Category / CIDU

by Kilby

Bonus: Arlo & Oy don’t always mean “funny”

At the risk of offending some readers, I have decided to post the Cyanide & Happiness comic shown below to demonstrate a point. It was submitted over a year ago as a CIDU by Pandemonium, who noted: “The [explosm] site is sometimes (often) in poor taste.” That is undeniably true. Although Bill posted a number of Cyanide & Happiness comics from time to time, only two of them have appeared at CIDU in the last four years, and this one is an excellent example of why they have been so rare:

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Pandemonium noted that “This [one] doesn’t seem to be part of a running gag, series, or topic“, and he is certainly right about that. The gag is a simple pun, conflating a perfectly normal technical term (in metallurgy, note the damage to the breastplate) with an unacceptably racist epithet (both terms having identical spelling and pronunciation).

The only possible saving grace in this comic is that the word is not explicitly named, and soldier in the background appears to object to the use of the term entirely, but the primary purpose of the comic here is just as a borderline example.

Please note: Since CIDU no longer has access to a separate “Arlo” page to “hide” potentially offensive material, please be aware that it may not be possible to post every comic submitted, in particular when the artwork or language may be unacceptable for some readers.

by Kilby

An Irritating Invention

Boise Ed submitted this Speed Bump as a CIDU back in April, commenting: “I don’t get why the cones would be so irritating. I’m assuming the wheel is meant to be for transportation, although it lacks the axle/footrests of the wheels in B.C. If it’s not for transportation, then I have even less of a clue what he’s on about.“

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P.S. Last Saturday (Nov. 2nd) was the 81st anniversary of Charles Scanlon’s patent (US2333273A) for a “Safety Marker“.

by Kilby

There’s a reason the artist picked that logo…

… and it had nothing to do with product placement for Amazon. It’s even possible that he might have been able to use Nike’s logo, instead.

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Boise Ed submitted this “Looks Good on Paper” strip as a CIDU, commenting: “How is a truck wreck supposed to be funny? Maybe if it had spilled something funny, but that’s not the case here.“

I agree that it’s not extremely funny, but it’s still worth a small smile. The author was careful to show that nobody was seriously injured (the truck driver can be seen at the right edge of the strip). The gag is based on “anthropomorphic pareidolia“, or in other words, interpreting an expression on a face that isn’t really there. The trucks wheels look a little like eyes, so that the inverted logo looks like a “sad” mouth. Parallels can also be drawn to the inverted Jeep bumper stickers that we discussed back in July.

P.S. If anyone is interested in discovering a whole series of such “facial expression” effects, I recommend watching Pixar’s short film “The Blue Umbrella“.

by multipleciduers

Saturday Morning OYs – November 02nd, 2024

This Rabbits Against Magic strip looked like a simple OY at first, but now I’m puzzled:

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How does “tre” count as a pun on “trace“?

This Rhymes with Orange is an OY-Ewww:

Jack Applin submitted this Andertoons as a CIDU, asking “Is the one-eyed robot unable to see the traffic lights? [OR] Is is programmed to ignore them, giving an advantage to “driverless” cars?“

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Mark Anderson’s original title for his comic #9221 reveals that Jack’s first question was right on the money: The gag is a reference to one of the most common anti-robot user verification tests, typically presented by the reCAPTCHA interface:

Later that same month (in 1967):

The punchline is in panel 5, but for many of us it would be a CIDU. The authors conveniently use panel 6 to make the joke clearer.

For more about the psychiatrist character, see https://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/comic-riffs/post/barney-and-clyde-finds-inspiration-in-a-little-peanuts-farming/2011/07/20/gIQAcMmeTI_blog.html

by Kilby

Log Cabin

BobO submitted this XKCD (#2891) as a CIDU. I’ve zoomed the image to make the details easier to decipher.

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The “mouseover” or “title” text reads: “I’m sure the building inspectors will approve my design once they finally manage to escape.“

P.S. I’m impressed that Randall Monroe drew each iteration of the square separately, and did not copy/paste anything.

by Kilby

Bonus CIDU: Barney & Clyde Quadrifecta

I understood the primary gag in the final panels, but I do not understand the meteorological setup in the first panel:

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Perhaps it’s just the awkward expression: how can a hurricane “drop a millibar“? Did anything like this actually happen during either of the recent hurricanes?

I might as well include the previous two B&C strips, which feature Horace’s “intentional CIDUs. The solution to the first one was explained in Week 94 of the Invitational, in which Gene Weingarten solicited even more obscure “Horace” material. (The results will appear in the Invitational on Halloween, and the better ones will probably be immortalized in future Barney & Clyde strips.)

The second one I had to look up myself, but Barney’s tip in the last panel was a big help:

P.S. Given the solution, this one might also need a “geezer” tag.

Here’s a third “Horace” strip from last year, which was also included (with its solution) in the Invitational article:

by Kilby

And the Nominees are…

Back in August(†), Usual John submitted this One Big Happy strip as a partial CIDU, commenting: “I guess I sort of understand the comic, but I have no idea what movie star Ruthie has in mind.“

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I agree with John: I cannot recognize any resemblance to a specific actress; she just looks generically old and ugly (both with and without the “app”, which I assume is the intended gag).

P.S. (†) I had a little difficulty finding this strip, because the URL was incomplete. Please remember to make sure the URL you submit is specific to the date of the intended comic, and not just the general “front page” URL for “today’s” comic.

by multipleciduers

Saturday Morning OYs – October 26th, 2024

Mark H. submitted this Frazz as an OY, admitting that it “Took me a minute…” (to get the joke). However, since at least one Editor still doesn’t understand it, a CIDU has been added to the tags. Perhaps Mark would be so kind…?

This Carpe Diem panel was submitted back in July by James Riendeau, who wrote, “Carpe Diem tends to be one I frequently do not get, but today’s was a real head-scratcher. It must be a cultural reference I’m not familiar with.”

Niklas Eriksson is Swedish; those “P”-Jackets might actually be worn there, but I sort of doubt it.

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Solution: The “P” stands for “parking”; the guy is a meter reader, and he’s writing a ticket for the “parked” whale.

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P.S. Claes Oldenberg was the only real mystery, the rest of them were fairly clear.

Early voting has started. The US election will soon be over … maybe.

Some of you likely came across this a few days ago, when Danny Boy in the comments, but it’s worth another chuckle.

This cartoon circulating around the internet probably qualifies as a CIDU, but the joke depends on a wordplay, so I’m posting it here.

I searched for the original source, but couldn’t find it in the many, many times it has been posted on the internet before I saw it this week.

by Kilby

Age of Consent

Mark H. submitted this 9CWL quite a while ago(+), commenting: “Looks like the visuals in the first two frames are out of sequence. What woman wraps a towel around her head before going into the shower?“

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I agree that it does look odd, but I think the “out/in/out” sequence is necessary to make the “dash” effect work in the final panel. It’s really just that towel (on her head) that seems out of place.

P.S. (+) This strip is from August, but may have been overlooked amidst all the “swimming“, “milkshake“, and “accelerated maturation” issues we have seen in recent weeks. After all, they are all basically the same topic (the same one that we did not see just this past Wednesday, in “Hägar the Enabler“).

However, as long as we are on that subject, Mark H. also submitted the 9CWL below as an Arlo, commenting: “Given that they’ve never been intimate, it’s not clear how she knows how big his macadamias are….”

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Perhaps she was just estimating their diameter from the effectiveness of his testosterone level on her…