paper
Explanation
This comic is simply a screenshot of an academic paper titled "To Each According to Their Space-Need: Communes in Outer Space," published in what appears to be a legitimate academic journal.
The paper's abstract discusses how space settlement advocates argue that humanity will eventually settle in space, that Mars colonization is feasible, and that much work has been done on the engineering requirements. However, the paper focuses on a less-examined question: how to arrange a society in space. It notes that early settlements will be "dangerous, isolated, and cramped" and that picking a social arrangement that leads to a "vibrant and productive society will be critical." The paper then discusses whether early space communities might function as communes, examining questions like how to ensure members contribute fairly, how to handle free-riders, and whether settlers will resemble historical commune members.
The humor here is characteristic of Zach Weinersmith's style -- rather than a traditional comic strip, this is the actual academic work that he (along with his wife Kelly Weinersmith and other co-authors) published in conjunction with their book "A City on Mars." The joke, such as it is, lies in the inherent absurdity of applying rigorous social science to the question of space communes -- a topic that sounds like science fiction but is treated with complete academic seriousness. Posting the paper as the day's comic blurs the line between Weinersmith's life as a cartoonist and his parallel life as someone genuinely engaged with space policy research. It's also a sly bit of self-promotion wrapped in the format of a daily comic strip.