XKCD Isn't Funny - #1376 - JUMP

I'm going to start with the good here: Randy at least tried to move beyond "lookit guyz i is ARTSY!" with that last line at the end. The artwork is pretty decent.

That's all.


First, a brief lesson on how time-perception works when reading comics. In comics, the bigger the panel, the more time it is perceived to take up. So what we've got is three panels that should be showing a longer period of time than usual, showing many tiny fragments of time (assuming the beach isn't actually two miles from the top of the hill to the water).

Second, the pacing of the narration differs from both the suggested and actual pacings, since it was spaced according to how well the words would fit the panel and not for how they would best tell the little story.

Thirdly, the odd format that "G L I D E" is in makes it look like it's a sound effect.

Forth, and the first one to jump out at me as I read this: The setup has something really weird about it. He's not saying "I love these dreams that I have sometimes", he's saying "I love these dreams.". Most jokes about dreams that I've seen focus around two of the top five most common dreams (falling*, being naked), and  with good reason. For one, those dreams are pretty universal (y'know, what with being in the top five and all) and they're lighthearted enough to make fun of in g-rated situations, although obviously the second point isn't that relevant here. This is the first time I've heard of this specific type of gliding dream, or gliding dreams at all for that matter, so any relatability goes straight down the drain.

Lastly, the punchline is really, really weak, even discounting the number of times I've seen it done better. "I hope this surreal circumstance isn't actually happening, as I would be in a bad place if it were.". And this might not be fair considering that this is a dream, but I'd expect someone who worked at NASA to say "this is probably a dream" once they start flying under their own power.

In short, this comic has good art but a hackneyed setup and a lame punchline, and I'm pretty sure I missed some stuff to talk about, but honestly I just don't care quite that much.



*For some reason, I'm apparently the only person in the world that actually hits the ground in falling dreams. Everyone else I've asked wakes up first or just never stops falling.