A missed opportunity.
Now every time I come across this copy of Richie Rich Vaults of Mystery #9 (March 1976), I get the urge to post it on this site and poke a little fun at Google:
‘Course, the thing that usually holds me back is the fact that the actual mathematical term “Googol” (a 1 followed by a hundred zeroes, a fact repeated constantly over the course of this story) is the one being used as the villain’s name.
So, sure, they sound the same, but they look different, which sorta undermines any joke I want to make. Like here:
Sure, it’s still a little funny when read aloud, picturing Google, Inc. as a mysterious red-hooded villian, but the spelling mutes the humor a tad.
Now check out this panel:
That’s just crying out for some kind of “Google is conquering the world, one user at a time” observation, but, again, it’s “googol,” not “Google.” That just seems like one step too many from effective usage in satirical parody.
Some people just don’t understand Google’s business plans, or corporate decisions, or what have you, and I’d like to illustrate that concept with a Richie Rich panel, but instead I have this:
And then there’s…well, feh, I like the idea of Google being unmasked at the end of story, like, say, Agatha Christie gathering all the cast into the library for the final revelation of the murderer. But instead we get:
The heck with it…God gave us Photoshop for a reason:
See…? Funnier.
Well, I think so, and it’s my weblog, so there.
And because you’re gonna ask…here’s who the Googol was:
Yes, the “100 Zeroes” story was related earlier in the comic.
And now the comic is out of my system. Whew.
[…] This post was mentioned on Twitter by Jeff Atwood and others. Jeff Atwood said: "Got you, Richie Rich! Nothing can stop the Googol now!" http://goo.gl/Wfd7N […]