2013-04-17
Explanation
This comic features two aliens in space observing Earth and discussing humanity. The first alien remarks on how strange humans are: they live for less than 100 years, yet they find time to tell jokes, write stories, do science, and build machines. The second alien agrees it is bizarre. The first alien elaborates with an analogy, comparing it to having a gamma ray burst flying toward your head from two meters away and spending the interim wondering about the 11,235th digit of the speed of light. The alien then waxes poetic, calling it admirable that even as their lives burn away, humans find the peace to sing, and declares them the happiest species.
The comic then pulls back to reveal the two aliens gazing at Earth from a distance. One asks whether they are going to tell the humans that they are exploding their star to make room for a galactic highway. The other responds, "Do you wanna have that conversation?" This is a reference to "The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy" by Douglas Adams, where Earth is demolished to make way for a hyperspace bypass. The joke layers dark irony on top of the sentimental observations: the aliens admiration for human resilience is rendered bittersweet by the fact that they are about to destroy humanitys sun for a construction project.
The votey panel has one of the aliens adding, "Also, their comics are shit," which is a self-deprecating joke by the cartoonist Zach Weinersmith about his own work.