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Some of the strips in [[xkcd]] are directly related to each other, rather than simply sharing a recurring  [[:Category:Comics by topic|topic]].
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<noinclude>{{TOC}}
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:''For a list of the comic series, see [[:Category:Comic series]].''
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:''Not to be confused with [[:Category:Comics sharing name|comic sharing name]].
  
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'''Click''' to expand for a more detailed explanation:
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</noinclude>The xkcd strips that are part of a [[Comic series|comic series]] are directly related to each other, rather than simply sharing a [[:Category:Comics by topic|recurring topic]]. A main series must be composed of at least three comics, while [[:Category:Miniseries|miniseries]] only need two to qualify; once they get their third comic, they graduate to a main series.
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<div class="mw-collapsible mw-collapsed leftAlign" style="width:100%">
 
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<br>
 
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==Explanation==
 
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Several of these series have been released in a series of five consecutively released comics using all five regular days in a week (like for instance with [[:Category:Secretary|Secretary]]). This occurred several times between 2006 and 2010. But since then no series were released like this, although some series were released but with long separation between releases. That was until October 2016, when the "strange" series [[:Category:Time traveling Sphere|Time traveling Sphere]] were released. In the explanation for that series the strangeness of its release is discussed, relating back to how other series mentioned here have been released.
 
  
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===True series===
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Comic series are intentionally created by [[Randall]] as part of a series. This is usually inferred from sequential numbers in the titles (such as in [[:Category:Stargazing|Stargazing]]), similar patterns in the comics' titles ([[:Category:xkcd Phones|xkcd Phones]]) or captions ([[:Category:Cursed Connectors|Cursed Connectors]]), release dates purposefully deviating from the normal schedule ([[:Category:Journal|Journal]]), a partnership with other artists ([[:Category:Guest Week|Guest Week]]) or companies ([[:Category:A Smarter Planet|A Smarter Planet]]), or Randall simply posting a list of all the comics that are part of a series ([[:Category:The Boy and his Barrel|The Boy and his Barrel]]).
  
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Many of the early comic series have been released as five consecutively released comics, with each episode being released on a weekday, deviating from the standard release schedule. After 2010, no series followed a similar release schedule, as they all followed the normal schedule of three comics a week.<noinclude>
  
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*Here is a chronological list of all (32 as of 2025) true series (removing those made for explaining certain aspects of xkcd without being a series in any clear way on xkcd).
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==Main series==
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**A series first becomes a series when it is clear that it will be a series, i.e. usually when the second comic in the series is released. It is thus not the first comic that determines the date for a series, but the second.
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This is a chronological list of all the main series created by Randall. This list is sorted based on the release date of the third comic in the series.
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**The list here below is sorted after that date, when the second comic where released.
 
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#[[:Category:The Boy and his Barrel|The Boy and his Barrel]]
 
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##A six-comic series released over one and a half month from September 2005. The series features [[Barrel Boy]], a character that is different from what would quickly become the xkcd [[stick figure]] style. The first comic in the series was [[1: Barrel - Part 1]] showing that there were more than one in the series, and the next five parts (including [[20: Ferret]]) were released within 2 months of each other. The normal schedule was not in place at that time, and the first two parts where [[:Category:First day on LiveJournal|released on the same day]] on [[LiveJournal]], and they were not released in the order they are shown on [[xkcd]] today. The numbering of the comics was changed from [[:Category:Posted on LiveJournal|that on LiveJournal]] when {{xkcd}} went live in 2006. So [[1: Barrel - Part 1]] was not the first xkcd comic.
 
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#[[:Category:Red Spiders|Red Spiders]]
 
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##A four (or five to seven) comic series released over more than half a year from September 2005 to June 2006. The first comic was [[8: Red spiders]], released on the first day (as with Barrel above), but it first became a series when [[43: Red Spiders 2]] was released two month later with the same title and a number. A month later [[47: Counter-Red Spiders]] came out. The last true comic in the series was [[126: Red Spiders Cometh]] released half a year later. Only those four uses "Red Spiders" in the title. But later Red Spiders where depicted again (as in [[427: Bad Timing]]), but those were call backs to the original series rather than as a true part of the series.
 
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#[[:Category:Opening dialogue by Scott|Opening dialogue by Scott]]
 
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##A three comic series released consecutive over the last part of a week. They were released the first week after xkcd comics where no longer released on LiveJournal but only released on xkcd. The first was released on January 31st 2006. The first comic released that week and only on xkcd was not part of this series. So when [[Randall]] wished to have all these three with the same title text (''Opening dialogue by Scott'') in the same week, the first [[57: Wait For Me]] was released already on the Tuesday after the Monday release. This was the first time a series had been released consecutively in a week. But the three comics where not directly related.
 
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#[[:Category:Parody Week|Parody Week]]
 
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##A five comic series released over five consecutive days from Monday-Friday in August 2006. It was the first time of six that this occurred. The theme was the same, parodying other web comics, but there were no connection between the comics themselves.
 
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#[[:Category:Choices|Choices]]
 
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##A five comic series released over five consecutive days from Monday-Friday in May 2007. It was the second series released like this, but it was the first time of four that the five comics of such a series were directly connected in a continuation story line.
 
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#[[:Category:1337|1337]]
 
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##A five comic series released over five consecutive days from Monday-Friday in November 2007. It was the second series released like this where the five comics were directly connected in a continuation story line.
 
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#[[:Category:Journal|Journal]]
 
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##A five comic series released over about five month the first [[374: Journal]] in January 2008. It first became a series when the second comic [[377: Journal 2]] was released a week later at the end of January with a “2” to indicate that this was a series. Each of the first four comic was released in different weeks, the third first in April and the fourth in June. But the last comic [[433: Journal 5]] was released the next release day (Friday) after [[432: Journal 4]]. This is the only series that behaves like this. Apart from that it behaves like the other five comics in one week series, with a number indicating it is a series. This thus makes it the fifth comic with five comics that are directly and chronologically ordered. (The Barrel series is in some way similar, but cannot really be considered as being the same type as this and the other four consecutive comics).
 
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# [[:Category:Secretary|Secretary]]
 
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##A five comic series released over five consecutive days from Monday-Friday at the end of October 2008. It was the third series released like this where the five comics were directly connected in a continuation story line.
 
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# [[:Category:Well|Well]]
 
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##A two comic series released with about two weeks between them. When the first comic [[561: Well]] was released in March 2009 it was not a series. That was first obvious when [[568: Well 2]] was released in April. It is the first time that Randall made a two comic series like this by adding a 2 after the title of a previous comic. But this happened several times later, but then not always with a continuing storyline as in Well. Of course the numbering like this was also used for Journal and Red Spiders, but both of these had more comics in their series.
 
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#[[:Category:The Race|The Race]]
 
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##A five comic series released over five consecutive days from Monday-Friday at the beginning of May 2009. It was the fourth and last series released like this (as of 2025) where the five comics were directly connected in a continuation story line. But one more series were released like this the year after, but those comics stories where not related.
 
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#[[:Category:Android|Android]]
 
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##A two comic series released with less than two weeks between them. When the first comic [[595: Android Girlfriend]] was released in June 2009 it was not a series. That was first obvious when [[600: Android Boyfriend]] was released later that month. It was the first series where it was only part of the title that made it clear it was a series. And no numbering was used. The plot though also makes the connection clear. A similar connection between comics in series was not seen before ''Time traveling Sphere'' seven years later (see below).
 
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#[[:Category:Online Communities|Online Communities]]
 
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##A two comic series released with more than three years between the first [[256: Online Communities]] in May 2007, and the second [[802: Online Communities 2]] from October 2010. It was first the latter that with the same title and a number 2 made it into a series. This is the reason it is first listed chronologically here. It was not a series in 2007. Adding the number “2” to make it into a series is like the Well series, and this was the second time that happened.
 
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#[[:Category:Five-minute comics|Five-minute comics]]
 
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##A three comic series released consecutively over a week using the normal release schedule in the middle of November 2010. This is the second time a series has been released with three in one week, following the Opening dialogue by Scott in 2006 (but that time there were four comics in the week, one not belonging to the series). It is thus the only time that a week with three comics only where all released as a series. It was the first of two weeks in a row with series. Both series were made to give Randall some time to cope with his wife’s cancer.
 
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#[[:Category:Guest Week|Guest Week]]
 
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##A five comic series released over five consecutive days from Monday-Friday at the end of November 2010. It is so far (as of 2016) the last time of six that this occurred. The theme was the same, with five web comic artist making guest appearances on xkcd, so there were no connections between the comics themselves. It is the second time this happened, the first time was the first five day series in August 2006. It was the second of two weeks in a row with series. Both series were made to give Randall some time to cope with his wife’s cancer. Since this comic there has never been released more than three comics in a week. Also until October 2016 with the ''Time traveling Sphere'' there were never two comics directly related which were released as two consecutive comic in the same week (see below). But the next series Etymology-Man from 2012 also had two comics released in the same week, but they where not released consecutively and also there where no continued story from the first to the second.
 
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#[[:Category:Etymology-Man|Etymology-Man]]
 
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##A two comic series released during one week with another unrelated comic in between. When the first comic [[1010: Etymology-Man]] was released on Monday January 30th 2012 it was not a series. That was first obvious when [[1012: Wrong Superhero]] was released Friday of the same week. There is no story-line connection between the two, but Etymology-Man from the first is the wrong superhero in the next. It was the first time that two comics in a series is released in the same week without comming back to back. See more about this in the explanation above for Guest Week. But the same happened again in ISS Solar Transit series in 2017.
 
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#[[:Category:xkcd Phones|xkcd Phones]]
 
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##A nine comic series (as of 2025) released over more than nine years between the first [[1363: xkcd Phone]] in May 2014 and the latest [[2831: xkcd Phone Flip]], from September 2023. It was first with the release of the second [[1465: xkcd Phone 2]] in December 2014 with the same title and a number 2 that it became a series. Adding a number to a title has been used like this two times before, but it is the first of this kind of series to progress beyond 2, so far all the way to 6. Only in Journal (that went to 5) did the numbering without including "part" progress beyond 2, and that was a true series where the story was connected. This is also what makes this a special type of series in xkcd not seen before, as it is clear that these are a series, but they are not connected as a story. Since then a few other comics have used the same system and reached at least 3, also where the comics are not part of a directly continued story. These are the Substitution series, where there as here are no relation except concept, Stargazing, where there is a bit more connection but no continuation and Code Quality, that reached three and then contkinued with different titles in the same series, thus reminding a but about the phone series. There where also other comics that progressed to getting a 2 after the name of the first. But that has already been seen before. After number six the number did not just go one up (2-6 for the second to sixth), but used 2000 to coincide with it being comic 2000 on xkcd. But then the next, number eight, used the number 12 as it was released near the release of {{w|iPhone 12}}. Finally the ninth was called xkcd Phone Flip, not even using a number to make fun of phones where the screen can be folded. This is by now the longest series with most comics connected to it (9 vs 8 in the Bad Map Projection series) and also the longest time span, with more than 9 years vs. close to eight years for the map series.
 
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#[[:Category:Exoplanet Names|Exoplanet Names]]
 
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##A two comic series released with almost a year between the first [[1253: Exoplanet Names]] in August 2013, and the second [[1555: Exoplanet Names 2]] from July 2014. It was first the latter that with the same title and a number 2 made it into a series. This is the reason it is first listed chronologically here. It was not a series in 2013. Adding the number “2” to make it into a series is like the Well series, and this was the fourth time that happened and so far. These two comics are not connected as a story, rather the second is an update to the list made in the first, even including most of the first list. this made this into a special type of series, in someway related to the xkcd phone series above. The first of these two comics came out before the first phone comic, but the second phone comic came before the second of these, thus explaining the chronology. And as opposed to the phone series this has not continued beyond 2.
 
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#[[:Category:Synonym Movies|Synonym Movies]]
 
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##A two comic series released with less than two weeks between them. When the first comic [[1563: Synonym Movies]] was released in August 2015 it was not a series. That was first obvious when [[1568: Synonym Movies 2]] was released later that month. Adding the number “2” to make it into a series is like the Well series, and this was the fifth time that happened. There is no story-line connection between the two, but the idea is the same, showing DVD boxes with real movie titles changed using synonyms.
 
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#[[:Category:Substitution series|Substitution series]]
 
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##A three comic series (as of 2016) released over almost three years between the first [[1288: Substitutions]] in November 2013 to the third [[1679: Substitutions 3]] from May 2016, It first became a series with the second comic [[1625: Substitutions 2]] released in January 2016, explaining why it is placed after the two above. Adding the number “2” to make it into a series is like the Well series, and this was the sixth time that happened. It is not a continuing series, but rather the same concept used again, more related to the xkcd Phone or Exoplanet names above, than to a comic series like Well. It was for long the only series, with numbers added, released like this over long time, that was at only three releases. But in February 2020 the [[:Category:Stargazing|Stargazing]] series also got a third installment.
 
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# [[:Category:Code Quality|Code Quality]]
 
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##A five comic series (so far as of April 2019) released with exactly four years years between the first and so far last in the series. When the first comic [[1513: Code Quality]] was released on the 17th of April 2015 it was not a series. That was first obvious when [[1695: Code Quality 2]] was released in June 2016. This series reminds of Well and Android, but with much longer time between the two releases. Adding the number “2” to make it into a series is like the Well series, and this was the seventh time that happened. And then it continued with [[1833: Code Quality 3]] in May 2017 still adding to the number. It then changed the naming in [[1926: Bad Code]], which clearly belonged to the other three. This was released in December 2017. And has so far the series ended with yet another comic that changed the name again, this time to [[2138: Wanna See the Code?]] released on the 17th of April 2019, on the four year anniversary of the first in the series.
 
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#[[:Category:Time traveling Sphere|Time traveling Sphere]]
 
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##A two comic series released over two consecutive but normal release day in the same week (a Monday and a Wednesday) in the middle of October 2016. This was a very strange release in many ways, and that has been described in great detail in the series category. Since then the same happened with Alien Visitors but on the last two days of the week not the first two. It was first clear that this was a series with the Wednesday release [[1748: Future Archaeology]] but not from the title which has very little direct relation to the first title [[1747: Spider Paleontology]], but the plot was clearly a continuation of the first comic. The series could in principle continue later, but it did not fill out the entire week, and stopped at those two.
 
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#[[:Category:Bad Map Projections|Bad Map Projections]]
 
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##So far four comics have been released over more than four years, but given the Map projections have numbers between 45 and 358 there could be many more to come.
 
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##The first was released on January 11th 2017, it was <nowiki>#107</nowiki>: [[1784: Bad Map Projection: Liquid Resize]]. And it became a series with the second comic released just a little more than a month later on February 15th with <nowiki>#79</nowiki>: [[1799: Bad Map Projection: Time Zones]]. The third, came almost three years later, and had <nowiki>#358</nowiki>: [[2256: Bad Map Projection: South America]]. It was released in January 2020. And one and a half year later the fourth <nowiki>#299</nowiki> [[2489: Bad Map Projection: The Greenland Special]] came out in July 2021. This was followed by <nowiki>#248</nowiki>: [[2613: Bad Map Projection: Madagascator|Madagascator]] in April 2022, then <nowiki>#152</nowiki>: [[2807: Bad Map Projection: ABS(Longitude)|ABS(Longitude)]] in Jyly 2023, <nowiki>#45</nowiki>: [[2951: Bad Map Projection: Exterior Kansas|2951: Exterior Kansas]] in June 2024 and finally so far with the 8th <nowiki>#102</nowiki>: [[2999: Bad Map Projection: The United Stralia|The United Stralia]] in October 2024. The series seems to be something Randall will return to infrequently, having released comics in the series over a period of almost 8 years. At the moment it is only the xkcd phone series that has more entries with nine comics. also the only series to run over a longer time-span, with more than nine years between first and last release. It is similar to the later comic series Cursed Connectors.
 
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#[[:Category:ISS Solar Transit|ISS Solar Transit]]
 
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##Two comics was released Monday and Friday in the same week. So in the same week as with the ''Time Traveling Sphere'' mentioned above. But having two comics in a series released in the same week with an unrelated comic in between was similar to Etymology-Man from 2012. So this was the second time this release schedule was used.
 
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##The first comic, [[1828: ISS Solar Transit]], was released on Monday April 24, 2017 and the second, [[1830: ISS Solar Transit 2]], four days later on Friday April 28, 2017. Adding the number “2” to make it into a series is like the Well series, and this was the eight time that happened.
 
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#[[:Category:X Years|X Years]]
 
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##A three comic series (as of 2020) released over eight years between the first [[1141: Two Years]] from November 2012 to the third [[2386: Ten Years]] from November 2020.
 
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##It first became a series with the second comic [[1928: Seven Years]] released in December 2017, five years later, duh! This is the date that is used to arrange it in this list.
 
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##The series is about how many years it has been since Randall's wife's cancer diagnosis. 
 
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#[[:Category:Stargazing|Stargazing]]
 
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##A four comic series released over just a bit more than four years between the first [[1644: Stargazing]] in February 2017 to the third [[2274: Stargazing 3]] from February 2020 to fourth ??? from April 2025.
 
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##It first became a series with the second comic [[2017: Stargazing 2]] released in July 2018, one and a half year after the first, explaining why it is placed after the three above. Adding the number “2” to make it into a series is like the Well series, and this was the ninth time that happened. Only a few comics have reached 3 like this.
 
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##Once again a series where the follow up comics just adds a number to the title.
 
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#[[:Category:Horror Movies|Horror Movies]]
 
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##A two comic series released with six and a half weeks between them. When the first comic [[2056: Horror Movies]] was released in October 2018 it was not a series. That was first obvious when [[2076: Horror Movies 2]] was released towards the end of November 2018. Adding the number “2” to make it into a series is like the Well series, and this was the tenth time that happened. The second comic continues the discussion of "why horror movies exists" directly from the first comic.
 
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#[[:Category:Coronavirus Genome|Coronavirus Genome]]
 
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##A two comic series released over two consecutive but normal release day Friday and Monday (a first that it went over two weeks but still consecutive). The first comic [[2298: Coronavirus Genome]] was released at the end of April 2020.
 
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##It was first clear that this was going to be a series with the Monday release [[2299: Coronavirus Genome 2]]. Adding the number “2” to make it into a series is like the Well series, and this was the eleventh time that happened.
 
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#[[:Category:Old Days|Old Days]]
 
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##A two comic series released with almost 3.5 years between the. When the first comic [[1755: Old Days]] was released in November 2016 it was not a series. That was first obvious when [[2324: Old Days 2]] was released in June 2020. Adding the number “2” to make it into a series is like the Well series, and this was the twelfth time that happened. The second comic continues the discussion of programming in the old days - directly from the first comic in spite of more than 3 years between them.
 
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##Once again a series where the second comic just adds a "2" to the title. And once again one with long time between the first and the second comic, that made it a series.
 
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#[[:Category:Scale World|Scale World]]
 
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##A three comic series released during January 2021. The first [[2411: 1/10,000th Scale World]] from Wednesday January 13th 2021, was followed by [[2412: 1/100,000th Scale World]] in the next release on Friday January 15th 2021, thus making it into a series. And then the third [[2417: 1/1,000th Scale World]] came 14 days after the first on Wednesday January 27th 2021.
 
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##The series depicts people walking on such scaled world, and what problems that could give, to them or the world.
 
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##It was the first time that the two last comics of a week was connected into a series like this. And the second time that two connected comics where released consecutively in the same week. The first time this happened was with Time traveling Sphere, where the two comics where the first two of the week. But this series then had a third installment later, making it a one of kind release type for a series. The next series Alien Visitors used the same release of the two last comics of a week.
 
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#[[:Category:Alien Visitors|Alien Visitors]]
 
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##A two comic series released over two consecutive but normal release day Wednesday and Friday. The first comic [[2477: Alien Visitors]] was released 2021-06-16.
 
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##It was first clear that this was going to be a series with the Friday release [[2478: Alien Visitors 2]] on 2021-06-18. Adding the number “2” to make it into a series is like the Well series, and this was the 13th time that happened. It was the second time that the two last comics of a week was connected into a series like this, see above under Scale World for the first.
 
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#[[:Category:Cursed Connectors|Cursed Connectors]]
 
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##So far seven comics have been released over two and half year, but given the connectors have numbers from 46 to 280 there could be many more to come.
 
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##The first was released on July 23rd 2021, it was <nowiki>#187</nowiki>: [[2493: Dual USB-C]]. And it became a series with the second comic released just two comics later the next week on July 28th with <nowiki>#65</nowiki>: [[2495: Universal Seat Belt]]. ##Since then there have been <nowiki>#102</nowiki>: [[2503: Memo Spike Connector|Memo Spike Connector]] and <nowiki>#280</nowiki>: [[2507: USV-C|USV-C]] both in August 2021, <nowiki>#78</nowiki>: [[2589: Outlet Denier|Outlet Denier]] in March 2022, <nowiki>#120</nowiki>: [[2642: Meta-Alternating Current|Meta-Alternating Current]] i July 2022 and finally <nowiki>#46</nowiki>: [[2880: Sheet Bend|Sheet Bend]] in January 2024.
 
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##It is thus similar to the [[:Category:Bad Map Projections|Bad Map Projections]] series. And is now just one short of the number of bad maps on a much shorter time span.
 
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#[[:Category:Home Inspections|Home Inspections]]
 
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##A two comic series (so far) released with a bit less than two months between the first two. The first comic [[3037: Radon]] was released 2025-01-13.
 
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##It was first clear that this was going to be a series with the release of [[3059: Water Damage]] on 2025-03-05.
 
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##The names where not related but Ponytail inspects Cueball's house with the same device and finds something lacking, which has to do with the planet the house was build on (Earth) rather than with the building it self.
 
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##This was the first new series since July 2021, a span of more than 3,5 years with out a new series. But older series has been continuing during that time span though.
 
  
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===Other series===
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=== [[:Category:The Boy and his Barrel|The Boy and his Barrel]] ===
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{{incomplete|need to add more explanations for series.}}
 
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Here is a list of the (13 as of 2025) other types of series that has been used for explaining certain aspects of xkcd without being a series in any clear way on xkcd:
 
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#[[:Category:A Smarter Planet|A Smarter Planet]]
 
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##A two comic series from the summer of 2009 made specially for IBM's blog A Smarter Planet, and thus not part of the regular xkcd comics. Although the obviously have been made as a set, their stories are not related in any way, and their titles [[Conservation]] and [[Prescriptions]] are also not related. So they would only make a series because they were made for the same specific reason. 2 unreleased comics included: [[ibm hc 2]] and [[ibm hc 3]].
 
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#[[:Category:April fools' comics]]
 
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#[[:Category:Comics sharing name|Comics sharing name]]
 
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##This category lists comics that share name with another comic, or almost shares name. So many series would be here. But there are also some series like comics that are not directly related in a series, like the new years comics released under the title of the new year. (2012, 2014 and 2016 so far). Many of the comics that share name or almost share name is not in any way part of the same series. The category is mainly used for explaining comics with similar name.
 
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#[[:Category:Confusion matrices|Confusion matrices]]
 
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#[[:Category:COVID-19|COVID-19]]
 
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#[[:Category:Facts]]
 
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#[[:Category:Fun fact]]
 
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#[[:Category:How to annoy]]
 
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#[[:Category:My Hobby|My Hobby]]
 
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#[[:Category:Pet Peeves|Pet Peeves]]
 
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#[[:Category:Protip]]
 
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#[[:Category:Science tip]]
 
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#[[:Category:Sketches|Sketches]]
 
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#[[:Category:Tips]]
 
  
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</div>
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: {{:Category:The Boy and his Barrel}}
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<br>
 
  
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[[Category:Comics|Series]]
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=== [[:Category:Red Spiders|Red Spiders]] ===
 +
 
 +
: {{:Category:Red Spiders}}
 +
 
 +
=== [[:Category:Opening dialogue by Scott|Opening dialogue by Scott]] ===
 +
 
 +
: {{:Category:Opening dialogue by Scott}}
 +
 
 +
=== [[:Category:Parody Week|Parody Week]] ===
 +
 
 +
: {{:Category:Parody Week}}
 +
 
 +
=== [[:Category:Choices|Choices]] ===
 +
 
 +
: {{:Category:Choices}}
 +
 
 +
=== [[:Category:1337|1337]] ===
 +
 
 +
: {{:Category:1337}}
 +
 
 +
=== [[:Category:Journal|Journal]] ===
 +
 
 +
: {{:Category:Journal}}
 +
 
 +
=== [[:Category:Secretary|Secretary]] ===
 +
 
 +
: {{:Category:Secretary}}
 +
 
 +
=== [[:Category:A Smarter Planet|A Smarter Planet]] ===
 +
 
 +
: {{:Category:A Smarter Planet}}
 +
 
 +
=== [[:Category:The Race|The Race]] ===
 +
 
 +
: {{:Category:The Race}}
 +
 
 +
=== [[:Category:Five-Minute Comics|Five-Minute Comics]] ===
 +
 
 +
: {{:Category:Five-Minute Comics}}
 +
 
 +
=== [[:Category:Guest Week|Guest Week]] ===
 +
 
 +
: {{:Category:Guest Week}}
 +
 
 +
=== [[:Category:xkcd Phones|xkcd Phones]] ===
 +
 
 +
: {{:Category:xkcd Phones}}
 +
 
 +
=== [[:Category:Choices|Choices]] ===
 +
 
 +
: {{:Category:Choices}}
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=== [[:Category:Substitution|Substitution]] ===
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: {{:Category:Substitution}}
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===  [[:Category:Code Quality|Code Quality]] ===
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: {{:Category:Code Quality}}
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=== [[:Category:Bad Map Projections|Bad Map Projections]] ===
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: {{:Category:Bad Map Projections}}
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=== [[:Category:X Years|X Years]] ===
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: {{:Category:X Years}}
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=== [[:Category:Stargazing|Stargazing]] ===
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: {{:Category:Stargazing}}
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=== [[:Category:1/Xth Scale World|1/Xth Scale World]] ===
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: {{:Category:1/Xth Scale World}}
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=== [[:Category:Cursed Connectors|Cursed Connectors]] ===
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: {{:Category:Cursed Connectors}}
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=== [[:Category:Unsolved Problems|Unsolved Problems]] ===
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: {{:Category:Unsolved Problems}}
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==Miniseries==
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This is a chronological list of all the miniseries created by Randall. This list is sorted based on the release date of the second comic in the series.
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=== [[:Category:The Uncomfortable Truths Well|The Uncomfortable Truths Well]] ===
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: {{:Category:The Uncomfortable Truths Well}}
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=== [[:Category:Android Partner|Android Partner]] ===
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:{{:Category:Android Partner}}
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=== [[:Category:Online Communities|Online Communities]] ===
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: {{:Category:Online Communities}}
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=== [[:Category:Etymology-Man|Etymology-Man]] ===
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:{{:Category:Etymology-Man}}
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=== [[:Category:Exoplanet Names|Exoplanet Names]] ===
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:{{:Category:Exoplanet Names}}
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=== [[:Category:Synonym Movies|Synonym Movies]] ===
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:{{Category:Synonym Movies}}
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=== [[:Category:Time-Traveling Sphere|Time-Traveling Sphere]] ===
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: {{:Category:Time-Traveling Sphere}}
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=== [[:Category:ISS Solar Transit|ISS Solar Transit]] ===
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: {{:Category:ISS Solar Transit}}
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=== [[:Category:Horror Movies|Horror Movies]] ===
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: {{:Category:Horror Movies}}
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=== [[:Category:Coronavirus Genome|Coronavirus Genome]] ===
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: {{:Category:Coronavirus Genome}}
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=== [[:Category:Old Days|Old Days]] ===
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: {{:Category:Old Days}}
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=== [[:Category:Hamster Ball|Hamster Ball]] ===
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: {{:Category:Hamster Ball}}
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=== [[:Category:Alien Visitors|Alien Visitors]] ===
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: {{:Category:Alien Visitors}}

Latest revision as of 14:09, 31 August 2025

For a list of the comic series, see Category:Comic series.
Not to be confused with comic sharing name.

The xkcd strips that are part of a comic series are directly related to each other, rather than simply sharing a recurring topic. A main series must be composed of at least three comics, while miniseries only need two to qualify; once they get their third comic, they graduate to a main series.

Comic series are intentionally created by Randall as part of a series. This is usually inferred from sequential numbers in the titles (such as in Stargazing), similar patterns in the comics' titles (xkcd Phones) or captions (Cursed Connectors), release dates purposefully deviating from the normal schedule (Journal), a partnership with other artists (Guest Week) or companies (A Smarter Planet), or Randall simply posting a list of all the comics that are part of a series (The Boy and his Barrel).

Many of the early comic series have been released as five consecutively released comics, with each episode being released on a weekday, deviating from the standard release schedule. After 2010, no series followed a similar release schedule, as they all followed the normal schedule of three comics a week.

Main series[edit]

This is a chronological list of all the main series created by Randall. This list is sorted based on the release date of the third comic in the series.

The Boy and his Barrel[edit]

"The Boy and his Barrel" is an early series of six comics, whose parts were randomly published during the first several dozen strips. The series features Barrel Boy, a character that is different from what would quickly become the xkcd stick figure style. After Randall released the full The Boy and his Barrel story on the site, it became clear that the original comic 20: Ferret was also part of the series. The last image on the what if? article Niagara Straw features Beret Guy flying inside a barrel, which may be a reference to this series. The series is probably inspired by the novella The Little Prince by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry. Randall is known to be a fan of this book.

Red Spiders[edit]

"Red spiders" is a four-comic series released from September 2005 to June 2006. The first comic was 8: Red spiders, released on the first day (as with Barrel above), but it first became a series when 43: Red Spiders 2 was released, two months later. The following month, 47: Counter-Red Spiders was released, and the last comic in the series, 126: Red Spiders Cometh, was released half a year later. Only these four comics use "Red Spiders" in the title. Red Spiders were depicted again in other comics, but these were simply callbacks to the original series rather than additional episodes. In total, they appear in seven different comics. The last comic featuring them is 1110: Click and Drag, released in 2012, in which they are black and white but can still be recognized by their six legs. Red spiders are also featured on the back cover of Randall's book xkcd: volume 0.

Opening dialogue by Scott[edit]

In the span of a week, specifically on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Friday, these three comics with the same title text ("Opening dialogue by Scott") were published. Scott is a friend of Randall, and he apparently had the ideas for the opening of these comics.

Parody Week[edit]

This series was released on five consecutive days from Monday-Friday in August 2006, instead of the usual Monday/Wednesday/Friday schedule. It was the first time of six that this occurred. The theme was parodying other web comics, but there was no connection between the comics themselves.

Choices[edit]

The "Choices" series is a metaphorical adventure Megan goes through that celebrates, marvels, and reminds of freedom of choice. This series was released on five consecutive days (Monday to Friday) and not over the usual schedule of three comics a week.

1337[edit]

The "1337" series tells the story of the family of the best hackers in the word. The title comes from "L-eet", or "elite", using the Leet alphabet, a coding system used primarily on the Internet (and on early text messaging system), meant to provide a bit of obfuscation to plain text, both to make it harder to read and to show off in a creative way using in-group jargon. The comic 327: Exploits of a Mom was a prequel for the series where the entire family is shown for the first time. This series was released on five consecutive days (Monday to Friday) and not over the usual schedule of three comics a week.

Journal[edit]

The "Journal" series of comics chronicles the beginning of the relationship between Black Hat and Danish. It includes five comics released over about five months. The first one was released in January 2008, the second one a week later at the end of January, the third in April, and the fourth and fifth in June. Each of the first four comics was released in different weeks, but the last comic was released immediately after 432: Journal 4.

Secretary[edit]

The "Secretary" series follows Black Hat as he is being appointed as Secretary of the Internet by the US president. It may be a continuation of the comic 493: Actuarial, in which Black Hat demonstrates great power over even Internet trolls via his sociopathic ways. This would explain why Black Hat was nominated as Internet secretary. This series was released on five consecutive days (Monday to Friday) and not over the usual schedule of three comics a week.

A Smarter Planet[edit]

In 2009, Randall created two extra comics after a special request from IBM's A Smarter Planet blog (now defunct, archive). The website now redirects to IBM's Think blog's homepage. They are not part of the regular numbered series of comics, but both of them used to be featured on xkcd.com/asmarterplanet (now defunct, archive), where each comic on that page linked to their respective blog posts on IBM's site. The two blog posts were called "Building a Smarter Planet… for Squirrels" (now defunct, archive) and "Smarter(?) Health Care" (now defunct, archive).

The Race[edit]

"The Race" is a comic series about an electric skateboard race between Cueball and Nathan Fillion (Captain Malcolm "Mal" Reynolds from Firefly). This series was released on five consecutive days (Monday to Friday) and not over the usual schedule of three comics a week.

Five-Minute Comics[edit]

The Five-Minute Comics series consists of three comics made up of quick jokes created as part of a five-minute challenge. They weren’t originally intended to be xkcd comics but were drawn in the same style. When Randall needed time to care for his wife during her cancer treatment, he used these comics to fill a week’s updates. The following week, a separate event called Guest Week served the same purpose, featuring five guest artists filling in for him. A fourth comic was accidentally released and later removed from xkcd, though fans had already preserved it. The series is similar to comic 68: Five Thirty, which also featured brief panels apparently written at 5:30 AM.

Guest Week[edit]

The Guest Week series was composed of five comics written by five different comic authors. When Randall needed time to care for his wife during her cancer treatment, he used these comics to fill a week’s updates. The previous week, a separate series called Five-Minute Comics served the same purpose, featuring simple jokes drawn in a short time.

xkcd Phones[edit]

Randall has introduced a series of new and "improved" xkcd-branded smartphones, parodying common smartphone specs by attributing absurd or useless features to fictional phones. The first comic was released in May 2014, and the second towards the end of 2014. Since then, at least one new xkcd Phone been released every year from 2014 to 2018. During 2014 and 2017, an additional xkcd Phone was released. Notably, this roughly follows the release patterns used by real smartphone manufacturers. After the sixth phone was released, the following was numbered "2000" as it was the 2000th xkcd comic. The next, technically the eighth, used the number 12 as it was released near the release of iPhone 12. Finally, the ninth was called xkcd Phone Flip, making fun of phones the screens of which can be folded. In 2150: XKeyboarCD, Randall introduced the xkcd Keyboard in a similar fashion and with similarly silly features as the xkcd Phones. 1802: Phone was also released in 2017, but it is unrelated to this series. This one of the longest xkcd series, together with Bad Map Projections series.

Choices[edit]

The "Choices" series is a metaphorical adventure Megan goes through that celebrates, marvels, and reminds of freedom of choice. This series was released on five consecutive days (Monday to Friday) and not over the usual schedule of three comics a week.

Substitution[edit]

Substituting one word with another has become a recurring subject on xkcd. After the first four comics using substitutions as part of the joke, Randall posted the first comic of the Substitution series, 1288: Substitutions, listing a set of substitutions "that will make reading the news more fun". He later released two more comics with the same caption, distinguishing the Substitution series from the other general substitution comics.

Code Quality[edit]

This series is about the quality of Cueball's code. Ponytail usually looks at the source code Cueball has written, while he warns her that he is self-taught, so his code probably won't be cleanly written. In spite of Ponytail's initial (polite) optimism, she always comments in a parade of vivid similes to convey the incomprehensible nature of his code. Ponytail also trashes Cueball's code in other comics about his computer problems.

Bad Map Projections[edit]

This comic series is about Randall's bad map projections. Maps, real or, in this case, invented, are a recurrent topic on xkcd. Randall especially focuses on map projections, which are various ways to show the Earth on a flat surface, most famously depicted in 977: Map Projections. Projecting Earth on a flat map is not possible to do without distortion since the Earth is round, so every projection is a compromise. Normally, the projections try to be useful in some way while less precise on other situations. In this series, however, Randall solely makes fun of the idea of many different projections, even calling them all Bad Map Projections.
The map projections he has released all get a number, which, if taken seriously, would mean there are at least 349 that haven't been released, as the highest number so far is 358. The first two, The Liquid Resize and Time Zones were released using a similar six color scheme, with each country in a different color than its closest neighbors, but all the following ones were just plain black, gray, and white.

X Years[edit]

This comic series tells the story of Randall's wife, who was diagnosed with breast cancer. The first comic shows the two-year mark, a significant milestone where they hope the cancer is gone. The second comic highlights the seven-year milestone, coinciding with the 2017 total solar eclipse. The third comic celebrates their ten-year anniversary. The comics after 1141: Two Years include the previous comics without the last row of panels, which usually add a funny twist at the end to bring some humor to the serious subject.

Stargazing[edit]

The Stargazing series was released over just a bit more than 9 years between the first 1644: Stargazing in 2016 to the fourth 3072: Stargazing 4 in 2025. It first became a series with the second comic 2017: Stargazing 2 released in July 2018, one and a half year after the first, explaining why it is placed after the three above. There was a gap of more than five years between the third and the fourth, which was even longer than between the first and the third release as, 2274: Stargazing 3 came out in February 2020, almost exactly four years after the first. 1291: Shoot for the Moon may have been a prelude to this series, as it also consists of Megan giving strangely opinionated lectures about celestial objects.

1/Xth Scale World[edit]

This "Scale World" series is composed of three comics with different sizes of models of the Earth, which people can experience as if they were a real world. The first two came out as two comics in a row, while the third came about two weeks later. They did not come out in order of scale, as evident with the third release.

Cursed Connectors[edit]

This series features a specific number of cursed connectors. It began with "Cursed Connectors #187", 2493: Dual USB-C, in July 2021. The numbers assigned to the cursed connector aren't sequential. Randall had already made a similar series, Bad Map Projections, which also uses a similar number system, with the first comic already beginning with a high number for the first bad projection, #107. Similar to this series, the second projection has a lower number than the first (#78). Presumably, the use of the term "cursed" takes inspiration from the widespread meme referring to "cursed images". A jab at all the different connectors in existence, and how they often break down, maybe because people try to jam them into the wrong sockets because they have so many different types. The connectors get a number which, if taken seriously, would mean there are at least 280 cursed connectors but probably more.

Unsolved Problems[edit]

In 2021 Randall made a comic, 2529: Unsolved Math Problems, about three categories of unsolved match problems. The last category was for "cursed problems", a recurrent theme on xkcd. In 2024, almost four years later, a sequel was published, 2943: Unsolved Chemistry Problems. Although it didn't follow the same three-panel setup, the title was similar and the three different problems mentioned were similar as well. A year later, 3115: Unsolved Physics Problems was released with the same setup of the first comic.

Miniseries[edit]

This is a chronological list of all the miniseries created by Randall. This list is sorted based on the release date of the second comic in the series.

The Uncomfortable Truths Well[edit]

In this series, people are throwing pennies into "The Uncomfortable Truths Well", which is later revealed to be a friend of Megan's.

Android Partner[edit]

In this miniseries, Cueball shows off his new "android girlfriend" (Megan) to his Cueball-like friend, who asks if the android is a sex bot. The android responds by pulling a cherry stem from the friend's drink and inserting it into her mouth. So far, the action appears to be an emulation of the party trick where someone puts a cherry stem into their mouth and ties it into a knot in order to suggest tongue dexterity that could be put to good use in kissing and oral sex. In the second instalment, Ponytail decides she would also like to have an android boyfriend (Hairy). But upon bringing these two androids together, they fall for each other and decide to have "sex" on the spot, resulting in several mechanical sounds off-panel while their "owners" watch on with disgusted interest.

Online Communities[edit]

This series features maps of internet communities where the size of each region roughly corresponds to its size, and its proximity to other regions indicates similarities. The first one uses the membership of whichever service to determine its size on the map, while the second one uses its "daily social activity".

Etymology-Man[edit]

This series is a take on the traditional appearance of a superhero when a disaster strikes. In this case, Etymology-Man arrives, who apparently has the power of Etymology, the study of the history of words, their origins, and how their form and meaning have changed over time. As Etymology-Man is explaining the history of the words "tsunami" and "tidal wave", referencing the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami, the 2011 Tōhoku tsunami and the 1755 Lisbon earthquake and tsunami, the water starts rising around them. As the waters continue to rise, he continues to only explain the words, rather than attempting to save them as a superhero should. This, intentionally or unintentionally, is a dig at academics who prefer to talk about issues when taking action is more appropriate. In the second comic, the superhero Etymology-Man returns and, just like in his first appearance, explains the origination of words instead of actually helping.

Exoplanet Names[edit]

On the 14th of August, 2013, the International Astronomical Union (IAU) issued a document about public naming of astronomical objects. It stated, "IAU fully supports the involvement of the general public, whether directly or through an independent organized vote, in the naming of planetary satellites, newly discovered planets, and their host stars." The second comic was published the day after NASA announced the discovery of a number of planets, including a planet called a cousin to Earth, Kepler-452b. Black Hat proposes naming it Pluto, both to commemorate the flyby of the dwarf planet of that name by NASA's New Horizons earlier the same month, but also to end the discussion about the status of Pluto, which is subject to debate among both scientists and laypeople over whether-or-not it should be considered a planet.

Synonym Movies[edit]

The Synonym Movies series takes several well-known movies but changes each word of their names into a synonym. So Star Wars has turned into Space Fights, The Lord of the Rings into The Jewelry God and Star Trek into Space Trip. All these movies series have the same heading, and then a subtitle. There are ten of them in the comic, and two more in the title text. 1568: Synonym Movies 2 continued the idea from 1563: Synonym Movies with a new set of movie series. As with the previous comic, the titles aren't always direct synonyms with the original (Indiana Jones as Professor Whip), but now it seems to be even more exaggerated, sometimes making synonyms of the plot synopsis instead of the subtitle ("Vitamin Water" refers to the Fountain of Youth rather than the Stranger Tides).

Time-Traveling Sphere[edit]

In this series, a time-traveler that looks like a floating black energy sphere visits the present day from the far future. Spiders are the Sphere civilization's current craze, just as dinosaurs are currently the craze of humanity. Since Megan and Cueball have access to the Sphere from the future, they ask if it knows who will win the election. This is a reference to the 2016 United States presidential election, which pitted the very controversial Donald Trump against former United States First Lady, Senator, and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, who was also involved in several controversies.

ISS Solar Transit[edit]

Cueball is trying to take a photograph of the International Space Station moving in front of the Sun. He has his camera with a long lens set up with a fixed setting to keep it still while he contemplates the best way to get the photographs he wants. A normal camera is not able to take a photograph of the Sun due to the extreme brightness. This is why Cueball is using a solar filter, which makes the Sun look orange instead of white, as shown in the second panel.

Horror Movies[edit]

The first comic in the series was about giving voice to Randall's inability to enjoy horror movies, and the second comic takes Randall's previous position and exaggerates it. White Hat and Cueball (as Randall) discuss the appeal of horror movies and tragic plots. Cueball expresses his dissatisfaction with stories that focus on evoking negative feelings. As an example he mentions how he disliked the ending of Titanic where Jack sacrifices his life in order to save Rose.

Coronavirus Genome[edit]

Megan is a geneticist doing research on the SARS-CoV-2 virus. She is analyzing the virus's genome, its genetic material composed of RNA. The genomic sequence can be represented as a list of nucleotide bases (guanine, adenine, cytosine, thymine, and uracil (often abbreviated as G, A, C, T, and U). Megan sent her copy of the coronavirus genome to Cueball, who then proceeded to share it with his friends on social media. In effect, he is spreading the virus over the Internet, though not in a form that can actually make people sick with COVID-19 (which may seem obvious, but then some people believe 5G causes coronavirus.) If his post catches on and is widely shared, it might be described as "going viral".

Old Days[edit]

This series is a conversation between (young) Cueball and (old) Hairbun about computer programming in the past, specifically compilers. Cueball, having a faint idea of just how difficult and byzantine programming was "in the old days", asks Hairbun to enlighten him on the specifics. Hairbun promptly seizes the opportunity to screw with his head. While her initial agreement that code needed to be compiled for multiple architectures is correct, Hairbun's claims rapidly grow ridiculous. In the second comic, the conversation continues, as if no time has passed, between Cueball and Hairbun about computer programming in the past.

Hamster Ball[edit]

The series starts with a genie, who, having been freed from a magical lamp, grants the owner three wishes; this isn't unusual, since the idea of a genie who does this is a very common trope in the fantasy genre. Cueball asks for a human-sized hamster ball, and when he gets it, he starts to roll around in it, obviously entertained. The genie then asks what he would like for his other two wishes, to which, having already being granted his heart's desire, he states that he wouldn't need the other wishes for anything. During the COVID-19 pandemic, more than 14 years later, Randall mocks others who need to wear a mask while he doesn't.

Alien Visitors[edit]

In this series, aliens arrive with the intention of building such monuments with their highly advanced technology, including some sort of tractor beam to lift the heavy stones and another beam that can depict a pyramid. They are shocked to hear from Cueball that humans accomplished the same thing thousands of years earlier with such simple tools as ramps, and even in more than one location on Earth (Pyramids in Egypt and Mexico). In the second instalment, they return to show us even more "advanced" inventions. As with the previous strip, the only innovations they offer are not only things that humans know how to build, but things we figured out some time ago, and are now obsolete.
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