Editing 33: Self-reference

{{comic
| number    = 33
| date      = November 21, 2005
| title     = Self-reference
| before    = <big><big><span class="plainlinks">[https://web.archive.org/web/20060529063505/http://xkcd-drawings.livejournal.com/?skip=20#:~:text=Friday%27s%20Drawing%20%2D%20Self%2Dreference Original title</span>]: '''Friday's Drawing - Self-reference'''</big></big>
| image     = self-reference.jpg
| titletext = I think about self-reference a lot. Example: this comment.
}}

This was the thirty-fifth comic originally posted to [[LiveJournal]]. The previous one was [[32: Pillar]], and the next one was [[41: Old Drawing]].

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|The explanation is confusing and not formally written. Mention Randall has made other [[:Category:Self-reference|comics about self-reference]].}}[[:Category:Self-reference|Self-reference]] is a situation where something (a comic, a drawing, a musical work, a novel, a mathematical theorem) refers to itself in some manner. This can be a powerful technique in art, music, mathematics, and computer science (it is the basis of recursion). In this comic, [[Cueball]] promises not to use self-reference for humor, and then realizes after a beat panel that, since this comic is referring to the series of comics he is part of, he is using self-reference, thus breaking his promise. Without the last panel, this comic wouldn't be funny, and therefore wouldn't break the promise about using self-reference for humor. But with it, and his realization that he is breaking his promise, it does break that promise. Self-references have been used most famously later in [[688: Self-Description]], but was already used in [[6: Irony]] and also in [[:Category:Self-reference|other comics]].

The title text is just another humorous self-reference, which cites itself as a reason for Cueball/Randall thinking about self-reference, becoming self-referential in the process.

==Transcript==
:[Cueball is standing alone.]
:Cueball: I promise to never again squeeze humor out of self-reference.

:[Beat panel.]

:[Cueball is standing alone.]
:Cueball: God dammit.

==Trivia==
* The original title of the comic was wrong, as this comic was released on a Monday, not a Friday. The [[32: Pillar|previous comic]] was actually supposed to come out on a Friday, but [[Randall Munroe|Randall]] forgot to post it in time and released in on a Saturday. See more on [[32: Pillar]]'s [[32: Pillar#Explanation|explanation]].

* The webcomic Comic JK made a [https://web.archive.org/web/20140323234759/http://comicjk.com/comic.php/44 spoof of this comic].

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Posted on LiveJournal| 35]]
[[Category:First day on xkcd.com]]
[[Category:Checkered paper]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Self-reference]]
[[Category:Comics with lowercase text]]