2010-11-27
Explanation
This comic follows a comedian who prays to God, asking to be allowed to die in a humorous way. The scene then jumps forward 50 years, showing the same man now elderly and on his deathbed. He asks where his son is, and a doctor explains that his son was flying in to see him before he died, but his plane crashed.
The old man's face registers horror at this tragic news. The final panel then cuts to heaven, where angels are laughing uproariously at a giant rimshot cymbal. The joke is that God did grant the comedian's prayer -- his death was set up like a classic dark comedy bit, complete with a devastating punchline (his son dying in a plane crash on the way to see him) followed by a heavenly rimshot. The humor is characteristically dark for SMBC, playing on the idea that God has a cruel sense of humor and that what counts as "funny" depends entirely on your perspective. For the angels, it's hilarious; for the dying man, it's the worst moment of his life.