charlottes-web
Explanation
The Joke
The comic reimagines the classic children's story "Charlotte's Web" with a dark twist. A pig tells the spider that "they're going to slaughter me in the morning" and begs for help. The spider, in Charlotte fashion, reassures the pig and tells him to go to sleep. The spider then spins a message in her web -- but instead of the uplifting "SOME PIG" from the original story, she writes "STUN BEFORE KILLING."
The final panel shows a crowd of people staring at the web's message in stunned silence, while the pig sits below looking hopeful. Charlotte has technically tried to help, but her message is a practical recommendation for humane slaughter rather than a plea to spare the pig's life.
The Humor
The comedy comes from the brutal subversion of the heartwarming original story. In E.B. White's "Charlotte's Web," the spider saves the pig by writing messages like "SOME PIG" and "TERRIFIC" that convince the farmer the pig is special. Here, Weinersmith takes the same setup but has Charlotte arrive at a far more pragmatic (and darkly logical) conclusion: since she cannot prevent the pig's death, she advocates for the next best thing -- a more humane method of execution. The crowd's stunned reaction mirrors the reader's own surprise at the tonal whiplash.
References
"Charlotte's Web" is the beloved 1952 children's novel by E.B. White, in which a spider named Charlotte saves her friend Wilbur the pig from slaughter by weaving words into her web that make the farmer believe the pig is extraordinary. "Stun before killing" refers to the actual animal welfare practice of rendering livestock unconscious before slaughter, which is required by law in many countries.