2014-06-17
Explanation
The Joke
One character excitedly describes a book to another: "It's the 21st century, but with computers and airships!" The other person responds, "Weeeeird!" Below the panel is the caption: "Fun Fact: You are a character in a cheap genre fiction novel."
The Humor
The comic is a meta-joke about the steampunk genre and lazy worldbuilding in genre fiction. The character describes a setting that is essentially just our current reality (the 21st century already has computers) with the addition of airships — a classic steampunk trope. The joke is that this barely qualifies as an alternate reality, yet both characters treat it as amazingly weird. The "Fun Fact" caption below breaks the fourth wall by telling the reader that they themselves are characters in a cheap genre fiction novel, implying that our own reality might be just as derivative and unimaginative as the fictional world being described. It also pokes fun at how much genre fiction relies on superficial aesthetic changes (adding airships, goggles, etc.) rather than genuinely creative worldbuilding.
References
Steampunk is a subgenre of science fiction that typically incorporates 19th-century industrial steam-powered technology, with airships being one of the most common visual tropes. The comic parodies the tendency of some steampunk and related genre fiction to simply reskin modern or near-modern settings with a thin layer of retro-futuristic aesthetic.