[PBF] Shortcut Express

Joined: 15 Jan 2005 Posts: 204

I like it. At first I didn't, but then it was explained in a way that made me like it.

From: Ghost4800 | Posted: 5/16/2006 5:02:29 PM | Message Detail
No, I think its like a failed train conductor, so he tapes fake train parts to his van, puts toy passengers inside and then commites suicide by driving off a cliff in his train/van

After looking at it like that, I approve!

Posted: Tue May 16, 2006 7:27 pm

I thought it must be they're all toys and some kid is doing this but we don't see him?

Posted: Tue May 16, 2006 7:30 pm

I read it and thought it was awful then stared at it for a few minutes and came to, basically, astrobus' friends conclusion and thought it was really funny.

Posted: Tue May 16, 2006 7:38 pm

I like that he is a failed conductor.

Also, do you notice the branches that are sort of shaped like train tracks?

Supports this theory even more! Not only did he attach train parts to his van but he made fake train tracks that lead off the cliff.

KREEES! Joined: 15 Oct 2005 Posts: 3107 Location: GTA, ON

sgower wrote:

I like that he is a failed conductor.

Also, do you notice the branches that are sort of shaped like train tracks?

Supports this theory even more! Not only did he attach train parts to his van but he made fake train tracks that lead off the cliff.

I thought those were just guardrails.

Posted: Tue May 16, 2006 7:47 pm

Th-that could be true.

Posted: Tue May 16, 2006 10:13 pm

That dude is insane! I love it! At first it seems like some cute story about a toy-ful adventure, then it turns out to be a sadly crazy old man commiting suicide.

I think the vehicle might actually be a converted ambulance? Maybe the insane assylum-mobile?

Also: The conducter reminds me of Sam from Today's Special.

Posted: Wed May 17, 2006 12:42 am

I think this is my new favorite PBF.

Joined: 13 Sep 2005 Posts: 1206 Location: Århus, Denmark

Man I just like the idea of driving off a cliff being considered a shortcut. It's very Indiana Jones-esque!

Joined: 17 Apr 2006 Posts: 6037 Location: 7th frame

What is "a failed train conductor"? I have no experiences with the slings and arrows of operating a steam locomotive.

Posted: Wed May 17, 2006 10:39 am

I expect engineering a train would be much harder than driving a truck. Sure, you just have to push "forward" or "back" but you also have to get on the right track at the fork, because it takes a lot longer to stop and you don't want to be crashing into anything.

At any rate, if you don't like suicide, maybe you can imagine there's a big pink air cushion at the bottom of the cliff or something. I dunno, I thought it was kind of depressingly funny (as all the best ones are.)

Posted: Wed May 17, 2006 11:41 am

Another very important part of becoming a train conductor is proving you are not absolutely batshit crazy and won't derail a train as a "shortcut".

Joined: 19 Feb 2005 Posts: 3741 Location: Cumming

maybe thats the part of the test he failed

Joined: 09 Feb 2006 Posts: 8409

I got the impression that the "guardrail" was a set of traintracks, and that he had already crashed a real train full off people off it. He was the only survivor, making him 'batshit crazy' and led him to drive a van, filled with dolls with a cardboard funnel taped on the hood, off the same cliff.

Joined: 19 Jul 2005 Posts: 5828 Location: Los Angeles, CA

I think it is about dating angst.

Posted: Wed May 17, 2006 3:29 pm

I think this one is just too vague, and not enjoyable for any reason other than the nice art.

Posted: Wed May 17, 2006 3:40 pm

The DL wrote:

Another very important part of becoming a train conductor is proving you are not absolutely batshit crazy and won't derail a train as a "shortcut".

Did you know you have to be able to hang onto a train for 15 minutes as part of the engineer test?

Joined: 12 Feb 2006 Posts: 76

Like, hang on to the outside of it with one hand while the train zooms along at 80 miles per hour?

Posted: Wed May 17, 2006 4:11 pm

You can use 2 hands, I think, and the train is still, but I believe the point is that one day you may need to hang on to a moving train.

Posted: Wed May 17, 2006 7:19 pm

SimonBob wrote:

you also have to get on the right track at the fork

But that isn't even the engineer's responsibilty. Someone outside the train has to operate the switches.

Posted: Wed May 17, 2006 7:56 pm

The Famous Mr. Klaw wrote:

I think this one is just too vague, and not enjoyable for any reason other than the nice art.

I agree, although a lot of people around here seem to enjoy making up setups which make the punchline funny.

The art was very pretty, at any rate.

Joined: 12 Jul 2005 Posts: 1049 Location: Da Holy Land

I didn't get this one's text either. I understood it the way Aristob's friend did, but that didn't strike me as funny (or otherwise emotion-inspiring) in any way.

Posted: Thu May 18, 2006 6:34 am

Okay, guys, the primary theory on laughter is the incongruity theory, whose proponets include Cicero, Kant, Santayana, Hegel, Schopenhauer and Kierkegaard.

The reason this comic is funny is because the first panel leads you to belive the man is a train conductor, however, the second panel seems a touch incongruous with this as his train appears to be full of stuffed animals. Next the incongruity is confirmed when we notice that our assumptions based on the first panel, that the man is a driving a train, are completely out of whack and that he is actually an insane person commiting suicide, involving stuffed animals which also seems incongruous. It is sets up a expectations then changes them, thereby making it incongruous.

Here's the catch though, it has to be a "painless contradiction". So, if all you "haters" are empathizing with the "train conductor" of course it isn't going to be funny when he dies.

Posted: Thu May 18, 2006 7:24 am

What if I am empathizing with the stuffed animals, The DL, I mean they are the innocent victims here.

Posted: Thu May 18, 2006 9:02 am

Stuffed animals don't have emotions for you to understand and relate to, Squidd.

Joined: 12 Jul 2005 Posts: 1049 Location: Da Holy Land

What do you know about stuffed animals anyway huh

Posted: Thu May 18, 2006 9:32 am

A stuffed animal is a inanimate representation of an animal made with either fabric or synthetic material then stuffed with cotton or a sythetic stuffer. Due to their lack of brain they do not possess the ability to form thoughts, emotions, and opinions. And that, Smajie, is just the begining of my stuffed animal knowledge.

Joined: 12 Jul 2005 Posts: 1049 Location: Da Holy Land

okay maybe just a little teeny bit of awe

Posted: Thu May 18, 2006 10:56 am

The tale of this engineer is incredibly funny to me, but the comic itself doesn't add up in a way that automatically feels good. It'd be nice if we KNEW he was insane...or if his insanity caused a complication that was worth its weight in sadness. I don't know.

Joined: 19 Feb 2005 Posts: 3741 Location: Cumming

i'm still not sure i get it but this is my conclusion:

the shortcut is a shortcut through life, straight to death (suicide)
those are actually railroad tracks, but they just lead to a cliff
the conductor dies and becomes the CONDUCTOR OF THE TRAIN IN HAPPY FANTASY WORLD! woooooooo
stuffed animals have souls in happy fantasy world but sometimes you can find them in reality, too.