2013-08-25
Explanation
This comic depicts a conversation between an astronaut or space explorer and a person back on Earth. The astronaut has apparently returned from visiting two planets and is being interviewed about the experience. The interviewer seems enthusiastic about the cosmic journeys, but the astronaut responds with increasing bleakness -- describing how on one planet everyone was dead, and on the other it was similarly grim. The astronaut has traveled to these worlds only to find isolation, death, and desolation.
Despite the incredible achievement of interplanetary travel, the astronaut's account strips away the romance of space exploration. Rather than being filled with wonder and discovery, the reality is lonely and morbid. The punchline comes when the astronaut says something like "Eat my isolated ass, Earthling!" -- expressing frustration and resentment toward the person who has been sitting comfortably at home while the astronaut endured horrifying solitude across the cosmos.
The votey panel shows someone saying "Whoa! Engines just came back up!" while the astronaut says "Interesting..." -- suggesting the astronaut may have deliberately sabotaged the ship, adding a darker layer of psychological instability to the already bleak scenario. The comic satirizes the romanticized vision of space exploration by presenting the psychological toll such journeys might actually take.