I’ve raved about xkcd on the Dog Blog before. But it really is an extraordinary piece of work worth mentioning over and over again.
It’s another one of those geeky, science-heavy comics. (I guess there’s a theme to my webcomic predilections.) It’s written and drawn by Randall Munroe, who Wikipedia tells me used to be a NASA roboticist and programmer.
And his science background shows. Often I have to ask my wife to unpack his jokes for me (she’s a math prof). And I suspect that xkcd will have by now supplanted Calvin and Hobbes and Foxtrot as the most-often-posted comic on the doors of science, math and computer profs.
Munroe’s work ranges from wacky (such as Modern History, Alternative Energy Revolution and Outreach) to sweet (Grownups and Angular Momentum) to nerdy in ways that will curl your brain (Pumpkin Carving, Circuit Diagram, Threesome, Science, Riemann-Zeta, Advertising, Self Description, Science Montage).
By far, though, his most impressive comics are his charts. They are really unbelievable. If you check out nothing else, at least have a gander at Gravity Wells, Height, Online Communities, Movie Narrative Charts, Tic-Tac-Toe and Money. I can’t imagine how much work went into these things.
xkcd updates a few times a week.
