comic have six legs, while most spiders have eight legs each.

This comic was the first in the '[[:Category:Red Spiders|Red Spiders]]' comic series, with each entry listed here:
*[[8: Red Spiders]], this one
*[[43: Red Spiders 2]], in which the spiders begin building.
*[[47: Counter-Red Spiders]], in which the humans begin a counter-offensive.
*[[126: Red Spiders Cometh]], in which the spiders attack a city.
*[[427: Bad Timing]], in which, in a style more typical to xkcd, the spiders attack a couple in the middle of a serious relationship discussion in a hot-air balloon.
*[[442: xkcd Loves the Discovery Channel]], in which it appears briefly in the 14th panel crawling over a cube

==Transcript==
:[Many six-legged red spiders standing on and hanging from cuboids. The cuboids hang in the air with no visible means of support. Some of the spiders have made a bridge out of themselves.]

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Posted on LiveJournal| 08]]
[[Category:First day on LiveJournal| 08]]
[[Category:First day on xkcd.com]]
[[Category:Comics with color]]
[[Category:Checkered paper]]
[[Category:Red Spiders]]
[[Category:Comics sharing name|Red Spiders01]]

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8: Red spiders