I still think it's just Santa porking Elf moms
― Drop soap, not bombs (Ste), Friday, 19 December 2014 12:28 (nine years ago) link
wow wow wow at 261
― tender is the late-night daypart (schlump), Friday, 19 December 2014 12:42 (nine years ago) link
Yeah. I know it's nothing but the chalkboard in that panel is so fucking amazingly done.
― Drop soap, not bombs (Ste), Friday, 19 December 2014 12:57 (nine years ago) link
I'm looking at this from the reindeer's perspective:
1st panel: Reindeer sees a 'familiar' face amidst the three children, the child winks at him2nd panel: Thinking baout things. He ponders if what he thinks is true, that Santa is the father of that elf3rd panel: Santa gives the same sort of wink, but..
Argh fuck, I've got nothing. Reindeer in 3rd panel is all O_O. No idea on the rest. Yes, Santa maybe knocked up those women, but eh.. so?
― a pleasant little psychedelic detour in the elevator (Amory Blaine), Friday, 19 December 2014 13:39 (nine years ago) link
I think maybe part of the funny is that the reindeer doesn't give a fuck/his blank expression?
― Drop soap, not bombs (Ste), Friday, 19 December 2014 13:46 (nine years ago) link
In Finnish folklore at least, Santa has a wife. Presumably the lady elves have husbands too; the other elf kids don't look like Santa, so they must've been sired by male elves. The joke is to contrast the image of Santa as a kid-friendly do-gooder with the idea that he is secretly (hence the wink) an adulterer. This contrast is emphasized by making the one who discovers the truth be one of Santa's reindeer, i.e. someone who's generally (and in this comic strip too) depicted as an innocent animal.
Really, guys, this isn't rocket science!
― Tuomas, Friday, 19 December 2014 13:46 (nine years ago) link
Point is, I refuse to believe it isn't rocket science.
― a pleasant little psychedelic detour in the elevator (Amory Blaine), Friday, 19 December 2014 13:56 (nine years ago) link
But anyway, speaking of the latest PBF strips, I thought this one was really good, and most reminiscent of the strip's "classic" era:
http://www.pbfcomics.com/archive_b/PBF262-Dreamcatcher.png
Such a simple idea, yet it's funny, poignant, and perfectly executed.
― Tuomas, Friday, 19 December 2014 13:56 (nine years ago) link
i like how it can take a few secs/mins until some of the jokes sink in properly. that one took me a short while to understand what it was about.
― this is just a saginaw (dog latin), Friday, 19 December 2014 14:13 (nine years ago) link
is the joke here just that the whistle is low-class and unsophisticated, or is there another layer that i'm missing?
http://www.pbfcomics.com/263/
― festival culture (Jordan), Friday, 19 December 2014 15:15 (nine years ago) link
lol yeah, that was my take, though i'm not sure what the # sign on whistle's lapel signifies.
― circa1916, Friday, 19 December 2014 15:20 (nine years ago) link
sharp...
― circa1916, Friday, 19 December 2014 15:21 (nine years ago) link
Santa is a viking at impregnating elves; also a Viking; the case continues
― imago, Friday, 19 December 2014 15:35 (nine years ago) link
the most obvious signifier with the whistle vs clarinet(?) is class or status for sure, i.e. a cheaper maybe more low brow less refined version of the same kind of thing. however the comic is titled Harmony so race would maybe fit the pun better, but the whistle doesn't seem as strong a choice for that.
― Roberto Spiralli, Friday, 19 December 2014 16:06 (nine years ago) link
maybe it's a dog whistle
― Mordy, Friday, 19 December 2014 16:09 (nine years ago) link
Dad is despairing that she's marrying beneath her
...............LOL
― tl;dr, gukbar, morbis detrius (wins), Friday, 19 December 2014 16:11 (nine years ago) link
Goldwhistle?
― Adding ease. Adding wonder. Adding (contenderizer), Friday, 19 December 2014 16:12 (nine years ago) link
clarinet(?)
bassoon.
― how's life, Friday, 19 December 2014 16:21 (nine years ago) link
Well the whistle has only the one note, really, compared to the elegant range of the basson.
― Drop soap, not bombs (Ste), Friday, 19 December 2014 16:25 (nine years ago) link
that's a bassoon, not a clarinet, which is one of the instruments that is often the butt of orchestra jokes (basically it's like the tuba/viola of woodwinds)
basically it's a multilayer class/racial social standing joke
― the farakhan of gg (DJP), Friday, 19 December 2014 16:26 (nine years ago) link
this one, a few back, is an all-timer imohttp://www.pbfcomics.com/261/
http://www.pbfcomics.com/261/
― Nhex, Friday, 19 December 2014 16:27 (nine years ago) link
I'd forgotten how great some of these are: http://www.pbfcomics.com/222/
― the farakhan of gg (DJP), Friday, 19 December 2014 16:29 (nine years ago) link
lol that's a good one
― Drop soap, not bombs (Ste), Friday, 19 December 2014 16:31 (nine years ago) link
that's a joke I can see a lot of artists coming up with but not being able to pull off. that look of anguish on the final panel is so good
― Abstinence Hawk (frogbs), Friday, 19 December 2014 16:44 (nine years ago) link
omg http://www.pbfcomics.com/252/
― the farakhan of gg (DJP), Friday, 19 December 2014 16:49 (nine years ago) link
hahahahahahahaha http://www.pbfcomics.com/185/
― the farakhan of gg (DJP), Friday, 19 December 2014 16:51 (nine years ago) link
this really is the best contemporary comic strip
http://www.pbfcomics.com/214/
Someone's gonna have to explain this one to poor innocent me. I suspect the yellow and black pamphlet has something to do with it...
― ledge, Friday, 19 December 2014 17:47 (nine years ago) link
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CliffsNotes
― virtuoso thigh slapper (Jordan), Friday, 19 December 2014 17:48 (nine years ago) link
love that one btw
that's one of my (50 or so) favorites
― Abstinence Hawk (frogbs), Friday, 19 December 2014 17:51 (nine years ago) link
Ha, I was scratching my head over that one just today. Didn't even notice the pamphlet!
― the joke should be over once the kid is eaten. (chap), Friday, 19 December 2014 17:59 (nine years ago) link
I guess he was boning up on her.
― ledge, Friday, 19 December 2014 18:01 (nine years ago) link
― the farakhan of gg (DJP), Friday, December 19, 2014 11:51 AM (1 hour ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink
Definitely the best comedy need threads devoted to explaining the jokes to people
― Whiney G. Weingarten, Friday, 19 December 2014 18:13 (nine years ago) link
Eager to hear Whiney's top 10 favorite Jeff Foxworthy jokes
― 龜, Friday, 19 December 2014 18:14 (nine years ago) link
If youuuuuuuuuuuu don't understand a comic strip about Santa fucking his elves.... You might be an ilxor
― Whiney G. Weingarten, Friday, 19 December 2014 18:16 (nine years ago) link
hark, a vagrant is the best contemporary comic strip
― Adding ease. Adding wonder. Adding (contenderizer), Friday, 19 December 2014 18:17 (nine years ago) link
lol Whiney
― the farakhan of gg (DJP), Friday, 19 December 2014 18:23 (nine years ago) link
I am afraid to admit how irrationally angry I got when the bassoon strip was misidentified as a clarinet; I blame it on only getting 3 hours of sleep
― the farakhan of gg (DJP), Friday, 19 December 2014 18:24 (nine years ago) link
"In Finnish folklore at least, Santa has a wife."
I was going to ask why Santa having a wife would be a particularly Finnish thing, but it just struck me that American Santa folklore is pretty much Coca Cola ads and a murdering Tim Allen.
― Philip Nunez, Friday, 19 December 2014 18:24 (nine years ago) link
I think Tuomas was just speaking from his own culture and not presuming to be an authority on American traditions.
Genuinely not sure how people could fail to get that strip, though. I'm putting it down to them *wanting* there to be more b/c the joke's a bit rubbish.
― emil.y, Friday, 19 December 2014 18:28 (nine years ago) link
like a lot of PBF strips, the best thing about it isn't the joke but the way a certain element is drawn. element being a reindeer itc.
― Adding ease. Adding wonder. Adding (contenderizer), Friday, 19 December 2014 18:35 (nine years ago) link
Much like the priest-kings of Nemi, Tim Allen's Santa will be murdered in turn.
― jmm, Friday, 19 December 2014 18:36 (nine years ago) link
Yeah, I mentioned the Finnish thing only because I wasn't sure whether American Santa is supposed to be married. In most of the movie depictions I can remember he seems to be kind of a loner.
― Tuomas, Friday, 19 December 2014 18:36 (nine years ago) link
first blush was "oh, santa's fucking the elf moms" but the first panel threw me. looks like two elves are asleep and one is winking. admittedly took me way too long too notice middle elf has a santa face.
xpsts
― circa1916, Friday, 19 December 2014 18:43 (nine years ago) link
yeah, so much of what makes PBF funny is just facial expressions.
In an age where so many comic strips are really badly drawn this definitely sets it apart.
xxxp
― silverfish, Friday, 19 December 2014 18:44 (nine years ago) link
I wonder if the Santa spawn is meant to murder his workmates and replace them with his as yet unborn siblings while Santa's away. That would explain the wink.
― Philip Nunez, Friday, 19 December 2014 18:52 (nine years ago) link
Only Dasher escaped to tell thee...
I'm not sure that the elf is supposed to be winking. Who would he be winking at, and why? I think the artist got caught in a problem where he had to give Santa a conspiratorial expression, and he had to make the elf resemble Santa.
― jmm, Friday, 19 December 2014 19:01 (nine years ago) link
― emil.y, vrijdag 19 december 2014 19:28 (31 minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink
Raises hand. Thought there would be more to it given the depth and eye for detail earlier. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
― a pleasant little psychedelic detour in the elevator (Amory Blaine), Friday, 19 December 2014 19:03 (nine years ago) link