2010-01-26
Explanation
This comic is set in a university science department. In the first panel, an older faculty member explains to a colleague: "Funding'''s not so good. We'''ve been forced to send chemistry faculty out to sell heroin." The colleague reacts with shock: "Oh, my God... are they okay?" The first person replies: "They'''re well enough, but... let'''s just say chem profs aren'''t the best salesmen..."
The second panel reveals why: a chemistry professor stands in a dark alley trying to sell drugs to a passing kid, but instead of using the street name "heroin," he uses the full IUPAC chemical name: "Hey, kid. You wanna buy some (5-alpha, 6-alpha)-7,8-didehydro-4,5-epoxy-17-methylmorphinan-3,6-diol diacetate?" The kid is naturally running away in confusion.
The joke plays on the stereotype of academics being hopelessly impractical. A chemistry professor would technically be well-qualified to produce drugs but completely unable to sell them on the street because they cannot help using precise scientific nomenclature instead of common names. The humor also touches on the real issue of underfunded university departments being forced into desperate measures. The votey panel shows the author character enthusiastically declaring, "People LOVE diacetate jokes!" -- a self-aware meta-joke acknowledging that chemistry humor is extremely niche.