I don’t get it. Where is the joke. (Seriously, I’m lost)
The link has extra panels and a comment from the artists that explains it more. This isn’t a joke so much as it is explaining their situation in a joking manner.
Amicable divorces are apparently funny?
I don’t know. It’s an odd one.
Comics don’t have to have a joke, they can just tell a story. This is a nice story of two people who care for and support each other in spite of discovering their selves and life goals don’t sync with continuing the original relationship. They manage to break up the romance with each feeling freed rather than dumped, so they can continue to be friends. Hopefully their eventual new partners will appreciate this.
Who would have thought that a thing called a “comic” would be funny?
It’s not like serious works of fiction using the same format would need a separate term like “graphic novel” or anything. That would never happen.
When I was a kid I asked my mom why Superman was in a comic book when he wasn’t funny. The answer is the same.
Yes, I’m sure your mother really has her finger on the pulse of nerd pop culture when it comes to nomenclature.
“I asked my mommy” isn’t exactly a compelling argument.
You can’t call something a graphic novel if it’s only one page long though, so what do you call it?
A shitty comic.
An act of self-indulgence.
A desperate cry from an attention starved individual.
Take your pick.
Part of the humor comes from subverting the expectations. You might expect this kind of conflict- that one wants kids the other doesn’t, that one wants to change their gender expression into something the other doesn’t like- to cause conflict. Fighting. Anger.
Instead they just fully support each other.
Further, it subverts the mainstream possessiveness of partners. It’s very typical for people to be like “don’t be interested in my partner!” Or to be very uncomfortable with their ex seeing other people. Instead, this person is being very supportive of their person.
A lot of behavior in typical monogamous relationships is really shitty and selfish.
It’s not the funniest thing ever, but that’s how I see the mechanics of it working. Subverting some relationship expectations.
To all of the people saying this is sad, not all relationships have to last forever.
It’s okay to get separated, even if you are married. It’s actually good to realize your differences, decide that you work better apart, and provide support to an ex-spouse emotionally while you move on with your life as well.
