I've got a special treat. It's not Fruit Roll-Ups.

April 13, 2007 6:48 AM

Mother fucking bird flu! Asher Sarlin just made me laugh so hard, I think a little bit of poop came out. Be sure to check out Social Studies Fighter II Turbo, nobody needs a venti and what the world would look like if orange juice didn't taste terrible right after you brushed your teeth.
posted by jbickers (55 comments total)

LEAST OVERSOLD UNFUNNY CARTOON EVAR!!!!!!!!!

The other were OK, though.
posted by DU at 6:53 AM on April 13, 2007

god that's terrible.

no seriously, it's not funny at all.
posted by T.D. Strange at 6:56 AM on April 13, 2007

What I found interesting is that the cartoon's supplementary blog actually has a post about it's creepy counterpart-url, which is also a AskMe question today.

Is this a weird coincidence or did you find this site in some backwards way via the AskMe post, jbickers?
posted by like_neon at 6:59 AM on April 13, 2007

Is this a weird coincidence or did you find this site in some backwards way via the AskMe post, jbickers?

Yes, the AskMe question wasn't getting enough action, so I was digging around, and found this stuff infinitely more pleasurable than all the infanticide stuff.
posted by jbickers at 7:00 AM on April 13, 2007

"its" not "it's"!
I know it's lame to waste a comment like this but I can't stand the idea of the Mefigrammar police grimacing at my post. ;)
posted by like_neon at 7:00 AM on April 13, 2007

Yeah, but now we're going to grimace at your post and your overeager correction.

*grimaces twofold*
posted by cortex at 7:03 AM on April 13, 2007

I found them very funny.
posted by cowbellemoo at 7:05 AM on April 13, 2007

I had the opposite reaction. I was pooping real hard when I read this, and I laughed a little.
posted by breezeway at 7:05 AM on April 13, 2007 [3 favorites]

fuck those are awful
posted by docpops at 7:06 AM on April 13, 2007

These are almost as bad as Al Roker's Cartoons...and while those are just unbelievably bad, these fall short and are simply awful.
posted by baphomet at 7:08 AM on April 13, 2007 [1 favorite]

Based on my smiles from a couple you linked to I checked out the archives. 2 minutes of unsmiling scrolls later, I closed the tab.
posted by DU at 7:11 AM on April 13, 2007 [1 favorite]

the giant tip jar at the bottom for that low-effort shit was funny. is that the joke? if that's the joke, it's clever. kinda.
posted by dong_resin at 7:24 AM on April 13, 2007

Oh my god, I couldn't stop laughing at how horrible the Al Roker cartoons are. My phone was ringing and I had to stop and compose myself before I could answer it. The Asher Sarlin cartoons are terrible too, but I like the way he draws block letters, so he has that going for him.
posted by iconomy at 7:24 AM on April 13, 2007

Um, yeah. This is right up there with Family Circus, User Friendly, and the Standard Plumbing Supply Catalog.
posted by Foosnark at 7:35 AM on April 13, 2007

And Marmaduke!
posted by ORthey at 7:41 AM on April 13, 2007

I liked Social Studies Fighter but not enough to keep going back.
posted by phearlez at 7:46 AM on April 13, 2007

Seriously, that's what it means? No, you're making that up. You're not making that up? REALLY?! WOW! I really didn't know what that word meant and that's really, really funny!
posted by Terminal Verbosity at 7:52 AM on April 13, 2007

I was kind of hoping it would be a standup-comic type deal, or maybe just an audio rant. Because Social Studies Street Fighter II Turbo had some potential. Alas.
posted by Skorgu at 7:53 AM on April 13, 2007

In this cartoon, the bird is using "bird flu" as an comical metaphor for his high level of skill. He is wearing Michael Jordan's jersey and a Chicago Bulls cap. Presumably, the character represents a fan of Jordan, not Jordan himself, because Michael Jordan is a human being. Given the popularity of basketball-themed wear among urban youth, and the presence of a microphone in the bird's hand, we may reasonably infer that the bird is acting in the role of an "M.C." at some sort of rapping exhibition. His slanted cap, the wing on his crotch, and the angle of the wing holding the microphone indicate a confident attitude, while the unusual twist of his head and sight smile betrayed by his beak convey that we, the audience, are also "in on the joke." Bird flu may be a dangerous disease which has killed many people and inspired widespread panic, but this bird has taken the topical news item and used it as a form of urban slang. The humor of the cartoon is created by the unexpected disparity between the seriousness of the topic and the unusual context in which it is presented.
posted by designbot at 7:53 AM on April 13, 2007 [5 favorites]

See, you build it up that much, you're pretty much guaranteed to get people coming in here saying "Shit, that ain't funny!" - and now, having read those comics after that build up?

Shit, that ain't funny!
posted by antifuse at 8:01 AM on April 13, 2007

designbot- just because a gag has elements of humor does not make it funny, or good, or laughable. Gag which have the stylings of humor (such as these cartoons) but are not actually funny (such as these cartoons) are commonly known as "flops".
posted by baphomet at 8:13 AM on April 13, 2007

C'mon, that shit's funny. Stop overthinking the plate of beans.
posted by mkultra at 8:17 AM on April 13, 2007

How about B.C. or the Lockhorns for bad? Bad and long running.
posted by sparkzy at 8:24 AM on April 13, 2007

Add Red Bull energy drinks to the list of things that taste like SO2 after brushing. Worse than O.J.!
posted by winks007 at 8:30 AM on April 13, 2007

baphomet, you're you're plate-of-beansing designbot's plate of beans.
posted by iconomy at 8:32 AM on April 13, 2007

I added that extra you're on purpose.
posted by iconomy at 8:33 AM on April 13, 2007

In my previous comment, the characteristics of a scenario presented in an apparently simple cartoon have been explicated in detail. A great deal of attention has paid to describing and interpreting the humorous structure of the cartoon. The irony of this is that the joke being analyzed is, in fact, quite simple, and would generally be considered unworthy of such detailed analysis. This style is an homage to the previously-discussed in-depth analysis of Marmaduke cartoons by "Joe Mathlete." The disparity between the thoughtful analysis and the simplistic drawing and writing style of the cartoon is intended to invoke an amused, or at least appreciative reaction, in the form of comment favorites.
posted by designbot at 8:37 AM on April 13, 2007

OK db, you earned it.
posted by lyam at 8:48 AM on April 13, 2007

Nope, not funny.
posted by rxrfrx at 8:53 AM on April 13, 2007

I kept clicking random areas of the cartoon to see if I could get it to do something other than suck.
posted by Wonderwoman at 8:56 AM on April 13, 2007 [4 favorites]

Most of them don't raise much in the way of a chuckle, but this one, that I've seen reproduced lots of places on the web, always makes me smile.
posted by hydatius at 9:05 AM on April 13, 2007

"I think a little bit of poop came out."

Do we have to hear about each other's bowel habits? If so I'll describe mine.
posted by davy at 9:11 AM on April 13, 2007

I enjoyed the Social Studies one, simply because I've been telling my stepsons for years that I have my own private X-Box with such games as "Ben Franklin's Electric Chaos" and "Jane Austen Smackdown."
posted by Biblio at 9:30 AM on April 13, 2007

Ok, but only after davy spills.
posted by yerfatma at 9:43 AM on April 13, 2007

"I think a little bit of poop came out."

This meme has GOT TO STOP.
posted by Quartermass at 9:48 AM on April 13, 2007

Laughing doesn't make me poop. It makes me pee. Seriously, I get a good laugh going, and I just unzip my pants and whiz all over the place. That's how I let people know something is funny.
posted by jefbla at 9:51 AM on April 13, 2007

I think a little bit of poop came out is the new I think I just threw up in my mouth a little.
posted by iconomy at 10:00 AM on April 13, 2007

Hydatius beat me to it. I've seen this one around the net a few times, and I always laugh.
posted by Dr-Baa at 10:01 AM on April 13, 2007

i think i just pooped in my mouth a little.
posted by acid freaking on the kitty at 10:44 AM on April 13, 2007 [1 favorite]

i just threw up in my butt
posted by cortex at 10:49 AM on April 13, 2007

Elephantitis of the Mind always gets a chuckle out of me, but then again, I am dead inside and don't feel like I have to prove anything to internet strangers.
posted by Alvy Ampersand at 10:50 AM on April 13, 2007

Competing with the never-funny-even-one-time Penny Arcade strips for Favorite Unfunny Webcomic for Humorless IT Dorks.

It's a tie, methinks.
posted by Senor Cardgage at 11:18 AM on April 13, 2007

"I think a little bit of poop came out."

This meme has GOT TO STOP.

Here here.

At least it's (marginally) better than "I just threw up a little in my mouth"
posted by Senor Cardgage at 11:19 AM on April 13, 2007

Competing with the never-funny-even-one-time Penny Arcade strips for Favorite Unfunny Webcomic for Humorless IT Dorks.

It's a tie, methinks.

Don't say another Goddamn word. Up until now, I've been polite. If you say anything else- word one- I will kill myself. And when my tainted spirit finds its destination, I will topple the master of that dark place. From my black throne, I will lash together a machine of bone and blood, and fueled by my hated for you this fear engine will bore a hole between this world and that one.
When it begins, you will hear the sound of children screaming- as though from a great distance. A smoking orb of nothing will grow above your bed, and from it will emerge a thousand starving crows. As I slip through the widening maw in my new form, you will catch only a glimpse of my radiance before you are incinerated. Then, as tears of bubbling pitch stream down my face, my dark work will begin.
I will open one of my six mouths, and I will sing the song that ends the Earth.
posted by Dr-Baa at 11:21 AM on April 13, 2007 [4 favorites]

I pooped so hard a tiny little laugh came out. Of my butt.

That Viking working at Best Buy cartoon is almost as funny as those Capital One commercials where guys who look like Vikings work at stores that look like Best Buy.
posted by turducken at 11:28 AM on April 13, 2007

It's "hear, hear" because you are urging someone to listen, not calling a kitten, and furthermore, no one except Stan Lee is ever allowed to write the word "methinks" again, and most importantly, why let a little bit of poop come out when you can just crap all over the room? I have spoken.
posted by furiousthought at 11:46 AM on April 13, 2007

furiousthought doth protest too much, methinks.
posted by Dr-Baa at 11:58 AM on April 13, 2007

I am overmethinksing a plate of poopbeans.
posted by Divine_Wino at 12:16 PM on April 13, 2007

because then where would the poop come out of?
Oh, his mouth.

from The Frogs, "April Fools"
posted by breezeway at 12:16 PM on April 13, 2007

The comics? Not funny.

Cortex throwing up into his butt? Priceless. The thread has redeemed the post, yet again.
posted by grapefruitmoon at 12:40 PM on April 13, 2007

Christ, what an asshole?
posted by Hypnic jerk at 1:19 PM on April 13, 2007

A plate of beans is not funny. At all. Kind of like this.
posted by psmealey at 1:21 PM on April 13, 2007

The Sacagawea one is probably my favorite of these, although keep in mind that people usually agree that I'm pretty weird.

Peanut kick!
posted by metaly at 2:11 PM on April 13, 2007

Sweet sizzling christburgers. Dr. Baa - I always wanted that particular text from that particular comic and went so far as to look way-back-when for a transcript or the like. Did you just take the step I never did and transcribe it?

I cry with glee every time I read that last sentence.
posted by abulafa at 9:44 AM on April 14, 2007

Yeah, I transcribed it- I wrote it to a friend while IMing. Penny Arcade is mostly hit and miss with me, but that particular strip makes me LOL every time. ROFL, even.
posted by Dr-Baa at 8:21 AM on April 19, 2007