unity-4
Explanation
This comic satirizes the trope of alien invasion stories by combining them with a commentary on human political dysfunction.
In the opening panels, an alien announces to humanity: "And now you will submit. We have invaded. We will conquer your planet." But another alien interjects that they are "greatly disgusted" and would rather "band together under a competing faction." The aliens immediately begin squabbling among themselves, constantly "at each other's throats, turning, fighting for dominance," while "the outside threat" (humanity) remains completely unthreatened.
An Earth diplomat arrives and greets "General Zorblaxian," who confirms he is in charge of the invasion. The diplomat says they come in peace and their leader will negotiate. But then, in the next panel, captioned "And so..." we see what appears to be a devastated Earth landscape with burning buildings.
A character observes "I can't tell if this is good or utterly predictable," and another responds: "During but... the book deal on Zorblaxian alone... I think it's comedy gold."
The joke works on multiple levels. First, it inverts the standard alien invasion trope: rather than humans needing to unite against a common threat (as in "Independence Day" or similar stories), the aliens are just as fractious and politically dysfunctional as humans, undermining the premise that an advanced species would be unified. Second, the final panels suggest that even in the midst of genuine catastrophe, humans are thinking about media deals and monetization -- the publishing rights to the alien general's story. This is a commentary on how modern culture tends to commodify even existential threats into entertainment content. The comic's title "unity-4" suggests this is the fourth installment of SMBC comics exploring the theme of unity (or lack thereof), reinforcing that this is a recurring Weinersmith preoccupation.