2014-02-05

A two-panel SMBC comic retelling the myth of Sisyphus. Panel 1: A muscular, gray-bearded god gestures at a brown-haired bearded man and declares, 'Sisyphus! You are cursed to push a stone up a hill, only to see it fall down over and over again!' The man cries 'Noooo!' Panel 2: The god adds, 'Okay, okay, addendum: each time the rock rolls back down, a meaningless counter will say you've increased one level.' Now thrilled, Sisyphus throws up a triumphant fist and shouts 'Woohoo!' The joke: an arbitrary leveling-up counter makes the same eternal punishment feel rewarding. Votey (aftercomic): An off-panel exchange in plain speech bubbles. Sisyphus asks, 'What does a level get me?' The god answers, 'More strength. Bigger rock.' Sisyphus replies 'Woohoo!' anyway, gladly accepting that leveling up only means a harder version of the same torment.