2010-10-19
Explanation
This comic plays on the contrast between romantic eloquence and physical awkwardness. A man and woman stand on a dock overlooking the ocean at sunset, and the man delivers a genuinely beautiful monologue about how the ocean is magnificent because it simultaneously reminds us how small we are and how much we are part of something incomprehensibly grand. He then extends the metaphor to their relationship, saying that when he looks in her eyes, he sees both the small perfect moment they share and the "sublimely expansive churning joy that stretches out in every direction." He suggests they let this moment connect the two feelings.
They then kiss, and the scene shifts to an after-the-kiss conversation. The man sheepishly asks, "So, it's cool that I did that tongue waggle thing just now, right?" The woman responds, "Yeah, just... never again please." He cheerfully agrees with "Sure sure sure!"
The humor lies in the brutal deflation of the preceding romantic grandeur. The man was capable of articulating one of the most poetically beautiful sentiments imaginable, but his actual physical kissing technique was apparently so bizarre and off-putting that it completely undercut the moment. It's a classic SMBC move: building up something sincere and beautiful, then puncturing it with an embarrassing human reality.
The votey panel adds one more layer, with the woman saying "And let go of my ass" while the man mutters "Dammit," confirming that his romantic eloquence was paired with clumsy, unwelcome physical advances throughout the entire beautiful speech.