No One Was Hurt

Comic  (July 6, 2022)

No One Was Hurt

Title text: See how the smoke obscures things so you don't see the approaching tornado until the firework streamers start to swirl right before the lightning hits the launcher. Thank God Cousin Ed was filming in slow motion. And, uh, that no one was hurt.

Explanation

This explanation may be incomplete or incorrect: Created by a FIREWORK TORNADO - Please put citations into context better. Please change this comment when editing this page. Do NOT delete this tag too soon. If you can address this issue, please edit the page! Thanks.

This comic was originally uploaded normally on the xkcd website as number 2642, before being taken down and replaced by 2642: Meta-Alternating Current. This was most likely done in response to the wave of shootings across the country during the celebrations, including a deadly mass shooting at the parade in Highland Park, Illinois which was recorded on video where people were injured and killed. So, a comic about 4th of July celebrations where someone could have been hurt can be seen as in bad taste.

Ponytail is about to show Cueball and Megan a video of a dramatic accident from a 4th of July celebration with fireworks, in which nobody ended up harmed. Randall suggests that being told nobody got hurt implies such a video will be particularly interesting or exciting. This is because if the disclaimer is needed, it implies that there was a certain degree of peril created by the events in the video, and this would typically create excitement for the viewer. Here is an example video in which probably no one was hurt.

The title text describes a particularly dramatic fireworks show interrupted by a tornado and thunderstorm, the joke being that the speaker seems more appreciative that it was recorded in slow-motion video than that nobody was harmed.

Citations

The Wikipedia article "Mass shootings in the United States" lists mass shootings in the USA, "List of mass shootings in the United States in 2022" more thoroughly lists those that happened in 2022, "Highland Park parade shooting" details the specific shooting in Illinois, and "Mass shootings in the United States" discusses US mass shootings instead of just listing them. The Gun Violence Archive website tracks mass shootings in the USA.

Transcript

[Ponytail is showing her phone to Cueball and Megan.]

Ponytail: Okay, first of all, no one was hurt...

[Caption below the panel]: How you know you're about to see a really good 4th of July video

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Discussion

I suppose we should look through e.g. r/Fireworksgonewrong for a few big ones that claim nobody was hurt. [1] is okay, but I think that one where the launcher tipped over and fired directly into the crowd only resulted in minor burns.... 172.70.207.8 02:34, 7 July 2022 (UTC)

If you mean Simi Valley 2013, that had 28 injuries including broken bones(!) Here's one sort of like it without any injuries from Monday, but the video isn't too impressive: [2]. 172.70.210.125 02:45, 7 July 2022 (UTC)

[3] is decent, but the video starts too early and ends too soon. 172.70.214.81 03:04, 7 July 2022 (UTC)

It appears the comic was taken down. It showed on rss feeds but isn't on the website anymore. Guessing this is because of the Illinois terrorism incident at their parade. Is it worth mentioning that the comic is no longer up?

Yep, it just got replaced by a new one. Clam (talk) 04:10, 7 July 2022 (UTC)

Is this (and/or the vandalism I see in the history) why the redirects are now from the "####: Title" to the "Title" page, rather than the usual other way? 172.70.91.62 06:18, 7 July 2022 (UTC)

...ah, I see. We have another new comic, taking that number, this one is an orphan. I didn't read further up the page-changes before diving in to 'correct' something. Looks like the vandal is back and annoyed at the page covering his antics being deleted, though. 172.70.90.3

...also also: the Talk page for the new mainstream-numbered page hasn't been created yet by anyone with an actual account. I hope someone obliges before I forget what it is I wanted fo say... ;) 172.70.90.173 07:17, 7 July 2022 (UTC)