@Andréa yes. New Year’s, on the other hand is not. The premise to me seems to be this: if a person goes back in time to a different time in their own life, their time-travelling self will coexist with their past self. The more times you go back, the more of you there will be. Hence “time travel clones.”
These people for whatever reason seem to really hate and be hated by their time travel clones and have slaughtered them all on December 31, 2999. This is all really just to set up that the characters are fighting people and have a time travel machine, which is all the joke needs.
Rather than killing the last one, they send him back in time, which means that in the past he will try to kill them again and be sent back in time again perpetually. A novel way to eliminate someone without killing them. lol?
But it seems to me that the cycle is not actually perpetual, because second time around the angry clone will know that the characters will try to catch him in a time travel machine, and will fake left or something to get them. Indeed, he has infinite chances to try new strategies, while they are doomed to be surprised by him each time, so he is sure to win. The murderous partiers in panel 1 will eventually die, their plan does not work, and the joke does not bear scrutiny.
” Indeed, he has infinite chances to try new strategies, while they are doomed to be surprised by him each time, so he is sure to win. ”
Or, he has 0 chances to try new strategies, they will never be surprised by him, and he will eternally lose.
They sent him to the past. The past already happened. The future guys know they won’t be surprised, because they weren’t surprised.
This sort of thing is why most scientists think time travel is a one-way phenomenon (unless they’ve collectively changed their mind about that when I wasn’t paying attention.)
But it is on ongoing story told 1 strip a year. I’ve only read the last three. In 2017, two time travelers from 2008 go to 3000 and claim that some partiers from the future stole their booze, The partiers in 3000 point out that every version of them will think they have booze and points to a giant horde. In 2018 they are having a giant battle and killing each other. In 2019 the have this single comic where the 3000 and 2008 guys are victorious and this happens. I guess we’ll have to wait till 2020 to see what happens next. I guess i have to go back to 2008 to see how this all begins.
Every year there are two partiers, one in a blue shirt, one in a green. They talk about the past and they have a time machine.
So in 2008 the joke was that versions of them selves come from the future to tell them they are out of booze.
In 2010 they are depressed about they can no longer have masks with middle zeros as eye holes so they try to go to 3000.
2011 – 2015 they have have a series of dying when a time machine lands and them and going back in time to replace the dead guy (and killing the guy who didn’t die so they don’t have duplicates) and trying to prevent time travel from being invented.
2016 after all the effort the guys from 2012 go into the newly invented time machine to 2008 to steal a bottle of wine while the 2010 guys in 3000 masks shout in horror they’ve doomed them all.
And…. so……. that’s the set-up
2017, Two guys from 2008 come out of the time machine and accusing the 2010 guys in 3000 masks of stealing their booze. The 2010 guys point out that if one version of the 2008 guys came demanding the booze back then *all* alternative versions of the 2008 guys will to and points to mob of partiers in hats.
And 2018 was just a panel of them all trying to kill each other.
@James Pollock Thank you – I didn’t know anything about that! Narratively, though, I think the point still stands. If the second time around he has been sent back in time he should remember the first time it happened to him, and shouldn’t be bound not to act on his previous knowledge. In fact, there should probably be two of him attacking, if the whole “time travel clone” part is to be believed. If, having been sent back in time, he is doomed to be exactly the same as the past self already there, then there has not really been any “time travel,” in the sense of a thing in one time coming to be in another time in which it was not before, at all – everything that was in the past remains as it was, the future time traveller merely ceases to exist.
Comics I Don't Understand 
Is the repetition part of the ‘joke’?
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@Andréa yes. New Year’s, on the other hand is not. The premise to me seems to be this: if a person goes back in time to a different time in their own life, their time-travelling self will coexist with their past self. The more times you go back, the more of you there will be. Hence “time travel clones.”
These people for whatever reason seem to really hate and be hated by their time travel clones and have slaughtered them all on December 31, 2999. This is all really just to set up that the characters are fighting people and have a time travel machine, which is all the joke needs.
Rather than killing the last one, they send him back in time, which means that in the past he will try to kill them again and be sent back in time again perpetually. A novel way to eliminate someone without killing them. lol?
But it seems to me that the cycle is not actually perpetual, because second time around the angry clone will know that the characters will try to catch him in a time travel machine, and will fake left or something to get them. Indeed, he has infinite chances to try new strategies, while they are doomed to be surprised by him each time, so he is sure to win. The murderous partiers in panel 1 will eventually die, their plan does not work, and the joke does not bear scrutiny.
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” . . . and the joke does not bear scrutiny.”
Truer words were never written . . .
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I didn’t really get this one either, but time travel and murder has been something of a recurring New Year theme for C+H for the last few years.
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Going to the C&H site the comic *isnt* repeated. I assumed repetition was the joke, although I didn’t get it.
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” Indeed, he has infinite chances to try new strategies, while they are doomed to be surprised by him each time, so he is sure to win. ”
Or, he has 0 chances to try new strategies, they will never be surprised by him, and he will eternally lose.
They sent him to the past. The past already happened. The future guys know they won’t be surprised, because they weren’t surprised.
This sort of thing is why most scientists think time travel is a one-way phenomenon (unless they’ve collectively changed their mind about that when I wasn’t paying attention.)
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But it is on ongoing story told 1 strip a year. I’ve only read the last three. In 2017, two time travelers from 2008 go to 3000 and claim that some partiers from the future stole their booze, The partiers in 3000 point out that every version of them will think they have booze and points to a giant horde. In 2018 they are having a giant battle and killing each other. In 2019 the have this single comic where the 3000 and 2008 guys are victorious and this happens. I guess we’ll have to wait till 2020 to see what happens next. I guess i have to go back to 2008 to see how this all begins.
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You can see all the previous C&H time travel comics at: https://imgur.com/gallery/4PIOw
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Oh. Lordy. …
Every year there are two partiers, one in a blue shirt, one in a green. They talk about the past and they have a time machine.
So in 2008 the joke was that versions of them selves come from the future to tell them they are out of booze.
In 2010 they are depressed about they can no longer have masks with middle zeros as eye holes so they try to go to 3000.
2011 – 2015 they have have a series of dying when a time machine lands and them and going back in time to replace the dead guy (and killing the guy who didn’t die so they don’t have duplicates) and trying to prevent time travel from being invented.
2016 after all the effort the guys from 2012 go into the newly invented time machine to 2008 to steal a bottle of wine while the 2010 guys in 3000 masks shout in horror they’ve doomed them all.
And…. so……. that’s the set-up
2017, Two guys from 2008 come out of the time machine and accusing the 2010 guys in 3000 masks of stealing their booze. The 2010 guys point out that if one version of the 2008 guys came demanding the booze back then *all* alternative versions of the 2008 guys will to and points to mob of partiers in hats.
And 2018 was just a panel of them all trying to kill each other.
….
And THAT’s what it’s all about.
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@James Pollock Thank you – I didn’t know anything about that! Narratively, though, I think the point still stands. If the second time around he has been sent back in time he should remember the first time it happened to him, and shouldn’t be bound not to act on his previous knowledge. In fact, there should probably be two of him attacking, if the whole “time travel clone” part is to be believed. If, having been sent back in time, he is doomed to be exactly the same as the past self already there, then there has not really been any “time travel,” in the sense of a thing in one time coming to be in another time in which it was not before, at all – everything that was in the past remains as it was, the future time traveller merely ceases to exist.
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@woozy Thank you for pointing out there is no repetition in the first place at all. Now I am more confused…
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So I was right; there IS no repetition and that was Bill just messin’ with us! Start the New Year as you mean to go, I guess . . .
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Alas, the repetition was happened because WordPress was playing games and I didn’t notice it. Day One and my first screw-up. Yay 2019!
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As I wrote: Start as you mean to go . . .
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There’s a cyanide & happiness running gag of the ‘purple-shirted eye stabber.’ I think this might be the origin story.
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>>There’s a cyanide & happiness running gag of the ‘purple-shirted eye stabber.’ I think this might be the origin story.
That is *absolutely* it! Hence the ironic “he won’t cause anyone any more trouble”.
Cripes, this whole thing has been a very convoluted in joke.
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