icanbarelydraw.com ripoff, tribute or parody?

[kyle__]

I recently came across this site: icanbarelydraw.com, and I'm trying to figure out what it is. It doesn't seem to be in the i-love-xkcd-but-am-too-cool-to-admit-it category like xkcdsucks.com.

Has anyone else come across this?

(can't post links, new member, ugh )

www.icanbarelydraw.com shash comic slash 533

[jakes1487]

In any case, if they're trying to rip xkcd off, they forgot to copy the most important part: their mouseover text is just the title of the comic.

[kyle__]

They seem to have forgotten the humor in a number of the comics as well.

[WolfieMario]

Thumbing through it, I think it's a ripoff. If it were a tribute, it would definitely mention xkcd (I haven't seen all the strips, but there's no text mention of xkcd on comic pages or the About page). If it were a parody/satire, and didn't choose to mention xkcd directly, then it would choose to imitate rather closely (i.e. similar name, alt-text, blatant mocking references to xkcd's themes and characters...) and would probably try to look stupid, sarcastic, or cynical for the sake of being stupid, sarcastic, or cynical. In other words, it would be clearly mocking xkcd, unless they're just that bad at it.

Looking at this strip, parody may seem like an option, as xkcdsucks likes to complain that some strips have no punchline. But I think the author's only mocking themselves, somewhat like the tongue-in-cheek title of the comic itself. Also, strips like this seem to have scarcely any similarity to xkcd, whether tribute or parody. Randall seldom does strips focusing entirely on a particular company, but this guy does it for a large percent of his strips.

My guess is it's just someone who saw xkcd, liked it, and said "I bet I could do something like this"

[philsov]

Hitting random a few times, I came across this comic which was nice enough to reference xkcd by name. It's in the uncanny valley between derivative and original.

[eSOANEM]

Thumbing through it, I think it's a ripoff. If it were a tribute, it would definitely mention xkcd (I haven't seen all the strips, but there's no text mention of xkcd on comic pages or the About page).

I got a "inspired by" vibe off it, particularly the "webcomic featuring technology, romance and odd behaviour" tagline so I'm going to have to call Hanlon's razor on the "it would definitely mention xkcd" claim.

[sockpoppet]

Being a stick-figure comic with "technology, romance, and odd behavior" doesn't mean it's an xkcd ripoff. In any case, it's a new webcomic in my bookmarks (at least for a few weeks).

Now I just need to figure out why the comic numbers seem to jump randomly.

[eSOANEM]

Now I just need to figure out why the comic numbers seem to jump randomly.

I've noticed this archive binging a few comics. It usually seems to tie in with a rough release schedule (and have larger jumps after a hiatus) so I think it's some sort of encoded date. At least, that's what it seems to have been the other times I've seen it.