This was a CIDU for me for a couple minutes. And I’m still not sure of the intended idea.
BTW, is a clock a standard part of Twister play?
Thanks to Maggie-the-Cartoonist for this Loose Parts LOL:
I don’t know whether this is supposed to be the joke / the point of the cartoon, but I think it’s definitely a brilliant choice to have the meeting for the road-ragers take place safely online!
Comics I Don't Understand 
That’s not a clock on the edge of the bunk; it’s the standard Twister “spinner”, with positions labeled for each combination of color and extremity.
P.S. I think the intent of the victim’s family was that the little guy should get seriously injured playing a physical game to two significantly larger cellmates.
Oh, I think the intention is a much more Arlo than that…
Yeah, unfortunately, some people still find prison rape to be a funny punchline.
@ larK & dvandom – Unfortunately, the majority of the comments at GoComics agree with your interpretation. Icky. I need some mental floss:
One thing I enjoy about cartooning and art is that the reader/viewer brings a lot to the experience. Your interpretation of a cartoon is based on your biases, prejudices, sense of humor, previous experiences, etc etc.
The thing I like about panel cartoons is that you’re only seeing One Moment In Time. What happened before and what happens after is up to the reader to decide. Being open to interpretation in my mind makes it more fun and allows more possibilities.
If you don’t find the humor in the situation that’s okay. Not every cartoon is going to say something that everyone finds amusing. You win some you lose some. That said, some cartoons are going to be more upsetting than they are humorous because of how you interpret it. Again, perfectly okay. When I did the cartoon, what amused me, was that the prisoner misinterpreted the victim’s family’s intentions, when they sent him ”the gift.” The potential for what happens next is obvious to everybody except the birthday prisoner. Full stop. Of course, gallows or dark humor isn’t for everybody, especially if it’s over analyzed or taken literally, and I get that.
This is an exceedingly rare treat to have the author here! Wow. Thanks for posting, Mike.
I hope you find great success with your work.
Thanks Ted, my pleasure, it’s a fun site.
Apparently you really can buy shares of Mickey Mantle’s childhood home. Anybody who has ever been pressured into buying a time-share can tell me whether this is a good idea or not.
I follow a YouTube channel that has live streams from a District Court in a rural county in Michigan. They still do some proceedings with Zoom participants, although apparently the Michigan Supreme Court would prefer they do more in-person stuff.
Much of the civil stuff is still Zoom, mostly landlord-tenant and small claims. Also arraignments for in-custody defendants. Occasionally civil participants Zoom in from their cars. If they are actually driving, he makes them pull over and come to a stop. The comic could have had people on Zoom from their cars.
One consequence of Zoom civil matters is that lawyers from all over the state can represent litigants because they don’t have to drive to the courthouse in the middle of nowhere.
My reaction to the Cornered strip was, “Really? Top Bunk has only been there 10 days?” (I got the joke immediately, not a CIDU for me.)
Carl Fink says My reaction to the Cornered strip was, “Really? Top Bunk has only been there 10 days?”
And I was asking “How come his uniform has his sentence posted right on it?” — it seems to say “6 to 12”.
@ mitch (11) – With that sort of interpretation, one has to have a little sympathy for the poor sod who gets saddled with the serial number “5318008”.