2011-10-07
Explanation
This comic plays on the distinction between "the humanities" and science. A mad scientist with blonde hair and glasses is working in her lab alongside a disembodied head kept alive in a tank of green fluid. The scientist muses, "I just realized... if the arts are called '''the humanities,''' does that make science '''the inhumanities'''?" The head in the tank replies, "Nooo... I don'''t think that'''s fair."
In the second panel, the head adds a self-aware caveat: "On the other hand, I'''m a head you revived in a tank of mood-enhancing hormones, so I might not be the best judge." The head acknowledges that its opinion on whether science is humane might be compromised, given that it is literally a severed head being kept alive through decidedly inhumane-sounding scientific methods. The final panel delivers the punchline when the scientist notices something wrong and exclaims, "What the -- you'''re supposed to be in acid!" -- revealing that the head'''s situation is even worse than it appeared, and strongly confirming that science can indeed be quite inhumane.
The votey panel shows the scientist firing some kind of ray gun, further emphasizing the mad scientist stereotype. The joke works on multiple levels: it is a play on words (humanities vs. inhumanities), a commentary on the sometimes unsettling nature of scientific inquiry, and a classic mad scientist gag where the horror of the situation is treated as completely mundane.