I’m not trying to be lazy here, but there isn’t much to talk about when it comes to Cyanide & Happiness, the webcomic on the eclectic site explosm.net. It’s not that the comic is predictable–or maybe it is.
Before I try to explain that last comment, I do want to warn you that this webcomic might not be for everyone, as it often hits topics that are controversial, violent, scatological, offensive, or simply weird. In other words: this is not a webcomic for children–I’d probably rate it “R” (17 or older).
I realize, then, that is possibly what makes it predictable: the comic’s humor rarely deviates from those tropes. There are no stories and rarely is there even cleverness (and by that I mean the comic doesn’t try to make jokes out of word-play or subtle humor–its goal seems to be to hit you over the head, and either make you so uncomfortable that you giggle to relieve the tension, or so unsure of what’s going on that…you giggle to relieve the tension).
Yet, I think that’s why I like it so much. Cyanide & Happiness has no pretensions. It is crude and in your face and is as likely to sacrifice sacred cows as it is to come up with some original piece of funny.
Clearly the art is terrible–whereas comics like xkcd and MS Paint Adventures go out of their way to stretch the limits of what you can do with stick figures and simple line art, Cyanide comes across as “we’re not artists, we don’t pretend to be artists” and leave it at that.
Again, though, the art kind of works for the absurdity that the various writers/artists want for their jokes. In other words, since the art is childish, the filthy things coming out of these panels has an even rougher impact–which I find makes them funnier.
Some of the strips miss–but that’s true of pretty much any webcomic. Also–in its favor–there are no continuity issues you need to be aware of (for the most part; there are some recurring characters that it might help if you’ve seen their first appearance, but the writers are actually pretty good at helping out with context), which means you can check it out at any time. I find the “Random” feature a great way to bounce around and sort through the Archive.
I think the last reason I like it so much is because it reminds me of the classic Dan Hertzfeldt animated movie, Rejected:
Once more, though: Cyanide & Happiness is not for everyone, and I wouldn’t recommend it to everyone. But if you like crude, in-your-face humor and aren’t easily offended, I think this might be for you. I know I can spend enough work hours flipping through the strips.
(One last note: going to the site does result in a pop-up. It’s an annoyance, but it’s also a way that the webcomic is able to be a viable medium. I apologize, but it’s the nature of web-business).
Images taken from explosm.net–Cyanide and Happiness © Explosm.net
