2011-09-30
Explanation
This wordless four-panel comic tells the story of a lost cat scam. In the first panel, a blonde woman stands on her porch looking worried. In the second panel, she posts a "Lost Cat - $200 Reward" flyer on a tree. In the third panel, a smiling man appears at her door holding her orange cat, and she looks relieved and happy. In the fourth panel, the twist is revealed: the man is shown outside, handing money to the cat itself. The man gives the cat two $100 bills, implying they were in on the scheme together -- the cat deliberately "got lost" so the man could "find" it, collect the reward, and split the proceeds with the cat.
The comic plays on the common perception that cats are aloof, scheming, and manipulative creatures who merely tolerate their human owners. Here, the cat has taken its mercenary nature to its logical extreme by running a con: it leaves home on purpose, has a human accomplice return it for the reward money, and then collects its cut of the profits. The owner is none the wiser.
The votey panel shows the cat lounging contentedly with a syringe, implying the cat is using its share of the reward money to fund a drug habit -- darkly extending the joke by suggesting the cat'''s criminal enterprise is motivated by addiction, much like a stereotypical noir grifter.