2013-04-10
Explanation
This comic illustrates how proton interactions work using an analogy to socially awkward romance. In the first two tiers, two protons (drawn as orange circles with "+" signs) are shown at a distance, telling each other "Go away!" with arrows indicating they are repelling each other. This represents the electromagnetic force: since protons are both positively charged, they repel each other according to Coulombs law, and this repulsion gets stronger as they get closer.
In the final tier, the two protons are shown pressed right up against each other, with one saying "I love you." This represents the strong nuclear force, which is attractive and operates only at extremely short distances (on the order of femtometers). Once protons overcome the electromagnetic repulsion and get close enough, the strong force takes over and binds them together tightly. The caption box reads: "Proton interactions work like physics undergrads imagine love works" -- drawing a parallel to the stereotypical experience of socially awkward physics students who feel that everyone rejects them from a distance, but if only people got close enough, they would discover deep affection.
The votey panel reads: "Anyone caught making Strong force jokes will be set on fire and buried alive. -Weinersmith." This is a self-aware meta-joke where the cartoonist preemptively bans the very type of pun he just made, acknowledging that "strong force" double entendres are groan-worthy even as he builds an entire comic around one.