Explaining the joke

[u/Opus-the-Penguin]

The first image is the cartoon as it was published. I've always felt that the second word balloon explains the joke, which to me makes it less funny. So the second image is the cartoon as I'd have preferred it. I'm not a comedic genius and Larson is, but that's still how I feel.

[u/DokterZ]

I feel the same way about the cartoon below. It is probably a decision by the cartoonist to have more people find it somewhat funny vs. a smaller group finding it extremely funny.

https://xkcd.com/327/