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Need Penny-Arcade question answered
Diki
Registered User new member
Registered User new member
I am just wondering, and this is a serious question.
I do not like Penny-Arcade in the least, and I have noticed that I cannot even find a joke in half of the comics. Do some of the comic strips just depict a story, and some make jokes, or what?
I do not like Penny-Arcade in the least, and I have noticed that I cannot even find a joke in half of the comics. Do some of the comic strips just depict a story, and some make jokes, or what?
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It is satire, facilitated through the use of traditional satirical elements such as exaggeration, absurdity, and even occasional surrealism. The often-at-odds attitudes of the two principles (Gabe and Tycho) creates tension. A supporting cast of ancillary characters, well-caricatured, adds personality to the mix. For example, "Div" is an anthropomorphized, disenfranchized DIVX player, who is now unemployed and often drunk and obnoxious. He refuses to be tarted up like a gay disco in this strip, which makes fun of the fact that there is a large community of case modding enthusiasts who spend inordinate amounts of time and effort to add useless, and often aesthetically questionable, features to their electronics cases.
I'm sure that the wide variety of comics that have been created over the years has something a little bit funnier for you. I hear that Andy Capp is a real knee-slapper.
As an example, there was comic where two players clearly criticized the game HALO, because the rooms in the levels looked the same.
Web Comic: Perry Bible Fellowship
Movie: South Park: Bigger, Longer & Uncut
Show: Family Guy
Book: Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy
Comedian: Dane Cook
Shall Gabe and Tycho scream about Burger King for 3 hours before ripping off their shirts*?
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Is it not possible for one to enjoy a comedian, but not every singe one of their acts?
Maybe Dane should adopt this style:
http://www.penny-arcade.com/comic/2007/04/25
http://www.penny-arcade.com/comic/2007/04/23
http://www.penny-arcade.com/comic/2007/04/16
http://www.penny-arcade.com/comic/2007/04/13
http://www.penny-arcade.com/comic/2007/04/11
http://www.penny-arcade.com/comic/2007/04/09
http://www.penny-arcade.com/comic/2007/04/06
http://www.penny-arcade.com/comic/2007/04/04
http://www.penny-arcade.com/comic/2007/03/28
http://www.penny-arcade.com/comic/2007/03/26
http://www.penny-arcade.com/comic/2007/03/23
http://www.penny-arcade.com/comic/2007/03/21
This being said, let's go ahead and look at the listed PA's:
http://www.penny-arcade.com/comic/2007/03/21
This is funny because Gabe believes 300 to epitomize masculinity, and anything short of unmitigated and undying allegiance to its artistic vision makes one unworthy of a penis. Tycho then implies that he uses his versatile member to open jars, giving Gabe pause.
http://www.penny-arcade.com/comic/2007/03/23
This is really funny because of the long-standing rivalry between PA and cah-ray-zee gamer-hating attourney Jack Thompson. He has done a lot of stupid things which I won't list here, but the strip is talking about how he listed them in a lawsuit as part of a conspiracy to ... something. It doesn't really make sense because Jack Thompson is effin' crazy. He'd probably sue inanimate objects because they 'looked at him funny'. G&T mock the concept of his naming them in a suit through a study of other activities that sound like racketeering which Jack Thompson must have meant.
http://www.penny-arcade.com/comic/2007/03/26
Not all the time! This is too straight forward to disect.
http://www.penny-arcade.com/comic/2007/03/28
Only makes sense with the news post, as it deals with Puzzle Quest, which if you're not on the goddamn bleeding edge of games I'm sure is obscure.
http://www.penny-arcade.com/comic/2007/04/04
Kara is Gabe's wife. This is funny because she is turning down his affections (in addition to whatever humor might be derived from portraying him as a desperate loser).
http://www.penny-arcade.com/comic/2007/04/06
It's a pee joke, set up by assumptions about knowledge.
http://www.penny-arcade.com/comic/2007/04/09
Tycho (well, Jerry) is much more at ease with the public (or at least appears to be) than Gabe (Mike), and so Tycho being called away before an appearance before thousands is truly a disasterous thing for which he cannot be forgiven.
http://www.penny-arcade.com/comic/2007/04/11
Franzibald is supposed to be representative of Tim Buckley (which is never expressly said, although Tycho/Jerry admitted it in response to my direct question at PAX06), who has been indirectly accused of plagiarism (among other things). This was specifically in response, I think, to the sale of DVDs for some animated series based on Tim Buckley's comic. However, it also has a more abstract meaning which I think is meant to be primary, simply that people who think that flaming words on the internets mean anything are dumb.
http://www.penny-arcade.com/comic/2007/04/13
This is an obscure inside joke, involving both the mechanics of D&D and the lore of PA wherein Gabe wished for and received a unicorn. If you don't play D&D and don't have a perfect memory of PA, you'll miss the point.
http://www.penny-arcade.com/comic/2007/04/16
Gabe attempts to downplay the nature of an adult game until the last frame. This sort of conceptual mitigation before revelation is usually funny.
http://www.penny-arcade.com/comic/2007/04/23
You have to first be aware of all the ping pong competitions PA Inc has been getting themselves into, so much so that some have speculated about a league of ping pong players forming within the game dev industry. While cheating to win is somewhat humorous, suggesting that a person dying from one's underhanded skullduggery makes him a pussy, well that pushes it to a whole `nother level.
http://www.penny-arcade.com/comic/2007/04/25
This is something of a joke about mechanics, if you're not used to RPGs it wouldn't make sense, and you also have to know about the depth of Tycho's character and his preferences. I suppose it could be considered an inside joke, but when you have four million readers, does it matter anymore?
wow... i mean.
wow.
that was totally thorough. plus, one of the comics you got wrong. it's about Harry Potter (the one with the phoenix and unicorn)
i think the short answer to the question the OP posed is this: it's not for you.
if you understand what i mean, well... then you understand what i mean.
most of all, most of all
someone said true love was dead
but i'm bound to fall
bound to fall for you
oh what can i do
No, really? I mean, I would never have guessed but for the explicit mentioning of Harry Potter in the comic. I was trying to talk about the less than obvious elements in that one. 'Material components' (the title) is specific terminology to D&D.
um, i think the title of the comic, especially this one, has absolutely no comedic value or relevance to the comic itself.
it's a mention of an aspect of D&D (and other things by now), but the elements of that particular comic aren't rooted in D&D. it's rooted in Harry Potter, through and through, because wands in the HP universe contain strange things, explicitly things like phoenix feathers and unicorn hair.
so, before you go jumping on me, analyze a comic and then give advice.
most of all, most of all
someone said true love was dead
but i'm bound to fall
bound to fall for you
oh what can i do
I would honestly recommend you taking your finger and placing it upon the 'pulse'.
That is, the PA strips require that 'in the know' sense of humor. In this case the know is gaming.
I didn't say it was rooted in D&D, I said it involved D&D, which it did. One can argue the degree of the importance of the title, but it's obtuse for you to pop out and say I got it wrong just because I wanted to address the more implicit elements than the explicit elements. Yes, the comic IS about Harry Potter, I knew that, but everything in that particular comic is not wholly and completely derived from Harry Potter. Tycho/Jerry plays D&D, he writes the comic, and referencing D&D terminology is no coincidence and no accident (not to mention D&D predates Harry Potter). The comic cannot be completely understood thinking only in terms of the HP universe. The value of the implied, marginal elements can also be debated, but I was attempting to give people enough credit that they didn't need me to name the colors in the comics for them or any other simple things that would otherwise insult their intelligence and patronize them. (As you did me by saying I missed that it was about Harry Potter, as it was stated in the first sentence of the comic.)
Second rule of Teacher Club: You DO NOT touch the kids.
That particular comic has nothing to do with Buckley other than Franzibald is his caricature and fits the profile for the comic and Tycho's outrage. It's really more about the whole Todd Goldman thing.
Also re Harry Potter: phoenix feathers and unicorn hairs are common cores for wands in the Potter books (well, phoenix feathers not so, but still). I viewed the title as much more of a side-gag that integral to the strip. I mean, it's not like the titles are the basis of the strip or anything - they're just thought up after the initial idea is finalised.
@gamefacts - Totally and utterly true gaming facts on the regular!
I know plenty about gaming, and recent gaming news (though I do not sit on IGN day in, day out).
I think the whole problem with me not finding the jokes in the strips is me giving them the benefit of the doubt, in that they wouldn't make seemingly childish jokes.
Example: http://www.penny-arcade.com/comic/2007/04/06
He pissed himself, haw haw.
I do.
Feels like everything after the two first seasons of Family Guy boils down to "Gee, this reminds me of the time when..." followed by something utterly random.
Well, I think you're just a troll, but I'll give you the benefit of the doubt.
If you don't like it, fine... but humor is subjective and I really don't think someone who likes Dane Cook can afford to be mocking the humor of others (see how I turned that around there?)
Frankly, PA works because often times the surface of their humor does look childish, but there are a number of subtle undertones that make the overall comic work. The comic you cited above is an example of this. However, if you can't appreciate undertones and subtlety, and judging by the Dane Cook thing I'm guessing you cannot, then in all likelihood you will never really get Penny Arcade.
Who is this Tim Buckley fellow and what did he steal?