unread
Explanation
This comic shows two men arguing about which author wrote the most widely cited but least actually read books. One claims James Joyce wrote the most widely cited books that nobody has actually read. Another counters that it's Emmanuel Kant. They laugh at each other competitively. Then, a voice from off-panel shouts "AMATEURS!" -- and the final panel reveals a copy of the Bible (labeled "Little Bible" or "Holy Bible") glowing smugly, implying the Bible is the ultimate example of a widely cited but rarely read book.
The humor mechanism is a classic misdirection/escalation joke structure. The setup establishes a competition between literary/philosophical heavyweights known for being difficult to actually read (Joyce's "Ulysses" and "Finnegans Wake" are famously challenging; Kant's "Critique of Pure Reason" is notoriously dense). The punchline escalates to the Bible -- arguably the most cited text in human history and one that surveys consistently show most self-identified believers have never read cover to cover. The "AMATEURS" callout is a well-known meme format where an unexpected third party trumps the original competitors.
The joke works because it punctures religious piety by implying that even devout people who cite scripture constantly haven't actually read the whole text, while simultaneously being a relatable observation about how many canonical works are referenced far more than they are consumed.