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Penny Arcade - Comic - Speculative Diction

DogDog Registered User, Administrator, Vanilla Staff admin
edited February 2016 in The Penny Arcade Hub

imagePenny Arcade - Comic - Speculative Diction

Videogaming-related online strip by Mike Krahulik and Jerry Holkins. Includes news and commentary.

Read the full story here


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Posts

  • ZomagicZomagic Registered User regular
    *Claps* Dick jokes are hard to orchestrate this well. Bravo.

  • katelaikatelai Boston, MARegistered User new member
    Reminds me of the Gilmore Girls episode (Season 5 or 6) where Richard Gilmore takes Luke golfing, and Richard asks Luke what he reads. He says he read something good by a guy named Dick, and Richard goes, "I'll have to look up Dick on the internet."

  • UnknownUnknown
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  • ElijahBaileyElijahBailey Wordsmith. VirginiaRegistered User regular
    I cannot wait for the podcast of this one.

    "Building the future and keeping the past alive are one in the same thing."
  • BlackDoveBlackDove Registered User regular
    I can't deny, I loved my first Dick. Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep is a favorite Dick of mine.

  • DissentDissent Mr. Fancy Pants Flavour CountryRegistered User regular
    Never read any Dick. Went straight from Vonnegut-to-Robbins-to-Pynchon-to-Wallace. Now I lounge about jazz clubs and Barnes and Noble coffee areas, waiting to spring vague literary references upon the unsuspecting, so as I might feel better about my intellectual standing...

  • denihilistdenihilist Ancient and Mighty Registered User, Moderator Mod Emeritus
    The Man in the High Castle was out of print for many years. It was only after Scanner Darkly came out in theaters that you could find new copies.

  • joshofalltradesjoshofalltrades Class Traitor Smoke-filled roomRegistered User regular
    This is a pretty great birthday comic

  • Commander ZoomCommander Zoom Registered User regular
    "I have, like, a foot of Dick on my shelf."

    (wish I could remember who said it, and exactly how they did)

  • TransluciaTranslucia Registered User regular
    https://youtu.be/mu_VkKwHkS0

  • darleysamdarleysam On my way to UKRegistered User regular
    One of my favourite possessions is a collection of five of the best full-length Dicks.

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  • ziddersroofurryziddersroofurry Registered User regular
    edited February 2016
    I love Blade Runner and read 'Do Androids..." long ago. I think I read 'Second Variety' when I was a teen-that was back in the late 80's. Aside from those I haven't read much Dick. I was more into Heinlein, Asimov, Tolkien, Lewis & King back in those days.

    I got to a point about a decade ago where my main reason for reading-lack of friends-was supplanted by an abundance of them. Not that I'm complaining. The biggest issue is that my attention span that has gotten shorter and shorter as the decades have gone by.

    I miss being able to focus long enough to read a novel. Heck-I'd settle for being able to read all the great fanficcy short stories I'm missing out on.

    ziddersroofurry on
  • MichaelLCMichaelLC In what furnace was thy brain? ChicagoRegistered User regular
    I've never picked up any Dick. I see it online, but just don't know which one(s) to get.

  • darleysamdarleysam On my way to UKRegistered User regular
    edited February 2016
    If a long Dick is too intimidating, there's a bunch of shorter ones around to start you off. The guy was prolific.

    edit: but that said, this is the 5-Dicks-in-one that I was on about - http://www.amazon.co.uk/Five-Great-Novels-GOLLANCZ-S-F/dp/0575084634

    darleysam on
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  • Jakk FrostJakk Frost Registered User regular
    I love when you set someone up for a gag like this and it pays off so beautifully. I've only managed to do it once, back in... I think it was '93.

    I swear the choirs of heaven burst forth, and there were unicorns and shit.

  • dennisdennis aka bingley Registered User regular
    I'm not a very frequent forum user, but every time I can't help but read it as "The Penny Arcade Wub".

  • PhotosaurusPhotosaurus Bay Area, CARegistered User regular
    darleysam wrote: »
    If a long Dick is too intimidating, there's a bunch of shorter ones around to start you off. The guy was prolific.

    edit: but that said, this is the 5-Dicks-in-one that I was on about - http://www.amazon.co.uk/Five-Great-Novels-GOLLANCZ-S-F/dp/0575084634

    Is this the one with the dedication to all his friends who died or were permanently disabled due to heavy LSD use? And the list is like 20 something people long?

    I recall having a very similar collection of his stories in a small hardback, and the dedication was at the very end of the book. Apparently he wasn't as into it as the popular legends would make it seem, but it definitely makes one reconsider the whole scene back then.

    "If complete and utter chaos was lightning, then he'd be the sort to stand on a hilltop in a thunderstorm wearing wet copper armour and shouting 'All gods are bastards'."
  • darleysamdarleysam On my way to UKRegistered User regular
    Photosaurus wrote: »
    darleysam wrote: »
    If a long Dick is too intimidating, there's a bunch of shorter ones around to start you off. The guy was prolific.

    edit: but that said, this is the 5-Dicks-in-one that I was on about - http://www.amazon.co.uk/Five-Great-Novels-GOLLANCZ-S-F/dp/0575084634

    Is this the one with the dedication to all his friends who died or were permanently disabled due to heavy LSD use? And the list is like 20 something people long?

    I recall having a very similar collection of his stories in a small hardback, and the dedication was at the very end of the book. Apparently he wasn't as into it as the popular legends would make it seem, but it definitely makes one reconsider the whole scene back then.

    I think that's a dedication that goes with A Scanner Darkly, but yeah it's included in the book with that story.

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  • marsiliesmarsilies Registered User regular
    Fortunately, on the internet, I tend to abbreviate using his initials, PKD, so there's less chance for puns.

    I mentioned elsewhere that his short fiction is a good intro point too, since they often pack a punch in a short amount of time, and most movie adaptations of his work are from his short stories. The 2013 collection "Selected Stories of Philip K. Dick" seems to be a solid combination of his best and his most popular short stories:
    http://www.amazon.com/Selected-Stories-Philip-K-Dick/dp/0544040546/

  • MichaelLCMichaelLC In what furnace was thy brain? ChicagoRegistered User regular
    edited February 2016
    Nice.

    Never quite found a good short story collection since I stopped liking S King.
    That might be a good selection of Dick to curl up with, just taking one or two a night nice and slow.

    MichaelLC on
  • Tucci78Tucci78 Registered User new member
    edited February 2016
    _The Man in the High Castle_ (1963) was one of the ONLY works by Philip K. Dick I'd ever read (the other was _The World Jones Made_ [1954]), and that only because _High Castle_ had won the Hugo Award that year and was an "alternative history" novel.

    What wargamer isn't a sucker for "alternative history" SF?

    In his time, Dick was regarded as something of a puzzlement among fans of "hard" speculative fiction.

    Still is.

    Tucci78 on
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  • darleysamdarleysam On my way to UKRegistered User regular
    Tucci78 wrote: »
    _The Man in the High Castle_ (1963) was one of the ONLY works by Philip K. Dick I'd ever read (the other was _The World Jones Made_ [1954]), and that only because _High Castle_ had won the Hugo Award that year and was an "alternative history" novel.

    What wargamer isn't a sucker for "alternative history" SF?

    In his time, Dick was regarded as something of a puzzlement among fans of "hard" speculative fiction.

    Still is.

    This was what always put me off whenever I'd start reading one of his stories. It would immediately go "there's drugs that make you teleport or something, you gonna roll with this or what?" and I'm like "well that's just unrealistic isn't it Phil, but, okay, I'll give you a shot". And then instead of reading a story about what might happen if we invented really smart robots or big spaceships, I'd get an absolutely fascinating essay deconstructing my ideas of reality and perception, and come away from with a newly-built worldview from the rubble of what was there before. It ran completely against the grain of everything else I was reading, and I love it so much because of that.

    The Electric Ant remains one of my favourite Dicks to this day.

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  • dennisdennis aka bingley Registered User regular
    I have to admit something - I find Dick hit or miss with me. Sometimes I like Dick and sometimes I don't.

    I didn't really like Man in the High Castle. I think part of the problem was that I read it after reading a LOT of other science fiction (like within the last five years). I thought the buildup was good, but the last section of the book just fell flat for me. I think the fact that alternate history was a thing I've read over and over diluted the premise a bit.

    And VALIS, whew boy where to start. That book felt like homework. I've had more fun reading old testament books (even the ones with the lists!)

    In general, I find his short stories are almost always fantastic, but his novels can go either way. I'm still slowly working my way through his oeuvre, though, so it's possible I just wound up with the novels that don't click with me and there's still a treasure trove waiting to be found.

  • H3KnucklesH3Knuckles But we decide which is right and which is an illusion.Registered User regular
    edited February 2016
    Great comic! Reminds me of this classic moment from the Game Grumps playthrough of Goonies II for the NES.

    H3Knuckles on
    If you're curious about my icon; it's an update of the early Lego Castle theme's "Black Falcons" faction.
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  • RatherDashing89RatherDashing89 Registered User regular
    Tucci78 wrote: »
    _The Man in the High Castle_ (1963) was one of the ONLY works by Philip K. Dick I'd ever read (the other was _The World Jones Made_ [1954]), and that only because _High Castle_ had won the Hugo Award that year and was an "alternative history" novel.

    What wargamer isn't a sucker for "alternative history" SF?

    In his time, Dick was regarded as something of a puzzlement among fans of "hard" speculative fiction.

    Still is.

    Are you saying wargamers are suckers of/for Dick?
    Also, I'd hope Dick is hard speculative fiction. Although if it still is hard, he should consult his doctor.

  • darleysamdarleysam On my way to UKRegistered User regular
    I'd completely forgotten about this upcoming Dick-based game, until the title of this bit about it reminded me, and prompted me to post about it here:
    http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2016-02-10-dick-heads-up-californium-is-coming-to-steam-next-week

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