2012-10-21
Explanation
This comic is a Halloween-themed strip featuring a little girl who goes trick-or-treating dressed as a "quantum mechanic" -- wearing a lab coat and carrying a wrench. When a man at the door asks what she is for Halloween, she proudly announces her costume. The man appears charmed by the science-themed outfit.
In the next panel, the girl returns home where another child in a devil costume asks how it went. She replies, "Great. But they're gonna hate the superposition of trick and treat." This is a quantum physics pun: in quantum mechanics, "superposition" refers to the principle that a quantum system can exist in multiple states simultaneously until it is observed or measured. The girl is applying this concept to the Halloween tradition of "trick or treat," implying that she has left each house in a superposition of both states -- meaning the homeowners have simultaneously been tricked AND treated, and the outcome will only collapse into one or the other when they "observe" (i.e., discover what she did).
The votey panel simply shows the word "TRICK" in large letters, implying that when the superposition finally collapsed, it resolved to the trick outcome -- the less pleasant possibility. The joke plays on the idea that quantum mechanics, when applied to everyday situations, leads to unsettling and unpredictable results, much like an overly clever child at your door on Halloween night.