One-Two Punchline

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Twice is nice! Right?

A comic trope in which either the two last panels of a strip each contain a punchline, or the last panel contains double the punchlines for double the fun. May Cross the Line Twice, but doesn't necessarily need to. The penultimate panel is often a sight gag, and if this is true, then the last panel may add a spoken punchline to this.

Related to Escalating Punchline. For webcomics, Alt Text is frequently used as a way to convey the second punchline.

Examples of One-Two Punchline include:

Newspaper Comics

  • Often used in Pearls Before Swine, especially in the pun strips.
  • Calvin and Hobbes: Bill Watterson was fond of these, with Hobbes adding another punchline on the far right of the last panel, often a mockery or lampshade hanging on what Calvin was saying.
  • FoxTrot is fond of this.
  • Doonesbury was the first newspaper comicstrip to regularly use this, and was directly or indirectly the inspiration for most modern uses.
  • The "two punchlines in last panel" variation is frequently seen in Cul De Sac.

Web Comics