# XKCD webcomic

25 Hacker News commenters recommended XKCD webcomic and 8 criticized it, November 2025 to November 2026. It was recommended in 10 of 13 months. It meets the Hacker Approved badge rule.

**Verdict:** Long-running webcomic people praise for clever, thoughtful humor and a fun interactive physics toy. Critics say the applet's physics is buggy and some later comics feel less funny.

## Why people recommend it

- Clever, thoughtful humor (4 comments): "I sincerely regard Zach Weinersmith (and also separately Randall Munroe) as two of the most pertinent voices in modern philosophy." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49133216)) "I still feel plenty of seeds would get planted along the way for more critical thinking later in life." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49009537)) "The cartoon is criticizing the same operation the article is doing." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49315772))
- Fun, delightful interactive physics toy (4 comments): "I like that I can fling a block vertically up off the top of the frame and it reappears even 5+ seconds later." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47238288)) "I love that the thing of itself is completely unstable once you click somewhere to start the simulation" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47239654)) "Too delightful. Like a reverse jenga tower you like to topple over." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47231028))
- Long-running classic comic (2 comments): "Also that XKCD comic is a classic. Love it." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49518108)) "He's right up there with XKCD in my mind." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46226378))

## What people warn about

- Buggy, unstable physics applet (4 comments): "the weird physics are mildly infuriating. still funny though" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47231501)) "it wouldn't collapse by itself after clicking anywhere" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47231093)) "it times out after 1 minute and gives up" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47236038))
- Humor landed poorly for some (2 comments): "until around 2016 when they stopped being objectively good" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46020715)) "that xkcd is "not funny" to me in that sense" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46239536))
- Some comics have shaky facts (2 comments): "I’m not sure the color extrapolation to pus is justified." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49985169)) "The math on the xkcd is just wrong tbh." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48601774))
- Site awkward on desktop and iOS (2 comments): "I did experience jankyness when trying to use the back button on Safari on iOS." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47236365)) "the desktop site is way too zoomed out" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46054025))

## Alternatives hackers recommend

- [Dilbert by Scott Adams](https://hackerapproved.com/p/dilbert.md): 77 recommend
- [Calvin and Hobbes by Bill Watterson](https://hackerapproved.com/p/calvin-and-hobbes.md): 71 recommend
- [Peanuts by Charles M. Schulz](https://hackerapproved.com/p/peanuts.md): 14 recommend

## Cite as

Hacker Approved, "XKCD webcomic", https://hackerapproved.com/p/xkcd-thing/ (counts from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026).