Which are the most popular cartoons on academia?

Question

I find self-criticism and irony are strong means to communicate genuinely and involve people who are not necessarily expert in a field.

As cartoons offer a quick yet poignant way to describe how academia works, I am wondering which cartoons on academia are the most popular. I am interested in particular on cartoons which may highlight the true spirit of academic life and academic hierarchy.

A simple Google search for "cartoon academia" yields 580,000 hits, with the first image posted being a New Yorker cartoon by David Sipress. Is such ranking correct?

I'm not a regular in Academia, so take this with a grain of salt, but this kind of question is broadly considered off-topic on SE (a list question, aka "Primarily Opinion-Based"). — Dan Bron, Jan 25 '17 at 12:42
Yes, you need to be more specific, because taste varies. That being said, xkcd and PhDComics are good starting points. — Captain Emacs, Jan 25 '17 at 12:47
@DanBron I see your point. However, it could be an interesting set of Q/A. Indeed, I was inspired by this CV post: http://stats.stackexchange.com/questions/423/what-is-your-favorite-data-analysis-cartoon — Giuseppe Biondi-Zoccai, Jan 25 '17 at 12:55
@DanBron I think that in this case the list is so limited that it could be considered on-topic. — Massimo Ortolano, Jan 25 '17 at 13:28
@MassimoOrtolano: I beg to disagree. I alone know at least a dozen possible answers to this question. — Wrzlprmft, Jan 25 '17 at 13:50

score 3 · Answer 1 · answered Jan 25 '17 at 13:14

3

xykademiqz

Not to be confused with

xkcd

Both very good. This is one of my favourites from xykademiqz:

answered Jan 25 '17 at 13:14

C26

2,523
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score 2 · Answer 2 · edited Feb 21 '19 at 07:47

As a graduate student, I personally enjoy PHD Comics. They humorously (and often painfully) give a realistic picture of academic life from a grad student/postdoc's perspective.

Exhibit A:

_{(source: phdcomics.com)}

They're often used here in similar context to "obligatory xkcd" references. Relatedly, xkcd is another comic I enjoy, slightly less relevant to academia, but often containing references to academic situations.

Which are the most popular cartoons on academia?

2 Answers2