a-dog-person
Explanation
The Joke
A mother tells her daughter Sally that they cannot handle any more kids, but since she knows a regular puppy will not make up for it, she has been selectively breeding dogs for intelligence and hairlessness. She introduces "Skinny" -- a disturbing, wrinkled, hairless dog that looks disturbingly humanoid. The mother explains that Skinny cannot talk, but he is "just smart enough to glimpse the chasm of meaninglessness above which we all totter."
The daughter coos over the dog's big sad eyes, but the final panel reveals the dog's thought bubble: "I am but food for worms." The dog has indeed been bred to be intelligent enough to comprehend existential dread, but not intelligent enough to articulate it aloud or do anything about it -- leaving it trapped in a state of mute despair.
The Humor
The humor works through the horrifying gap between what the family sees (a cute, sad-looking pet) and what the dog actually experiences (paralyzing existential terror). The mother's breeding project has created the worst possible outcome: an animal intelligent enough to suffer existentially but unable to communicate its suffering, stuck in a body that looks like a nightmarish hybrid of dog and human. The daughter's baby-talk ("Awww, jus' wook at dose big sad puppy eyes!") paired with the dog's thought ("I am but food for worms") creates a perfect comedic juxtaposition. The visual design of the dog -- hairless, wrinkled, and wide-eyed with what reads as abject horror -- sells the joke beautifully. The comic is also a sly commentary on selective breeding in general, taken to its absurd extreme.