I thought this was a variation of the old joke / soap opera premise in which the mother is shown to have been unfaithful, since 2 + 5 <> 6. But they are laughing in the last panel.
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I don’t think they’re laughing, just happy. Pagelow is just a little rough with the art.
Best I got is that he was amused by the idea that an anthropomorphic numeral 5 looks like it has a fat little belly and the numeral 6 is curled up like a fetus. I’m not at all confident about that though.
I thought it was just that 6 looked like a chubby little baby; the comments here cleared it up. Makes me wonder, though–with most animals, it’s binary (“Is it a boy or a girl?”). Maybe with numbers, there’s no easy question to ask.
Dvandom – Little 6 won’t marry a guy just like her father, she(?) will marry her father. Sorta.
Is there any reason to believe the numbers can’t reproduce asexually? 5s always spawn a 6. 6s always spawn a 7 and 2 always spawn a 3. They would seem to be born pregnant.
I’m also curious why Powers is credited with getting it. Patrick had it first!
Comics I Don't Understand 
I don’t think they’re laughing, just happy. Pagelow is just a little rough with the art.
Best I got is that he was amused by the idea that an anthropomorphic numeral 5 looks like it has a fat little belly and the numeral 6 is curled up like a fetus. I’m not at all confident about that though.
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It’s the baby new year.
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Yeah, guys, think about the timing here.
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Aha, Powers got it. Does that mean 5 died in childbirth and 2 will soon sire a new child with his daughter?
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Little 6 will grow up and marry a guy just like her father, as per the cliche.
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I thought it was just that 6 looked like a chubby little baby; the comments here cleared it up. Makes me wonder, though–with most animals, it’s binary (“Is it a boy or a girl?”). Maybe with numbers, there’s no easy question to ask.
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Dvandom – Little 6 won’t marry a guy just like her father, she(?) will marry her father. Sorta.
Is there any reason to believe the numbers can’t reproduce asexually? 5s always spawn a 6. 6s always spawn a 7 and 2 always spawn a 3. They would seem to be born pregnant.
I’m also curious why Powers is credited with getting it. Patrick had it first!
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Ted, simply because Patrick’s comment hadn’t appeared yet. Sometimes comments get “held” for some reason then inserted in the proper place later.
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Well, I didn’t think it had anything to do with “because 7 8 9”.
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It should have been 6-7.
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Except Patrick’s comment was visible when I posted.
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