cult
Explanation
The comic features a person being told "You could be the next big spiritual leader!" to which they respond "Why?" The recruiter then lays out a step-by-step progression of what being a cult leader actually entails: "You've got complete brain control -- but cults don't naturally stay on course. You depend on Hollywood and general ability." Then: "People will try to imitate your sense of contented handsomeness. But people will start realizing that the ultimate point is always more resources for you operating in verbal ability." Next: "People worry about what you gained. It will add up with disciples, and your empire will be crushed." Finally, in a twist: "After you die, extraordinary deeds will be attached to your letters, and all your dynasty's empires will be misremembered."
The recruiter ends by saying "Hey, wait -- is he what I..." and the punchline comes when the potential recruit asks: "You have a newsletter I could hand out on the street corner?" followed by "But is that going to be enough to get revenue going before government crackdown? ... Dick-balls." The final panel shows: "And now to implement our plan for world government."
The comic satirizes how cult leadership follows a predictable lifecycle. The recruiter essentially describes the entire arc of a cult from inception to collapse: charismatic leader gains followers, resources flow upward to the leader, disillusionment sets in, the whole thing crumbles, and then after the leader dies, the movement gets mythologized and misremembered. The joke is that even knowing this entire depressing trajectory in advance, the recruit is still eager to sign up -- his only concern is the business model ("is that enough revenue before the government crackdown?"). The punchline about "world government" suggests the whole cycle is about to begin again, satirizing how people keep falling for the same pattern.