a-legal-scholar
Explanation
The Joke
A teenage boy tells his friend: "I want her dad to think I'm impressive when I pick Sally up for prom." His friend advises: "That's easy. Her dad's a legal scholar." The plan: "Get some obscure law textbook and act like it's light reading for you. He'll think you're a genius." The boy says "Perfect." In the final panel, labeled "Later," the boy shows up at the door holding a book and announces "I'm here for Sally" — but it is clear from the father's expression and the scene that the plan has backfired or come across as transparently try-hard.
The Humor
The comedy comes from the gap between the teenager's idea of what would impress an adult and what would actually impress one. A high schooler showing up to pick up a prom date while casually carrying an obscure law textbook would not come across as brilliant — it would come across as absurd, pretentious, and transparently calculated. No teenager reads dense legal scholarship for fun, and a legal scholar of all people would immediately see through the ruse. The joke captures the universal teenage anxiety of wanting to impress a date's parents, combined with the naivety of thinking that such a transparent ploy would work on an expert in the very field you are trying to fake knowledge of.