2009-12-12
Explanation
This comic depicts aliens arriving on Earth and threatening humanity with a challenge: "People of Earth! We bring you a challenge! If you fail, your civilization is forfeit!" The aliens then reveal the challenge -- mindless point-and-click video games -- presenting a screen showing what appears to be a casual puzzle game. The next panel shows a group of humans staring at the screen with blank, absorbed expressions, clearly already hooked on the games.
The final panel cuts to the aliens back in space, looking at Earth from afar. One alien stammers, "I just... I just..." while the other tries to comfort him: "It's okay, man. Don't let it upset you." The first alien then exclaims in exasperation, "What the hell do they do all day?!"
The joke is that the aliens intended the mindless games as a cunning trap, but they're horrified to discover that humans were already spending their time playing exactly these kinds of games voluntarily. The aliens are left baffled and disturbed that a civilization would willingly devote so much of its existence to such trivial entertainment. It's a satirical commentary on humanity's addiction to casual and mobile games, suggesting that our fondness for mindless clicking is so extreme that it would alarm even advanced extraterrestrial observers.
The votey panel shows someone at a computer with a voice calling out, "Zach! Are you drawing yet?!" -- a self-referential joke where the cartoonist admits he too is probably procrastinating with point-and-click games instead of working on the comic.