Editing 427: Bad Timing

{{comic
| number    = 427
| date      = May 23, 2008
| title     = Bad Timing
| image     = bad_timing.png
| titletext = Protip: Even without the red spiders, never have that conversation halfway through a balloon ride.
}}

==Explanation==
[[Cueball]] breaks up with [[Megan]] in the middle of a {{w|hot air balloon}} ride. Then {{w|Non sequitur (literary device)|the red spiders attack}}. 

The red spiders are among the earliest xkcd [[characters]], first appearing in [[8: Red spiders]].

As the protip in the title text states, a break-up conversation while you are stranded in an inaccessible location is very poor manners. Also, the suggestion may be interpreted that breaking up in a hot air balloon is a very dangerous way to do it; the reaction may result in one or both parties falling out of the basket, or at least make the remainder of the flight very awkward.

This was the first comic to give a ''protip'' in the title text, but several have followed, as can be seen in the [[:Category:Protip|protip category]].

The full series of [[:Category:Red Spiders|Red Spiders]] comics:
*[[8: Red Spiders]], the first one.
*[[43: Red Spiders 2]], in which the spiders begin building.
*[[47: Counter-Red Spiders]], in which the humans begin a counter-offensive.
*[[126: Red Spiders Cometh]], in which the spiders attack a city.
*[[427: Bad Timing]], this one.
*[[442: xkcd Loves the Discovery Channel]], in which it appears briefly in the 14th panel crawling over a cube.

==Transcript==
:[Cueball and Megan, flying in a hot air balloon.]
:Cueball: I like you. I'm just not feeling the relationship.

:Cueball: I'm sorry.

:Cueball: It's just bad timing. Me with my classes, you with your work, the spiders...
:Megan: The what?

:[Red Spiders crowd onto the balloon, causing it to fall. Cueball and Megan look panicked.]

{{comic discussion}}
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Megan]]
[[Category:Red Spiders]]
[[Category:Comics with color]]
[[Category:Romance]]
[[Category:Protip]]
[[Category:Animals]]