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Died in a Blogging Accident has lived up to its name and died... in a blogging accident. That is to say it has concluded. You can still re-live the magic by clicking here to start at chapter 1. For genuine criticism of XKCD, please click the top link to the right (XKCD Isn't Funny).

Saturday, August 20, 2011

xkcd Sucks Less, Week 1

Hello all. Starting this week, and hopefully continuing every following Sunday, I'm going to have a feature called "xkcd Sucks Less." The reason? Well, a lot of the time, the worst of xkcd only happens because Randall can't be bothered to edit his work. The goal of this feature is to show just how vastly xkcd can be improved with only a few small edits.

Comic 939: T-Cells


Original:


WORDS. Words words words words words. There's way too much dialogue here, and it's all unnecessary.

"Sucks Less" Version:


xkcdsucks commenter uncapitalised posted this improvement. Same punchline, but a much bigger impact. Also, if the reader doesn't understand, Randall could've linked to the relevant article in the alt-text. Everyone wins.

Comic 939: Arrow


Original:


This one just doesn't make sense. It only "works" as a reference to an older strip, and since that strip sucked, this one also falls flat.

"Sucks Less" Version:


Ravenzomg (of Ravenzomg fame!) posted this improvement in her review of Comic 939. Now there's a legitimate subversion of expectations; the boomerang doesn't return, but the arrow does. Does it destroy the original point? Sure. And yet, nothing of value was lost.

Comic 940: Oversight


Original:


I can handle sex-based humor. That's not the problem. However, I DON'T want to see stick figures humping each other like no tomorrow. No one needs that.

"Sucks Less" Version:


Would you look at that! Same joke, less stick-sex! Forumite jpk suggested this one, and I made the edit. Notice how much better it is, from both a pacing perspective and a LESS STICK-SEX perspective?


So that's that. I'd like to keep doing this feature, so if you think you can improve a particular strip, be sure to let me know in the comments section. I know the original xkcdsucks blog had an "xkcd: could be better" forum, but it hasn't had any activity in half a year. I'm going to try to be a little more punctual than that, so if you have any submissions, let me know!
Posted by Gamer_2k4 at 3:33 PM
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7 comments:

  1. Jon LeviAugust 21, 2011 at 12:44 PM

    Pretty good. This feature looks promising. I wonder if it will be possible to do one for every comic though.

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  2. AnonymousAugust 21, 2011 at 4:28 PM

    I very much approve of this feature!!

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  3. AnonymousAugust 21, 2011 at 7:40 PM

    Jon Levi, of course this can be done for EVERY xkcd. This blog is built on constructive criticism. Hopefully we see more!

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  4. AnonymousAugust 22, 2011 at 2:59 AM

    Good feature idea, and I'd say off to a great start (I liked these edits, especially 939).

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  5. AnonymousAugust 22, 2011 at 3:49 PM

    I enjoyed these and it is something to offer that the original xkcdsucks (usually) didn't offer, at least not in a serious way. Keep it up!

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  6. someoneAugust 23, 2011 at 6:42 AM

    T-Cells deserve that much text. The strip is intended to be educational - if it weren't as wordy, it would be funny only to biologists.

    You nailed the Arrow though (good job), and truly improved "Oversight" eliminating vulgar sex scenes. And I'm not being sarcastic, they spoiled the comic for.

    P.S. The reason you might see an increase in traffic (judging by the number of comments) is, I presume, because we're all googling "Perceived Depth" to see if someone's done it. That's how I got here anyway (via ddg.gg).

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  7. uncapitalizedAugust 29, 2011 at 6:39 AM

    Oh man, I made that comic!

    I wasn't even aware there were two blogs about xkcd sucking until today. I think I like this one better.

    ReplyDelete

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