Xkcd
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- The correct title of this article is xkcd. The initial letter is shown capitalized due to technical restrictions.
| xkcd | |
|---|---|
 Panel from Comic 220 with tooltip text |
|
| Author(s) | Randall Munroe |
| Website | http://www.xkcd.com/ RSS |
| Current status | Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays |
| Launch date | 29 May 2005 |
| Genre(s) | Nerd/Romance Humor |
xkcd is a webcomic created by Randall Munroe, a former NASA roboticist. It calls itself "a webcomic of romance, sarcasm, math, and language."[1]
Although the characters are usually stick figures, the comic occasionally features landscapes, intricate mathematical patterns such as fractals, or imitations of the style of other cartoonists (as during "parody week"). The subjects of the comics themselves vary. Some strips feature simple humor or pop-culture references, some are statements on life and love, and some are mathematical or scientific in-jokes.
The comic is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 2.5 License. New comics are added at midnight Eastern time on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, though they are occasionally updated more frequently for special events.
Contents |
[edit] History
The comic began when Munroe decided to scan doodles from his school notebooks and put them on his webpage. Eventually the comic was changed into a standalone website, where Munroe started selling t-shirts based on the comic. He currently "works on the comic full time."[1]
The name xkcd is not an acronym. Munroe has not given the name a meaning, except in a joking manner within the comic.[2] He claims that the name was originally a screen name, which he selected as a combination of letters that would be meaningless, as well as phonetically unpronouncable.[1][3]
[edit] Recurring themes
While there is no specific storyline to the comic, there are some recurring themes. A large number of the strips are mathematics or computer science jokes. These jokes often feature university-level subjects, although many are written in such a way that a clear understanding of the subject is not required to get the punchline. Romance is another subject often visited in the comic, with many strips not intended to be humorous. xkcd frequently makes reference to Munroe's "obsession" with potential raptor attacks,[4][5][6] the game Guitar Hero,[7][8] various bizarre "hobbies", and many "your mom" jokes. Each comic also has a tooltip, specified using the title attribute in HTML. The text usually contains an afterthought or annotation related to that day's comic.
[edit] Recurring characters
Hat guy looks like a normal character, save for his trademark hat. He is particularly non-tolerant of smart-assery and internet newbishness. He once cut off another person's hand for posing an incorrectly worded "-gry" puzzle,[9] and once inflicted a multi-spectral Care Bear stare on another person.[10] He is closely based on the character Aram from the Men in Hats webcomic.[11]
Barrel lad is another recurring character, who appeared in 5 strips. He is repeatedly seen inside a barrel, floating in a large body of water.
[edit] References
- ^ a b c About xkcd. Retrieved on March 6, 2007.
- ^ "Comic 207". Retrieved on March 6, 2007.
- ^ "Interview with R. Munroe at Red Hat Magazine". Retrieved on March 6, 2007.
- ^ "Comic 155". Retrieved on March 6, 2007.
- ^ "Comic 87". Retrieved on March 6, 2007.
- ^ "Comic 135". Retrieved on March 6, 2007.
- ^ "Comic 70". Retrieved on March 6, 2007.
- ^ "Comic 132". Retrieved on March 6, 2007.
- ^ "Comic 169". Retrieved on March 6, 2007.
- ^ "Comic 146". Retrieved on March 6, 2007.
- ^ "Comic 29, image tooltip". Retrieved on March 6, 2007.
