2006-08-20

A family scene in a living room. A wealthy-looking father, his arm around a smiling blonde woman, faces his son (seen from behind, with brown hair). The father says: "Son, now that you're eighteen, we have something to tell you - we're not poor. In fact, I'm worth over a billion dollars. We just didn't want you to grow up spoiled and unambitious." The son replies, "So, when you said 'we can't afford to fix every little problem,' that was a lie?" The father answers, "Think of it as a story that taught you a lesson." A caption beneath the panels reads: "Silently, Todd felt the stub where his arm used to be." In the votey (aftercomic), a black-and-white close-up of the father's face grins as he declares, "Gangrene builds character!" The joke: the parents faked poverty as a life lesson, and as a result their son lost an arm to untreated, ultimately gangrenous injury.