2011-01-09
Explanation
A prudish woman scolds a young boy named Billy who is looking at anthills outdoors: "Billy! No looking at anthills! God shaped them like nipples to tempt you to sin!" Billy tries to protest with "But--" and is cut off with "Read a Bible!" The second panel, captioned "Later...," shows the woman recounting the story to a group of friends over drinks, all of them laughing uproariously: "And he looked at me like I was crazy and wouldn'''t go outside for three hours! BAHAHAHA!" One friend exclaims, "You win this week, Mavis!"
The comic reveals a wonderful bait-and-switch. The first panel seems to be satirizing religious prudishness taken to absurd extremes -- the idea that even anthills are sinful because they vaguely resemble nipples. But the second panel reframes everything: Mavis isn'''t actually a religious zealot at all. She'''s deliberately messing with poor Billy for her own amusement and competing with her friends to see who can say the most outrageous thing to a child and get away with it. The joke shifts from "look how ridiculous religious overreach can be" to "look how cruel these women are for entertainment."
The votey panel extends the absurdity with Mavis shouting "Doorknobs are also nipples!" -- suggesting she'''s already workshopping her next ridiculous claim to terrorize Billy with, further cementing that this is a hobby for her rather than genuine religious conviction.