2009-11-12
Explanation
This comic presents a humorous "Descent of Man" diagram -- a riff on the classic evolutionary illustration showing the progression from ape to modern human. However, instead of the typical dignified march of progress, the cycle here is circular and degenerative. It shows various stages arranged in a loop: an orangutan, a smaller primate, a primitive human riding a nuclear bomb while drinking alcohol and shouting "WOOH!", a caveman with a bow and arrow, and other transitional forms, all connected by arrows suggesting an endless cycle rather than linear progress.
The joke subverts the traditional "March of Progress" image by suggesting that human evolution is not a straight line toward improvement but rather a cycle that includes regression. The man riding the nuclear bomb while drinking is particularly pointed -- it implies that modern humanity's technological achievements (nuclear weapons) combined with our base impulses (partying recklessly) represent a kind of devolution rather than progress.
The votey panel shows a woman asking "Really? A Descent of Man joke?" to which a man (presumably the cartoonist) replies "Every cartoonist does it eventually." This is a meta-acknowledgment that the "humorous take on human evolution" is a well-worn trope in cartooning, and Zach Weinersmith is self-aware enough to lampshade that he's finally gotten around to doing his version of it.