uplifting-news
Explanation
The Joke
The comic presents a fictional "NEW LAW: ALL NEWS MUST COME WITH AN UPLIFTING SPIN." A news anchor then reports: "A rogue black hole has entered the solar system, consuming all celestial bodies as it hurtles toward the sun" -- an apocalyptic, extinction-level event. He then adds the required uplifting spin: "...rendering it much easier to memorize all the planets." The silver lining to the total destruction of the solar system is that there will be fewer planets to remember.
The Humor
The comedy comes from the absurd mismatch between the catastrophic news and the trivially positive spin placed on it. The joke satirizes the modern media tendency (and audience demand) for "uplifting" or "positive" news coverage, as well as subreddits and social media accounts dedicated to "uplifting news." The comic takes this to its logical extreme: even literal planetary annihilation must be framed positively. The specific "uplifting" angle chosen -- that memorizing the planets will be easier because they are being destroyed -- is brilliantly petty and trivial compared to the magnitude of the disaster, highlighting how forced optimism can become meaningless or even absurd.
References
The comic likely references the popular Reddit community r/UpliftingNews, which curates positive news stories and has been criticized for sometimes featuring stories that are only "uplifting" if you ignore their deeply troubling context (e.g., "Child raises $50,000 for her own surgery"). The concept of memorizing the planets is a common childhood educational task, famously complicated by Pluto's reclassification in 2006.