line
Explanation
The Joke
A palm reader examines a client's hand and declares, "And this line across your palm tells me you're an idiot." The panel labeled "Earlier..." then reveals why: the client is shown in a kitchen, holding a knife and saying, "Aw, goddamit, they should say which side of the knife is the up part!" — implying he cut his own palm open by grabbing the blade side of a knife.
The Humor
The comic uses a two-panel bait-and-switch. At first, the scene looks like a standard palm reading — a mystical practice where lines on the hand supposedly reveal personality traits and fate. The "line" the palm reader identifies appears to be a fresh wound from the client's own incompetence with basic kitchen tools, not a natural crease in his palm.
The joke works on multiple levels: the palm reader's diagnosis of "idiot" turns out to be entirely evidence-based rather than mystical, and the client's complaint that knives should be labeled with which side is "the up part" confirms the diagnosis. It's a rare case where pseudoscience accidentally arrives at the correct conclusion through entirely the wrong methodology.
Votey
The red-button panel typically adds an additional punchline that extends or undercuts the comic's premise.