Reviews
by Jeff
Image text: I plugged in this lamp and my dog went rigid, spoke a sentence of perfect Akkadian, and then was hurled sideways through the picture window. Even worse, it's one of those lamps where the switch is on the cord.
This comic couldn't be more true. When shopping for anything via reviews, whether it be electronics or even something as simple as lamps like the comic demonstrates, one negative review can spoil a lot of positive reviews. That hits home even more if the review is specific. This usually occurs because humans attach more weight to anecdotes and specific stories. This comic points out the absurdity of paying attention to those reviews. The 2nd frame starts out normal and then proceeds to get more and more absurd all the way to the image text.
In the image text, Akkadian is an extinct Semitic language that was spoken in ancient Mesopotamia.
Worst-Case Shopping
by Jeff
Image text: Wait a minute. If I'm escaping from a submarine at 50 meters, then I'll *definitely* need a flashlight to find air pockets for gradual decompression on the way up. Time to start shopping professional dive lights.
In this comic, Cueball is dreaming up reasons he should get a flashlight that is water resistant up to 40 meters instead of 10 meters. (As an aside, I think the same things when I'm shopping for watches... why the heck would I need it to to be water resistant over 10 feet?)
In the dream sequence over the first 2 and a half frames, Cueball appears to be escaping from a submarine or ship or some crash and diving 8 meters to find a key. His flashlight goes out at 10 meters because he bought the "Hi-Brite" model. Also, for some reason, the dream sequence references a "radio shed", which were only really used in the past for ham radios. I'm not sure why Cueball's dream sequence involves going into the past where radio sheds would be more prevalent.
The image text takes Cueball's thought process to the next level, because if he is getting a flashlight that works to 40 meters, he should probably be prepared for even deeper waters as well.