What is Ha Ha Ha, Oh Wow?

A two-panel reaction meme built from a 1950 Adventures of Tintin comic strip, in which Captain Haddock laughs at the idea of a moon landing before falling silent with a flat 'oh wow' expression.

Where did Ha Ha Ha, Oh Wow come from?

The source panels are from Hergé's 1950 Tintin daily strip. The edited two-pane reaction spread on 4chan around 2007, with the earliest archived post found on the /a/ board on June 22, 2008.

What does Ha Ha Ha, Oh Wow mean?

It's a mocking way to express disbelief, used when someone realizes a joke or absurd claim was meant sincerely.

How do you use Ha Ha Ha, Oh Wow?

Pair the two Haddock panels with a quote you want to mock, so the laugh reads first and the deadpan 'oh wow' lands once the target's seriousness sinks in.

Is Ha Ha Ha, Oh Wow still popular?

Its heaviest spread ran from 2008 through 2013 across 4chan, DeviantArt, Facebook, and YouTube. It's now regarded as a classic 4chan-era reaction image rather than an active daily meme.

Ha Ha Ha, Oh Wow

2007reaction imageclassic

Published August 26, 2026

Ha Ha Ha, Oh Wow is a two-panel reaction image built from a 1950 Adventures of Tintin comic strip, showing Captain Haddock cracking up at the idea of a moon landing before pausing in a flat, deadpan 'oh wow.' It first spread on 4chan around 2007 and became one of the go-to reaction images for mocking someone's sincere but ridiculous take.

reaction memes two panel memes 4chan memes sarcasm memes comic book panel memes

Overview

The two panels show Captain Haddock in a fit of hysterical laughter, then abruptly silent with a flat 'oh wow' expression once he realizes the joke was serious1. That whiplash between belly laugh and sudden regret is what makes the format work as a comment on someone else's sincerely bad take. On 4chan and elsewhere, users pasted the panels under quotes or claims they found absurd, letting Haddock do the eye-rolling for them3.

Format edits are common. Users swap Haddock's dialogue, mash the panels with other webcomics, or crop only the second 'oh wow' panel as a standalone reaction4. A widely-remixed version by DeviantArt user Vorkedlarfleeze grafted characters from Andrew Hussie's webcomic Sweet Bro and Hella Jeff onto the Tintin panels5. Chiptune-scored YouTube edits and trollface-illustrated video versions also appeared, keeping the same mocking beat as the original comic.

Gallery

Origin & Background

Platform

4chan (viral spread)

Date

2007

The source panels come from a 1950 daily strip of Hergé's The Adventures of Tintin, in which Captain Haddock laughs off the idea that anyone could ever land on the moon2. The now-defunct Oh Internet wiki traced the edited two-pane reaction back to 4chan around 20071.

The earliest archived 4chan post of the edit dates to June 22, 2008, on a Pokémon thread in the /a/ (anime and manga) board4. Fan-made variations of the panels were later collected on the image host Macrochan under the tags 'ha ha ha oh wow' and 'Haddock drinking'3.

How It Spread

On March 24, 2009, SuperHeroHype Forums user Rac posted the Ha Ha Ha, Oh Wow macro in reply to another member calling the 2004 Dawn of the Dead remake 'one of the greatest movies ever'4. A dedicated encyclopedic page for the meme was written up on the Lurkmore internet culture wiki on April 20, 20101. About a month later, on May 28, 2010, DeviantArt user Vorkedlarfleeze uploaded the Sweet Bro and Hella Jeff crossover remix5.

The reaction jumped platforms over the next few years. A Facebook page called 'Hahaha OH WOW' launched on May 28, 2011, and YouTuber Dunkmaster Ren posted a trollface-illustrated 'HAHAHA OH WOW' video on October 12, 20114. YouTuber LinuxFP followed with a chiptune version paired with the 'girls laughing' stock photo on May 27, 20121. On March 26, 2013, IGN Forums member CoconutScissors posted a thread titled 'ha ha ha Oh Wow so True!' that used the Tintin panels alongside a customized Charlie Brown comic1.

How to Use This Meme

The classic Ha Ha Ha, Oh Wow template pairs a quote or claim above the two Haddock panels, so the first panel reacts with over-the-top laughter and the second lands the deadpan 'oh wow' once it clicks that the speaker was serious3. Common variants crop the second panel alone as a low-effort reply to something ridiculous, or swap Haddock's dialogue for a topical punchline.