2012-01-10
Explanation
This comic is labeled with a "Comedy Tip" banner that reads: "Kid''s joke + needless uncomfortable context = funny." It then demonstrates this formula. A man cheerfully asks: "What did Hitler''s cat think of genocide?" The other person begins to object with "I don''t..." but is cut off by the punchline: "He thought it was purrrfect." The joke is a standard cat pun ("purrrfect" for "perfect") -- the kind of harmless wordplay you might find in a children''s joke book -- but grafted onto an extremely dark and inappropriate context involving Hitler and genocide.
The comic is essentially a meta-joke about joke construction. The "comedy tip" framework makes the audience aware that the joke is intentionally transgressive not because the pun itself is edgy, but because the context it has been placed in is wildly inappropriate. By spelling out the formula explicitly, Weinersmith highlights how much of dark comedy works: take something innocent and place it in a context that makes people uncomfortable. The visible discomfort of the person hearing the joke ("I don''t...") mirrors the audience''s own reaction.
The votey shows a cat with a smug expression saying "Meowtstanding" -- another cat pun ("meow" + "outstanding"), continuing the pattern of innocent cat wordplay in a context still colored by the main comic''s dark setup. The cat''s self-satisfied expression adds to the humor by suggesting the cat is entirely unbothered by the grim context surrounding it.