2010-01-05
Explanation
This two-panel comic plays on the concept of X-ray vision, a classic superpower from comic books. In the first panel, a scientist proudly announces: "I'''ve done it! With this simple, cheap pill, everyone can have X-ray vision!" The second panel shows a newspaper headline one week later: "ALL SEXY BODY PARTS GET CANCER AT SAME TIME!" The joke is that actual X-rays are a form of ionizing radiation that causes cancer with prolonged exposure, so if everyone suddenly had X-ray vision, they would essentially be bombarding each other with cancer-causing radiation -- particularly aimed at the body parts people would most want to look at through clothing.
The comic takes the adolescent fantasy of X-ray vision (which in pop culture is almost always imagined as a way to see through people'''s clothes) and applies real-world physics to it. If X-ray vision worked the way it does in comics, it would require actual X-ray radiation passing through people'''s bodies. The headline specifies that "sexy" body parts are the ones getting cancer, implying that everyone used their new power primarily to ogle each other, concentrating the radiation exposure on exactly those areas. It is a darkly funny collision between wish fulfillment and scientific reality.
The votey panel shows a newscaster reading from a paper and elaborating: "Highly afflicted areas include weewees, tatas, and hoohoos." This extends the joke by using childish euphemisms for body parts in what should be a serious medical news broadcast, adding another layer of absurdity to the premise and reinforcing that the cancer is concentrated in exactly the areas you would expect given humanity'''s predictable use of X-ray vision.