Explain SMBC — the wiki for Saturday Morning Breakfast Cereal

The Joke

This is a long-form comic that appears to depict a sprawling mythological or fantasy narrative involving various historical and legendary figures making discoveries and confrontations. The story winds through multiple vignettes -- warriors, philosophers, and other characters -- building up an elaborate epic saga. The comic seems to be a parody of grand origin stories or creation myths, with the joke being in the escalating absurdity of the narrative as it jumps between wildly different historical periods and contexts, ultimately building to an anticlimactic or absurd punchline where a character reacts with bewilderment.

The Humor

The humor comes from the contrast between the grandiose, epic scope of the narrative and its ultimate pointlessness or absurd conclusion. SMBC frequently plays with the format of building up elaborate setups that subvert expectations. The comic satirizes the tendency to create overwrought mythological narratives by parodying the form itself, jumping between time periods and legendary scenarios in a way that becomes increasingly ridiculous. The final panels deflate all the built-up drama.