2012-12-08
Explanation
This comic contrasts two tombstone inscriptions under the headings "What You Fear" and "What You Should Fear." Under "What You Fear," the gravestone reads: "No one took him seriously." Under "What You Should Fear," it reads: "Never tilted at a single windmill."
The first tombstone represents the common social anxiety of not being respected or taken seriously by others -- a fear driven by concern about external perception. The second tombstone references Don Quixote, the literary character famous for charging at windmills he believed to be giants. "Tilting at windmills" has become an idiom for pursuing idealistic or seemingly impossible goals. The comic argues that the real thing to fear is not that others will dismiss you, but that you will reach the end of your life without ever having pursued a passionate, ambitious, or even foolish dream.
The votey extends the Don Quixote metaphor. A bearded figure (resembling Quixote or the comic'''s author) says: "Imaginary people'''s shortcomings are my dragons. Webcomics, my lance." This is a self-aware joke about the cartoonist'''s own quixotic mission -- using webcomics as his weapon to battle the fictional failings of made-up characters, which is itself a kind of noble, absurd quest.