Half-Knife: The Winners

Yes, yes, yes, Jesus Christ, I know last week’s ‘Shop challenge subject was itself a Photoshop. Thank you for all the sniffy #corrections, like I think Gabe Newell was actually tipping off Half-Life 3. The point of this wasn’t to present an actual rumor. It was to make an actual rumor funnier, which winner Ryan did—twice!—along with 18 others in the latest ‘Shop Contest.

Where to begin? Some of these need additional context. Bossun (1) is playing on Nedry’s password-fail screen from Jurassic Park, if you don’t get that reference. GiantBoyDetective (2) is referencing a golden oldie from The Simpsons with his. seivewright (15) provides a Skyrim mashup, from his own screenshot, that was just too beautiful to leave out.

While I’m not a big fan of ‘Shops that need captions or a lot of words to make their joke, justink (5) got a chortle out of me with his whiteboard instructions, and his MS Paint scrawl is perfect handwriting for a knife-bearing maniac. Ryan (12) also turned in a wonderful ransom note. Callbacks? Multiple-finalist Kazaxat (6) pays homage to our most recent contest, while schnide (14) goes back to a golden oldie from the summer. No Asshole Dog or Bad Dudes, making me sad.

Overall winners? Pan1da7 (10) turned in a highly detailed rendering of Gabe as Peter Griffin. Graywing (4) presenting Gabe as a carnival knife-thrower with a headcrabbed assistant was also an inspired ‘Shop. But my overall winner is again Ryan, who I think is the first one to cop two finalist entries and the overall best. I couldn’t leave out the ransom note, and when I saw Gabe as Bill Cutting leading the Natives in Gangs of New York, I couldn’t stop laughing.

Bravo to all who entered. We’ll have a new ‘Shop challenge for you tomorrow.

Bossun

Chike X

GiantBoyDetective

Graywing

justink

kazaxat

laxbenderman

Lemon_Nibs

MrEcko

pan1da7

riggs