2013-02-12
Explanation
This comic reimagines Franz Kafka'''s famous novella "The Metamorphosis" with an optimistic twist. In the original story, Gregor Samsa wakes up transformed into a giant insect and his life spirals into isolation and tragedy. In this version, Gregor'''s transformation leads to a series of increasingly positive outcomes: his parents are happy about the change, he becomes a celebrated artist, he lands on the cover of Time magazine, his inhuman tastes are seen as proof of bohemian genius, and he uses his wealth to found a research center studying his metamorphosis.
The results of his research become even more lucrative than his art career, and Gregor decides he wants to "spend more time enjoying life." He marries for love, devotes his life to art and philanthropy, and dies surrounded by loved ones. The comic systematically inverts every tragic element of Kafka'''s story into something wholesome and successful, creating humor through the sheer impossibility of such relentless optimism in a Kafka narrative.
The punchline comes in the final panel, where an editor reviewing this happy version says to Kafka, "I dunno, Kafka, maybe make it a little darker?" Kafka replies, "This is why people hate editors." This jokes that Kafka'''s famously bleak and existentially despairing fiction was not his original vision but rather the result of editorial pressure to make things darker. The votey panel reinforces this by having the editor say "I'''m taking out the time travel. I hope you'''ve learned your lesson," suggesting that editors have been stripping away all the fun elements from Kafka'''s work.