2014-07-08
Explanation
The Joke
A person approaches a genie-like figure (a green, demonic-looking creature) and is asked "What is your wish?" The person wishes that their parents were still alive. The genie says "It is done." In the final panels, the person sees their mother alive and well, but next to her is not the person's father -- instead it is "Uncle Steve." The person asks "Where's Dad? Why's Uncle Steve here?" The implication is that the genie brought the parents back to life, but the mother is now with Uncle Steve, suggesting either that the father is not the person's real parent (Uncle Steve is), or that the mother left the father for Uncle Steve once revived.
The Humor
The joke plays on the classic "be careful what you wish for" trope of genie stories. The wisher asked for their "parents" to be alive, and the genie technically fulfilled this -- but the result reveals an uncomfortable family secret. The mother is alive and present, but she is with Uncle Steve rather than the person's father, implying that Uncle Steve is actually the biological father, or at minimum that the mother prefers Steve. The genie granted the wish with cruel precision: the person's actual parents are alive -- it is just that "Dad" was never really the parent. The humor comes from the dark twist that the wish's fulfillment simultaneously reveals a devastating family secret.