In the Bleachers: What a fluke!

This cartoon is hilarious because the fat guy in the red shorts is going to shit out a volleyball.

No, really.

Off the Mark and In the Bleachers: I just don't know if I can get used to a Dustbuster!

These cartoons annoy me for slightly different reasons.

Off the Mark annoys me because, while its premise--the proliferation of green technology among witches--has potential, it falls apart in the follow-through when it ceases to make any sense. A broom would be greener than a Dustbuster, after all.

Meanwhile, In the Bleachers annoys me because it seems to have betrayed the entire concept of the cartoon. Unless being a knight has randomly become a sport, that is.

In the Bleachers: Stop! This is crazy. We mustn't.

This comic is hilarious because the man wants to fuck the fish, but the fish is having doubts.

In the Bleachers: I want him out of this country club!

This cartoon is hilarious because it has a weird subtext of racial discrimination that should probably be avoided at all costs.

In the Bleachers: I love sniffing the mitt. It smells just like us!

This cartoon is hilarious because the bull in the background appears to be masturbating. Which just makes the caption all the more disturbing.

In the Bleachers: Uh-oh. They're bringing in the closer to secure the win.

Is there a joke to this cartoon? Or is it just supposed to be funny that the closer is a robot? Which is to say, why would that be funny?

For absurdity to work, it has to flow from some sort of logical starting point. I don't think this does, but it makes me feel like I'm missing something.

In the Bleachers: Bench-clearing brawl!!

Oh, these modern sports stars with their greed and their violence. I know, it's so funny.

But let's stop laughing for a minute and try to think through the logic in this cartoon. The author is apparently upset that sports teams build stadiums with taxpayer money. I'm upset with that too! Teams totally shouldn't do that!

It is, however, the teams that are building the stadiums, not the players. The players are just employed by the teams. Therefore, the teams, not the players, are saving money at the expense of the taxpayers.

Moreover, were the players to return their bonus money, they would be returning it to the teams, not the taxpayers. And so the result would be that the teams would save even more money, at the expense of both their employees and the taxpayers. The point being, this cartoon is very stupid, as is the popular mode of thought that led to it.

But oh, look. On top of all that, it's acting as a metaphor for the current banking crisis and bailouts. Why that makes it, um, even stupider?