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xkcd: volume 0
Randall Munroe describes xkcd as a webcomic of romance, sarcasm, math, and language. While it's practically required reading in the geek community, xkcd fans are as varied as the comic's subject matter. This book creates laughs from science jokes on one page to relationship humor on another.
xkcd: volume 0 is the first book from the immensely popular webcomic with a passionate readership (just Google "xkcd meetup").
The artist selected personal and fan favorites from his first 600 comics. It was lovingly assembled from high-resolution original scans of the comics (the mouseover text is discreetly included), and features a lot of doodles, notes, and puzzles in the margins.
The book is published by Breadpig, which donates all of the publisher profits from this book to Room to Read for promoting literacy in the developing world.
xkcd: volume 0 is the first book from the immensely popular webcomic with a passionate readership (just Google "xkcd meetup").
The artist selected personal and fan favorites from his first 600 comics. It was lovingly assembled from high-resolution original scans of the comics (the mouseover text is discreetly included), and features a lot of doodles, notes, and puzzles in the margins.
The book is published by Breadpig, which donates all of the publisher profits from this book to Room to Read for promoting literacy in the developing world.
120 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2009
69 people are currently reading
7766 people want to read
About the author
Randall Munroe
26 books5,769 followersRandall Munroe, a former NASA roboticist, is the creator of the webcomic xkcd and the author of xkcd: volume 0. The International Astronomical Union recently named an asteroid after him; asteroid 4942 Munroe is big enough to cause a mass extinction if it ever hits a planet like Earth. He lives in Cambridge, Massachusetts.
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March 18, 2020
[Original review, Jul 7 2015]
I am the coauthor of a peer-reviewed conference paper which cites an xkcd cartoon.
_____________________
[Update, Mar 18 2020]
Giacomo Bonanno's "Counterfactuals and the Prisoner's Dilemma" cites xkcd 1170.
I am the coauthor of a peer-reviewed conference paper which cites an xkcd cartoon.
_____________________
[Update, Mar 18 2020]
Giacomo Bonanno's "Counterfactuals and the Prisoner's Dilemma" cites xkcd 1170.
March 5, 2011
XKCD, for the uninitiated, is a webcomic "drawn" by Randall Munroe. It features primarily stick figures and typically focuses on "nerdy" topics such as science, math, science fiction, Firefly, and the like.
XKCD: Volume 0 is the first collection of XKCD strips. Munroe selected the best of XKCD from the first 500 or so comics. He added a little commentary to a few strips and included some coded messages, which I didn't bother decoding. The book will no doubt delight XKCD fans.
I used to love XKCD, chiefly for obscure jokes about esoteric topics. (I am also a nerd.) However, over the years, the quality of XKCD has significantly degenerated. Relationships and sex have always been a theme of XKCD, but strips on this topic have gotten progressively creepier and more disgusting, culminating at last in the infamous "TGI Friday's" strip, the point at which I stopped reading for enjoyment. (I'm not providing a link because it is extremely NSFW and doesn't have even a vestige of humor to make up for its coarseness. If you really want to know, it's #631.) (I say "for enjoyment" because I did continue to read for several more months to watch the train wreck, but eventually, even that amusement paled. I haven't read xkcd for probably close to a year.)
In addition to the proliferation of "sexkcd" strips, the math/science strips have also declined in quality. The complexity has declined to high school level at best, and the jokes are no longer clever but are instead "reference" jokes, by which I mean that they are predicated on Munroe and the reader sharing the same bit of obscure knowledge and being contemptuously amused that other people don't. (I must shamefully admit to having laughed at similarly premised "jokes" in the past.)
Munroe's disdain for the liberal arts has also grown significantly, or perhaps is merely showing more. I'm an engineer myself, but I highly value the individual study of liberal arts, particularly in terms of what used to be called the classics. Munroe, on the other hand, has nothing but sneers for any academic pursuit that is not math or science. In one particularly egregious example, he made an offensive comic, then doubled down with an offensive mouseover text that stated outright that people who are "not getting a real science degree...have a lot of free time." This statement, particularly in context of the offensive comic, made clear the depth of contempt he has for the "soft" sciences. Hours later, he added, "Zing!" to the mouseover text, in a stealth edit apparently intended to soften his insult. The damage, however, had been done.
In short, as Munroe's mask has slipped and the ugliness of his personality has shown through, I have stopped reading XKCD. Unfortunately, his behavior has also colored my reaction to the original comics, to the point where two stars were the most I could conceivably give to the book. Looking at other works to which I've given two stars and my admittedly arbitrary choice to rate books based primarily on my level of enjoyment (except that I will give five stars only to a book that I consider objectively excellent), however, I will decrease the rating to one star.
XKCD: Volume 0 is the first collection of XKCD strips. Munroe selected the best of XKCD from the first 500 or so comics. He added a little commentary to a few strips and included some coded messages, which I didn't bother decoding. The book will no doubt delight XKCD fans.
I used to love XKCD, chiefly for obscure jokes about esoteric topics. (I am also a nerd.) However, over the years, the quality of XKCD has significantly degenerated. Relationships and sex have always been a theme of XKCD, but strips on this topic have gotten progressively creepier and more disgusting, culminating at last in the infamous "TGI Friday's" strip, the point at which I stopped reading for enjoyment. (I'm not providing a link because it is extremely NSFW and doesn't have even a vestige of humor to make up for its coarseness. If you really want to know, it's #631.) (I say "for enjoyment" because I did continue to read for several more months to watch the train wreck, but eventually, even that amusement paled. I haven't read xkcd for probably close to a year.)
In addition to the proliferation of "sexkcd" strips, the math/science strips have also declined in quality. The complexity has declined to high school level at best, and the jokes are no longer clever but are instead "reference" jokes, by which I mean that they are predicated on Munroe and the reader sharing the same bit of obscure knowledge and being contemptuously amused that other people don't. (I must shamefully admit to having laughed at similarly premised "jokes" in the past.)
Munroe's disdain for the liberal arts has also grown significantly, or perhaps is merely showing more. I'm an engineer myself, but I highly value the individual study of liberal arts, particularly in terms of what used to be called the classics. Munroe, on the other hand, has nothing but sneers for any academic pursuit that is not math or science. In one particularly egregious example, he made an offensive comic, then doubled down with an offensive mouseover text that stated outright that people who are "not getting a real science degree...have a lot of free time." This statement, particularly in context of the offensive comic, made clear the depth of contempt he has for the "soft" sciences. Hours later, he added, "Zing!" to the mouseover text, in a stealth edit apparently intended to soften his insult. The damage, however, had been done.
In short, as Munroe's mask has slipped and the ugliness of his personality has shown through, I have stopped reading XKCD. Unfortunately, his behavior has also colored my reaction to the original comics, to the point where two stars were the most I could conceivably give to the book. Looking at other works to which I've given two stars and my admittedly arbitrary choice to rate books based primarily on my level of enjoyment (except that I will give five stars only to a book that I consider objectively excellent), however, I will decrease the rating to one star.
December 2, 2015
While some were funny, I guess I'm not a real nerd or fangirl to appreciate and understand most of them. What If? definitely suited me better.
October 30, 2011
This contains most of what I consider to be "classic" xkcd, in terms of the comics I remember reading, the comics that I reference outside of obvious xkcd contexts, and the comics I sometimes wear as shirts. For the most part I remembered the jokes, although a number of them were refreshers where they weren't ones I had referenced or thought of since reading through xkcd the first time.
My one complaint with the layout is that what used to be the mouseover text (a key component of xkcd's humor, and something that is incidentally missing when reading current comics on a touchscreen device) is wedged kind of randomly in between panels. I think it would have made more sense to include it in a more standard caption position. I also noticed the lack of the original comic titles, something I found odd since that was at times also part of the humor.
As far as the "extras" included in the book version, I haven't taken the time to look at the cryptographic puzzle hidden in the margins, although I did enjoy some of the other additional jokes and annotations.
I'm pretty sure this is the first physical book I've read that was CC-licensed, unless one of Lessig's books that I've read was.
My one complaint with the layout is that what used to be the mouseover text (a key component of xkcd's humor, and something that is incidentally missing when reading current comics on a touchscreen device) is wedged kind of randomly in between panels. I think it would have made more sense to include it in a more standard caption position. I also noticed the lack of the original comic titles, something I found odd since that was at times also part of the humor.
As far as the "extras" included in the book version, I haven't taken the time to look at the cryptographic puzzle hidden in the margins, although I did enjoy some of the other additional jokes and annotations.
I'm pretty sure this is the first physical book I've read that was CC-licensed, unless one of Lessig's books that I've read was.
December 31, 2015
The usual xkcd mix of some brilliant, some obscure, some esoteric, some ROFL, some geeky, some thoughtful, some knowing-smiley, some disgusting, some classic, and some sexkcd.
Oh, and the book's page numbers are in Base 3, there are encrypted messages in red throughout the book, the tooltip texts are all included, and all proceeds from this book go to charity.
Oh, and the book's page numbers are in Base 3, there are encrypted messages in red throughout the book, the tooltip texts are all included, and all proceeds from this book go to charity.
December 26, 2015
Cute, fast read. I'm not a computer/math/physics/chemistry science "nerd", but I got a surprising amount of the jokes in this. Made me laugh AND feel smart at the same time! 4.5 stars.
December 15, 2018
The only thing that I got out of being an engineer is that I get to understand some of the comics in this book. Totally worth it XD.
March 13, 2025
My "X" book for my A-Z challenge! I wasn't very familiar with xkcd beforehand (I think I've seen a comic or two while browsing Reddit), but nerdy comics with a simple stick-figure aesthetic sounded up my alley. I liked the opening blurb that explained how the comics came to be and Randall's journey from Nasa to online comic art.
Sadly, I'm not smart enough for these comics. There were a couple I instantly got and found humorous, but most I didn't understand. I think I would've spent equal time on explainxkcd.com (doing God's work!) as I did reading the comics, if not more. I might also be a bit too young to get the popular references at the time. I also also read this way too late at night...I'll have to skim through it again!
Sadly, I'm not smart enough for these comics. There were a couple I instantly got and found humorous, but most I didn't understand. I think I would've spent equal time on explainxkcd.com (doing God's work!) as I did reading the comics, if not more. I might also be a bit too young to get the popular references at the time. I also also read this way too late at night...I'll have to skim through it again!
Read
August 18, 2024DNF. Not my cup of PV/nR.
Read
November 7, 2018Its always a pleasure to go back to these. Been reading them for years and some of them were pure nostalgia.
July 25, 2025
For hard-core XKCD megafans
The first thing to know about xkcd: volume 0 is that it consists mostly of comics that are available free online at Randall Munroe's XKCD website. Randall Munroe points this out in the first sentence of his Introduction. (I am not counting "Hi!" as a sentence.) You'd have to be either an XKCD superfan or a fiscally irresponsible idiot (these may not be disjoint sets) to pay for a book whose contents are available for free. Or maybe you think it will one day become a super-valuable collector's item that you can sell for thousands of dollars on eBay. I personally count myself a member of the superfan set, and also at times as someone whose actions mimic those of a fiscally responsible idiot.
Published in 2009, xkcd: volume 0 is about the earliest days of XKCD, which began in 2006, and is still going stronger than ever in 2022. Still, it includes my all-time favorite comic:
#162: Angular momentum:
This is perhaps the most romantic comic about angular momentum ever published. (To be sure, competition in the category "Romantic comics about angular momentum" is not extraordinarily stiff.)
For those who have already read the comics free online, the question naturally arises, "Is there anything in the book that is not available in the online comics?" There is! The most interesting to me was the three page introduction telling of how XKCD came to be. (The name, it turns out, is just a random four-letter domain name that Munroe happened to have lying around unused when he uploaded the first comics to show to some friends.)
But wait! There's more! Here is a pair of pages from the book:
The book is published with a Creative Commons license, which makes it perfectly OK for me to show you pages, as long as I'm not making money by doing so and tell you where they came from. Some things you will notice: First, and most obvious, are the three comics on these two pages. If you look closely below the lower right corner of each, you will see some tiny text -- this is the mouseover text with which the comic was first published online. You may also notice the page numbers 11 and 12. Pages are numbered in skew binary -- I cheated and wrote decimal page numbers in my copy. In decimal, these are pages 4 and 5. You will also notice some stuff in red outside the comics. The picture of someone, perhaps Munroe, holding a cat obviously relates to the comic to its right. On the right-hand edge of page 11 (= 4) you see a sitting figure and some cryptic text. Much of the red-ink marginalia are like this: encoded puzzles. Some are obvious, e.g. on p 10101 = 39 is a series of stick figures which are probably related to the Sherlock Holmes Dancing Men cipher. I was too lazy to try to figure out the puzzles on my own. I was not too lazy to try to find solutions on the Internet, but I mostly struck out there. I imagine they were once out there, but have over the last 13 years succumbed to linkrot. I understand that several of them reveal a secret XKCD meeting which took place in San Francisco 26-June-2010. (See "XKCD volume 0 service pack 1".)
The comics also include purity, which I like because I am a mathematician:
#435: Purity:
Blog review.
The first thing to know about xkcd: volume 0 is that it consists mostly of comics that are available free online at Randall Munroe's XKCD website. Randall Munroe points this out in the first sentence of his Introduction. (I am not counting "Hi!" as a sentence.) You'd have to be either an XKCD superfan or a fiscally irresponsible idiot (these may not be disjoint sets) to pay for a book whose contents are available for free. Or maybe you think it will one day become a super-valuable collector's item that you can sell for thousands of dollars on eBay. I personally count myself a member of the superfan set, and also at times as someone whose actions mimic those of a fiscally responsible idiot.
Published in 2009, xkcd: volume 0 is about the earliest days of XKCD, which began in 2006, and is still going stronger than ever in 2022. Still, it includes my all-time favorite comic:
#162: Angular momentum:
This is perhaps the most romantic comic about angular momentum ever published. (To be sure, competition in the category "Romantic comics about angular momentum" is not extraordinarily stiff.)
For those who have already read the comics free online, the question naturally arises, "Is there anything in the book that is not available in the online comics?" There is! The most interesting to me was the three page introduction telling of how XKCD came to be. (The name, it turns out, is just a random four-letter domain name that Munroe happened to have lying around unused when he uploaded the first comics to show to some friends.)
But wait! There's more! Here is a pair of pages from the book:
The book is published with a Creative Commons license, which makes it perfectly OK for me to show you pages, as long as I'm not making money by doing so and tell you where they came from. Some things you will notice: First, and most obvious, are the three comics on these two pages. If you look closely below the lower right corner of each, you will see some tiny text -- this is the mouseover text with which the comic was first published online. You may also notice the page numbers 11 and 12. Pages are numbered in skew binary -- I cheated and wrote decimal page numbers in my copy. In decimal, these are pages 4 and 5. You will also notice some stuff in red outside the comics. The picture of someone, perhaps Munroe, holding a cat obviously relates to the comic to its right. On the right-hand edge of page 11 (= 4) you see a sitting figure and some cryptic text. Much of the red-ink marginalia are like this: encoded puzzles. Some are obvious, e.g. on p 10101 = 39 is a series of stick figures which are probably related to the Sherlock Holmes Dancing Men cipher. I was too lazy to try to figure out the puzzles on my own. I was not too lazy to try to find solutions on the Internet, but I mostly struck out there. I imagine they were once out there, but have over the last 13 years succumbed to linkrot. I understand that several of them reveal a secret XKCD meeting which took place in San Francisco 26-June-2010. (See "XKCD volume 0 service pack 1".)
The comics also include purity, which I like because I am a mathematician:
#435: Purity:
Blog review.
June 27, 2013
"This book is a collection of strips from xkcd, a free webcomic. I want to get that out of the way so you don't feel betrayed later when you realize you paid for a book of things that you could get for free from the Internet."
I actually got this book from the library, so don't worry about it.
Though, I may end up buying it. I love xkcd.
The book is exactly what it purports: a collection of xkcd comics in book form. Since you can all go to xkcd.com, I'm not going to write a true review of the book. However, as a tribute to xkcd, I'm asking you to write the most obnoxious and annoying comments on this "review." Feel free to use as many ad hominem attacks as possible. Make sure you don't spell anything correctly, etc...
Internet comments are a common theme in xkcd, so I think it's appropriate. Check out this one, for instance.
I actually got this book from the library, so don't worry about it.
Though, I may end up buying it. I love xkcd.
The book is exactly what it purports: a collection of xkcd comics in book form. Since you can all go to xkcd.com, I'm not going to write a true review of the book. However, as a tribute to xkcd, I'm asking you to write the most obnoxious and annoying comments on this "review." Feel free to use as many ad hominem attacks as possible. Make sure you don't spell anything correctly, etc...
Internet comments are a common theme in xkcd, so I think it's appropriate. Check out this one, for instance.
October 10, 2009
Beautiful book. And the proceeds have gone to build a school in Laos. Buy one from the xkcd Website. The NYTimes says:
"While Mr. Munroe conceded a nostalgic love of books, remembering how he devoured books of a favorite comic strip, Calvin & Hobbes, he said he is now a committed Kindle 2 user, preferring it to print. Still, he said: 'I have this urge. You want to print them out and put them up on places. There is something good about collecting them together.'"
quite!
"While Mr. Munroe conceded a nostalgic love of books, remembering how he devoured books of a favorite comic strip, Calvin & Hobbes, he said he is now a committed Kindle 2 user, preferring it to print. Still, he said: 'I have this urge. You want to print them out and put them up on places. There is something good about collecting them together.'"
quite!
April 8, 2010
I love the way this book's page numbers are in Base 3, that the volume starts with 0, that the revision level is a Fibonacci series, that the annotations are included (though hard to read because they are small) and because there is encrypted messages in red throughout the book.
And I never really liked math, but I love this series.
Why buy an XKCD book when it's free on the internet?
What will you do for fun when the power goes out, the zombie apocalypse is upon you and all that's left good in the world is math, illumination, illustrations and love.
And I never really liked math, but I love this series.
Why buy an XKCD book when it's free on the internet?
What will you do for fun when the power goes out, the zombie apocalypse is upon you and all that's left good in the world is math, illumination, illustrations and love.
November 19, 2016
I know well enough when I am swimming a little too far outside of my depth, but that is part of what I love about xkcd. The level of enthusiasm for math and science is contagious. When this is mixed with a great sense of humour and the odd existential crisis it creates something that is undeniably special.
June 26, 2017
xkcd web comic are funny if you understand the science behind it. They are one of the most geekiest things out there. I couldn't understand all of the comic strips & neither one should try to, simply enjoy the ones which you understand !
While reading this, I couldn't stop thinking about geek-i-ness of Randall Munroe :)
While reading this, I couldn't stop thinking about geek-i-ness of Randall Munroe :)
November 13, 2013
I got copy 74/256.
December 31, 2020
Me encanta la tira cómica XKCD... ¡o tal vez no!
Este libro recopilatorio, que condensa lo mejor de la primera etapa de la tira, puede usarse perfectamente como estudio a la hora de distinguir los conceptos "geek" y "nerd": alguien es geek cuando es un fan obsesivo de alguna (o muchas) piezas de cultura o subcultura (series, libros, videojuegos, cómics, sellos... cualquier cosa), habitualmente de genéro fantástico o de ciencia ficción pero no siempre, conociéndola a un gran nivel de detalle y dedicándose a hablar de ella a todas horas. En cambio alguien es nerd si es un especialista en una rama tecnológica o científica (informática, electrónica, física, matemáticas, química...) y se dedica a pensar en ella y hablar de ella a todas horas, haciendo de su nivel técnico su nivel de conversación normal.
Pues bien, a mí me encantan los chistes nerd de XKCD (de informática, física y matemáticas), me parecen inteligentes y muy bien pensados, pero me aburren e incluso me dan vergüenza ajena los chistes geek de XKCD recopilados aquí (muchos, simples ideas inmaduras y pueriles sobre el sexo y el amor). Algunos directamente ni he podido entenderlos (¿de qué canción de los 90 estará hablando, y a mí qué me importa?). Diría que en este recopilatorio hay un 80% de chistes geek frente a un 20% de chistes nerd (lo que daría 1 estrella de 5, pero sube a 2 porque los chistes nerd son geniales). Es bastante habitual observar, en una persona que es geek por naturaleza y entra en una carrera científico-técnica, si esa persona se centra, una maduración que le transforma en nerd, haciendo que su exceso de energía malgastada en chorraditas (como conocer todos los estilos de peinado vulcanianos aparecidos alguna vez en una peli o serie de Star Trek) pase a dedicarse a temas más profundos (habiendo estudiado teleco y matemáticas, y habiendo sido profe universitario, lo he visto a menudo). Probablemente esto le haya ocurrido también a Randall Munroe, pues tomando viñetas suyas de los últimos años al azar, la probabilidad de que me parezcan buenas es muy superior al 20%.
En resumen: recomiendo la tira, pero no este libro. En todo caso merece la pena revisar sus "grandes clásicos" nerd de todas las épocas.
Este libro recopilatorio, que condensa lo mejor de la primera etapa de la tira, puede usarse perfectamente como estudio a la hora de distinguir los conceptos "geek" y "nerd": alguien es geek cuando es un fan obsesivo de alguna (o muchas) piezas de cultura o subcultura (series, libros, videojuegos, cómics, sellos... cualquier cosa), habitualmente de genéro fantástico o de ciencia ficción pero no siempre, conociéndola a un gran nivel de detalle y dedicándose a hablar de ella a todas horas. En cambio alguien es nerd si es un especialista en una rama tecnológica o científica (informática, electrónica, física, matemáticas, química...) y se dedica a pensar en ella y hablar de ella a todas horas, haciendo de su nivel técnico su nivel de conversación normal.
Pues bien, a mí me encantan los chistes nerd de XKCD (de informática, física y matemáticas), me parecen inteligentes y muy bien pensados, pero me aburren e incluso me dan vergüenza ajena los chistes geek de XKCD recopilados aquí (muchos, simples ideas inmaduras y pueriles sobre el sexo y el amor). Algunos directamente ni he podido entenderlos (¿de qué canción de los 90 estará hablando, y a mí qué me importa?). Diría que en este recopilatorio hay un 80% de chistes geek frente a un 20% de chistes nerd (lo que daría 1 estrella de 5, pero sube a 2 porque los chistes nerd son geniales). Es bastante habitual observar, en una persona que es geek por naturaleza y entra en una carrera científico-técnica, si esa persona se centra, una maduración que le transforma en nerd, haciendo que su exceso de energía malgastada en chorraditas (como conocer todos los estilos de peinado vulcanianos aparecidos alguna vez en una peli o serie de Star Trek) pase a dedicarse a temas más profundos (habiendo estudiado teleco y matemáticas, y habiendo sido profe universitario, lo he visto a menudo). Probablemente esto le haya ocurrido también a Randall Munroe, pues tomando viñetas suyas de los últimos años al azar, la probabilidad de que me parezcan buenas es muy superior al 20%.
En resumen: recomiendo la tira, pero no este libro. En todo caso merece la pena revisar sus "grandes clásicos" nerd de todas las épocas.
April 11, 2021
Very hit or mess unless you are very well-versed in science.
April 11, 2021
The perfect read for this rainy Sunday. Quick, clever, thought-provoking, and funny.
July 15, 2024
I picked this up for my ‘X’ book in my A to Z challenge.
This was very nerdy and most of the jokes went over my head. 😅 So much math. Lol. But I still really loved it and the simplistic drawing style was cool.
The introduction was also very interesting! It explained some of the authors background and how this comic series came to be.
This was very nerdy and most of the jokes went over my head. 😅 So much math. Lol. But I still really loved it and the simplistic drawing style was cool.
The introduction was also very interesting! It explained some of the authors background and how this comic series came to be.
January 21, 2019
i couldn't get some of them cause i'm not that into science , and those that i got i didn't really like
May 23, 2020
so many good comics in the book, love the way that the book is laid out with the alt text.
And I know it isn't really alt text, but that's what I've called it for years. So there.
And I know it isn't really alt text, but that's what I've called it for years. So there.
July 25, 2014
I have long been a fan of the XKCD web comic. I actually bought this book for my husband (who is also a big fan) right when it came out. I just finally sat down the other day and read it. It’s a collection of Munroe’s favorite XKCD comics. I definitely enjoyed reading it.
In the forward Munroe says he picked his favorite comics to put together in this first book. All proceeds from the book go to charity so that is pretty cool. You can read most of these comics on the web for free. However, there are additional comments throughout written in red that are pretty darn funny. There are also encrypted messages and the novelty of owning a book that is page numbered in Base 3.
Many of the jokes have some basis in science/math/physics. I do love math and enjoyed some of those jokes. Some of the physics jokes are a bit esoteric and me and my husband would both stare at them and go “huh”. Others frames deal with general relationship things or popular culture.
While it does help to have some background in math/science to enjoy a lot of these jokes...there are still a lot of pages and jokes that are just generally funny. One of my favorites was the graph of intelligence versus distance to a cute kitty. Another favorite was the one where he blackmails a book lover by threatening the book of a spine (I am obviously a huge book geek, so this had me laughing pretty hard).
This is definitely an adults only book, there is quite a bit of adult subject matter throughout...and yes you do see stick people having sex many times throughout the book. While that’s not really all that graphic (I mean they are stick people), there are definitely some adult themes to the material.
I thought the beginning of this book was less funny than the later entries. Not sure why, but I laughed a lot more at the comics at the end of this collection than the beginning.
Overall I really enjoyed this collection. Munroe’s collection of “What If” is due out later this year and I will definitely be picking that up as well. These are more in depth but still very funny episodes where Munroe applies science to crazy “What If” questions. I would definitely recommend picking up XKCD, Volume 0 if you are fan of the web comic. If you are at all a fan of science, math, and humor you should at least check out the web comic….it’s pretty hilarious.
In the forward Munroe says he picked his favorite comics to put together in this first book. All proceeds from the book go to charity so that is pretty cool. You can read most of these comics on the web for free. However, there are additional comments throughout written in red that are pretty darn funny. There are also encrypted messages and the novelty of owning a book that is page numbered in Base 3.
Many of the jokes have some basis in science/math/physics. I do love math and enjoyed some of those jokes. Some of the physics jokes are a bit esoteric and me and my husband would both stare at them and go “huh”. Others frames deal with general relationship things or popular culture.
While it does help to have some background in math/science to enjoy a lot of these jokes...there are still a lot of pages and jokes that are just generally funny. One of my favorites was the graph of intelligence versus distance to a cute kitty. Another favorite was the one where he blackmails a book lover by threatening the book of a spine (I am obviously a huge book geek, so this had me laughing pretty hard).
This is definitely an adults only book, there is quite a bit of adult subject matter throughout...and yes you do see stick people having sex many times throughout the book. While that’s not really all that graphic (I mean they are stick people), there are definitely some adult themes to the material.
I thought the beginning of this book was less funny than the later entries. Not sure why, but I laughed a lot more at the comics at the end of this collection than the beginning.
Overall I really enjoyed this collection. Munroe’s collection of “What If” is due out later this year and I will definitely be picking that up as well. These are more in depth but still very funny episodes where Munroe applies science to crazy “What If” questions. I would definitely recommend picking up XKCD, Volume 0 if you are fan of the web comic. If you are at all a fan of science, math, and humor you should at least check out the web comic….it’s pretty hilarious.
September 2, 2012
El inefable xkcd sale en papel, y no puedo menos que agradecerle su dedicación comprándome un libro. Xkcd.com, para los que no lo conozcan, es un cómic mal dibujado sobre temas científicos y/o frikis, en general. El autor es físico y a veces su frikismo supera ampliamente el mío, pero otras me siento plenamente identificado y admiro el inmenso ingenio del autor.
Todas la viñetas que salen en el libro han sido publicadas previamente en la red. Lo único que añade el autor son algunos comentarios y un larguísimo acertijo que se prolonga por todas las páginas del libro, compuesto de múltiples acertijos menores. Por si les pica la curiosidad, en los foros de xkcd lo resolvieron.
En resumen, un libro entretenido suponiendo, claro está, que nos guste el estilo de Randall Munroe.
Todas la viñetas que salen en el libro han sido publicadas previamente en la red. Lo único que añade el autor son algunos comentarios y un larguísimo acertijo que se prolonga por todas las páginas del libro, compuesto de múltiples acertijos menores. Por si les pica la curiosidad, en los foros de xkcd lo resolvieron.
En resumen, un libro entretenido suponiendo, claro está, que nos guste el estilo de Randall Munroe.
November 18, 2012
Randall Munroe got his degree in physics and went to work with the fine folks at NASA for a bit. He gave it all up to draw stick-figure webstrips three times a week. It was probably the best decision he could have made for himself and for geekdom. Seriously, if you haven't read xkcd and are reading this review, there's something wrong with you.
xkcd: volume 0 is a collection of most of his strips through 2008, along with some notes and puzzles he's written to go with. I got it as a part of the ebook Humble Bundle and enjoyed it immensely, even though I've read most of the strips before. Smart, geeky, and fun. http://xkcd.com/
xkcd: volume 0 is a collection of most of his strips through 2008, along with some notes and puzzles he's written to go with. I got it as a part of the ebook Humble Bundle and enjoyed it immensely, even though I've read most of the strips before. Smart, geeky, and fun. http://xkcd.com/
February 22, 2010
It's XKCD, but in paper form. All the geekiness, none of the monitor eyestrain. Since the originals of some of the early strips are lost, so this isn't a straight chronological listing of strips, but a collection of Munroe's favourites. The tooltip texts are all present, usually inserted below the strip, or in between panels, and there is new stuff as well, with some being commentary on strips, some random doodles and some random-looking codes that are probably very funny if I could be bothered decoding them. Which I can't.
March 10, 2010
The comics are as funny as ever but there are a few problems. Although the hover text (there may be a more technical name for it)is included, it's in unnecessarily tiny font and has inconsistent placement. Most of the time it's directly under the strip but sometimes it's between panels and more than once I really had to search for it because the font is so small it was easy to overlook.
I was also hoping for commentary with the comics. There is the occasional bit of commentary but it's very rare.
My favorite comic? The one about Penny Arcade.
I was also hoping for commentary with the comics. There is the occasional bit of commentary but it's very rare.
My favorite comic? The one about Penny Arcade.
November 16, 2012
I'm not geek enough to understand the math/science jokes in xkcd, but I do love the Firefly reference ones, and ones that make me smile wryly like this. Obviously, if you buy this book, you're paying for something that you can find easily online and for free -- and it's only a selection, and there's no guarantee that your favourite strips are in here... Still, it's a fun retrospective of xkcd and I found a couple I'd never come across before.
December 1, 2016
Extraordinariamente agudo y muy lúcido, aunque debo reconocer que necesité leer varias veces algunas viñetas para poder entenderlas. En ese sentido el cómic está pensado para nerds duros, de esos de la vieja escuela, que manejan un montón de referencias tanto de ciencias, matemáticas, computación y filosofía (entre otras disciplinas) como de la cultura pop. Recomendadísimo, aunque no es para nada una lectura ligera. Todo lo contrario, de hecho.
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