Mandatory Fun Day
-
@Alex Papadimoulis said:
This comic sucks, drop itThis comic rocks, keep itNo, you're wrongNo, you're wrong!
-dZ.
-
@Zylon said:
Damn! That's very funny!! :)
Now, where's today's comic by that guy that was doodling them in MSPaint in the forums?
-dZ.
-
@EpilepticFridgeBoy said:
Ok, so I'm telling this from my own point of view, humour being subjective etc. etc., but like I said before, for this to be funny it can't simply retread the same ground as the other office based comics. This has the potential to be something new. The crazy outfit the boss wears hints at that. Zylon's retelling of 1.9 shows it. The "real" 1.9 misses the point, for me.
I agree. The comics so far are very lame (the artwork itself is OK), but some of the re-hashes shown in the comments so far have been funny while their only difference is the dialog.
As I've said before, the dialog tries too hard to be funny by pandering to the most commonplace stereotypes or memes, without offering any unique point of view. The setup is so simplistic that you can see the punchline a thousand miles away, and some of them don't even deliver.
I'm not trying to be rude, and I don't mean any disrespect to George; I just honestly don't find the comics funny at all. And although I somewhat agree with others that the style or technique of some other web comics such as XKCD, Penny Arcade, or Tira-Ecol may have been just as crude when they started, they have one undeniable difference from the MFD comics: They were pretty much funny (or interesting) from the start. Which is the reason they became popular early on.
And I enjoyed the comments because -- amisdt all the bitching and clenching of teeth -- there were some very funny remarks, and even a few genuinely funny bonus comics provided by the readers.
-dZ.
-
@DZ-Jay said:
@EpilepticFridgeBoy said:
Ok, so I'm telling this from my own point of view, humour being subjective etc. etc., but like I said before, for this to be funny it can't simply retread the same ground as the other office based comics. This has the potential to be something new. The crazy outfit the boss wears hints at that. Zylon's retelling of 1.9 shows it. The "real" 1.9 misses the point, for me.
I agree. The comics so far are very lame (the artwork itself is OK), but some of the re-hashes shown in the comments so far have been funny while their only difference is the dialog.
I suspect this might be where the "subjective" part comes in - I find myself scratching my head at the "hot sauce" version (and other rehashes) instead of chuckling. They just don't make sense to me.
-
That's very strange, I find them very funny. The proper 1.9 has phrases like "easy pants" and "busy work" that I don't get. I'm presuming that "busy work" is not real work... but "easy pants" sounds like he'd sleep with anyone... Guess it's a colloquialism I don't get.
-
@Alex Papadimoulis said:
I suspect this might be where the "subjective" part comes in - I find myself scratching my head at the "hot sauce" version (and other rehashes) instead of chuckling. They just don't make sense to me.
Maybe you have a very low tolerance/appreciation for surreal humor.
Which, frankly, would put your sense of humor at odds with most geeks.
-
@Zylon said:
@Alex Papadimoulis said:
I suspect this might be where the "subjective" part comes in - I
find myself scratching my head at the "hot sauce" version (and other
rehashes) instead of chuckling. They just don't make sense to me.Maybe you have a very low tolerance/appreciation for surreal humor.
Which, frankly, would put your sense of humor at odds with most geeks.
Yeah, got to admit, I don't see what's difficult to get about the hot sauce version. Did Alex not get why he was asking for it? Perhaps "hot sauce" is a phrase he doesn't get, much like "easy pants" or "busy work" are for me. Such is humor!
-
@EpilepticFridgeBoy said:
That's very strange, I find them very funny. The proper 1.9 has phrases like "easy pants" and "busy work" that I don't get. I'm presuming that "busy work" is not real work... but "easy pants" sounds like he'd sleep with anyone... Guess it's a colloquialism I don't get.
Busy work == no-op; Personally I like the Hot Sauce version it actually made me laugh at the end, which is good since that means it has a punch line. I don't mind the artwork at all, I just find the content to be dull, although the boss wearing that getup was unique. I'm guessing "Easy Pants" is something about him being care-free or rather not being so (as in sarcasm)?
-
@EpilepticFridgeBoy said:
If the "hot sauce" version had been the actual strip, I'd cheer my approval. Big laugh.
Unfortunately, the actual 1.9 is another rehash of the "contractor/intern given pointless task" joke. Zylon's modification adds a really evil edge to the company. Not only do they make the contractor do that, but their regular employees do to, albeit with condiments.
Ok, so I'm telling this from my own point of view, humour being subjective etc. etc., but like I said before, for this to be funny it can't simply retread the same ground as the other office based comics. This has the potential to be something new. The crazy outfit the boss wears hints at that. Zylon's retelling of 1.9 shows it. The "real" 1.9 misses the point, for me.
Unfortunately Zylon's 1.9 is pretty much Dilbert too. Replace the manager with PHB or Catbert or something, and the contractor as the generic 'guy', then you have 100% Scott Adams.
If we are going for originality then this doesn't cut it either.
-
-
@EpilepticFridgeBoy said:
... but "easy pants" sounds like he'd sleep with anyone... Guess it's a colloquialism I don't get.
As a gentleman of generous proportions, the first thing that came to mind was the pants that have elastic concealed behind a cloth panel, which in turn is concealed by the belt. It's the male office worker's way of saying "I give the f*** up!"
-
@Zylon said:
@tster said:
in case we couldn't follow the link?
Well, apparently you couldn't.
I see now...
-
@Quinnum said:
If we are going for originality then this doesn't cut it either.
Funny first, originality later. Baby steps. :)
-
@Zylon said:
@Quinnum said:
If we are going for originality then this doesn't cut it either.
Funny first, originality later. Baby steps. :)
Good point. FTR, I did like your variant, probably because it *is* so Dilbertesque :)
-
Apparently I'm feeling very bored this evening...
-
The last one made me laugh a lot. I'm not sure why, but the thing I laughed the most at was the he wanted the book because it was large...
-
@Zylon said:
Apparently I'm feeling very bored this evening...
... funny strips elided...Well, I wouldn't have thought it was possible after reading 1.8 (which was, not to be mean, negative funny - it hurt like a paper cut). But you've made MFD hilarous. My hat is well and truly off to you sir. To quote a great man, "I find your ideas intriguing and wish to subscribe to your newsletter."
-
@Zylon said:
Apparently I'm feeling very bored this evening...
Great work! May I humbly ask you to deliver a MFD full conversion of every episode to come?
-
@bstorer said:
My entry, though I still like yours better:
Great. Actually made me lol. Can't wait to see more.
-
@Zylon said:
Apparently I'm feeling very bored this evening...
Those are bloody fantastic !
Alex, give this man a job !
-
@Alex Papadimoulis said:
I suspect this might be where the "subjective" part comes in - I find myself scratching my head at the "hot sauce" version (and other rehashes) instead of chuckling. They just don't make sense to me.
Point is that the original is too... normal. No sparkle or pop, or any hint that the write had insights into something. This is actually something that it has in common with the text of most TDWTF entries: just very plain statements. It's so functional. Where are the verbal condiments?
Zylon's texts had me chuckle & smile.
-
Actuall, I think the original can be edited to completely kill the redundant line "are you sure this isn't just busywork", and putting the book title more in view in the second panel.
So much constructive feedback in this thread. Isn't it lovely? An English equivalent of "The best captains are on the shore" eludes me, but that about sums it up.
-
@EpilepticFridgeBoy said:
The last one made me laugh a lot. I'm not sure why, but the thing I laughed the most at was the he wanted the book because it was large...
"Me too". I shall now be known to my neighbours as "the crazy guy who lives in $(N+1)". The first three worked well as set-up, in a Dinosaur Comics-esque way.
(DC, of course, has some relevant ones too.)
And we all know where this is going, right?
-
*hides*
-
So out of all the variations... this one is, by far, the best.
@bstorer said:
And you're right, the surreal/absurd humor rarely works with me, which is probably why some of the others ("hot sauce", "convert a refridgerator") I just don't get; it's almost as if half the humor is in the fact that it's a variation/reword?
As for "Mr. Easy Pants" - that's like "Mr. Fancy Pants" or "Mr. Smarty Pants"...
But that said, I do like this variation - however, couldn't Mr. Unoriginal Pants argue that: "this is nothing but the worn out dishonest company gives contractor menial task" thing?
-
@dhromed said:
So much constructive feedback in this thread. Isn't it lovely? An English equivalent of "The best captains are on the shore" eludes me, but that about sums it up.
If I follow your meaning correctly, the American equivalent would be "armchair quarterback"-- eg, someone who sits at home watching sports, convinced they could do a better job than the captain of the team.
-
@Alex Papadimoulis said:
So out of all the variations... this one is, by far, the best.
@bstorer said:
And you're right, the surreal/absurd humor rarely works with me, which is probably why some of the others ("hot sauce", "convert a refridgerator") I just don't get; it's almost as if half the humor is in the fact that it's a variation/reword?
As for "Mr. Easy Pants" - that's like "Mr. Fancy Pants" or "Mr. Smarty Pants"...
But that said, I do like this variation - however, couldn't Mr. Unoriginal Pants argue that: "this is nothing but the worn out dishonest company gives contractor menial task" thing?
It's most definitely a variation on that theme. But I tried to work in something relevant to the Daily WTF in there, too, with the useless documentation.
-
@Zylon said:
Apparently I'm feeling very bored this evening...
Fantastic!!
Alex, would you consider modifying the MFD to have George draw the comics and Zylon write the dialog?
-dZ.
-
@DZ-Jay said:
Alex, would you consider modifying the MFD to have George draw the comics and Zylon write the dialog?
Oh lord no.I think we all just got lucky with this particular strip, which happened to be drawn in a very open-to-interpretation way. Stuff like the previous strip (the one with the Death Star), is pretty much hopeless.
-
@Zylon said:
@DZ-Jay said:
Alex, would you consider modifying the MFD to have George draw the comics and Zylon write the dialog?
Oh lord no.I think we all just got lucky with this particular strip, which happened to be drawn in a very open-to-interpretation way. Stuff like the previous strip (the one with the Death Star), is pretty much hopeless.
Agreed. I spent some time thinking about that one, and came up with nothing much funnier than the original.
-
@ItsAllGeekToMe said:
Good or bad, I hope the irony doesn't escape everyone that you're supposed to just ignore the comic if you don't like it. However, it's much easier to ignore the comments to a post, yet that's what had to go.
Hey, it's [i]mandatory[/i] fun.
-
@bstorer said:
It's most definitely a variation on that theme. But I tried to work in something relevant to the Daily WTF in there, too, with the useless documentation.
I'm digging it; the "book report" line in 1.9 (original) was supposed to compliement/reinforce the "busy work" aspect (what's more busy work than a book report, after all?), but I think the "spell check" part is really good, and certainly more accessible (since, aparently, the "busy work" wasn't understood by all here).
I'll run this by George, it's definitely not too late to change it - I assume you have no objection to me using your joke?
-
@Zylon said:
If I follow your meaning correctly, the American equivalent would be "armchair quarterback"
That would be it.
-
@Alex Papadimoulis said:
I'll run this by George, it's definitely not too late to change it - I assume you have no objection to me using your joke?
Nope. No objections. Although I still maintain that the ones Zylon did were funnier.
-
Here's my take on the seventh strip...
-
-
I don't get it.
-
Ok so I shouldn't make comics either.
-
-
Hey, do we all get to post one?
-
Ok, that's me done. I'll be quiet now.
-
Chime in, in three... two... (one) (go)
-
Regarding today's strip as published...
Wouldn't spell-checking it necessarily involve reading it?
-
All of these alternate comics are great, but even today's unaltered one struck me as funny. Maybe it's because my first development job my manager DID ask me to proofread the documentation. Strangest task ever. I was supposed to read the documentation to learn the API, and at the same time make sure that the examples were correct. How the heck is that even possible.
Anyways, even if the original comic isn't that funny, as long as you guys keep cranking out the wacky alternates we may be able to salvage MFD yet! It's like Photoshop Phriday...in TDWTF form!
edit: P.S. The LOST reference cracked me up.
-
@Zylon said:
Regarding today's strip as published...
Wouldn't spell-checking it necessarily involve reading it?
I regard it as the difference between reading for the sake of understanding the content vs. spell-checking it, which may necessitate reading.
-
@Outlaw Programmer said:
All of these alternate comics are great, but even today's unaltered one struck me as funny. Maybe it's because my first development job my manager DID ask me to proofread the documentation.
Quoted for irony.
-
@cconroy said:
Actually I thought the comments where people posted their own comics in response were pretty funny. So I'd vote for leaving the comments open but restricting them to images only. :) At least make the whiners work a bit.
While I'm sure this was a bit of "kidding on the square"... comments have been restored. Somewhat.
Mr. Magenta explains ...
[img]http://thedailywtf.com/Resources/Images/mfdComment.png[/img]
-
Why would anybody bother posting their own comics if they can't get feedback on them?
-
The better version again... I'm too lazy to draw these often.
[IMG]http://i28.tinypic.com/15ofh2s.png[/IMG]
-
@Zylon said:
Why would anybody bother posting their own comics if they can't get feedback on them?
[IMG]http://i30.tinypic.com/rs5rna.png[/IMG]
![http://i28.tinypic.com/15ofh2s.png[/IMG]](http://i28.tinypic.com/15ofh2s.png%5B/IMG%5D){kind=link}