zudblog

Do I really need to introduce XKCD? As a science and computer nerd, reading this webcomic by American author Randall Munroe on a regular basis is a must! In fact, a lot of my knowledge in science fields that are not my majors comes from this comic. However, it seems that most of my colleagues and students are yet to young to know it.

So what is it about? XKCD stands for ... nothing! It is just four random letters! In 2005 Randall started a blog with some doodles from his school notebooks. Three years later, he can make a living from selling books and T-shirts.

His drawing style is still very minimalistic. The protagonists are stick figures, mostly of scientists investigating weird and absurd phenomena arising from comical misunderstandings. There are some reoccurring characters: Cueball (no hair, hat or other features), Megan (femal scientist, black hair), Black Hat Guy (evil hacker type), to name some. It is not clear if this characters always represent the same person.

Occasionally Randall posts interactive comics or even video games that you can spend hours exploring, all designed in his minimalist drawing style.

If you don't understand the meaning of the cartoons, don't panic! That's quite normal. So normal, in fact, that there's a whole wiki dedicated to explaining XKCD.