2014-07-16

XKCD Isn't Funny - #1395 - POWER CORD


This is the third or forth comic I've changed my opinion on after a particularly insightful and persausive comment, but I think this is the mildest opinion change I've had. My original review amounted to "Kinda clever, amusing enough that I can't really criticize it." and this edit is going to amount to "Been done, bland enough that I can't really talk about it.".

It's not just that it's "been done", because if I was about to drop a piece of entertainment just because something in it had been done before, I wouldn't be able to listen to a single piece of music that's been writen after 1900 (except Mike Oldfield, of course). It's that it's been done better, and nothing is being added.

As ThePen IsLiquor pointed out in the comment that started it all: "The "inflating things that aren't normally inflatable" has been done by Looney Toons for decades.". The example that comes to mind is Jerry inflating Tom's head. Tom's head then pops, he shakes it off, grabs a rolling pin or whatever, and starts chasing after Jerry. In this comic, we only get the inflating. So we're not just getting a retread, we're getting a retread that takes part of the original out.

To close, regular commenter Menacing Banjo (who continues to fail to be menacing at even Dennis level) pointed out, this is the second time he's appeared recently, and both times he's attacked someone else. In #1388, he subducted mountains at a guy, and then came this one. It's interesting to me, since this has never really been part of his character before. I'm not about to call it character development, since none of the XKCD cast really have solid characterization, but it is a weird trend that's worth noting.

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