ark-2
Explanation
The Joke
The comic depicts the biblical story of Noah's Ark after the flood. In the first panel, someone announces "Behold, God's sign he will never do this again," referring to the rainbow -- the traditional symbol of God's covenant with humanity that He will never again destroy the world with a flood. But in the second panel, someone notices something odd: "Wait, what's that?" They squint at the rainbow and ask "Is it... fine print?" The final panel zooms in to reveal the rainbow does indeed contain fine print, which reads something to the effect of: "The cessation of mass homicide shall be restricted to this particular category of flood-based mass homicide, and shall not include fire, famine, war, plague, or other water-borne methods."
The punchline is that God's promise not to flood the Earth again is revealed to be a legalistic loophole rather than a genuine promise of mercy. The rainbow, traditionally a symbol of divine love and reassurance, is recast as a deceptive contract full of fine print -- God is essentially reserving the right to destroy humanity via any method other than a global flood.
The Humor
The comic works by transplanting modern corporate contract culture onto a biblical narrative. The idea of God acting like a shady business inserting fine print into a covenant is inherently funny because it deflates the solemnity of the story. It also plays on a genuine theological observation: the biblical promise is technically only about floods, leaving the door open for other forms of divine wrath (fire, plague, etc.), which the Bible itself goes on to describe in later books. The joke transforms a comforting religious symbol into something anxiety-inducing, in classic SMBC fashion.
References
The comic references Genesis 9:8-17, where God establishes a covenant with Noah after the Great Flood, setting the rainbow as a sign of the promise. The fine print gag also alludes to subsequent biblical destructions (Sodom and Gomorrah by fire, the plagues of Egypt, etc.) that technically do not violate the specific terms of the rainbow covenant.