puppets
Explanation
This comic riffs on Arthurian legend and political philosophy. The scene shows a wizard (resembling Merlin or a similar fantasy archetype) standing with two hand puppets, describing the situation: "It's two hand puppets, and they keep fighting, and nobody's going happy, but nobody can get the upper hand." The caption reads: "The Lady of the Lake suggests Democracy."
The joke works on multiple levels. First, there is a visual and verbal pun on "upper hand" -- the puppets literally cannot get the upper hand because they are both hand puppets on the same pair of hands, and figuratively neither side can gain an advantage. Second, it parodies the Arthurian legend of the Lady of the Lake, who in the original myths bestows Excalibur and thereby legitimizes monarchy. Here, instead of endorsing a divinely chosen king, she suggests democracy -- the modern, mundane alternative to magical sovereign selection.
The deeper satirical layer is about democracy itself: two factions perpetually fighting with neither gaining the upper hand and nobody being happy is, in fact, a fairly accurate description of how democratic politics often works. The Lady of the Lake is essentially describing the inherent frustration of democratic governance and presenting it not as an ideal system but as the natural result of irresolvable conflict. This echoes Churchill's famous quip that democracy is the worst form of government except for all the others.