Meme-worthy panels

[understatement]

I realized that my lifetime allotment of dumb thread ideas hasn't been spent yet, so --

what are the most meme-worthy panel(s) in this comic? (apart from the Julio Scoundrel one)

And if that question makes you lose too many brain cells, what's a good strip that will hook the attention of someone who values art and story but is willing to hold out on the art for the sake of the story? (preferably with little spoilers) I'm thinking the Holyword strip, but it might be too out of context.

[Elanasaurus]

Anything can be memed. This forum is fond of their Miko and Hilgya moral justification memes, and things like the MitD, Haley's mom, Redcloak's niece, etc. As for choosing a specific panel, I think panel 5 of #1155 is quite good.

[Mightymosy]

I never really understood what a meme is, so my brain already is puzzled.....

I guess what you mean is a scene you can picture on say, a T-Shirt, which is so cool that I might want to read where that scene came from?

If so, I think the best panel ever, one that encompasses everything that is good and fine about the comic, is the one with
"Help! I'm being attacked by magic-wielding hookers" (for a pic on a shirt, I'd put that text on the picture where the three break into the room and the dwarf rogue is afraid of them - in the comic it is painted a little differently, but putting a whole strip on a shirt doesn't work as well)
Best scene, from best arc easily. One of the strips that still gives me a smile after all these years. Heck, smiling even now just remembering it. :-)

[MoiMagnus]

I never really understood what a meme is, so my brain already is puzzled.....

I guess what you mean is a scene you can picture on say, a T-Shirt, which is so cool that I might want to read where that scene came from?

If so, I think the best panel ever, one that encompasses everything that is good and fine about the comic, is the one with
"Help! I'm being attacked by magic-wielding hookers" (for a pic on a shirt, I'd put that text on the picture where the three break into the room and the dwarf rogue is afraid of them - in the comic it is painted a little differently, but putting a whole strip on a shirt doesn't work as well)
Best scene, from best arc easily. One of the strips that still gives me a smile after all these years. Heck, smiling even now just remembering it. :-)

Meme is more like a movie's quote you can put in a lot of unrelated context and it will have a reasonable meaning, like "elementary, my dear Watson" or "I have a bad feeling about this", except that there is an image with text instead of just a quote.

For example, I think that any of the panel with "SNEAK ATTACK!!" could probably be a reasonable meme.

In more advanced memes, you actually modify the image and/or the text, while keeping it near enough to the original one for people to still recognize it (the equivalent for movie quotes would be to say "elementary, my dear Trump")

Note that a very important point of a meme is actually to be used and reproduced by a lot of peoples, even peoples that don't know the original reference (meme literally mean "the same" in French, so reference the fact that a lot of people use the same image). Before that, that's just a funny image with a text, or a failed meme.

[littlebum2002]

I guess what you mean is a scene you can picture on say, a T-Shirt, which is so cool that I might want to read where that scene came from?

Close, but not quite. A meme would be a panel from the strip with a humorous reaction, so that you can add different captions to the strip. A really bad example (but the first one I can think of) would be the scene with Bozzok on ice, and can be used along with different cold-related puns for captions.

[Mightymosy]

Hmmmm......how about

Who am I? Your mother? Go find a way to amuse yourself

Would that fit?

[The Aboleth]

I've always thought Shojo's last words were quite meme-able.

[Fyraltari]

Hmmmm......how about

Who am I? Your mother? Go find a way to amuse yourself

Would that fit?

We don't know. That's how memes work. They either get pick up or they don't.

"Kilroy was here" is the quintessential meme and nobody could have predicted that.

[Mightymosy]

We don't know. That's how memes work. They either get pick up or they don't.

"Kilroy was here" is the quintessential meme and nobody could have predicted that.

Don't know that one.

[Fyraltari]

Don't know that one.

It's a WWII meme. You've probably seen its variations as graffitti of "[X] was here".

[martianmister]

Panel 8.

Still relevant.

[KorvinStarmast]

Nod, get treat

[Aveline]

It's a WWII meme. You've probably seen its variations as graffitti of "[X] was here".

Technically I think it's "Kilroy was here" that's a variation upon "____ was here".

I read once that THE Kilroy was a foreman at a shipyard, and one of his duties was to tally the rivets driven in order to pay the riveters, and the riveters were deceiving him, so he wrote "Kilroy was here" on the ships's hulls to tell them he knew what they were up to so they would stop.

[Fyraltari]

Technically I think it's "Kilroy was here" that's a variation upon "____ was here".

I read once that THE Kilroy was a foreman at a shipyard, and one of his duties was to tally the rivets driven in order to pay the riveters, and the riveters were deceiving him, so he wrote "Kilroy was here" on the ships's hulls to tell them he knew what they were up to so they would stop.

So not a variation, then? Because "__ was here" is generally meant as boastfull, a meaning that appeared with Kilroy.

[Aveline]

So not a variation, then? Because "__ was here" is generally meant as boastfull, a meaning that appeared with Kilroy.

I'm not sure what you mean by "not a variation". Signing one's name as accomplishment is an ancient tradition.

[georgie_leech]

I'm not sure what you mean by "not a variation". Signing one's name as accomplishment is an ancient tradition.

Quite literally ancient.

[Mike Havran]

I realized that my lifetime allotment of dumb thread ideas hasn't been spent yet, so --

what are the most meme-worthy panel(s) in this comic? (apart from the Julio Scoundrel one)

And if that question makes you lose too many brain cells, what's a good strip that will hook the attention of someone who values art and story but is willing to hold out on the art for the sake of the story? (preferably with little spoilers) I'm thinking the Holyword strip, but it might be too out of context.

My favorite:

Their every move makes my victory more complete

[Takver]

So I think for a meme or reaction panel, you would want a panel that is easy to read and not too wordy, and that doesn't make any references that require knowing D&D or the comic to understand (no "in-jokes").

Toward the bottom of the second page of 896, a giant fist knocking while Blackwing shouts "YES! YES, YOU HEARD THAT!"

881, second panel, "This is it, isn't it? This is us losing. This is what us losing looks like."

816, second page second row, "Spoiler alert: They failed."

[littlebum2002]

Quite literally ancient.

Man that Secundus was quite a character.

[Son of A Lich!]

I think a meme requires an emotional resonance that you can apply elsewhere outside of it's use in the narrative. The more applicable the feeling or tone of the beat, the better the meme.

"Spoiler Alert: They Failed." works pretty well, because we've all seen bad things coming and were unable to stop it from happening. Like seeing a cop when you aren't wearing a seat belt and are hoping he doesn't notice you are speeding... saying "Spoiler Alert: They Failed" clearly communicates the idea that I was speeding and not wearing my seat belt, hoping the cop didn't pull me over... but alas, the cop did notice me and pulled me over.

I would also add to the list -

"Your approval Fills me with Shame"

"...And that would be Wrong"

"Extreme Apology accepted"

"Triple Fantasy! Triple Fantasy!"

"Hiding is my best feature"

"Ha ha! DOOM SEALED!"

[Mightymosy]

Your approval fills me with shame
is one of the best lines in the comic!

Let's see if I read the early strips again this evening. Those had A LOT or awesome lines :-)

[Phhase]

Tsukiko: "I mean, I really LOVE the undead."
Xykon: "Ugh, I'm not one of those disgusting Biophiliacs."

[Kardwill]

So not a variation, then? Because "__ was here" is generally meant as boastfull, a meaning that appeared with Kilroy.

not really "___ was here", but you can find Viking graffiti in St Sophia cathedral in Istambul, signaling that, indeed, a man named Halfdan was there during the 11th century ^^

And it can be counted as a meme, I think : They had the habit of engraving "XX carved these runes" pretty much everywhere they went.

[locksmith of lo]

i actually use the celestial tree sloth attack on my friends.


as well as the freedom song.

[KorvinStarmast]

Your approval fills me with shame

Yeah, it really scored when I first read it. Not sure how to memify it, but it's one of those great lines Rich comes up with.

[Resileaf]

I find that "TREE ATTACK! RUN FOR YOUR LIVES!" has potential.

[Aveline]

"I would just like to point out that my ghost will be both angry and vengeful, and will retain all of my spellcasting powers."

[Rhasimir]

"I would just like to point out that my ghost will be both angry and vengeful, and will retain all of my spellcasting powers."

I started re-reading from this strip, and remembered this gem:
http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0171.html
Your approval fills me with shame.

[Sniccups]

I’d go with “groggy, groggy, groggy” and the “semi-trained quasi-professionals” one.

[RatElemental]

Note that a very important point of a meme is actually to be used and reproduced by a lot of peoples, even peoples that don't know the original reference (meme literally mean "the same" in French, so reference the fact that a lot of people use the same image)

the word meme was actually coined by Richard Dawkins for the concept of a "social gene." Memes mutate and evolve and the more successful permutations become more well known and widespread, in a manner similar to evolution.

Technically under this definition, technology and culture in general are also memes, and this usage is what I imagine Richard had in mind when he came up with it.