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XKCD Invited To New Yorker "Cartoon-Off"

Posted by kdawson on from the no-raptors dept.

UnknowingFool writes "Farley Katz, who draws for New Yorker magazine, ran into xkcd.com's Randall Munroe in a grocery store. He challenged Munroe to a cartoon-off — each cartoonist to produce drawings about the Internet as envisioned by the elderly, String Theory, 1999, and one's favorite animal eating one's favorite food. In the ensuing short interview, Munroe describes XKCD as 'a webcomic about stick figures who do math, play with staple guns, mess around on the Internet, and have lots of sex. It's about three-fourths autobiographical.'"

5 of 231 comments (clear)

  1. Munroe Wins by bshell · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Munroe was the clear winner. 1999 *BC* was just dumb, as were most of Katz's others. The only lame one of Munroe's was the strange skateboard thing. Somewhat off topic, though it gets points for originality.

    1. Re:Munroe Wins by phantomfive · · Score: 5, Insightful

      Pretty simple......show both comics to 10 random people on the street......which do you think will get the most laughs?

      They are both funny, the only difference is the target audience. We happen to be the target audience of xkcd, and that is why Munroe is famous on slashdot and Katz is a cartoonist for the New Yorker.

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      Qxe4
  2. Katz vs Munroe? by fishinatree · · Score: 5, Insightful

    While XKCD is my favorite webcomic that I've been following for quite a long time, I have to admit that Munroe's humor lies more in his ability to crack inside jokes with the nerd in all of us. Katz tries to appeal to the more general public (it's his job at the New Yorker). I think Munroe is funnier, especially here, but his esoteric humor might lose some votes.

    1. Re:Katz vs Munroe? by gad_zuki! · · Score: 4, Insightful

      Humor needs to be esoteric. There needs to be a pause between seeing the joke and getting the joke.

      Katz's work is painfully obvious and looks like something out of a "cartooning 101" workshop. A drunk scientist? A cow biting itself? Those are hackneyed jokes!

      My understanding is that the new yorker has this reputation for cartoons so bad that the audience has learned to love their badness. Well, theyre still terrible to me.

  3. Re:That's cartooning? by Broken+scope · · Score: 4, Insightful

    You do realize that xkcd has never been about the art, and its author has never claimed it was?

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    You mad