Editing 2575: What If? 2
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{{comic | {{comic | ||
| number = 2575 | | number = 2575 | ||
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+ | *This comic came out just a few minutes after the [[Countdown in header text]] finished. The countdown was to the revelation in this comic! | ||
==Explanation== | ==Explanation== | ||
− | This comic is [[Randall]]'s way of announcing and [[:Category:Book promotion|promoting]] his new book, '' | + | {{incomplete|Created by a RESIDENT OF JANCEMBER - Please change this comment when editing this page. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}} |
+ | This comic is [[Randall]]'s way of announcing and [[:Category:Book promotion|promoting]] his new book, ''what If? 2'', based on his [[what if?]] blog and following his first what if book. | ||
− | The entire comic | + | The entire comic is a link to a [https://xkcd.com/what-if-2/ what if? 2: the book] page on {{xkcd}}. And the just added [[xkcd_Header_text#2022-01-31_-_What_if.3F_2|xkcd Header text]] also links to this. |
− | Apart from promoting the book, the comic also explains why he ended up writing a sequel. After the first book came out Randall was flooded with ''what if?'' questions. Presumable mainly from his readers via e-mail, but his friends and families also started texting him with these questions. Some of these | + | Apart from promoting the book, the comic also explains why he ended up writing a sequel. After the first book came out Randall was flooded with ''what if?'' questions. Presumable mainly from his readers via e-mail, but his friends and families also started texting him with these questions. Some of these text are displayed in the comic, but only partially, so none of the six question text can be read. But where one might think that this would become tiresome, Randall instead tells the readers the opposite: "Honestly, I love it." |
He then continues to praise the quality of the questions, mentioning no less than nine examples of what the questions were about. And in the process ensures the reader that planets, including the Earth, will be destroyed multiple times in his new book. At the end he lets the readers know that some of the features of the first book, with short answer sections and disturbing questions (likely not answered), are also included in this book. | He then continues to praise the quality of the questions, mentioning no less than nine examples of what the questions were about. And in the process ensures the reader that planets, including the Earth, will be destroyed multiple times in his new book. At the end he lets the readers know that some of the features of the first book, with short answer sections and disturbing questions (likely not answered), are also included in this book. | ||
− | He also states that a few of his favorites from the | + | He also states that a few of his favorites from the what if? site have been included. So it is not all new material. From the book stores it seems like he for instance includes his very last online what if? {{what if|156|Earth-Moon Fire Pole}}, which was released on 2018-05-21, almost four years before this comic was released. And by the time the book is released, it will be almost four years and four months since the last article on what if? |
− | The final part of the comic is a picture of the book that both makes it clear when the book is released and how to preorder it. | + | The final part of the comic is a picture of the book that both makes it clear when the book is released and how to preorder it already now. This it on the link to the xkcd page, that the entire comic and header text links to. |
− | Randall ensured the maximum possible attention to his announcement by placing a [[Countdown in header text|countdown]] in the [[ | + | Randall ensured the maximum possible attention to his announcement by placing a [[Countdown in header text|countdown]] in the [[xkcd_Header_text#2022-01-10_-_Standard_text_with_countdown|header]] about three weeks prior to the announcement. This has caused a lot of speculation as to what would be revealed on the day of this comic's release 2022-01-31. The timer was inside a panel at the top right of the xkcd Header text together with the standard header text: ''xkcd updates every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday''. Inside the panel a picture began emerging after the first day, but the picture only changed approximately once every four hours. After a few weeks was it certain that it was a plane that was being revealed. And on the second to last day, around day twenty, it was clear that it featured a ''T. rex''-like dinosaur ''en silhouette'' standing on top of the aircraft, apparently trying to eat its way into the fuselage, and it might have been possible to guess the relation to the "what if?" canon. On the day before the announcement on xkcd, however, [[Countdown_in_header_text#Blow_up_by_Amazon|Amazon made visible a preorder page for the book]], so the answer was made clear about a day before Randall had intended. This clearly annoyed users of this page as can be seen in the [[Talk:Countdown_in_header_text|talk page for the countdown]]. |
− | Until then, however, there were numerous [[Countdown_in_header_text#Theories|theories]] about the [[Countdown_in_header_text#Countdown|countdown]] and what the [[Countdown_in_header_text#The_picture|image would reveal]] as the image gradually changed throughout the eventual [[Countdown_in_header_text/images|136 frames]]. | + | Until then, however, there were numerous [[Countdown_in_header_text#Theories|theories]] about the [[Countdown_in_header_text#Countdown|countdown]] and what the [[Countdown_in_header_text#The_picture|image would reveal]], as the image gradually changed throughout the eventual [[Countdown_in_header_text/images|136 frames]]. |
− | In the title text | + | In the title text Randall feels that he must clarify the release day (as in [[2562: Formatting Meeting]]), since he has often joked about the way different countries (and people) write dates - he did not use the one version he himself had promoted in earlier comics. He does however give two different versions of the release date: the first is "9/13" in the first panel, which is at least (usually - see below) only readable one way; harder to misinterpret is the more expansive "Sep 13, 2022" in the final panel. What he should have written was, "the book is released on 2022-09-13," using the international standard as defined in the {{W|ISO 8601}} standard and shown in [[1179: ISO 8601]]. |
The clarification reads: By 9/13, I mean September 13th, not the 9th day of Jancember, the cursed 13th month that exists between December and January in the transdimensional temporal plane. | The clarification reads: By 9/13, I mean September 13th, not the 9th day of Jancember, the cursed 13th month that exists between December and January in the transdimensional temporal plane. | ||
− | Since there are only 12 months in the year, 9/13 actually cannot be mistaken, while 9/12 might be. So there was really no need for this clarification, especially with the last text in the last panel. So this is of course just a title text joke, where he can manage to make a [[:Category:Portmanteau|portmanteau]] of January and December | + | Since there are only 12 months in the year 2022,{{citation needed}} then 9/13 actually cannot be mistaken, while 9/12 might be. So there was really no need for this clarification, especially with the last text in the last panel. So this is of course just a title text joke, where he can manage to make a [[:Category:Portmanteau|portmanteau]] of January and December, Jancember, and then then call this a cursed month, since it would be the 13th month, if it came before New Year. This comic came out at the end of January, so it could have been at the end of Jancember instead. The number thirteen is seen by many as an unlucky number, so a thirteenth month would be considered cursed by some, or at least unlucky. |
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− | At the release of this comic | + | At the release of this comic not only the header changed. Also the [[Design_of_xkcd.com#xkcd_links|xkcd links]] in the top left section of xkcd was changed to promote the book. And he made his first [[Blag]] post in more than two years with the [https://blog.xkcd.com/2022/01/31/what-if-2/ What If 2] post. |
− | + | Also the [https://what-if.xkcd.com/ what if?] header was changed to accommodate promotion of the new book, not so strange as it was based on that blog. A picture is displayed at the top with the book at both ends, and this text in between, with the first line taking up the top, and the two other lines below, the first in a frame: | |
− | : | + | :what if? 2 |
:Preorder now | :Preorder now | ||
:On sale 9/13 | :On sale 9/13 | ||
The entire picture links to the what if? 2 page. | The entire picture links to the what if? 2 page. | ||
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==Transcript== | ==Transcript== | ||
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:Randall narrating: Ever since I wrote '''''what if?''''', I’ve been flooded with questions. | :Randall narrating: Ever since I wrote '''''what if?''''', I’ve been flooded with questions. | ||
:Randall narrating: And not just from readers- My friends and family stated texting them to me, too. | :Randall narrating: And not just from readers- My friends and family stated texting them to me, too. | ||
− | :Text 1: <font color="gray">Hey | + | :Text 1: <font color="gray">Hey could s.. ele</font> |
:Text 2: <font color="gray">Hypothe…</font> | :Text 2: <font color="gray">Hypothe…</font> | ||
:Text 3: <font color="gray">If you s… Jupiter…</font> | :Text 3: <font color="gray">If you s… Jupiter…</font> | ||
− | :Text 4: <font color="gray">Could my | + | :Text 4: <font color="gray">Could my c… or…</font> |
:Text 5: <font color="gray">Do you… my car…</font> | :Text 5: <font color="gray">Do you… my car…</font> | ||
:Text 6: <font color="gray">If I trie… the sun, would I…</font> | :Text 6: <font color="gray">If I trie… the sun, would I…</font> | ||
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:Book cover: Randall Munroe | :Book cover: Randall Munroe | ||
:Randall narrating: Available Sep 13, 2022 | :Randall narrating: Available Sep 13, 2022 | ||
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{{comic discussion}} | {{comic discussion}} | ||
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[[Category:What If?]] | [[Category:What If?]] | ||
[[Category:Book promotion]] | [[Category:Book promotion]] | ||
− | [[Category:Portmanteau]] <!-- Title text --> | + | [[Category:Portmanteau]] <!-- Title text--> |
− | [[Category:Calendar]] <!-- Title text --> | + | [[Category:Calendar]] <!-- Title text--> |
[[Category:Dinosaurs]] | [[Category:Dinosaurs]] | ||
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