2009-11-22
Explanation
This comic puts a twist on the classic goal of alchemy. A medieval alchemist stands among his peers and announces that alchemists have long toiled to turn base metals into "those things man values most," and that he alone has succeeded. The caption below reveals the punchline: "Torbenius never revealed his method for turning lead into a threesome."
The joke subverts the well-known premise of alchemy -- the quest to turn lead into gold. The alchemist's grand proclamation is set up to sound like the traditional alchemical breakthrough, but instead of transmuting lead into gold, he has apparently found a way to turn lead into a threesome. The humor comes from replacing the expected "gold" with something that, the comic argues, men actually value most. It's a commentary on base male priorities dressed up in the language of scholarly medieval achievement.
The votey panel shows a recipe card that reads: "1 bar lead, 1 note about how I will make you a legitimate actress, baby, leave out over night." This extends the joke by suggesting Torbenius's "alchemical method" is really just a sleazy Hollywood casting-couch style proposition, using the promise of career advancement rather than any actual transmutation.