Why I Am So Bald? (2007)

About

Penny Arcade is a webcomic created by Mike Krahulik and Jerry Holkins.

Posted below is the February 14, 2007 editon of the comic.

Although the characters Tycho and Gabe are loosely based upon the comic’s creators Krahulik and Holkins, it is a common misconception that they are meant to look like them. This is particularly evident given that Holkins is bald in real life.

Because of This IRL baldness, an Anon in 4chan’s /v/ created a photoshopped version of the comic above, but this time with a bald head.

Other references

Excerpt from the Lurkmore Wiki:

A /v/ meme that was created from an edit of a Penny Arcade comic. This meme has spawned numerous edits of Penny Arcade strips, referencing that Gabe and Tycho’s comic personas (which are usally mistaken for literal avatars) don’t look like their real selves, specifically Tycho’s lack of hair. Other associated quotes are “Why am I so pig-like in appearance?” and “Do you like the vidya games?” Currently, every single new Penny Arcade comic is subjected to a photo of “WHY I AM SO BALD?/WHY AM I SO BALD!?” This is one of /v/’s most popular memes.

Variations

Other images of a bald Tycho have been made, and other images with bald men have had the phrase “Why I am so bald” or “Why I am so bald” superimposed as a reference to the original shoop.

4chanarchive

Although most texts list /v/ as the board where the image was first posted, the original thread was not archived.

The original “I am” phrasing

Although not the original, one of the earliest instances of the phrase “Why I am so bald” in 4chanarchive.org comes from 4chan’s /a/ in thread 4132022 posted June 26th, 2007.

The phrase occurs in at least nine additional archived threads.

The “Am I” variant

One of the first archived instances of “Why am I so bald” in the 4chan archive comes from thread 23688991 entitled “mah boiiii” posted April 4th, 2007.

There are only two known “why am I so bald” theads archived from /v/.

• Thread 4385573 dutch ‘beauty and the geek’ contestant July 3rd, 2007
• Thread 6825831 360 kid October 4th, 2007

Google Insights:

Despite a peak of activity in 2007, searches for “why am I so bald” subsided early in 2008.

You can find the original comic here:
http://www.penny-arcade.com/comic/2007/02/14/