sexual-reproduction
Explanation
The Joke
A human asks an alien to explain Zorblaxian reproduction. The alien obliges: a male and female combine genetic material, a baby grows in the female's body -- "pretty standard stuff." But then the alien adds that once the baby is born, the baby has a belly button, and a soul specter delivers a soul and shoves it into the belly button. The human says, "But humans don't do that last part with the soul specter." The alien is shocked and replies, "And that's why it's okay to eat you!" The final panel shows the alien apparently preparing to eat a human, with the human protesting, "I guess I can't really object to that."
The comic sets up the alien reproduction as being nearly identical to human reproduction, only to diverge at the very end with the soul specter detail. The alien uses this single arbitrary difference -- the lack of a soul delivery mechanism -- as moral justification for treating humans as food. This satirizes how humans use similarly arbitrary distinctions to justify eating other animals.
The Humor
The joke is a pointed commentary on how humans rationalize eating animals. We often draw a line based on some criterion (intelligence, soul, self-awareness) that conveniently places us on the "don't eat" side and animals on the "okay to eat" side. By having an alien use an equally arbitrary criterion -- whether a soul specter shoves a soul into your belly button -- the comic exposes the self-serving nature of these distinctions. The human's resigned "I guess I can't really object to that" is the final punchline, acknowledging the logical consistency of the alien's position even as it leads to being dinner.