2011-09-20
Explanation
This comic plays on the awkwardness of parents trying to hide their sex life from their children using absurd cover stories. In the first panel, a father tells his young child that since it is Thursday night, he and the child's mother have to "go keep the Wicked Queen of Evilburg at bay." He warns the child that there may be a lot of screaming and groaning, but that the child should stay away for safety's sake. The elaborate fantasy narrative is clearly a flimsy excuse to explain away the noises of a sexual encounter.
The child immediately sees through the ruse, saying "I think you and mommy are having sex and are uncomfortable talking to me about it." The father doubles down on the fiction: "If we were having sex, why would I transform myself into a unicorn for battle?" This is both a desperate attempt to maintain the cover story and an unintentionally suggestive detail (the unicorn horn being a phallic image). The final panel shows the father emerging from the bedroom wearing a pink unicorn horn on his head, and the child says "I take it back" -- apparently now convinced (or at least disturbed enough to stop questioning) by the father's commitment to the bit.
The votey panel shows the father still wearing the unicorn horn in bed while the child's voice calls out "Go Dad go!" from behind the door, adding a final layer of awkward humor as the child is now enthusiastically cheering on what they believe to be a heroic fantasy battle, while the father's expression suggests deep regret about the situation he has created.