Bat Problems
Explanation
This comic imagines Batman as a real person dealing with the practical problems of using bats as a crime-fighting motif -- specifically, the biological reality of bat lifespans and size.
In the first panel, Batman explains his approach: "I took on the form of a bat to strike terror into the hearts of criminals." But then admits: "But over the last twenty years, science has found out that bats are actually cute, and become a standard feature on kids' television." In other words, bats are no longer scary -- they're adorable media stars.
Someone tells Batman, "Those kids are grown-ups now," implying his bat persona has lost its fear factor with an entire generation that grew up watching friendly cartoon bats. Batman responds dejectedly: "Now I'm too embarrassed to change my branding."
In the final panel, an elderly person (possibly Alfred) suggests: "Why don't you be a giant golden-crowned flying fox, with a wingspan of up to 1.7 meters?" Batman panics: "Aaaah! It's a goddamn bat!!!"
The punchline works because the giant golden-crowned flying fox is a real species of enormous bat that is genuinely terrifying to encounter, despite (or because of) its massive size. The irony is that Batman, who built his entire identity around bats being scary, is himself frightened by an actual large bat. The comic also satirizes the broader problem of branding -- once your scary symbol becomes cute and mainstream, you can't easily rebrand, even when a scarier alternative exists.