I think it’s the caption that makes this problematic.
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It would help if we knew what sort of universe this was – what the average citizen looks like. Maybe they usually attack normal humans, which can easily be injured when whacked over the head by a bowling pin. But this time they’ve met their match – a bowling ball. But it’s hard to deliver that sort of context in a one panel comic.
Sure ties in with this one from Easter Sunday’s LOL:
Yes, the caption definitely ruins it — I had the page scrolled so it cut off the caption, and I was wondering what the deal was, how was this a CIDU? It was a very clever comic (well, OK, fair, but it was clearly not a CIDU). Then I scrolled and saw the caption…
I don’t think it matters who they held up in the past. This time they picked the wrong target and will see their demise. And I will add that the caption may not be completely necessary, but I certainly wouldn’t say it ruins the joke.
1958fury I think has the thinking behind this. This is a cartoon universe where most things are normal but there are arbitrary anthropomorphisms here and there. This is a gang of muggers who just happen to be bowling pins.and the attack people (or the occasional goldfish who wandered in from another cartoon). They meet their match though when a bowling ball comes by.
Without a caption it’d be funny in that it appears to be bowling pins seeking revenge. But I don’t think the cartoonist considered that. I think the cartoonist thought what if bowling pins attack someone but it turns out it was a bowling bowl. And I don’t think the cartoonist considered such an image could imply this was a universe of only pins and balls.
“And I will add that the caption may not be completely necessary, but I certainly wouldn’t say it ruins the joke.”
It changes the intent. without it it appears the pins are deliberately attacking a ball. With it the pins are attacking without realizing a ball will clobber them. I think it “ruins” if you see the image before the caption and assume they are attacking a ball deliberately. Then you read the caption and think “well what did they *THINK* was going to happen if the attack a ball?”
I think it’d work better as intended if the lead pin said “Okay, I hear someone coming; get ready”.
They used to be seen in groups of three, working for jugglers.
The caption changes the joke completely: without it, it’s vigilante pins going after a bowling ball. With it, the feared but stupid pin gang has apparently picked the wrong victim. I think I like the joke with the caption better, but it’s a close call. Cartoonist scores an 8 on the first throw…
“Bowling pins strike back”
“In the resulting massacre, only one pin was spared”
“When they saw their mistake, the 10 pin gang split”
“10 pin gang 10 pounded”
“The ambulance found the ball in the gutter”
The 10-pin gang are standing on a public street; surely they should instead have been seen lurking in an alley?
How can they see around the corner?
Have these pins had no previous experience with a bowling ball?
@ FBS – Souldn’t that have been “… only two pins were spared” ?
P.S. Pardon me, it’s late and I transposed “spare” and “split”.
Comics I Don't Understand 
It would help if we knew what sort of universe this was – what the average citizen looks like. Maybe they usually attack normal humans, which can easily be injured when whacked over the head by a bowling pin. But this time they’ve met their match – a bowling ball. But it’s hard to deliver that sort of context in a one panel comic.
Sure ties in with this one from Easter Sunday’s LOL:
Yes, the caption definitely ruins it — I had the page scrolled so it cut off the caption, and I was wondering what the deal was, how was this a CIDU? It was a very clever comic (well, OK, fair, but it was clearly not a CIDU). Then I scrolled and saw the caption…
I don’t think it matters who they held up in the past. This time they picked the wrong target and will see their demise. And I will add that the caption may not be completely necessary, but I certainly wouldn’t say it ruins the joke.
1958fury I think has the thinking behind this. This is a cartoon universe where most things are normal but there are arbitrary anthropomorphisms here and there. This is a gang of muggers who just happen to be bowling pins.and the attack people (or the occasional goldfish who wandered in from another cartoon). They meet their match though when a bowling ball comes by.
Without a caption it’d be funny in that it appears to be bowling pins seeking revenge. But I don’t think the cartoonist considered that. I think the cartoonist thought what if bowling pins attack someone but it turns out it was a bowling bowl. And I don’t think the cartoonist considered such an image could imply this was a universe of only pins and balls.
“And I will add that the caption may not be completely necessary, but I certainly wouldn’t say it ruins the joke.”
It changes the intent. without it it appears the pins are deliberately attacking a ball. With it the pins are attacking without realizing a ball will clobber them. I think it “ruins” if you see the image before the caption and assume they are attacking a ball deliberately. Then you read the caption and think “well what did they *THINK* was going to happen if the attack a ball?”
I think it’d work better as intended if the lead pin said “Okay, I hear someone coming; get ready”.
They used to be seen in groups of three, working for jugglers.
The caption changes the joke completely: without it, it’s vigilante pins going after a bowling ball. With it, the feared but stupid pin gang has apparently picked the wrong victim. I think I like the joke with the caption better, but it’s a close call. Cartoonist scores an 8 on the first throw…
“Bowling pins strike back”
“In the resulting massacre, only one pin was spared”
“When they saw their mistake, the 10 pin gang split”
“10 pin gang 10 pounded”
“The ambulance found the ball in the gutter”
The 10-pin gang are standing on a public street; surely they should instead have been seen lurking in an alley?
How can they see around the corner?
Have these pins had no previous experience with a bowling ball?
@ FBS – Souldn’t that have been “… only two pins were spared” ?
P.S. Pardon me, it’s late and I transposed “spare” and “split”.
Maybe they “whiffed” on the Wiffle Balls.