Editing 1614: Kites

{{comic
| number    = 1614
| date      = December 9, 2015
| title     = Kites
| image     = kites.png
| titletext = [Dog returns with the end of a string in its mouth] [Voice drifts down from the sky] Kites are fun!
}}

==Explanation==
In this comic, we see [[Megan]] and [[Beret Guy]] both holding on to skyward lines. Megan's line is clearly connected to a {{w|kite}}, and she (like the reader) initially assumes that Beret Guy's line is as well -- only for it to be revealed that he is not holding a line for a kite, but instead the line goes up to a small dog. This move on [[Randall|Randall's]] part is known as a ''{{w|bait-and-switch}}'', a technique that relies on human intuition and pattern seeking in order to play a trick on the viewer. The 'switch' portion of the bait and switch comes with the added humor of an unconventional dog that flies/floats instead of walking on the ground, so the joke comes as a surprise and with little warning to the reader. It is also amusing that Beret Guy is interested in reeling the dog in and flying a kite when he could just continue "walking" his dog.

The title text reverses the joke, implying that rather than Beret Guy returning to the park with a kite, his dog has returned to the park with Beret Guy flying in the air on the kite (hence he calls down from above that kites are fun).

Beret Guy is generally fond of unconventional approaches to standard conventional issues. It is unclear if he is somehow causing his dog to fly, or if the dog's flight is simply due to its tail wagging rapidly. However, Beret Guy is known to possess several [[:Category:Strange powers of Beret Guy|strange powers]], of which this could be yet another one. The title text suggests that he does have the ability to fly on the kite himself, and to direct his dog to control the kite as well.

The comic's title is the plural form for "kite". This may be to distinguish this comic from another earlier comic that used the singular form of the word as its title: [[235: Kite]], or just because at the end of this comic, there are two kites present. In the first ''Kite'' comic it was possible for [[Cueball]] to climb up the line of his kite, and he thus had the same ability as Beret Guy with a kite.

A kid looking like Megan is also [http://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/images/a/ae/1608_0970x1077y_Kite_and_weird_bug.png seen with a kite] to the left in the game comic [[1608: Hoverboard]] from two weeks earlier; probably not a coincidence. In the same comic Beret Guy is [http://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/images/2/21/1608_1020x1083y_Torpedoes_two_steps_above_Runner_with_Beret_Guy.png flying down from the sky on a torpedo]. Maybe he could just "fly" off before it hits and explodes...

This comic could be a reference to the [[1037:_Umwelt#Yo_Mama|"Yo Mama" panel]] in [[1037: Umwelt]], where dogs can float and thus need a ballast to be on the ground. It could also be a variation on the joke of walking around with a stiff leash and collar, thus presenting the illusion of walking an invisible dog.

Flying dogs is mentioned in the title text of [[1625: Substitutions 2]]. Although dogs is substituted instead of drones, there may be a reference to this flying dog here...

Beret Guy also has dogs in [[1922: Interferometry]], and it is possible that one of the dogs in that comic is the same as the one in this one.

==Transcript==
:[Zoom out of Megan holding on to a long line going up to a kite high up in he air. Beret Guy comes walking in from the right. He is also holding on to a line that goes up in the air with the same slope. But the top of it disappears outside the frame to the right.]

:[Zoom in on Megan standing with a roll with the rest of the line, and the line for her kite goes up in the air between her and Beret Guy who has now almost reached her. He is just holding on to the end of the line, with only a small part of the line hanging down below his hands.]
:Megan: I love kites.
:Beret Guy: Hey, Me too!

:[Beret Guy is looking up along his line and takes a better hold on the line.]
:Beret Guy: I'll go get mine, once I finish walking my dog!

:[Beret Guy begins pulling the line down, rolling it up in one hand, while pulling at it with the other. The line vibrates under this extra tension, shown with lines above and below the line.]
:Beret Guy: C'mon boy!

:[In a drawing without a frame around it, Beret Guy has pulled in his flying dog (a small white dog with black ears). It still hangs just above head height, wagging its tail happily. The line has now been rolled up and hangs from one of Beret Guys hands, while the other still pulls at the part of the line that is going towards the dog in the sky.]
:Dog: Arf arf arf

:[Beret Guy takes the dog under his arm, while holding the line in the other hand, and then he walks past Megan who turns to look after him while still holding on to her roll and line to her kite.]

{{comic discussion}}
[[Category:Comics featuring Megan]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Beret Guy]]
[[Category:Strange powers of Beret Guy]]
[[Category:Animals]] [[Category:Dogs]]
[[Category:Kites]]
[[Category:Comics sharing name|Kite02]]