Difference between revisions of "556: Alternative Energy Revolution"

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==Explanation==
 
==Explanation==
[[Megan]] and [[Cueball]] are looking at modern windmills harnessing wind energy into electrical energy. They comment that there's something creepy about the windmills.They allude to ''The War of the Worlds'' by H.G. Wells (the Jeff Wayne rock version of {{w|Jeff Wayne's Musical Version of The War of the Worlds|War of the Worlds}} has paintings of the martian tripods somewhat like these windmills) and also "The Tripods" from John Christopher's {{w|The Tripods|tripods trilogy}} a children's series of books about aliens who ride in walking tripods.
+
[[Megan]] and [[Cueball]] are looking at modern "{{w|windmills}}" (known as {{w|wind turbines}}) harnessing wind energy into electrical energy. They comment that there's something creepy about the windmills. They allude to the book ''{{w|The War of the Worlds}}'' by {{w|H. G. Wells}} (the Jeff Wayne musical version of {{w|Jeff Wayne's Musical Version of The War of the Worlds|The War of the Worlds}} has paintings of the Martian tripods somewhat like these turbines) and also to {{w|John Christopher|John Christopher's}} ''{{w|The Tripods|Tripods}}'' trilogy, a young adult series of books that is also about aliens who ride in walking tripods.
  
Suddenly the windmills pylons split into three legs, becoming the tripods suggested.
+
Suddenly the windmills' pylons split into three legs, becoming the tripods suggested.
  
{{w|Al Gore}} is a former Vice President of the United States, known for his environmental activism and support of green energy sources, relevant because windmills like the ones here are one of the alternative energy sources he backs.
+
They exclaim that {{w|Al Gore}} has doomed us all. Gore is a former Vice President of the United States, known for his environmental activism and promotion of green energy sources, relevant because wind turbines like the ones here are one of the alternative energy sources he supports.
  
In the final frame, the 16th century literary figure {{w|Don Quixote}} arrives (Randall's depiction seems to be inspired by {{w|Don Quixote (Picasso)|the drawing}} by {{w|Pablo Picasso}}). In the original story, Don Quixote is a wandering knight of ''very'' questionable sanity who fights windmills, which he believes to be giants. Hence, he is the appropriate person to deal with this threat.
+
In the final frame, the seventeenth-century literary figure {{w|Don Quixote}} arrives. [[Randall|Randall's]] depiction seems to be inspired by {{w|Don Quixote (Picasso)|the drawing}} by {{w|Pablo Picasso}}. In the original story, Don Quixote is a wandering knight of questionable sanity who fights a windmill, which he believes to be a giant. Hence, he is the appropriate person{{citation needed}} to deal with this threat.
  
The title text is another reference to the {{w|H. G. Wells}} book/radio play/movie {{w|The War of the Worlds}}. "But there are no bacteria in Mars...when I watched them they were irrevocably doomed... By the toll of a billion deaths man has bought his birthright of the earth, and it is his against all comers"
+
The title is a joke on the phrase "Alternative Energy Revolution," which normally refers to replacing of harmful power sources with eco-friendly options. However, in this case, the Alternative Energy sources are literally rising up in a revolution against humanity, while their rotor blades are revolving.
 +
 
 +
The title text is another reference to {{w|The War of the Worlds}}: "But there are no bacteria in Mars... when I watched them they were irrevocably doomed... By the toll of a billion deaths man has bought his birthright of the earth, and it is his against all comers." Of course this time we are only saved because we — in spite of having evolved — still produce insane members of our species.
 +
 
 +
Wind turbines also appear in later comics. In [[1119: Undoing]], Randall still seems to dislike them. In [[1378: Turbine]], the turbine is alive as it is in this comic, though its talking may simply be anthropomorphism.
  
 
==Transcript==
 
==Transcript==
:[A field of windmills is silhouetted against dusk sky.]
+
:[A field with seven wind turbines is silhouetted against a dusk sky. One of the turbines is much closer than the others. The panel is double height and width of the two next panels to the right.]
  
:[Cueball and Megan are standing and sitting on the ground overlooking the windmills.]
+
:[Cueball standing and Megan sitting on the ground are overlooking the wind turbines.]
 
:Cueball: I'm all for green energy, but those turbines creep me out. They remind me of War of the Worlds, or the Tripod books.
 
:Cueball: I'm all for green energy, but those turbines creep me out. They remind me of War of the Worlds, or the Tripod books.
  
:Megan: They -are- unnerving.
+
:[While the two are in the same position but longer to the left in the panel wiggly lines form around the last word to indicate a high rumbling sound.]
 +
:Megan: They ''are'' unnerving.
 
:Cueball: I can't shake the feeling that at any moment they'll—  
 
:Cueball: I can't shake the feeling that at any moment they'll—  
:''RUMBLE''
+
:''Rumble''
  
:[A leg begins to split off one windmill.]
+
:[The next line in the comic has five small square panels:]
:''crack''
+
:[A leg begins to split off one wind turbine.]
 +
:''Crack''
  
:[The leg separates from the body of the windmill.]
+
:[The leg separates from the body of the wind turbine.]
  
 
:[The new leg lands on the ground.]
 
:[The new leg lands on the ground.]
:''BOOM''
+
:''Boom''
  
:[Another leg begins to split off the other side of the windmill's body.]
+
:[Another leg begins to split off the other side of the wind turbine's body.]
:''crack''
+
:''Crack''
  
 
:[The new leg hits the ground, forming a tripod base.]
 
:[The new leg hits the ground, forming a tripod base.]
:''BOOM''
+
:''Boom''
  
:[Smoke rises from destroyed buildings as the windmills rampage across the field.]
+
:[A panel even wider than the first, but the same height as the 2nd and 3rd panel. Four of the wind turbines rampage across the field. Six smoke plumes rise from the ground where there are also nine to ten distinct red fires burning. The turbines move towards towers and buildings to the right.]
  
:[Cueball and Megan are now standing.]
+
:[Cueball and Megan are now both standing. This panel and the last three panels in the last row is all the same size, a third of the total comic in width and the same height as the previous panel.]
 
:Megan: Oh no.
 
:Megan: Oh no.
 
:Cueball: Al Gore, you've doomed us all.
 
:Cueball: Al Gore, you've doomed us all.
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:Cueball: Run!
 
:Cueball: Run!
  
:[One of the enormous tripod windmill feet lands right behind the running couple, sending debris flying.]
+
:[One of the enormous tripod wind turbine feet lands right behind the running couple, sending debris flying.]
:''BOOM''
+
:'''Boom'''
  
:[Cueball and Megan run.]
+
:[Cueball and Megan run up a small hill (that continue up in the next panel).]
 
:Megan: What now?
 
:Megan: What now?
 
:Cueball: Someone has to stop them.
 
:Cueball: Someone has to stop them.
 
:Megan: But who could-
 
:Megan: But who could-
:Voice from next panel: Stand aside!
+
:Voice (off panel): '''Stand aside!'''
  
:[Don Quixote sits mounted at the top of a hill, lance at the ready.]
+
:[A man with a black hat  and a beard sits mounted on a horse at the top of the hill, lance at the ready.]
  
 
==Trivia==
 
==Trivia==
*The windmills also look like the fictional plants {{w|Triffid}}s from {{w|John Wyndham}}'s book "{{w|The Day of the Triffids}}" or the 1962 {{w|The Day of the Triffids (film)|film version}}.
+
*There is a [https://youtu.be/kRuqPKcxMZY fan made animated version of this comic]. (No pun intended).
 
+
*There is another [https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/478266428659859466/633279235913416704/winMills.gif fan made animation] which imitates the wind turbines of the comic, though in a different context and way.
*There is a fan-created [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kRuqPKcxMZY animation of this comic.]
+
*This is one of the [[:Category:Footer comics|six footer comics]] linked at the bottom part of the {{xkcd}} website.
 +
*This comic is available as a signed print in the [https://store.xkcd.com/products/signed-prints xkcd store].
  
 
{{comic discussion}}
 
{{comic discussion}}
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[[Category:Comics featuring Megan]]
 
[[Category:Comics featuring Megan]]
 
[[Category:Comics with color]]
 
[[Category:Comics with color]]
[[Category:Windmills]]
+
[[Category:Aliens]]
 +
[[Category:Wind turbine]]
 +
[[Category:Footer comics]]
 +
[[Category:Comics with xkcd store products]]

Revision as of 06:45, 26 October 2021

Alternative Energy Revolution
The moment their arms spun freely in our air, they were doomed -- for Man has earned his right to hold this planet against all comers, by virtue of occasionally producing someone totally batshit insane.
Title text: The moment their arms spun freely in our air, they were doomed -- for Man has earned his right to hold this planet against all comers, by virtue of occasionally producing someone totally batshit insane.

Explanation

Megan and Cueball are looking at modern "windmills" (known as wind turbines) harnessing wind energy into electrical energy. They comment that there's something creepy about the windmills. They allude to the book The War of the Worlds by H. G. Wells (the Jeff Wayne musical version of The War of the Worlds has paintings of the Martian tripods somewhat like these turbines) and also to John Christopher's Tripods trilogy, a young adult series of books that is also about aliens who ride in walking tripods.

Suddenly the windmills' pylons split into three legs, becoming the tripods suggested.

They exclaim that Al Gore has doomed us all. Gore is a former Vice President of the United States, known for his environmental activism and promotion of green energy sources, relevant because wind turbines like the ones here are one of the alternative energy sources he supports.

In the final frame, the seventeenth-century literary figure Don Quixote arrives. Randall's depiction seems to be inspired by the drawing by Pablo Picasso. In the original story, Don Quixote is a wandering knight of questionable sanity who fights a windmill, which he believes to be a giant. Hence, he is the appropriate person[citation needed] to deal with this threat.

The title is a joke on the phrase "Alternative Energy Revolution," which normally refers to replacing of harmful power sources with eco-friendly options. However, in this case, the Alternative Energy sources are literally rising up in a revolution against humanity, while their rotor blades are revolving.

The title text is another reference to The War of the Worlds: "But there are no bacteria in Mars... when I watched them they were irrevocably doomed... By the toll of a billion deaths man has bought his birthright of the earth, and it is his against all comers." Of course this time we are only saved because we — in spite of having evolved — still produce insane members of our species.

Wind turbines also appear in later comics. In 1119: Undoing, Randall still seems to dislike them. In 1378: Turbine, the turbine is alive as it is in this comic, though its talking may simply be anthropomorphism.

Transcript

[A field with seven wind turbines is silhouetted against a dusk sky. One of the turbines is much closer than the others. The panel is double height and width of the two next panels to the right.]
[Cueball standing and Megan sitting on the ground are overlooking the wind turbines.]
Cueball: I'm all for green energy, but those turbines creep me out. They remind me of War of the Worlds, or the Tripod books.
[While the two are in the same position but longer to the left in the panel wiggly lines form around the last word to indicate a high rumbling sound.]
Megan: They are unnerving.
Cueball: I can't shake the feeling that at any moment they'll—
Rumble
[The next line in the comic has five small square panels:]
[A leg begins to split off one wind turbine.]
Crack
[The leg separates from the body of the wind turbine.]
[The new leg lands on the ground.]
Boom
[Another leg begins to split off the other side of the wind turbine's body.]
Crack
[The new leg hits the ground, forming a tripod base.]
Boom
[A panel even wider than the first, but the same height as the 2nd and 3rd panel. Four of the wind turbines rampage across the field. Six smoke plumes rise from the ground where there are also nine to ten distinct red fires burning. The turbines move towards towers and buildings to the right.]
[Cueball and Megan are now both standing. This panel and the last three panels in the last row is all the same size, a third of the total comic in width and the same height as the previous panel.]
Megan: Oh no.
Cueball: Al Gore, you've doomed us all.
Megan: It's coming this way!
Cueball: Run!
[One of the enormous tripod wind turbine feet lands right behind the running couple, sending debris flying.]
Boom
[Cueball and Megan run up a small hill (that continue up in the next panel).]
Megan: What now?
Cueball: Someone has to stop them.
Megan: But who could-
Voice (off panel): Stand aside!
[A man with a black hat and a beard sits mounted on a horse at the top of the hill, lance at the ready.]

Trivia


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Discussion

There is a fan-created animation of this comic. -- Bpothier (talk) (please sign your comments with ~~~~)

Define: Fan. I used Google News BEFORE it was clickbait (talk) 18:02, 30 January 2015 (UTC)
This is hilarious. 108.162.216.16 (talk) (please sign your comments with ~~~~)

Well he couldn't do any worse than Tom Cruise. I used Google News BEFORE it was clickbait (talk) 18:02, 30 January 2015 (UTC)