2010-01-09
Explanation
This comic shows two blob-like aliens having a conversation. One says, "I thought that planet was called Earth." The other responds, "It was. It was, until they couldn'''t stop giggling at us all throughout first contact." When asked what it is called now, the alien sadly replies: "Booger-Dick." The caption below reads: "The Uranians never spoke to us again." The joke is that the aliens are from Uranus, and humans could not stop laughing at the name of their home planet during first contact because "Uranus" sounds like "your anus" -- a joke so old and juvenile it apparently ruined interplanetary diplomacy.
The humor works because it imagines the real-world consequences of humanity'''s well-documented inability to hear the word "Uranus" without giggling. In this scenario, the Uranians were so offended by humanity'''s immaturity that they retaliated by renaming Earth to "Booger-Dick" -- an equally juvenile and crude name -- as a form of cosmic revenge. The aliens punished humanity'''s childishness with childishness of their own, resulting in the permanent breakdown of interstellar relations. It is a commentary on how our basest impulses could theoretically sabotage even the most momentous occasions.
The votey panel shows one of the Uranian aliens angrily sputtering, "Booger-Dick Wiener... Jerk... Wiener!!!" This suggests the aliens are still so upset about the incident that they continue to hurl crude insults at Earth, unable to let go of the offense. It also implies that the aliens have learned human profanity and insults and are using them in retaliation, further escalating the childish name-calling war between the two civilizations.